Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling
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Fighting of World Japan Pro-Wrestling, frequently shortened to World Japan or WJ was a
professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...
formed in Japan in 2002 by former
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 ...
employees
Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers ...
and Katsuji Nagashima, who also served as chairmen along with
Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...
.


History


Formation

In January 2002,
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) ace
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 ...
left the promotion, jumping to rival
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) along with
Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wrest ...
and
Kendo Kashin Tokimitsu Ishizawa (''Ishizawa Tokimitsu'', born August 5, 1968), better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin (ケンドー・カシン, ''Kendō Kashin''), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan Pr ...
.
Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers ...
, NJPW's head booker at the time, was blamed for their departure and removed from his position by the president
Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...
in February. Furious with Inoki's decision to do this, Choshu left the promotion altogether in May 2002 and blasted both Inoki and chairman
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. H ...
in interviews. At the same time Mutoh had left NJPW, Choshu's longtime friend Katsuji Nagashima, who worked as a booker and head of NJPW's advertising department, had also left the company and formed his agency, Nagashima Promotions, working with
Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrest ...
as a third party liaison to freelance wrestlers as well as a booking agency. Choshu proposed a partnership with Nagashima, and Nagashima Promotions was soon renamed "The Riki Nagashima Project". Shortly after this, the two began seeking a sponsor to fund their promotion. They were backed by Seiji Fukuda, a well-known entrepreneur from
Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...
. Fukuda joined their project as president and representative director, Nagashima became managing director, and Choshu became the director. In November, Choshu officially announced the formation of Fighting of World Japan Pro Wrestling in a press conference. With WJ established, Choshu began seeking talent to sign to the newborn promotion.
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
, a trainee of Choshu and the former ace of NJPW, had grown disillusioned with New Japan's focus on
MMA 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...
fighters over pro wrestlers and announced his departure from NJPW in October 2002 once his contract expired in January.
Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...
,
Kenzo Suzuki 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 ...
and referee Masao "Tiger" Hattori also announced they would not be renewing their contracts with New Japan in January, and the three committed to join WJ in December.
Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu (谷津嘉章 ''Yatsu Yoshiaki'', born July 19, 1956) is a Japanese professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is known for being one-half of the first-ever All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Champi ...
(who had been Choshu's ally in New Japan,
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' (sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-st ...
, and
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, ...
in the 1980s), was also brought in as the head of the sales division, along with some of the talent from his regional SPWF promotion. Choshu filled his roster with young independent stars such as
Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...
and
Takashi Uwano is a retired Japanese professional wrestler most famous for competing with NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) and Pro Wrestling Zero1. Uwano has a background in the martial art, Judo. Professional wrestling career Various Japanese promotions ( ...
, freelancers such as
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...
, gaijin including Vader,
The Road Warriors The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road Warriors" in th ...
, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and
Big Vito Vito Joseph LoGrasso (born June 18, 1964) is an American actor and professional wrestler, best known for his work in World Championship Wrestling as Big Vito and more recently World Wrestling Entertainment and working for their " developmental te ...
, and young American wrestlers such as Lex Lovett,
Steve Madison Stephen Philip Favata (born April 9, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, known by his ringname "Modern Miracle" Steve Madison, who competes in Southeastern independent promotions including AWA World-1 South, Full Impact Pro, Future of Wr ...
, The Maximos, and
The Shane Twins The Shane Twins (born December 21, 1967) are a professional wrestling tag team that consist of twin brothers Mike and Todd Shane. They were best known for their appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Gymini. History Independe ...
. Choshu himself also announced he would wrestle for the promotion, and booked himself into the main event of the first show against longtime rival Tenryu.


Debut show and initial setbacks

With the roster established, WJ began planning its debut show for March 2003. It had originally been planned to debut in November 2002, however, Choshu had to wait until some of his wrestlers' contracts with NJPW had expired, and as a result, WJ's debut show, ''MAGMA01'', was postponed many times. It eventually took place on March 1, 2003 in
Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...
, running the same day that
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 K-1 were also promoting major events in
Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...
and
Ariake Coliseum is an indoor sporting arena in located in Ariake, Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It has a capacity of 10,000 and is one of the few professional tennis venues which has a retractable roof. Events The arena is used as the center court for the Japan O ...
, respectively. This was the only day a major arena could be booked in March, and Nagashima and Choshu could not postpone the debut any longer as they had already done so several times and lost bookings in other arenas as a result. Despite the competition, ''MAGMA01'' drew a respectable 13,000 fans to Yokohama, and the promotion soon set out on its first tour the same month. They suffered their first setback on that very tour when Choshu himself was injured during the third match of his planned six-match series with Genichiro Tenryu and forced to pull out of all events for the foreseeable future. In addition,
Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...
withdrew from all future events due to commitments to his political career. WJ began pushing
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
as their top star but struggled to gain a fanbase, and attendance and interest soon began to dwindle. WJ struggled to turn a profit with any shows they ran, and Choshu's excessive spending soon became a problem; this had been a worry of investors for months, as Choshu had spent over ¥200 million ($1.8 million USD) before they had even run a show on building a dojo, a tour bus, a new car for himself, and an expensive year-end party attended by many celebrities and high profile figures. A tournament took place in July to crown the first WMG (World Magma the Greatest) Heavyweight Champion, won by Sasaki, but did not receive the belt until weeks later due to it remaining incomplete by the supplier.


Decline

On July 28, 2003, MMA fighter turned pro wrestler
Giant Ochiai Takayuki Okada (May 8, 1973 – August 8, 2003), more widely known as Giant Ochiai, was a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Okada's MMA record was 3-3-2 (win–loss–draw). Career As a student, Okada won the All Japan I ...
was training under
Kenzo Suzuki 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 ...
in the WJ dojo when he lost consciousness and eventually fell into a coma, dying of an
acute subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surrou ...
on August 8, 2003. Choshu, Nagashima, and Suzuki were all present in the dojo when he lost consciousness, but none of them were charged to his death. However, WJ faced severe media scrutiny for refusing to accept responsibility for the incident. In the fallout of Ochiai's death, Kenzo Suzuki and Yoshiaki Yatsu both left the promotion, with Yatsu, in particular, blasting Choshu in interviews with the media, famously telling Nikkan Sports "Riki Choshu has no idea how independent wrestling works". WJ's numerous financial issues also became greater and greater public knowledge around this time; Choshu's spending had not slowed down, and he continued to make extravagant purchases with investors money, including sending ¥1 million a month to both of his daughters who were studying in the United Kingdom at the time. Numerous wrestlers began to claim they were owed money by Choshu, with
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
putting up ¥5 million of his own money and canceling his life insurance to help continue to promote events. WJ's unpaid salaries were later parodied in the promotion, with
Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...
forming the "Labour Union" stable and feuding with Choshu in kayfabe over his numerous debts to them. In a bid to recoup money and replicate the success of
Pride FC PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...
and K-1, Choshu announced "X1" in September, a sister MMA promotion of WJ which drew some attention after they announced
Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...
, then 15 years old, would debut as the youngest MMA fighter ever on the card. Despite the attention, the show was heavily panned by fans who criticized the inexperienced fighters and low level of competition. In addition to this, the cage itself began to collapse during the show and had to be held up by ringside assistants during the last fights. Choshu himself walked out of the event and refused to talk to the media before the end of the show, to the anger of Sasaki and Nagashima.


Closure

After the colossal failure of X1, many WJ events would be promoted and then suddenly canceled just days before; it was later revealed that Nagashima had either lied about booking the venues or not paid the money owed to hire them and when he was unable to secure them, simply canceled the events. The most infamous of these happened on October 22, 2003, when WJ had announced they were running Korakuen Hall; however, it was quickly pointed out that a boxing show was scheduled to take place in Korakuen on that day and Nagashima had once again lied about the booking. By the end of 2003, Shiro Koshinaka and Takao Omori had both left for other organizations, and WJ's ace Kensuke Sasaki returned to NJPW in December. The failure of WJ severely damaged the formerly close relationship between Sasaki and Choshu; Sasaki lost over ¥5 million and canceled his life insurance to fund WJ events, leading to him and his wife
Akira Hokuto is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known as . Career Born Hisako Uno, Hokuto became a professional wrestler in the wake of the enormous popularity of tag team the Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka), and was responsib ...
facing severe money issues in late 2003 and Sasaki having to work up to two independent shows a day just to support his family. World Japan was ultimately viewed by Japanese fans as just another independent promotion in the saturated world of pro wrestling, so it was not able to make a dent in the major promotions' fanbases. It officially closed in mid-2004 and was eventually succeeded by Riki Pro, a small-time independent promotion that mainly ran in Korakuen Hall.


Championships


World Magma the Greatest (WMG) Heavyweight Championship


World Magma the Greatest (WMG) Tag Team Championship


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 ...
*
List of professional wrestling promotions in Japan This is a list of professional wrestling promotions in Japan which includes both national and independent puroresu and joshi companies from the post-World War II period up to the present day. Major promotions Puroresu Joshi Independent promo ...


References


External links

{{Professional wrestling in Japan Japanese professional wrestling promotions 2003 establishments in Japan