, known in

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ('' dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by t ...

and professional wrestling as or simply , was a sumo wrestler from

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 ...

. After retiring as a

rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...

from sumo, he became a

professional wrestler 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 ...

Career

In professional wrestling

On December 12, 1954, Toyonobori became a

, joining the Japanese Wrestling Association, which was the top wrestling promotion in

from 1953 until 1972 and the only male significant Japanese wrestling promotion from 1953 until 1966, when its predominance began to be challenged by International Pro Wrestling. The top wrestler of the JWA was Rikidozan, the founder of the promotion; he dominated the Japanese wrestling scene. As a result, few Japanese wrestlers were able to get into the spotlight. The more recognizable among them was Toyonobori himself, who dominated the tag team scene in Japan, forming a successful tag team with Rikidozan, with whom he became a four-time winner of the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

, which was the top tag title in Japan and which is now contested 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 ...

. After Rikidozan's death on December 15, 1963, Toyonobori, along with Yoshinosato, Koukichi Endo and Michiaki Yoshimura announced their intention to continue the JWA on January 10, 1964. Therefore, he became the president of the JWA and its top wrestler, as he had been the second most important wrestler of the promotion during the Rikidozan era. He formed two successful tag teams with Michiaki Yoshimura and then

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 ...

, with whom he won the

three more times. Yoshimura and Baba were among the young wrestlers the JWA was trying to push to the top, so they were paired with the top wrestler of the JWA, a strategy the promotion followed before pairing Toyonobori himself with the popular Rikidozan. On December 12, 1964, Toyonobori won the World Heavyweight Championship of

Worldwide Wrestling Associates NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

from The Destroyer at the Tokyo Gym; the title was universally recognized as a world title back then and had been held by Rikidozan himself (it has been the first world title to be held by an Asian wrestler). Toyonobori was therefore the first Japanese wrestler to win a world title in

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 ...

as Rikidozan was Korean (although the true ethnicity of Rikidozan emerged only long after his death). WWA did not recognise the title change, while the JWA recognized it. Because of this, there were two WWA world heavyweight champions, defending their titles respectively in Japan and in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. On September 20, 1965 Toyonobori was defeated by disqualification by Luke Graham at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium to end the dispute over the WWA World Heavyweight title. Toyonobori began losing power in the JWA, which then started pushing

to the top of the promotion, leading him to win its top single title, the

NWA International Heavyweight Championship The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles tha ...

(which had been held up after Rikidozan's death), in 1965. After Rikidozan's death, the JWA did not have one single title; the

Japanese Heavyweight Championship The Japanese Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship defended in the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance. The championship belt was later used by WAR for their J-1 Heavyweight Championship, held by Genichiro Tenryu. Title hi ...

, the

All Asia Heavyweight Championship The is a title owned and promoted by the Pro Wrestling Land's End promotion. The title was originally created in 1955 in Japan Wrestling Association (JWA), with the inaugural champion crowned on November 22, 1955. Being a professional wrestlin ...

and the

, which were held by Rikidozan himself, were all recognized and only the last two titles were later revived (respectively in 1968 and in 1965). On January 5, 1966, the JWA announced the resignation and departure of Toyonobori as the company president; he was later expelled from the JWA along with

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 homage ...

on March 21, 1966. On April 23, 1966, Toyonobori announced the formation of

Tokyo Pro Wrestling Tokyo Pro Wrestling is the name of two unrelated Japanese professional wrestling promotions. Despite their common name, they did not share management, promotional style, or talent in any way. Original Tokyo Pro Wrestling The original Tokyo Pro W ...

; on the same day Inoki announced his intention to join the company, as Toyonobori has privately promised Inoki to make him the promotion's top star. On October 12, 1966, Tokyo Pro had its first card at the Sumo Hall with Inoki in the main event. However, on April 6, 1967, the JWA announced the return of Antonio Inoki to the promotion. Therefore, Tokyo Pro folded, having lost its top star. Along with most of the former Tokyo Pro wrestlers, Toyonobori joined International Pro Wrestling, which had been founded in the meantime on October 21, 1966 by Isao Yoshiwara and

Hiro Matsuda (July 22, 1937 – November 27, 1999) was a Japanese professional wrestler and trainer best known by his ring name . He trained many professional wrestlers including Hulk Hogan, The Great Muta, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Scott Hall, Lex L ...

and which had its first card in Osaka on May 5, 1967 in conjunction with Tokyo Pro. IPW then started surpassing the dominance of the JWA in Japanese wrestling. On December 19, 1968, Toyonobori was defeated by

Billy Robinson William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 3 March 2014) was a British professional wrestler and wrestling instructor. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents ( Europe, North America, Asia and Ocean ...

in a round-robin tournament to become the first IWA World Heavyweight Champion, the first Japanese-based world heavyweight championship in professional wrestling history. On May 18, 1969, Toyonobori and

Shozo Kobayashi Shozo "Strong" Kobayashi (, 25 December 1940 – 31 December 2021), also known by the stage name Strong Kongô, was a Japanese professional wrestler and actor. He is known for his appearances with International Wrestling Enterprise and New Japan ...

, nicknamed ''Strong Kobayashi'', defeated Michael Nador and Ivan Strogoff in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to become the first IWA World Tag Team Champions. On February 11, 1970 Toyonobori announced his retirement at an IPW event. However, in March 1972, when Inoki left JWA to form

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 ...

, Toyonobori came out of retirement for a few matches to help give the promotion name value. His last match was on February 20, 1973, a win over

Bruno Bekkar Bryan Ashby is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler and trainer, known by his ring name Bruno Bekkar, who competed for Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling and for other promoters in New Zealand and Australia from the early 1960s until ...

in Yokohama, more than three years after his original retirement ceremony. Toyonobori died on July 1, 1998 due to heart failure.

Championships and accomplishments

* Japanese Wrestling Association **

( 7 times) - with Rikidozan (4), Michiaki Yoshimura (1) and

(2) **JWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rikidozan **

World Big League 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 ...

(1964, 1965) *

International Wrestling Enterprise International Wrestling Enterprise (国際プロレス興行;, ''Kokusai Puroresu Kogyō'') was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association ...

**TWWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Koji ''Thunder'' Sugiyama **IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shozo ''Strong'' Kobayashi *

** WWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) (recognized by Japanese Wrestling Association, disputed by WWA)

Awards

*Tokyo Sports Newspaper **Achievement Award (1998)

Sumo career record

*Only two tournaments were held through most of the 1940s.

References

External links

facts about Toyonobori career during Rikidozan era
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyonobori Japanese male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling executives Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Fukuoka Prefecture 1931 births 1998 deaths All Asia Tag Team Champions