Smash was a Japanese
puroresu
is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's act ...
and
combat sports
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppo ...
promotion, founded in December 2009 following the folding of
Hustle. In the fall of 2009 Hustle ran into financial problems that led to several show cancellations. After a planned restructuring and restarting of the promotion failed, a number of officials and wrestlers decided to start a new project. Smash held its first show on March 26, 2010.
Smash promoted three divisions:
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 ...
,
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
and
kickboxing
Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...
. The professional wrestling branch is led by
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 ...
, while Akira Shoji is responsible for the MMA branch. Yuji Shimada leads the overall supervision of the whole project. Since 2010 Smash has had an active exchange of wrestlers with the Finnish
Fight Club Finland promotion.
In April 2011, it was announced that
Deep
Deep or The Deep may refer to:
Places United States
* Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia
* Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah
* Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania
* Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), ...
and the MMA division of Smash had formed an amateur promotion named the Japan MMA League (JML).
On February 10, 2012, Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event, following a disagreement between Tajiri and financial backer (Quantum Jump Japan CEO) Masakazu Sakai. On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash,
Wrestling New Classic
was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012.
History
On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to annou ...
, which would hold its first event on April 26. On June 1, 2012, Sakai and his Smash backers bought
Pancrase
Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.
The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...
, officially incorporating Smash's MMA division into the promotion and re-affirming the partnership with Deep in JML.
Roster
Smash Seikigun
*
AKIRA
*
Jiro Kuroshio
is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is perhaps best known for his work in the Wrestle-1 promotion, where he was a former two-time UWA World Trios Championship holder before leaving the promotion in January ...
*Koji Doi
*
Lin Bairon
*
Makoto
is a unisex Japanese name although it is more commonly used by males.
As a noun, Makoto means "sincerity" (誠) or "truth" (真, 眞).
People
Given name
* Makoto (musician) (born 1977), drum and bass artist
*Makoto (Sharan Q) ( まこと), ...
*
Syuri
is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...
*
TAJIRI
*Yoshiaki Yago
*
Yusuke Kodama
is a Japanese professional wrestler and currently wrestlers for All Japan Pro Wrestling as a freelancer. Kodama is best known for his time with Wrestle-1 (W-1), where he is a former two time UWA World Trios Champion, two time Wrestle-1 Cruiser ...
Fight Club Finland
*
Hajime Ohara
is a Japanese professional wrestler. Ohara worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico for several years as part of his training, mixing the ''lucha libre'' style of Mexico with the Japanese Puroresu style of wrestling. In Japan, ...
*Jessica Love
*
StarBuck
Triple Tails.S
*
Kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
*
Mio Shirai
is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current professional wrestling referee. She started her career in March 2007, working alongside her sister Io Shirai on the Japanese independent circuit for promotions such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Jo ...
Unaffiliated
*Aki Shizuku
*
Dave Finlay
David Finlay Jr. (born 31 January 1958) is an Irish retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a trainer/assistant coach. He is known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Fit Finlay from 1995 to ...
*
Genichiro Tenryu
*Kim Namhun
*Mentallo
*Takuya Kito
*
Tomoka Nakagawa
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underwent ...
*
Último Dragón
(born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the " A ...
*
Yo-Hey
, better known by his ring name Yo-Hey (stylised in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah).
Fujita started his career in Dragon Gate (DG) under the ring name Ryoma (stylised in ...
Notable guests
*
Akira Shoji
Akira Shoji (小路晃) (born January 31, 1974) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is most known as being a regular in almost all the beginning Pride Fighting Championship Shoji was in Pride 1 to Pride 7, an ...
*
Atsushi Kotoge
(born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweigh ...
*
Ayumi Kurihara
(born July 13, 1984) is a retired '' joshi puroresu '' wrestler.
Professional wrestling career
Kurihara entered training with the women's pro wrestling promotion AtoZ and then transferred to M's Style, where she learned the craft from well-kn ...
*Big Boy
*
Bushwhacker Luke Williams
*Cherry
*
Chii Tomiya
is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for her work in the Ice Ribbon promotion. Trained by Emi Sakura, Tomiya made her debut for Ice Ribbon in October 2008 and during the next three years went on to become a one-time International R ...
*
D-Ray 3000
Dorian Hill (born August 9, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known under his ring name D-Ray 3000. He is best known for his stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Hill began his tr ...
*
Daisuke Harada
(born November 13, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He’s a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion.
Harada is also known for his ti ...
*
Danny Duggan
Daniel Warren (born March 23, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler and business entrepreneur who works for independent promotions all over Canada and United States under the name "Hotshot" Danny Duggan. He has worked for such promotions a ...
*
El Samurai
Satyam Kumar (born 06 August 1997), known professionally as Technical Satyam, is an Indian YouTube personality based in the UAE. Chaudhary is notable for producing YouTube videos concerning graphics and technology in English and Hindi. In 202 ...
*
Emi Sakura
, better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler performing for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). After starting her career in International Wrestling Association of Japan in August 1995, Sakura worked for several promotions acro ...
*
Eugene
*
Funaki
*Gabriel Antonic
*
Gypsy Joe
Gilberto Meléndez (December 2, 1933 – June 15, 2016) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known under the ring name Gypsy Joe. While attaining much of his United States success in the Tennessee area, Meléndez also gained a following ...
*
Hikari Minami
is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for her work in the Ice Ribbon promotion, where she spent nearly seven years, making her debut in February 2006 at the age of eleven, becoming a two-time ICE×60 Champion and a one-time IW19 Ch ...
*
Hikaru Shida
is a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, actress, and model, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is a former and the longest-reigning AEW Women's World Champion. On February 25, 2021, she became the longest reign ...
*
Io Shirai
is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky (stylized in all caps). She is a member of Damage CTRL and one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions ...
*
Isami Kodaka
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro-Wrestling Basara (Basara). He originally started his career in the Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) promotion in July 2002, but later left the promotion to become a freelancer, before signing wi ...
*
Jun Kasai
(born September 9, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, primarily competing for Pro Wrestling Freedoms. Dubbed the for his violent and often self-harmful style of hardcore wrestling, Kasai is considered a breakthrough talent in Japanese ...
*
Jyushin Thunder Liger
, better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...
*
Kaori Yoneyama
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. Yoneyama started her career in 1999, working with the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. During the following years, she became a one-time J ...
*
Kaoru
Kaoru is a Japanese given name for males or females.
Name Meanings
The name's
meaning varies depending on its written form:
*薫/郁/芳 — "fragrance", common for both males and females
*馨/香 — "fragrance", more common for females
...
*
Kaz Hayashi
is a Japanese professional wrestler known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where in addition to being a wrestler for the promotion, he also served as the head booker for the company's junior heavyweigh ...
*
Kenso
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion in the lat ...
*
Kushida
is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestling.
He is best known for his tenure in NJP ...
*Leatherface
*
Meiko Satomura
Meiko Satomura (里村 明衣子, Satomura Meiko, born November 11, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to the American promotion WWE performing on the NXT brand and the Japanese promotion Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestlin ...
*Michael Kovac
*
Minoru Suzuki
(born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...
*
Mitsuo Momota
(born September 21, 1948) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and executive, known for his work in the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and later in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is the son of wrestler Rikidōzan.
Career Japan Wres ...
*Mochi Miyagi
*
Murat Bosporus
Özgür Bakar (born 16 December 1979), better known by his ring name Murat Bosporus, is a German professional wrestler of Turkish descent. He is best known for his work on the German independent circuit.
Career
Bakar was an amateur before he star ...
*
Nagisa Nozaki
is a Japanese professional wrestler. She started her career in the NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion in November 2006 and after the promotion's folding in December 2010, worked for independent promotions such as Pro Wrestling Wave and Wor ...
*
Nanae Takahashi
(born December 23, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler and the founder of Seadlinnng. She has wrestled for prominent Japanese promotions All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Sun, and is a two-time women's world champion in m ...
*
Nunzio
*
Prince Devitt
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
*
Riho
is a Japanese professional wrestler and idol currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion.
She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of nine. S ...
*Rob Raw
*
Sabu
*Sayaka Obihiro
*
Scotty 2 Hotty
Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...
*
Serena
*Sugar Dunkerton
*
Super Crazy
*
Taka Michinoku
(born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for t ...
*
Takao Omori
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...
*
Takashi Iizuka
, better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling Noa ...
*
Tatsumi Fujinami
(born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...
*
Tetsuya Naito
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction.
Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...
*
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...
*
Toshie Uematsu
is a female Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for her popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. She was one of the members of the first class of wrestlers trained by Chigusa Nagayo when Nagayo formed the GAEA Japan promotion. Uematsu fi ...
*
Tsubasa Kuragaki
is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . For most of her career, Kuragaki has worked for JWP Joshi Puroresu, becoming a one-time JWP Junior and two-time JWP Openweight Champion as a singles wrestler. As a tag team ...
*
Tsukasa Fujimoto
is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress, who is currently wrestling for Ice Ribbon, where she also works behind the scenes as the co-head trainer.
She is a record seven-time ICE×∞ Champion, six-time International Ribbon Tag Team C ...
*
Tsukushi
*
Veneno
*
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wr ...
Championships
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 ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Japanese professional wrestling promotions
Mixed martial arts organizations
2010 establishments in Japan