is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

based in

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The promotion was founded in 2015 as a sub-brand of

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...

and was essentially a relaunch of

Union Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...

, acquired by DDT in 2005. On January 1, 2020, Basara became an

independent promotion 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. ...

History

Basara in DDT (2015–2019)

Having been active between 1993 and 1995,

(UPW) was revived by

(DDT) in 2005, with shows headlined by Poison Sawada,

Shuji Ishikawa is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, World Tag Team Championship (AJPW), World Tag Team Champio ...

and

Isami Kodaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro-Wrestling Basara (Basara). He originally started his career in the Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) promotion in July 2002, but later left the promotion to become a freelancer, before signing w ...

. On October 4, 2015, UPW held its last show, celebrating its 10th anniversary. On October 7, Kodaka announced the formation of a new promotion that would replace UPW, named Pro-Wrestling Basara. The name "Basara" reads either as or and, according to Kodaka, relates back to the ''

kabukimono or were gangs of samurai in feudal Japan. First appearing in the Azuchi–Momoyama period (between the end of the Muromachi period in 1573 and the beginning of the Edo period in 1603) as the turbulent Sengoku period drew to a close, were ei ...

'' which were

gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collecti ...

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

who dressed in flamboyant clothing and donned uncommon hairstyles. Basara was founded to "do something rebellious against the new, flashy style of wrestling". The Union Max Championship, formerly the top prize in Union Pro, was kept to be contested as the only

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in Basara.

Independence (2020–present)

On June 11, 2019, it was announced Basara would be splitting up from DDT and become an independent company starting January 1, 2020. On August 7, 2019, was officially registered. In October, the third edition of the annual "Iron Fist Tag Tournament" led to the creation of Basara's first

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

championship, the Iron Fist Tag Team Championship. Since its independence, Basara has had partnerships with other Japanese promotions such as Dove Pro Wrestling or

Wrestling of Darkness 666 , also known as the Wrestling of Darkness Organization 666 and often referred to simply as 666 or Triple Six, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The promotion was founded in 2003 by Onryo (wrestler), ...

, and has used the

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various p ...

as its trios title along with

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagas ...

. On June 9, 2025, Kodaka stepped down from his position as president of the company due to the promotion's struggles in attracting audiences.

Ryota Nakatsu is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions DDT Pro Wrestling and Pro-Wrestling Basara. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–pres ...

subsequently became president, while Kodaka remained the company's representative. Alongside Nakatsu's appointment,

Takumi Tsukamoto is a Japan, Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2009–present) At ''BJW World Triangle Night In Korakue ...

was named Head of Sales, and Takato Nakano was appointed Wrestlers' Representative.

Roster

There are two central units in Basara: * *

Alumni/guests

Kaji Tomato is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Kaientai Dojo, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and many others. Professional wrestling career I ...

Kohei Kinoshita is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenures with Wrestling of Darkness 666 and Dove Pro Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Dove Pro Wrestling (2016–present) Kinoshita made his ...

Leo Isaka is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, promotion Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling. He is also known for his tenure with Pro Wrestling Zero1 where he is th ...

Ryuichi Kawakami is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Gleat and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) and DDT Pro Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2009–p ...

Tank Nagai is a Japanese retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his tenure with the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, promotions Kaientai Dojo and All Japan Pro Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Independent cir ...

Championships

Tournaments

Broadcaster

Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

(2020–present)

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

*
Basara on Battle-News.com
{{Professional wrestling in Japan 2015 establishments in Japan Entertainment companies established in 2019 Shinjuku Japanese professional wrestling promotions Pro-Wrestling Basara