is 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 o ...
senior referee best known for his work in
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
(AJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the All Japan Pro Wrestling roster, having worked for the company from 1972 to the present day. Throughout his career, he refereed some of the most famous matches in
Japanese pro wrestling history, making him one of its most recognisable and popular figures.
Career
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1972–2011)
After graduating from junior high school, Wada got a job at a shipping company, and one of his jobs was to deliver and set up the ring for
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
. Wada caught the eye of owner
Giant Baba
, best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...
, who noticed he was light on his feet and asked if he would be interested in training to be a referee. Wada accepted the offer and began training under then-All Japan senior referee
Joe Higuchi
, better known as was a Japanese professional wrestler, road agent, on-air personality and referee best known for his tenures with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) and All Japan Pro-Wrestling. The first official Japanese referee in the NW ...
, and made his refereeing debut in 1974. During his early career, Wada was limited to only referee opening matches, as he was considered the lowest ranking referee behind Higuchi, Masao Hattori and Koichi Hayashi. However, after Hattori left for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...
(NJPW) in 1984 and Hayashi was transferred to
All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling
, nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that y ...
(AJW), Wada's position rose greatly and the first main event match he refereed was the
Genichiro Tenryu
, better known as is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was his ...
vs
Jumbo Tsuruta
, better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyw ...
singles match on August 31, 1987. Wada quickly became recognisable for his agile movement around the ring, often jumping over wrestlers to get in a position to count a pinfall. Before matches, fans would often loudly chant "Kyohei!” after ring announcer Ryu Nakada would say "referee, Wada Kyohei". Wada and Nakada were affectionately dubbed "Golden Combi" by All Japan fans during their time with the promotion.
After Joe Higuchi began taking less and less matches into his later career, Wada became the head referee for All Japan during the 1990s and served as referee to a large number of well known
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.
History
The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championshi ...
matches during the 1990s. Wada and Nakada were also very close with
Giant Baba
, best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...
, who would take both of them with him on vacation and travel with them to shows, with Wada especially working closely with Baba as his personal assistant. When Baba passed away in January 1999, Wada and Nakada were the only non-family members allowed at Baba's bedside for his final moments.
After
Mitsuharu Misawa
was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside ...
and the majority of the All Japan roster left the promotion in May 2000 during a
mass exodus, Wada was one of only three employees to remain with the promotion alongside
Masanobu Fuchi
is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is also a director and the co-head booker. Fuchi has exclusively worked for All Japan since his debut in 1974, and holds the record for the longest ...
and
Toshiaki Kawada
(born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In All Japan, he was a 5 time Triple Crown Heavyweight ...
. By the mid-2000s, Wada had overseen at least 10,000 wrestling matches, and his position as a highly respected referee led to him being asked by other promotions such as Big Mouth Loud,
Pro Wrestling Noah
(stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
and
Kensuke Office
Diamond Ring was an independent Japanese professional wrestling promotion that, until 2012, was known as Kensuke Office. The promotion was founded and owned by puroresu legend Kensuke Sasaki, who has owned and operated it since its creation in 200 ...
to referee for them. At Mitsuharu Misawa's memorial show in 2009, Wada served as referee for the main event, pitting
Akira Taue
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is also a former All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and has had fourteen 5 Star Matches as awarded by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
...
and
Toshiaki Kawada
(born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In All Japan, he was a 5 time Triple Crown Heavyweight ...
against
Kenta
Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese baseball player
*, Japanese film director
*, Japanese kickboxer
*, Japanese professional wrestler
*, Japanese profession ...
and
Jun Akiyama
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, co-he ...
.
Freelance (2011–2013)
On June 21, 2011, Wada surprised many fans when he announced he had left
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
and would be going
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
. Wada's departure was in response to what he viewed as AJPW president
Keiji Mutoh
is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Ne ...
's poor handling of the backstage incident between
Nobukazu Hirai
Nobukazu Hirai (born December 30, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for competing in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is the son of former Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance wrestler Mitsu Hirai.
Professional wrestling career Super World ...
and
Yoshikazu Taru
is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known simply as Taru (stylised in all capital letters). He is currently signed to Makai, while also working for Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), wh ...
and the rest of the
Voodoo Murders
Voodoo-Murders (stylised in all capital letters), or more simply as VDM, is a professional wrestling stable and the main heel group in All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2005 and 2011. In 2013, the group was reformed in Diamond Ring. They perform ...
. Wada said he felt that Mutoh's lack of a public apology to Hirai "betrayed All Japan Pro Wrestling" and cited it as the main reason for his departure. The same day he announced his departure from All Japan, Wada was offered a position of head referee in
Smash, and debuted for the promotion in July. Wada expressed interest in wanting to referee wherever he could, and also began refereeing for all female promotion
Reina at Reina 19 in October. On August 18, 2012, Wada was a referee at
DDT Pro-Wrestling
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...
's
Budokan Peter Pan
was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The event took place on August 18, 2012, in Tokyo at the Nippon Budokan. The event featured ten matches, three of which were contested for championships. The event aired on ...
.
Return to AJPW (2013–present)
On June 30, 2013, Wada refereed an All Japan match for the first time in two years at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, the last show held under Mutoh before he and much of the roster would leave the promotion just days later. On July 5, Wada announced his full time return to All Japan as senior referee. In December 2014, he celebrated both his 40th anniversary as a referee and his 60th birthday with a special celebration show produced by himself under the AJPW banner. Wada chose all matches on the card and was showered with streamers before the main event.
Wada was sidelined from refereeing on January 2, 2017, when he sustained a broken ankle after falling from the top rope and to the floor during a battle royal. He made his return in April, refereeing a 2017 Champion Carnival match between
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
and
Kai.
See also
Professional wrestling in Japan
Professional wrestling in Japan has existed for many years. The first Japanese to involve himself in catch wrestling, the basis of traditional professional wrestling, was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. There were subsequent attempts before ...
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wada, Kyohei
1954 births
Living people
People from Adachi, Tokyo
Professional wrestling referees