Japan Puroresu (ジャパンプロレス) or Japan Pro-Wrestling was the first renegade

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 in Japan. It was formed by

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a South Korean-Japanese retirement, retired Puroresu, professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a Booker (professional wrestling), bo ...

and his Ishingun after leaving

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

in 1984. The promotion co-promoted with

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 ...

until 1987 when it dissolved.

History

In August 1984,

had formed Ishin Gundan with

Animal Hamaguchi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . During his career he was recognized as a talented tag team wrestler despite his relatively small size for a heavyweight, and today he is recognized as a trainer in both ...

Isamu Teranishi is a masculine Japanese name, Japanese given name. Written forms Isamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *勇, "courage" or "bravery" *勲, "merit" *敢, "gallantry" *武, "war" The name can also be written in hira ...

Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu (谷津嘉章 ''Yatsu Yoshiaki'', born July 19, 1956) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is known for being one-half of the first-ever All Japan Pro Wrestling ...

Masa Saito was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Mr. Saito or . He wrestled for 33 years around the world. He had success as a singles wrestler, winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990, and as a tag team wrestle ...

and

Kuniaki Kobayashi was a Japanese professional wrestler, most notable for being the generational rival of the famous Tiger Mask character in Japanese ''puroresu''. He wrestled numerous acclaimed matches against Tiger Mask I and Tiger Mask II. Early life Kob ...

to feud with

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. However, just as the feud was heating up, tensions both in and out of the ring forced Ishingun and a few others to leave NJPW that September. The next month, they formed Japan Pro-Wrestling and also announced a co-promotion with

. Masa Saito briefly went back to North America but returned to Japan in 1985 and joined in the new promotion. In the beginning JPW promoted their own shows, but soon these began to be on-and-off. By the end of 1985, the entire active roster (excluding trainees and wrestlers on foreign circuits) were essentially AJPW wrestlers working on a separate contract, that of their promotion. While New Japan suffered from the lack of strong Japanese vs. Japanese feuds due to the loss of Choshu and

Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Maeda was also known by the ring name Kwik-kik-Lee durin ...

who led the Japanese UWF, All Japan enjoyed banner years as Choshu feuded with its luminaries

Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavy ...

and

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a Japanese retired 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 h ...

, and Kobayashi feuded with the new version of

Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...

Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for spending 18 years with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and subsequently leading the 2000 All Japan Pro Wrestling mass exodus, which culminated in him forming Pro W ...

. On March 23, 1987, Choshu and JPW announced the cancellation of the contract with AJPW. By the end of March 1987, Japan Pro-Wrestling dissolved, as some went back to NJPW, while some stayed with AJPW. AJPW championships were stripped off of the JPW stars that went back to NJPW. Hamaguchi chose to retire (he would return to wrestling in 1990) and Killer Khan, who had joined in 1985, would return to the WWF for a final run. In 1995, Choshu reformed his Ishingun with Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Masa Saito to briefly feud with

Heisei Ishingun Heisei Ishingun was a Japanese professional wrestling stable led by Shiro Koshinaka during the 1990s, primarily in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. History After an intense feud with each other early from 1988, Shiro Koshinaka and Kuniaki Kobayashi fo ...

, which included Kuniaki Kobayashi. In 2003, Choshu reformed Japan Pro-Wrestling in

Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling Fighting of World Japan Pro Wrestling, also known as Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling and frequently shortened to World Japan or WJ was a professional wrestling promotion formed in Japan in 2002 by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling employees Rik ...

, but after a year, due to financial issues with

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 ...

, evolved the promotion to Riki Pro and ran smaller scale shows, until Chōshu finally returned to NJPW in 2005 as booker.

Alumni

(returned to NJPW) *

Haruka Eigen (January 11, 1946 – November 28, 2016) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was an executive director of Pro Wrestling Noah. Sumo career In July 1961, Haruka Eigen began competing in sumo wrestling. He was part of the Tatsunami stable. He ...

(stayed with AJPW) *

(retired, returned to NJPW in 1990) *

(returned to NJPW) *

(stayed with AJPW) * Shinichi Nakano (stayed with AJPW) *

Killer Khan was a Japanese professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the Giant in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the 1980s, including a high profile "M ...

(returned to WWF, retired shortly thereafter) *

(stayed with AJPW) *

Fumihiro Niikura , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, manager, promoter and actor. He is best known for his tenures in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Super World Sports (SWS) and Stampede Wrestling in Canada. Career ...

(hiatus after suffering a heart attack during excursion in North America, joined Pioneer Senshi as a freelancer) *

Norio Honaga (born August 11, 1955) is a Japanese retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Referee (professional wrestling), referee. Career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1980–1984) Norio Honaga debuted for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on April 2 ...

(returned to NJPW) *

Shinji Sasazaki is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Shinji Aoba (真司), perpetrator of the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack *Shinji Aoyama (真治), a Japanese film director *Shinji Aramaki (伸志), a Japanese anime ...

(returned to NJPW) *

Masanobu Kurisu Masanobu (written: , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese ''kugyō'' *, Japanese painter *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese print designer, book publisher and ...

(stayed with AJPW) *

Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician and semi-retired professional wrestler who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. As a professional wrestler, Hase primarily worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and also for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJ ...

(was on an excursion in North America during his entire tenure, went to NJPW upon returning to Japan) *

(went to NJPW) *

Hidetoshi Yamamoto Hidetoshi (written: 英寿, 英俊, 英敏, 英利, 秀俊, 秀敏, 秀利 or 秀稔) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese sumo wrestler *, Japanese sumo wrestler *, Japanese racing driver *, Japane ...

(retired) * Tatsumi Kitahara (was a trainee, transferred to AJPW Dojo upon dissolving) *

Akira Taue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his runs in All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he worked for all of his career in both promotions. A former sumo wrestler who went under the name , he retire ...

(was a trainee, transferred to AJPW Dojo upon dissolving) Tag Team and Stables *Calgary Hurricanes (

Super Strong Machine (born December 20, 1956) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working as a trainer for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, known primarily by his ring name . Professional wrestling career Hirata applied and was approv ...

(returned to NJPW),

Hiro Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by the shortened name of . He was the first AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career A former judoka, Hiro debuted in 1978 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In May 1 ...

(returned to NJPW), and Shunji Takano (stayed with AJPW)) Kensuke Sasaki, Koki Kitahara and Super Strong Machine briefly returned to AJPW as freelancers in the mid-2000s.

Championships and accomplishments

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brou ...

– Hamaguchi (1), Teranishi (2), Honaga (1), Machine (1) *

NWA International Tag Team Championship ''This was a regional NWA championship based in Japan. For the version of this title that was promoted in NWA All Star Wrestling in Canada, see NWA International Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version).'' The NWA International Tag Team Champio ...

– Chōshu (1), Yatsu (1) * PWF World Heavyweight Championship – Chōshu (1) * World Junior Heavyweight Championship – Hiro Saito (1), Kobayashi (1) *

NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Stev ...

– Kobayashi (1)

References

External links

Description of promotion in Cagematch
{{Professional wrestling in Japan Japanese professional wrestling promotions 1984 establishments in Japan 1987 disestablishments in Japan Defunct professional wrestling promotions

History

Alumni

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links