The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion operating from 1994 to 2014.
History
Early years
It was formed by
Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the
W*ING
Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches.
History
After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibara ...
promotion, which was folding as a rival to
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...
(FMW), the pioneer of
deathmatch wrestling in Japan and the only deathmatch promotion in Japan at the time. Most of the wrestlers jumped ship to Quiñones' new IWA Japan group. He found a sponsor in Tatsukuni "Kinroku" Asano, a businessman who owned several restaurants in Tokyo and had bought and run several wrestling shows prior to IWA Japan.
They had their first show in Yokosuka, Kanagawa on May 21, 1994, which was taped for television. The early shows often featured many ex-
W*ING
Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches.
History
After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibara ...
wrestlers like
Yukihiro Kanemura
, better known by his ring name , is a Zainichi Korean retired professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the ring name (stylized as W*ING Kanemura). He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Extre ...
, Shoji Nakamaki, Nobutaka Araya and
The Headhunters
The Headhunters was an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music.
History and band name
Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with ...
. They also had fans to fill out questionnaires about the shows and sometimes gave away freebies. Quiñones booked talent from all over the world to compete in IWA, including
Cactus Jack and
Terry Funk
Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential
and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...
who engaged in some of their most famous bouts.
Kawasaki Dream
With IWA getting more popular due to the charisma of some of their wrestlers, they decided to produce a show called Kawasaki Dream, which was held on August 20, 1995, at the
Kawasaki Baseball Stadium. The main attraction of the show was the first ever 8-man single elimination deathmatch tournament, which featured
Cactus Jack,
Terry Funk
Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential
and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...
, Shoji Nakamaki,
Hiroshi Ono,
Leatherface
Leatherface is a character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (franchise), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' series. He first appeared in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974) as the mentally disabled member of a family of deranged Human cannibalis ...
,
Tiger Jeet Singh
Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan and was the ...
,
Terry Gordy
Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler from Soddy-Daisy, TN. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Ch ...
and former FMW wrestler
Mr. Gannosuke. The show also featured an
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...
defense, as
Tarzan Goto
, better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...
challenged then-champion
Dan Severn
Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Beast", is an American retired professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of ...
for the title.
Demise, mid 2000s resurgence and folding
Quiñones left IWA at the end of 1995, along with the NWA affiliation. Goto, Gannosuke, and Flying Kid Ichihara followed suit in late-1996 to join Tokyo Pro. Subsequently, IWA started to go downhill after losing much of the talent that Quiñones booked.
IWA experienced a resurgence in the mid 2000s when
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams and
Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael "Mike" Rotunda Jr. (born March 30, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s under the r ...
, as well as other
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. Ma ...
(AJPW) gaijins such as
Johnny Smith
Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote " Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Early life
During the Great ...
,
George Hines
George Hines (born June 1, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known by his ringname Jackie Fulton, who competed in regional and independent promotions including the American Wrestling Association, East Coast Championship W ...
and Giant Kimala found work in IWA after AJPW was sold. By late 2003 IWA also had a television deal with Fighting Samurai TV, notable for previously airing its own version of AJPW TV before AJPW was sold. Various WWE Hall of Famers also worked regularly for IWA during this IWA TV period, including
Big Bossman,
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (W ...
. The veterans would work in the main event along with the younger stars, becoming similar to
TNA TNA may refer to:
Organisations
* Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka
* The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya
* The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body
* Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...
at the time.
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (; born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator. He is signed to WWE as of 2024, where he works in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship succ ...
as "The Million Dollar Man" was the on-screen general manager on the show, acting as a heel. Steve Williams and up and comer Ryo Miyake formed a babyface tag-team in late 2003, Williams becoming his mentor. They would defeat
Leatherface
Leatherface is a character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (franchise), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' series. He first appeared in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974) as the mentally disabled member of a family of deranged Human cannibalis ...
and Keizo Matsuda for the vacant
IWA World Tag Team Championship
The IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearan ...
. An angle between Big Bossman and Steve Williams commenced in January 2004, where DiBiase hired Bossman to force fan favorite Williams into retirement for being "an AJPW invader", kayfabe being accused of taking the spotlight from the native IWA guys.
Mike Rotunda would take Williams side, Rotunda also teaming with Miyake. Rotunda would also find himself in an angle with Keizo Matsuda, who behaved as a young and cocky heel to the veteran babyface Rotunda.
Both angles were cut short, the first one due to Williams being diagnosed with throat cancer in March 2004 and the latter due to Rotunda's nagging injures, who ultimately decided to retire on May 5, 2004. Rotunda the day before retiring got his revenge on Matsuda, defeating him in singles competition. Instead of Williams, Bossman feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who defeated Bossman in a TV tournament for the
IWA World Heavyweight Title on IWA's 10th anniversary episode.
This would be Bossman's last match before he died a month later.
After an uptick in interest, IWA would find itself seriously struggling after its main prospects in Williams, Miyake, Rotunda and Bossman were no longer on TV due to uncontrollable circumstances. Miyake decided to retire in July 2004 when Williams's health further deteriorated. Miyake after ending his wrestling career has run a successful
dog breeding
Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intention of maintaining or producing specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offspring's characteristics are determined by ...
business that is still active as of 2023. Bossman eventually died on September 22, 2004, and by 2005, Jim Duggan and George Hines left the promotion. Johnny Smith's much promoted debut on IWA TV never happened because he decided to retire due to injuries like Rotunda did.
IWA held a show dedicated to Steve Williams on October 15, 2004, which AJPW mainstay and "Four Pillars of Heaven" member
Toshiaki Kawada
(born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In the promotion, he was a five-time Triple Crown He ...
main-evented the show in Williams's honor defeating Keizo Matsuda. Kawada also defeated Matsuda in the main event of the prior IWA 10th Anniversary Show on August 31, 2004.
Despite Kawada's prominent appearances, a full-time contract was never signed due to struggling financials and major loss of talent.
Williams showed his
electrolarynx
An electrolarynx, sometimes referred to as a "throat back", is a medical device used to produce clearer speech by those people who have lost their voice box, usually due to cancer of the larynx. The most common device is a handheld, battery-oper ...
for the first time publicly on the March 27, 2005 edition of IWA TV when his first bout of throat cancer recovery was showing improvement. This would be Williams's last mainstream wrestling TV appearance as he chose to pursue a lighter schedule on the
independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...
given his age and electrolarynx. After this appearance there were no AJPW or WWE wrestling veterans left on the roster to pave way for younger talents. This ultimately hurt the casual fan interest and arena attendance it quickly garnered in 2004 with AJPW's 2003 gaijin exodus, ex-WWE talent hires and Kawada's main event matches and promo appearances.
After nearly a decade of gradually declining interest the promotion folded on October 13, 2014, following its 20th anniversary event and the retirement of Asano.
Championships
*
IWA Triple Crown Championship
The was a title used on the Japanese independent circuit. The title was the world heavyweight championship of the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan). It was later revived in the women's wrestling promotion Gatoh Move Pro W ...
*
IWA World Heavyweight Championship
*
IWA World Tag Team Championship
The IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearan ...
*
IWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
The IWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship was a title for wrestlers that weight 225 pounds and under that was being defended in the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico. The championship is generally contested in professional wre ...
*
AJPW/IWA Women's World Championship
*AWF World Women's Championship
*
W*ING World Heavyweight Championship
Roster
*Natives:
Great Kabuki
, better known as , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is famous as the first to blow Asian mist in his opponents' faces.
Professional wrestling career
Mera was born on September 8, 1948, in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in ...
,
Tarzan Goto
, better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...
,
Mr. Gannosuke,
Yoshihiro Tajiri
is a Japanese professional wrestler and Professional wrestling promotion, 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 Ki ...
, Shoji Nakamaki, Nobutaka Araya, Daisuke Taue, Takashi Okano, Yoshiya Yamashita, Ryo Miyake, Keizo Matsuda, Flying Kid Ichihara,
Mr. Pogo,
Kintaro Kanemura
, better known by his ring name , is a Zainichi Korean retired professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the ring name (stylized as W*ING Kanemura). He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Ext ...
, Hiroshi Ono,
Kendo Nagasaki
Kendo Nagasaki is a professional wrestling stage name, used as a Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick of that of a Japanese Samurai warrior with a mysterious past and even supernatural powers of hypnosis. The name derives from ...
,
Keisuke Yamada, Kenji Takana,
Mitsunobu Kikuzawa
, better known as his wrestling persona and , is a Japanese professional wrestler who works as a freelancer.
Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylized in all capital l ...
,
Takashi Ishikawa
is a Japanese former professional wrestler and sumo wrestler from Fujishima, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.
Sumo wrestling career
He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched t ...
,
Shigeo Okumura
is a Japanese professional wrestler who works for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and is billed as Okumura. He also performs for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a two-time and current ...
,
Kishin Kawabata.
*Foreigners:
Dick Slater
Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champ ...
,
Terry Funk
Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential
and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...
,
Cactus Jack,
Tracy Smothers
Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the WWE, World Wrestling ...
,
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams,
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan,
The Headhunters
The Headhunters was an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music.
History and band name
Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with ...
(Headhunter A and Headhunter B),
Big Buddah,
Miguel Pérez Jr.,
Super Leather, Leatherface (Rick Patterson),
The Iceman,
Big Boss Man
Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name (The) Big Boss Man, a ...
,
The Crypt Keeper
''Tales from the Crypt'' is an American bi-monthly horror comics, horror comic anthology series that was published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955 created by William Gaines, Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. The magazine began in March 1947 as ''Inter ...
, Jason the Terrible (Rafel Moreno Jr.),
Dennis Knight
Dennis Knight (born December 26, 1968) is an American chef and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1992 and 1994 under the ring name Tex Slazenger and with the World Wrestl ...
,
New Jason the Terrible,
Tiger Jeet Singh
Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan and was the ...
,
Gran Sheik,
Terry Gordy
Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler from Soddy-Daisy, TN. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Ch ...
,
Dan Severn
Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Beast", is an American retired professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of ...
,
El Texano
Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui (November 26, 1958 – January 15, 2006), better known by his ring name El Texano, was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, he wrestled under masked and unma ...
,
Silver King,
Doug Gilbert
Douglas Gilbert (born February 5, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with regional professional wrestling promotions throughout the Southern United States, as well as for Extreme Championship Wrestli ...
*Attractions:
Toshiaki Kawada
(born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In the promotion, he was a five-time Triple Crown He ...
,
Satoshi Kojima
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former two-time MLW World Heavyweight Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Champion and former one half of the MLW W ...
,
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 o ...
See also
*
Professional wrestling in Japan
Professional wrestling in Japan has existed for several decades. The first Japanese person to involve themselves in catch wrestling (the basis of traditional professional wrestling) was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. There were subsequ ...
*
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 prom ...
*
List of National Wrestling Alliance territories
Formed in 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) governing body was the largest organization in professional wrestling until the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Era. Under the control of the NWA Board of Directors (consisting of various prominent, ...
*
International Wrestling Association
*
IWA Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) was an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...
References
External links
IWA Japan(Archived)
@ProWresIWAIWA Japan Title Histories
{{Authority control
Japanese professional wrestling promotions
1994 establishments in Japan
Defunct professional wrestling promotions