The was the first

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 to be based in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It operated from 1953 to 1973.

History

JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963)

Rikidōzan (born Kim Sin-rak; ; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known as Rikidōzan (), was a Korean-born Japanese wrestler who competed in sumo and professional wrestling. He was known as The Father of Puroresu, and one of the most i ...

, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-style professional wrestler in 1951, decided in 1953 to establish a territory that would represent the National Wrestling Alliance in Japan. In those early days, Japanese professional wrestlers came from out of the sumo or

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

ranks; former sumotori usually used their shikona (Rikidōzan, Azumafuji, Toyonobori, etc.) while former judokas usually used their real names or modifications of them ( Masahiko Kimura, Michiaki Yoshimura, etc.) Rikidōzan pushed himself as the top star of the promotion, first battling other Japanese wrestlers such as Kimura and Toshio Yamaguchi, but found a strong niche in feuds with American wrestlers such as Lou Thesz, The Destroyer and

Bobo Brazil Houston Harris (July 10, 1924 – January 20, 1998) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one ...

. In 1957 he defeated Thesz to win the title that would be the JWA's top title thereafter, the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. As a newly found hero to the war-weary Japanese masses, Rikidōzan expanded into several business ventures. It resulted in his murder at the hands of a gangster in 1963, at the peak of his fame.

JWA after Rikidōzan (1963–1973)

After Rikidōzan’s death in 1963, the company continued to operate as the nation’s premier (and only male) wrestling circuit until challenged in the late 1960s by International Wrestling Enterprise, which featured the first major World heavyweight championship based in Japan, the IWA title. The JWA's top stars, Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki left to form their own promotions (

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

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 sha ...

, respectively) in 1972. With its top drawing cards gone, the JWA was therefore out of business the following year.

Championships based at JWA

* Japanese Heavyweight Championship * Japanese Junior Heavyweight Championship * Japanese Light Heavyweight Championship * All Japan Tag Team Championship * All Asia Heavyweight Championship (later revived by AJPW and Pro Wrestling Land's End) * All Asia Tag Team Championship (later revived by AJPW) * NWA International Heavyweight Championship (later revived by AJPW) * NWA International Tag Team Championship (later revived by AJPW) * NWA United National Championship (later revived by AJPW)

Annual tournaments

World Big League

, later renamed to simply was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1959 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year. Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant since its beginning to be a world tournament. It had been one of the most important pro-wrestling tournament of its time, because it was one of the very few (and for some years after its creation the only) pro-wrestling tournaments of its time to be considered representative of the entire pro-wrestling world. In 1970, JWA created a tag team counterpart of the World League, known as World Tag League. Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create in their respective promotions,

and

, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Climax for the NJPW and the Champion Carnival for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World League. The following is a list of the winners of each edition: * 1st World Big League (1959): Rikidozan by defeating Jess Ortega. * 2nd World Big League (1960): Rikidozan(2) by defeating

Leo Nomellini Leo Joseph Nomellini (June 19, 1924 – October 17, 2000) was an Italian- American Hall of Fame American football offensive and defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers and professional wrestler. He played college football for Minnesota and ...

. * 3rd World Big League (1961): Rikidozan(3) by defeating Mr. X. * 4th World Big League (1962): Rikidozan(4) by defeating Lou Thesz. * 5th World Big League (1963): Rikidozan(5) by defeating Killer Kowalski. * 6th World League (1964): Toyonobori by defeating Gene Kiniski. * 7th World League (1965): Toyonobori(2) by defeating Fred Blassie. * 8th World League (1966): Giant Baba by defeating Wilbur Snyder. * 9th World League (1967): Giant Baba(2) by defeating The Destroyer. * 10th World League (1968): Giant Baba(3) by defeating Killer Kowalski. * 11th World League (1969): Antonio Inoki by defeating Chris Markoff. * 12th World League (1970): Giant Baba(4) by defeating

Don Leo Jonathan Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, was an American-Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was f ...

. * 13th World League (1971): Giant Baba(5) by defeating

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling m ...

. * 14th World League (1972): Giant Baba(6) by defeating Gorilla Monsoon.

World Tag League

, also called World Tag League, was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1970 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year. Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant to be a world tournament. It was created in 1970 as the tag team counterpart of World Big League. Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create in their respective promotions,

and

, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World Tag League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Tag League for the NJPW and the World's Strongest Tag Determination League for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World Tag League. In fact, in 2012, NJPW renamed the G1 Tag League the World Tag League. The following is a list of the winners of each edition: * 1st NWA Tag League (1970): Antonio Inoki and

Kantaro Hoshino (born Yeo Geon-bu (여건부) on October 9, 1943 – November 25, 2010) was a Japanese born, Korean professional wrestler, manager, and promoter best known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. As a wrestler, he was half of The Yamaha Brother ...

by defeating Nick Bockwinkel and John Quinn. * 2nd NWA Tag League (1971): Antonio Inoki (2) and Seiji Sakaguchi by defeating Killer Kowalski and Buddy Austin. * 3rd NWA Tag League (1972): Seiji Sakaguchi (2) and Akihisa Takachiho by defeating Larry Hamilton and Joe Hamilton.

Alumni

This is not an exhaustive list, as the JWA was the only Japanese promotion until 1966 and many wrestlers, both Japanese who competed for a brief time and then retired, or foreigners who came for a single tour, were booked. ;Japanese *

* Masahiko Kimura * Azumafuji *Surugaumi * Toyonobori *Michiaki Yoshimura *Yoshinosato *Kohkichi Endoh *Isao Yoshiwara * Yasuhiro Kojima * Kintaro Ohki * Shohei "Giant" Baba * Kanji "Antonio" Inoki * Umanosuke Ueda *Katsuhisa Shibata *Mitsu Hirai *

Kotetsu Yamamoto , known by his ring name was a Japanese professional wrestler, referee, and color commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He was named "''Kotetsu''" ("Little Iron") by former Japanese pro wrestler Toyonobori after the famous knight, Aizu-No-K ...

*Motoshi Ohkuma * Raizō Kojika * Masao Kimura * Haruka Eigen * Seiji Sakaguchi * Masanori Saito * Katsuji Adachi * Akihisa Takachiho * Kazuo Sakurada * Masanori Toguchi * Masashi Ozawa * Osamu Kido * Tatsumi Fujinami * Akio Sato * Kengo Kimura * Mitsuo Hata *Masao Itoh ;Foreigners * Lou Thesz - first NWA World Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in Japan * King Kong Czaya *

Tiger Joginder Singh Joginder Singh (1919-August 1, 1990) was an Indian professional wrestler. He was the first All Asia Tag Team Champion, along with King Kong. He was one of the top professional wrestlers of India at that time. Early life He was born in village ...

Dara Singh Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya S ...

* Freddie Blassie * The Destroyer *

* The Sheik *Bill Dromo * Fritz Von Erich * Gene Kiniski *Syed Saif Shah *

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavy ...

* Dory Funk, Jr. * Terry Funk *

Alex Iakovidis Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

* Mil Máscaras * Crusher Lisowski * Dick the Bruiser * Wilbur Snyder *

Danny Hodge Daniel Allen Hodge (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and boxer. He is renowned primarily for his wrestling career, where he competed both as an amateur and professional. A three-time N ...

* Karl Gotch * Johnny Valentine * Harley Race *

Fritz von Goering Fritz Von Goering (born John Gabor ) is an American retired professional wrestler, known for playing a villainous German character in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Biography John Gabor was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an Irish-American family. In ...

*Mike Sharpe Sr. *Ben Sharpe *Bobby Bruns *

Harold Sakata , better known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor of Japanese descent. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and late ...

References

External links

puroresu.com: JWAJWA Title HistoriesPuroresuWiki
{{Professional wrestling in Japan, state=collapsed Japanese professional wrestling promotions 1953 establishments in Japan 1973 disestablishments in Japan National Wrestling Alliance members Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance