The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

promotion operating from 1994 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2014. It was formed by

Víctor Quiñones Víctor Quiñones Hernández (June 30, 1959 – April 2, 2006) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestling promoter, manager, and the founder and owner of International Wrestling Association in Japan, as well as the later International Wrestling ...

as a successor to the

W*ING Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches. History After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibarag ...

promotion, which was folding at the time as a rival to

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their f ...

(FMW), the pioneer of

deathmatch wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

in Japan and the only deathmatch promotion in Japan at the time. Most of the wrestlers jumped ship to Quiñones' new IWA Japan group. He found a sponsor in Tatsukuni "Kinroku" Asano, a business man who owned several restaurants in Tokyo and had bought and run several wrestling shows prior to IWA Japan.

Opening stage

They had their first show in Yokosuka, Kanagawa on May 21, 1994 which was taped for television. The early shows often featured many ex-

wrestlers like

Yukihiro Kanemura ( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Jap ...

, Shoji Nakamaki, Nobutaka Araya and

The Headhunters The Headhunters are an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music. History (and name) Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with a s ...

. They also had fans to fill out questionnaires about the shows and sometimes gave away freebies. Quiñones booked talent from all over the world to compete in IWA, including Cactus Jack and

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

who engaged in some of their most famous bouts.

Kawasaki Dream

With IWA getting more popular due to the charisma of some of their wrestlers, they decided to produce a show called Kawasaki Dream, which was held on August 20, 1995 at the Kawasaki Baseball Stadium. The main attraction of the show was the first ever 8-man single elimination deathmatch tournament, which featured Cactus Jack,

, Shoji Nakamaki,

Hiroshi Ono Hiroshi Ono can refer to: * Hiroshi Ono (photographer) (born 1971), Japanese photographer * Hiroshi Ono (scholar) (born 1934), Japanese scholar * Hiroshi Ono (weightlifter) (born 1950), Japanese Olympic weightlifter * Hiroshi Ono (artist) ( ...

Leatherface Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in '' The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murdere ...

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

Terry Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim ...

and former FMW wrestler

Mr. Gannosuke is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under the ring name . Honda was quickly pushed as "Mr. Gannosuke" due to his resemblance to the actor Ashiya Gannosuke and he beg ...

. The show also featured an

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

defense, as

Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...

challenged then-champion

Dan Severn Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "The Beast", is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of mixed mart ...

for the title.

Demise

Quiñones left IWA at the end of 1995, along with the NWA affiliation. Goto, Gannosuke, and Flying Kid Ichihara followed suit in late-1996 to join Tokyo Pro. Subsequently, IWA started to go downhill after losing much of the talent that Quiñones booked. The promotion folded on October 13, 2014, following its 20th anniversary event and the retirement of Asano.

Championships

IWA Triple Crown Championship The was a title used on the Japanese independent circuit. The title was the world heavyweight championship of the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan). It was later revived in the women's wrestling promotion Gatoh Move Pro ...

* IWA World Heavyweight Championship *

IWA World Tag Team Championship IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearance i ...

*IWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship * AJPW/IWA Women's World Championship *AWF World Women's Championship *

W*ING World Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling championship contested in Wrestling International New Generations. It was briefly revived in International Wrestling Association of Japan in 1995. Title history Reigns Combined reigns Notes See also * I ...

Roster

*Natives:

Great Kabuki , better known as , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is famous as the first to blow Asian mist in his opponents' faces. Professional wrestling career Mera was born on September 8, 1948 in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in 19 ...

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the ...

, Shoji Nakamaki, Nobutaka Araya, Daisuke Taue, Takashi Okano, Yoshiya Yamashita,

Ryo Miyake is a Japanese fencer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Men's foil, but was defeated in the second round. He won a silver medal in the team foil event. During the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Miyake worked as a deli ...

, Flying Kid Ichihara,

Mr. Pogo was a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his work under the ring name . He helped popularize hardcore wrestling in the 1990s with "death matches" in promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING and Big Japan Pro Wrestlin ...

Kintaro Kanemura ( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Japa ...

, Hiroshi Ono,

Kendo Nagasaki Kendo Nagasaki is a professional wrestling stage name, used as a gimmick of that of a Japanese Samurai warrior with a mysterious past and even supernatural powers of hypnosis. The name derives from the modern martial art of Japanese fencing (Kendo) ...

Keisuke Yamada is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Originally starting his career in International Wrestling Association of Japan, where he worked under his real name, Yamada found a new home promotion in 1999 in Osaka Pro Wres ...

, Kenji Takana,

Mitsunobu Kikuzawa (born November 17, 1976), better known as his wrestling persona and formerly , is a freelance Japanese professional wrestler. Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylize ...

Takashi Ishikawa is a former professional wrestler and sumo wrestler from Fujishima, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Sumo wrestling career He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched to sumo an ...

Shigeo Okumura is a Japanese professional wrestler who works for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and is billed as Okumura. Okumura originally worked for Tokyo Pro Wrestling (TPW) and later on All Japan Pro Wres ...

, Kishin Kawabata. *Foreigners:

Dick Slater Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champion ...

, Cactus Jack,

Tracey Smothers Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Champ ...

, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams,

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

(Headhunter A and Headhunter B) Headhunter III/ Big Buddah Miguel Perez Jr., Super Leather, Leatherface (Rick Patterson), The Iceman, Big Boss Man,

The Crypt Keeper ''Tales from the Crypt'' was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955, producing 27 issues (the first issue with the title was #20, previously having been ''International Comics'' (#1–#5); ' ...

, Jason the Terrible (Rafel Moreno Jr.),

Dennis Knight Dennis Knight (born December 26, 1968) is an American chef and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1992 and 1994 under the ring name Tex Slazenger and with the World Wrestl ...

, New Jason the Terrible,

, Gran Sheik,

El Texano Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui (November 26, 1958 – January 15, 2006), better known by his ring name El Texano, was a Mexican '' Luchador'', or professional wrestler. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, he wrestled under masked and unmask ...

, Silver King

References

External links

IWA Japan@ProWresIWAIWA Japan Title Histories
{{Authority control Japanese professional wrestling promotions 1994 establishments in Japan