Suwama
is a Japanese professional wrestler better known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former record eight-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the promotion's board of directors. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling Early days (2004–2006) Suwama was scouted and recruited to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) by Hiroshi Hase, particularly because of his amateur wrestling background. He joined the All Japan dojo on March 1, 2004, and teamed with AJPW president Keiji Mutoh early in his career, defeating many of his seniors. In 2005, he defeated Muto in the 2005 Champion Carnival. Voodoo Murders (2006–2008) Suwama aligned himself with the Voodoo Murders stable on January 8, 2006, following a Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship match between Satoshi Kojima and stable leader Taru. Upon joining the group, he officially changed his name to Su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
World's Strongest Tag Determination League
__NOTOC__ The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually called the Open Tag League, but it was renamed to its present name the following year. The tournament is held under round-robin rules, with 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss; in earlier tournaments, only a time limit draw would provide the one point, with other methods (such as a Double Disqualification and Double Countouts) providing nothing for either team. The name "Real World Tag League" was a mistranslation by AJPW promoter Giant Baba; "saikyō" in Japanese means "strongest," not "real", but Baba used Engrish for promotional material. Between 1988 and 1994, the World Tag Team Championship was annually vacated in time for the tournament, which would be used to determine the new champions. The rule was reinstated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Champion Carnival
The is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since 1973 and is the longest-running singles tournament in professional wrestling, while also ranking as the most prestigious event in the AJPW calendar. It is considered a successor to the World League, held by Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) between 1959 and 1972, predating the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Climax tournament by a year. The tournament is held in a round-robin format, where all participating wrestlers face each other once with the winner being awarded two points and the loser none. A draw results in both wrestlers being awarded a point. After all wrestlers have faced each other once, the top two wrestlers advance to the final to determine the tournament winner. Baba himself holds the record for most Champion Carnival ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. The current champion is Jun Saito, who is in his first reign. Title history The championship was established after the unification of All Japan's then-flagship title, the PWF World Heavyweight Championship, with the NWA United National Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. The titles were unified on April 18, 1989, when NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta defeated the PWF World Heavyweight and NWA United National Champion Stan Hansen. Unlike most unified championships, the Triple Crown was originally represented through the continued use of the three individual championship belts. From 1989 to 2000, the holder of the Triple Crown was also presented by Nippon TV (AJPW's broadcaster at the time) with a large, globe-shaped trophy bearing the words "World Heavyweight Champion". The original title belts were returned ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
World Tag Team Championship (AJPW)
The is a professional wrestling World tag team championship in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was created on June 10, 1988 as a unification of two previous tag team titles in All Japan; the PWF Tag Team Championship, and the NWA International Tag Team Championship; when the PWF champions Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated NWA champions The Road Warriors. As with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, it is symbolized by four belts, two for each wrestler, representing the former PWF and NWA titles. It is currently the top of two tag team titles in AJPW, along with the secondary All Asia Tag Team Championship. There have been a total of 99 reigns shared between 65 different teams consisting of 70 distinctive champions. The current champions are Zen Nisshin Jidai ( Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi is a Japanese professional wrestler working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. A member of the Zennichi Shin Jidai stable, he is a former AJPW Triple Crown ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Voodoo Murders
Voodoo Murders (stylised in all capital letters, also stylised as VDM) were a professional wrestling stable who were best known as the main heel group in All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2005 and 2011, and 2022 to 2023. In 2013, the group was reformed in Diamond Ring and later performed primarily for Pro Wrestling ZERO1 in the stable's final years. The group, famously led by former Toryumon wrestler Taru, performed violent actions in their matches and displayed a lack of respect for their opponents. History 2005–2007 After competing in All Japan Pro Wrestling briefly in the early 2000s, Taru returned to All Japan on January 3, 2005, teaming with Johnny Stamboli to defeat David Flair and Keiji Mutoh. The duo was later joined by Chuck Palumbo, Shuji Kondo, "brother" Yasshi and briefly Giant Bernard; proclaiming themselves as Voodoo Murders with Taru as their leader. Although the phrase Voodoo Murders is thought to be Engrish by some fans, it seems to be a tribute to a pulp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Joe Doering
Joseph Doering (born April 16, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he was a member of Violent By Design. He is currently inactive due to cancer surgery. He is a former two-time Impact World Tag Team Champion alongside Eric Young and Deaner, holding the title under the Freebird rule. Doering is best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he has had two reigns as the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He also performed for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he competed in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), under the ring name Drake Brewer. Professional wrestling career Training and debut (2004–2007) Doering was trained at the Can-Am Wrestling School/Total Nonstop Action Wrestling School in 2004. On December 19, 2004, Doering wrestled his first match for the Border City Wrestling (BCW), where he was defeated by D-Ray 3000. World Wrestling Council ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Taiyō Kea
Maunakea Mossman (born November 18, 1975) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known under his ring name . Best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), he is the only wrestler in AJPW's history to have held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the World Tag Team Championship and the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Born in Honolulu, Kea trained with and debuted for AJPW as a junior heavyweight in 1994, and won the World Junior Heavyweight Championship once in 1997, vacating the championship upon his graduation to heavyweight the following year. Following the 2000 exodus, Kea remained with the promotion and was pushed as one of its top gaijin throughout the 2000s, winning the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship once, the Champion Carnival twice (in 2006 and 2012), the World's Strongest Tag Determination League three times (in 2001, 2002 and 2004), as well as being a 7 time and longest-reigning World Tag Team Champion, a record ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Keiji Mutoh
is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and during the 1980s and 1990s, and from his runs in other Japanese, contiguous United States, American, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican, and Mexico, Mexican Professional wrestling promotion, promotions. He was the President (corporate title), president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 2002 to 2013 and Representative director (Japan), representative director of Wrestle-1 (W-1) from 2013 until its closure in 2020. Considered one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time, Muto is one of the first Japanese wrestlers (''puroresura'') to gain an international fanbase in the 1990s and beyond, thanks in large part to his Great Muta Gimmick (professional wrestling), gimmick. The gimmick is one of the most influential in ''puroresu'', emul ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, with many more joining the following year when JWA folded. From the mid-1970s, All Japan was firmly established as the largest promotion in Japan. As the 1990s began, aging stars gave way to a younger generation including Mitsuharu Misawa, Steve Williams (wrestler), "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Kenta Kobashi, Gary Albright, Toshiaki Kawada, Mike Polchlopek, Mike Barton (Bart Gunn), Akira Taue and Jun Akiyama, leading to perhaps AJPW's most profitable period in the 1990s. In 1999, Giant Baba died and the promotion was run by Motoko Baba. Misawa was named president but left in 2000 after disagreements with Motoko. Misawa created Pro Wrestling Noah and every single native wrestler besides Masanobu Fuchi and Tos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Rosey (wrestler)
Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi (April 7, 1970 – April 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), under the ring names Kimo and Rosey. Anoa'i was a member of the Anoaʻi family, a renowned Samoan wrestling family. Anoa'i, along with his late cousins Eddie Fatu and Matt Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle, Afa Anoaʻi. Following his training, he competed in Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition with Samu as the Samoan Gangsta Party. The team had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoaʻi competed in various independent promotions and international promotions including World Wrestling Council and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoaʻi signed with the WWE and was assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in Cincinn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Minoru Suzuki
(born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Championship, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, former two-time NEVER Openweight Champion, former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, former one-time NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with former Suzuki-gun stablemates El Desperado (wrestler), El Desperado and Ren Narita) and a former KOPW (professional wrestling championship), Provisional KOPW Champion. He also makes appearances for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a member of Contra Unit and is a former MLW World Tag Team Championship, MLW World Tag Team Champion, with Ikuro Kwon. Suzuki was the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations in the world. During the 1990s, he was widely considered one ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kensuke Sasaki
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his numerous runs in the top three Japanese wrestling promotions; New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah. He was the founder and owner of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring, which was also named Kensuke Office. Sasaki is the first of five men ever to hold all three of ''puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, and the GHC Heavyweight Championship), the others being Yoshihiro Takayama, Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima, and Yuji Nagata - totaling seven world championship reigns. Sasaki also competed in MMA and won both fights by submission, remaining undefeated in mixed martial arts competition. Professional wrestling career Early years (1986–1989) Sasaki debuted in Riki Choshu's Japan Pro-Wrestling, a satellite of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), in February 1986. On Februa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |