Mid 20th Century
174-560: Dalip Singh Rana (born 27 August 1972) is an Indian-born American retired professional wrestler and wrestling promoter better known by his ring name The Great Khali . He is best known for his tenure in WWE where he became the first Indian-born World Heavyweight Champion in history. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. He made his professional wrestling debut in 2000. Before embarking on his professional wrestling career, he
348-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
522-448: A flapjack wrestling move from Singh. Ong had suffered a previous concussion during the session, but the trainers gave him a lower evaluation for not avoiding injuries and told him to continue training. In addition, it was proven that Ong did not receive protective gear or supervision by All Pro Wrestling (APW) staff and this second concussion ultimately proved fatal for him. As Singh inadvertently caused his death, Ong's family brought
696-491: A heel to assist WWE Champion Jinder Mahal in a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE Championship. He helped Mahal by preventing Randy Orton from escaping from the cage, thus Mahal escaped first and retained the title. Khali returned on 27 April 2018 at The Greatest Royal Rumble match, entering at number 45, and lasted for less than a minute, before being eliminated by Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley . This
870-626: A legitimate injury, a 20-man battle royal was held for the title on 20 July edition of SmackDown! , which Khali won after eliminating both Kane and Batista in one move, winning his first World Heavyweight Championship. Khali dominated and defeated both Batista and Kane in a triple-threat match at The Great American Bash on 22 July. Khali debuted a new finisher called the Khali Vise Grip (a two-handed clawhold ) which he used to wear down Batista, Kane, and Ric Flair . At SummerSlam on 26 August, Khali lost by disqualification when he used
1044-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1218-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1392-517: A tag team match at Wrestling World 2002 in January 2002 after Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned him with a cradle . Singh suffered another big tag defeat during March, being pinned by Manabu Nakanishi after a German suplex pin, though his most critical loss came in August at Tokyo Nippon Budokan, when after a falling out he was pinned by Silva in a singles match . Starting in 2002, he also wrestled in
1566-683: A July 22, 2004 pay-per-view, who at the time was going through throat cancer recovery and made a surprise appearance. In April 2003 Johnny Smith also left AJPW, followed by George Hines in July 2003, leaving a void in the gaijin roster. In both of their cases they would defect to IWA Japan , where Williams and Rotunda would also go find work. However, despite his material being shown on IWA TV, Smith's planned in-ring debut in March 2004 for IWA Japan never happened due to him choosing to permanently retire because of his aforementioned injury. After Mrs. Baba sold
1740-735: A Khali Kiss Cam segment the following week on SmackDown , slapping Khali twice. On 20 May episode of SmackDown , Mahal interrupted Khali's match against Jey Uso , which led to Khali leaving the ring to confront Mahal, who then slapped Khali again, which made Khali re-enter the ring, defeat Jey Uso and then assault Jimmy Uso after the match. On 27 May episode of SmackDown , after being defeated by Kane, Mahal came out and shoved Ranjin Singh and then Khali used his Vise Grip on Singh, thus forming an alliance with Mahal and acting as Mahal's bodyguard, assaulting Mahal's opponents after his matches. On 1 July edition of SmackDown , Ranjin Singh revealed that Mahal
1914-859: A New Japan Pro-Wrestling event on February 20, 2005; Satoshi Kojima (who was the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which made Kojima the only wrestler to ever hold both titles simultaneously to that point. Muto later accomplished the feat in 2008. However, he would hold the IWGP Championship as Keiji Muto, and the Triple Crown Championship as his alter-ego The Great Muta. In addition, Keiji Muto and Satoshi Kojima are both New Japan Pro-Wrestling alumni but played
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#17327934256102088-763: A Tomoe Battle, where in cooperation with the Baba family, Jake Lee would bring the NWA International Heavyweight Championship , Kento Miyahara the PWF World Heavyweight Championship and Yuma Aoyagi the NWA United National Championship to symbolize the origin of the title belt. This kind of match was last fought at the 1997 Champion Carnival where Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi to win
2262-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
2436-697: A brief cameo in episode 18 of NBC 's Outsourced , and appeared on the Disney Channel TV program Pair of Kings as Atog, a rock-smashing giant, in the episode "Fight School". Rana married Harminder Kaur in 2002. They have a daughter, born in February 2014, and a son born in November 2023. Having been a disciple of Indian spiritual guru Ashutosh Maharaj, Rana has been described as extremely spiritual and religious. He meditates every day and abstains from alcohol and tobacco. Initially, Rana suggested
2610-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2784-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2958-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
3132-467: A consistent role in the main event picture of All Japan Pro Wrestling from the time of their arrival to the promotion, who along with longtime veteran Toshiaki Kawada main-evented All Japan during the mid-2000s. After John Tenta left All Japan in July 2003 and Jerry Tuite's death in December, who often tag-teamed with each other to fight Keiji Muto's posse, Jamal (Umaga) and Taiyō Kea would take
3306-542: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . All Japan Pro Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling ( 全日本プロレス , Zen Nihon Puroresu , doing business as オールジャパン・プロレスリング株式会社 , Ōru Japan Puroresuringu Kabushiki-gaisha ) ( AJPW / AJP ) or simply All Japan
3480-624: A departure in 1990 to form the Super World of Sports ), as he would team with Kawada to face Maunnakea Mossman and Stan Hansen on July 23 (at the final tour show). On July 20, 2000, Yoshinobu Kanemaru , Takeshi Morishima , Naomichi Marufuji , Kentaro Shiga , Takeshi Rikio , Mitsuo Momota , Rusher Kimura , Haruka Eigen , Tsuyoshi Kikuchi , Kenta Kobayashi , Takao Omori, Yoshihiro Takayama, Jun Izumida , Masao Inoue , Yoshinari Ogawa , Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa competed in their last matches for All Japan Pro Wrestling at
3654-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
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#17327934256103828-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
4002-728: A freelance basis. Some personalities from North America also helped with the few cards, including Dory Funk Sr. , Terry Funk , Bruno Sammartino , Dominic DeNucci , Freddie Blassie and The Destroyer . Baba established the Pacific Wrestling Federation ( PWF ) as the governing body for all future titles in All Japan. In the beginning the PWF recognized a world heavyweight championship and several "regional championships" given as billing to foreign stars depending from which region they came from, but after All Japan joined
4176-511: A future collaboration between AJPW and Osaka Pro, with whom Zeus previously worked in the past which would also lead to more departures with Naoya Nomura and Koji Iwamoto announcing on December 5, that he would also be leaving the promotion on December 31 when their contract expires only to Nomura return to the promotion in June 2022. On July 12, 2022, it was announced that AJPW would be celebrating its 50th anniversary event on September 18, 2022, at
4350-505: A great TV deal, All Japan has operated consistently since 1972, making it the second-longest running promotion in Japan. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The promotion was founded by Shohei "Giant" Baba and the Momota brothers, Mitsuo and Yoshihiro , sons of Rikidōzan . Baba, a former professional baseball pitcher, joined
4524-512: A handicap match against Vladimir Kozlov which they won by intentional countout. As part of the 2010 WWE supplemental draft , Khali and Ranjin Singh were both drafted back to the Raw brand. After returning from his hiatus the previous month, Khali was announced by John Cena to be a part of his team along with Bret Hart , Chris Jericho , Edge, John Morrison and R-Truth to face The Nexus at SummerSlam on 15 August, but on 9 August episode of Raw he
4698-615: A judge for the Raw's Got Talent segment, in which he hit Chavo Guerrero with a chop . Khali made his official return on 14 December episode of Raw , teaming with Christian and Kane to defeat Ezekiel Jackson , Vladimir Kozlov and William Regal . On 2 April episode of SmackDown it was announced that Khali would take time off to spend time with his family and regroup his thoughts back in India, but he made an appearance as Khaluber (Khali dressed as MacGruber ) on 19 April Raw by teaming up with special guest host Will Forte (as MacGruber) in
4872-478: A lawsuit against APW. APW was found liable for recklessness after less than a day of deliberations, awarding the Ong family for damages of over $ 1.3 million. From October 2010 until the final in January 2011, Khali appeared on the television reality show Bigg Boss , on which he finished as first runner-up. The show made special arrangements only for Khali, including a custom-made bed to fit him. In March 2011, Khali had
5046-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
5220-432: A loss of All Japan's TV deal and a period of hardship for the company. In 2001, they entered a cross-promotion agreement with New Japan Pro-Wrestling which proved very successful, allowing All Japan to remain one of the larger promotions in the country, although now firmly behind NJPW. In January 2002, Keiji Muto defected to All Japan, and was officially appointed as its new president that September. He would then acquire
5394-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
The Great Khali - Misplaced Pages Continue
5568-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
5742-560: A new championship called the Gaora TV Championship . The tournament for the title began on September 8, and ended on October 7 with Seiya Sanada defeating Yasufumi Nakanoue in the final to become the inaugural champion. The "Pro Wrestling Love" name and theme was retired on July 5, 2013, thus ending the era. On November 1, 2012, IT company Speed Partners purchased all shares of All Japan from Keiji Muto and his business partners like Gaora TV for ¥ 200 million, however,
5916-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
6090-416: A new company named Zen Nihon Puroresu Innovation, through which he will run the new All Japan Pro Wrestling. Akiyama also serves as the representative director of the promotion and reports to a board of directors, which most notably includes Suwama and Akebono. Motoko Baba also joined the promotion as a consultant. On September 28, 2015, Go Shiozaki announced his resignation from All Japan. On November 2, it
6264-532: A poor family, Rana had to do odd jobs to help his family make ends meet. He has acromegaly , which among other symptoms causes gigantism and chin protrusion. When Rana was serving as a security guard in Shimla , he caught the eye of a police officer from the neighbouring State of Punjab who previously helped several employees of the Punjab Police to become international sportspersons , got him employed into
6438-413: A professional wrestler on May 11, 2013. On May 1, 2013, it was reported that negotiations had started between Speed Partners president Nobuo Shiraishi and All Japan president Masayuki Uchida, which would see Keiji Muto regain the promotion's presidency before the end of the month. However, on May 27, it was reported that Shiraishi himself would take over the presidency of All Japan effective June 1. This
6612-400: A rampage for several weeks, winning handicap matches, beating wrestlers up in a display of power and mocking The Undertaker's signature pin and victory pose. Khali then challenged The Undertaker to a Punjabi Prison match at The Great American Bash . However, Khali was not medically cleared to compete in the match and was replaced by Big Show , who lost despite Khali's interference. After he
6786-524: A steel chair, but retained the title. Khali then began a feud with Rey Mysterio after Mysterio won a Championship Competition to become the number-one contender, leading Khali to apply his Vise Grip on Mysterio on 7 September episode of SmackDown! until Batista came to the rescue, with SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long informing Khali that he would have to defend the World Heavyweight Championship also against Batista in
6960-408: A steel chair. As a result, Khali began coming out to the ring during and after Ziggler's matches, in attempt to gain revenge and to stop Ziggler from cheating. Over the next few weeks, Khali lost to Ziggler by countout and disqualification after Ziggler made it look like Khali hit him with a steel chair. At The Bash on 28 June, Khali lost to Ziggler by pinfall after Kane returned and attacked Khali. It
7134-468: A third exodus began, primarily of gaijin wrestlers. The most notable included "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark), Bill Goldberg and Mike Rotunda . They had wrestled their last matches on pay-per-views that month, not renewing their contracts after the new ownership fully realized. Williams would only make one more appearance in the Pro Wrestling Love era on
The Great Khali - Misplaced Pages Continue
7308-516: A triple threat match at Unforgiven on 16 September, where Khali's 61-day reign ended after receiving a spinebuster . Khali challenged Batista to a rematch in a Punjabi Prison match at No Mercy on 7 October, which Khali lost by failing to escape the Punjabi Prison before Batista. In late 2007 and early 2008, Khali was put in a program with Finlay usually trying to assault Hornswoggle , but with Finlay stopping him. Khali participated in
7482-869: A two-page written statement, which claimed that Misawa "took no responsibility and abandoned his duty." In addition, she hinted that Toshiaki Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi would be the only two native wrestlers to stay with All Japan, as "Kawada and Fuchi have sworn to carry out Baba-san's last wish: to keep All Japan Pro Wrestling alive"; this was confirmed a day later when Kawada and Fuchi both renewed their contracts with All Japan, along with referee Kyohei Wada. The gaijin wrestlers that chose to stay with AJPW were Maunakea Mossman , Johnny Smith , George Hines , Mike Barton , Jim Steele , Mike Rotunda , Stan Hansen and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , while Scorpio , Vader and Richard Slinger joined Misawa's crew. Not wanting to choose sides, Johnny Ace would retire from active competition and return to World Championship Wrestling in
7656-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7830-429: A very quick match. Afterwards, Moore was manhandled by Khali. Daivari continued his ECW winning streak over the next several weeks with The Great Khali usually following up the contest with a chokebomb on Daivari's opponent. At December to Dismember on 3 December, Daivari got a victory over Tommy Dreamer following a roll-up . Dreamer then chased Daivari backstage, but Khali appeared and caught Dreamer, planting him on
8004-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
8178-545: A younger generation including Mitsuharu Misawa , "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , Kenta Kobashi , Gary Albright , Toshiaki Kawada , 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 Toshiaki Kawada left All Japan. This led to
8352-495: 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, 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
8526-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
8700-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
8874-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
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#17327934256109048-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
9222-555: The Khali Bomb and choking him with a hook and chain at the end of the match. On 30 April episode of Raw , Khali attacked Edge , Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels (all three top contenders to the WWE Championship at the time) backstage. Khali then attacked WWE Champion John Cena as well, sending a message that he wanted Cena's title. The next week on Raw , Khali defeated Michaels in a number-one contender's match for
9396-818: The 2014 Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by The Shield . At WrestleMania XXX on 6 April, Khali competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , but failed to win. Khali participated in the Intercontinental Championship battle royal at Battleground on 20 July, but the match was won by The Miz. On 31 October edition of SmackDown , Khali was defeated by Rusev in what would be his final match in WWE until 2017. On 13 November, his contract expired and he left WWE. On 23 July 2017, Khali returned to WWE at Battleground as
9570-656: The Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) in 1960. In October 1972, he left the JWA and formed his own group, All Japan. Their first card was on October 21, 1972, at Machida City Gym in Tokyo , Japan. The inaugural roster included Baba, Mitsuo Momota, Akio Sato , Samson Kutsuwada , Motoshi Okuma and Mashio Koma. Thunder Sugiyama , who had recently left International Wrestling Enterprise , also came along to help and brought some lower-level IWE wrestlers with him on
9744-527: The Keiji Muto: Love and Bump pay-per-view event, where he (along with Keiji Muto ) defeated Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki in what was billed as a "Special Dream Tag Match". On the January 15, 2005 edition of AJPW TV, Jamal and Taiyō Kea won the vacant AJPW World Tag Team Titles by defeating cult favorite Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie. The team of Jamal and Kea won every tag-team title defense throughout 2005, before Jamal left to join
9918-578: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the PWF world title was downgraded to a regional championship. The first PWF Chairman, who presented the belts to the winners in title bouts, was Lord James Blears . As a loyal member of the NWA, All Japan enjoyed the ability to bring in foreigners, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was frequently defended. In the beginning Baba continued the Japanese vs. foreigner formula for
10092-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
10266-437: The championship scramble at Unforgiven on 7 September, but Triple H interfered in the qualification match and aided Hardy with a chair shot to Khali, helping Hardy win and eliminating Khali from title contention. On 3 October, daredevil Johnny Knoxville aired an interview with Khali and his translator on his website, jackassworld.com, but when Knoxville asked about Khali's " taliwacker " he became upset and threatened to tip
10440-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
10614-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
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#173279342561010788-766: The unification of the titles in All Japan into the Triple Crown Heavyweight and the World Tag Team Championship , as well as the promotion of talent including Jumbo Tsuruta , Genichiro Tenryu , Akira Taue , Mitsuharu Misawa , Toshiaki Kawada and Kenta Kobashi , the promotion was able to carve a loyal fanbase that lasted during the 1990s. Interpromotional matches were rare, and wrestlers who arrived from other Japanese promotions (such as Hiroshi Hase , Shigeo Okumura and Yoshihiro Takayama ) were not given pushes, but in Hase's case, it
10962-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
11136-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
11310-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
11484-495: The AJPW Board of Directors and has not been on an exclusive contract due to his age, thus becoming a freelancer, but chose to stay with AJPW on a pay per performance basis. On July 5, 2013, all five members of Burning (Akiyama, Shiozaki, Aoki, Suzuki, and Kanemaru) officially signed exclusive contracts with AJPW, ending their tenure as freelancers, along with the returns of Taiyo Kea and referee Kyohei Wada. On July 14, during
11658-404: The All Japan president by the end of the month. He would, however, remain the owner of the promotion. On September 1, longtime freelancer Akebono signed a contract to officially join All Japan full-time. On September 11, Hirota Inoue, one of the executive directors originally brought to the promotion by Shiraishi, was announced as the new president of All Japan. On October 27, Dory Funk, Jr.
11832-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
12006-595: The Baba-run All Japan, as the Champion Carnival and World's Strongest Tag Determination League remained annual events. During this time, All Japan was struggling financially and Muto had to borrow money from Mrs. Baba as of November 28, 2002. This led to rumors that Muto was going to sell the company to Fuji TV by the time of the next WRESTLE-1 pay-per-view, which ultimately did not happen. Instead, shares of All Japan were sold to Gaora TV with
12180-654: The CWE World Heavyweight Championship. His students such as Dilsher Shanky and Kavita Devi signed with WWE. As of 25 October 2022, Shanky is part of the main roster, while Kavita's contract ended. Both of them wrestled in Khali's promotion and won the CWE championship. CWE is the largest professional wrestling promotion in India, with over 4.38 million YouTube subscribers and 1.31 billion video views. On 28 May 2001, Brian Ong died after receiving
12354-528: The Differ Ariake being the site of the unnamed promotion's debut. When asked what his reason for leaving All Japan is, Misawa claimed that it was so he could do things in a "modern style." A day later, Misawa announced the promotion's name: Pro Wrestling Noah , which was inspired by the Biblical story where Noah built an ark and put two of every kind of animal in the world in the ark before God destroyed
12528-605: The February 22, 2004 pay-per-view, while at that show Jamal and D'Lo Brown lost to Keiji Muto and Bob Sapp . Jamal would later get his revenge on Muto defeating him in the Champion Carnival tournament on the April 15, 2004 edition of AJPW TV. Jamal feuded with Toshiaki Kawada in pursuit of his Triple Crown Championship in the spring and summer of 2004, but would lose to Kawada on the June 12, 2004 edition of AJPW TV by submission. However, Jamal and Kea continued dominating
12702-472: The Giant Baba All Japan. The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship retained its old name, but All Japan introduced a new title belt to represent it. The three original belts were defended for the last time on August 25, when Suwama successfully defended them against Go Shiozaki. The new title belt was revealed on October 27. On August 27, Shiraishi announced that he would be stepping down as
12876-618: The March 4, 1992 pay-per-view All Japan sold out the Nippon Budokan for the first time, with an attendance of 16,300. All Japan's highest-selling show was the Giant Baba Memorial pay-per-view on May 2, 1999, which sold out the Tokyo Dome with an attendance of 65,000. The January 28, 2001 pay-per-view was All Japan's second highest attendance of all time at 58,700, which was notable for Stan Hansen's retirement and
13050-505: The Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and the Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) until 2006, when he signed with WWE. On 2 January 2006, Rana became the first Indian professional wrestler to be signed to a contract by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was assigned to their developmental federation , Deep South Wrestling , where he wrestled under his real name. With Daivari as his manager ,
13224-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
13398-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
13572-406: The Ong family $ 1.3 million. When Rana came to San Francisco, he signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and spent eight months there, until WCW was bought by their rival promotion, World Wrestling Federation (WWF). As Giant Singh, he received an offer from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) by Team 2000 leader, Masahiro Chono , along with another big man, Giant Silva . They were
13746-470: The Punjab Police in 1993. Although Rana was reluctant to leave Himachal Pradesh , his brother was also offered a job in the Punjab Police , after his arrival in Punjab's Jalandhar , he trained in local gyms to become a wrestler and soon was selected for specialised wrestling training in the United States. Under the ring name Giant Singh he first became a professional wrestler for All Pro Wrestling (APW) in
13920-533: The SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out on 17 February, which was won by The Undertaker. At WrestleMania XXIV on 30 March, Khali participated in a 24-man battle royal to determine a challenger for ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero that evening, but the match was won by Kane. Khali then had a short feud with Big Show, culminating in a match at Backlash on 27 April, which Big Show won. In July, Khali feuded with Triple H over
14094-616: The Stan Hansen cup in July 2002, Barton also being able to prevent Williams from winning. On September 30, 2002, during an All Japan 30th Anniversary party at the famed Tokyo City Hotel, Mrs. Baba officially announced Muto's appointment as the new president of All Japan, transferring all of the Baba family stock to him. Mrs. Baba's last on-screen appearance was on the October 27, 2002 pay-per-view, before leaving All Japan altogether by January 2003. Muto upheld some traditional aspects of
14268-466: The Steve Williams vs. Mike Barton Brawl For All revenge angle. The last two matches of the card featuring Keiji Muto vs. Taiyō Kea , as well as the main event tag-team match, did not appear on the initial television broadcast in 2001, the original broadcast instead ending with Williams finally getting his redemption and defeating Barton in the main event. In April 1990, Genichiro Tenryu led
14442-681: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, as well as capturing the World Tag Team Championship with Taiyō Kea. The alliance between the promotions lasted until January 11, 2002. Signs of what would become the Pro Wrestling Love era would be seen in the spring and summer of 2001, when Keiji Muto , as a member of New Japan Pro-Wrestling , made part-time appearances to All Japan, fighting Toshiaki Kawada and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in major singles matches on pay-per-view. A notable shift in
14616-417: The United States as a road agent. On June 16, 2000, 24 out of the 26 contracted native wrestlers for All Japan were led by Misawa for a press conference, where it was announced that they would be leaving the promotion ( Masanobu Fuchi and Toshiaki Kawada remained). More than 100 reporters and photographers attended the press conference, and Misawa expressed his wish for the promotion to debut in August, with
14790-470: The United States, making his first appearance in October 2000 when teaming with Tony Jones against the West Side Playaz. In 2001, Rana was involved in the death of an APW trainee, Brian Ong, when he performed a wrestling manoeuvre on Ong, who had already suffered a concussion. No charges were filed against Rana, however, APW was found liable for Ong's death, and a jury ordered the promotion to pay
14964-411: The WWE Championship and on 25 July episode of SmackDown he won a battle royal also involving Big Show, Jeff Hardy , Montel Vontavious Porter , Mr. Kennedy , and Umaga for the right to face Triple H at SummerSlam . At SummerSlam on 17 August, Khali lost to Triple H after receiving a Pedigree . Khali was given another opportunity to win the WWE Championship when he faced Jeff Hardy to gain entry into
15138-431: The WWE Championship at Judgment Day . At Judgment Day on 20 May, Khali lost via submission for the first time when tapping out to Cena's STFU , though Khali's foot was under the rope and unnoticed by the referee. The next night on Raw , Khali expressed outrage over the outcome via his new translator and manager, Ranjin Singh . At One Night Stand on 3 June, Khali lost to Cena in a Falls Count Anywhere match after he
15312-521: The WWE in December 2005, later debuting as Umaga in April 2006. Taiyō Kea would team with other RO&D stable members throughout 2006 while embarking on a strong singles push. Kea defeated Toshiyaki Kawada for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion on the August 27, 2006 pay-per-view, before losing it to up-and-comer Minoru Suzuki a week later on the September 3, 2006 edition of AJPW TV. On July 10, 2007, Hiroshi Hase
15486-587: The World Tag Team Championship from All Japan's Nippon Budokan show from June 9. On June 28, 2000, Misawa formally announced at a press conference that Pro Wrestling Noah would debut with two consecutive shows (titled "Departure") in Differ Ariake on August 5 and 6 in Tokyo. On July 2 in the Korakuen Hall, Motoko Baba announced the unfathomable return of Genichiro Tenryu (as Giant Baba publicly swore that he would never be allowed back in All Japan, following
15660-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
15834-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
16008-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
16182-517: The beginning of the cross-promotional alliance. On September 16, 2000, Toshiaki Kawada followed Fuchi's path and vowed to crush New Japan ace Kensuke Sasaki , as he defeated Sasaki in the Tokyo Dome on October 9, 2000; the event sold out the building. In 2001, Keiji Muto and Shinjiro Otani created the interpromotional stable BATT (Bad Ass Translate Trading), which included All Japan's Taiyō Kea , Michinoku Pro's Jinsei Shinzaki and Hiroshi Hase. During this time, Muto challenged and defeated Tenryu for
16356-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
16530-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
16704-506: The championships, but gradually Dory Funk Jr. and his brother Terry Funk , as well as Mil Máscaras from Mexico became fan favorites when wrestling other foreigners and subsequently one of the few foreign wrestlers to become icons in Japan. When the NWA territorial system collapsed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Baba distanced himself from other promoters at home and abroad, and began a system of promoting talent (both Japanese and foreign ) who competed exclusively for his promotion. With
16878-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
17052-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
17226-493: The company, gradually over time All Japan took a more sports-entertainment based approach, featuring more in-ring promos, comedy segments, and gimmick matches. This would be controversial among traditional All Japan fans, where All Japan resembled later WCW from both a creative and business stanpoint, but being successful enough to stay in business and not be sold to competing promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah . The creative shift became most noticeable by
17400-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
17574-468: The division alongside Shuji Ishikawa , intending to recruit and hopes to train women wrestlers for the promotion. In April, during an interview with Tokyo Sports, Suwama expressed his intention to establish a women's division, however, his plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Afterwards, AJPW also established a working relationship with Joshi promotion Ice Ribbon , during which Tsukasa Fujimoto
17748-480: The end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. Throughout 2003 and 2004, recent debuts like John "Earthquake" Tenta , Bull Buchanan , Jamal (Umaga) , Taiyō Kea , D'Lo Brown and Gigantes (Jerry Tuite) would become the main gaijins after the gaijin exodus. Some interpromotional activities that would not have happened under Shohei Baba's watch have taken place, including the previously unfathomable IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion bout on
17922-526: The end of a year-long cross-promotional angle with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Keiji Muto shocked the Japanese wrestling world by defecting to All-Japan as a full-time competitor, taking Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin with him. This is considered the official start of the era. Muto would lose to Steve Williams in a grudge feud in March 2002, but a month later Muto defeated Mike Barton in the 2002 Championship Carnival tournament main-event. Despite Barton's loss, he and Jim Steele would find success in winning
18096-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
18270-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
18444-399: The first exodus of wrestlers ( The Great Kabuki , Samson Fuyuki , Tatsumi Kitahara , Masao Orihara , Yoshiaki Yatsu , Goro Tsurumi, and Shinichi Nakano) lured as they were to form Super World of Sports , which enabled Baba to push Misawa, Kawada, Taue and Kobashi to be his new stars. With the death of Shohei "Giant" Baba on January 31, 1999, top star Mitsuharu Misawa immediately inherited
18618-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
18792-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
18966-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
19140-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
19314-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
19488-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
19662-512: The interview table onto Knoxville. Khali later invited Knoxville to attend 13 October episode of Raw , where Knoxville was attacked by Khali, WWE Diva Beth Phoenix and Hornswoggle. Khali then took on a more fun persona and became a fan favourite when he and Ranjin Singh hosted the weekly Khali Kiss Cam, where Singh would summon ostensibly random women from the audience to kiss Khali. In May 2009, The Great Khali feuded with Dolph Ziggler , winning by disqualification after Ziggler attacked him with
19836-477: The launching event of the post-Muto All Japan, Masanobu Fuchi announced that he had officially re-signed with the promotion not only as a wrestler, but also as a member of the Board of Directors, ending his tenure as a freelancer. On August 1, all of the All Japan shares were moved from Speed Partners to Shiraishi's Red Wall Japan corporation, which effectively became the new parent company of the promotion. Meanwhile,
20010-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
20184-507: The new Chairman of All Japan's Pacific Wrestling Federation title governing body, replacing Lord James Blears . On August 10, 2000, All Japan mainstay Masanobu Fuchi walked into the New Japan Pro-Wrestling ring and declared that his intention was to "break down the walls" between All Japan and New Japan. In response, New Japan foreman Riki Choshu rushed into the ring and exchanged a firm handshake with Fuchi, signaling
20358-749: The number one contender to the United States Championship . Khali received his title shot on 2 January 2013 episode of Main Event , but was defeated by defending champion Antonio Cesaro . On 27 January, Khali competed in the 2013 Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Daniel Bryan and Kane. In late 2013, Khali began teaming with Santino Marella and resumed being managed by Hornswoggle after they defeated Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal on 27 September episode of SmackDown , but at Battleground on 6 October they were defeated by Cesaro and Jack Swagger . On 26 January 2014, Khali participated in
20532-485: The other wrestlers left the promotion, there was a lull in developing new stars until the likes of KAI , Suwama , Hama and T28 debuted from the mid-2000s onward and helped restrengthen the company. With established stars such as Keiji Muto , Satoshi Kojima , John "Earthquake" Tenta , Masakatsu Funaki , D'Lo Brown and Minoru Suzuki anchoring the promotion, the younger wrestlers were given time to grow and by 2010 were set to help lead All Japan. While still without
20706-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
20880-497: The position of company president. On May 28, 2000, Misawa was removed from his position by a majority vote of the executive board. At a regular All Japan board meeting on June 13, 2000, Misawa, Mitsuo Momota (co-vice president, member of directory), Kenta Kobashi (member of directory), Akira Taue (member of directory, chairman), Kenichi Oyagi (member of directory) and Yoshihiro Momota (member of directory) resigned from their board positions. A day later, Motoko Baba ("Mrs. Baba") released
21054-522: The product was seen in July 2001, when in a pay-per-view main event, Steve Williams lost to Keiji Muto for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , where it ended in an altercation. After leaving the backstage area Williams would then going on a huge swearing tirade, where he kicked a trash can, was about to cry in tears, and then throwing his armpads to the ground while swearing again. On January 11, 2002, following
21228-545: The promotion and announced that management of the promotion would be transferred to Tsuyoki Fukuda. On November 14, AJPW announced the creation of its sixth active title and the first six-man tag team championship in the promotion's history, the AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship . On November 28, the board of directors Suwama announced the launching of AJPW's own women's division "Evolution's Girls". Suwama announced that he would be heading
21402-703: The promotion following a June 30 event in Ryōgoku Kokugikan (the TV taping for the July 5 episode where the Pro Wrestling Love era ended) and went on to form the Wrestle-1 promotion the following month and announced their first show was held September 8 at Tokyo Dome City Hall . At the event, the Gaora TV Champion René Dupree made his debut in Wrestle-1, leaving AJPW. Before the end of
21576-487: The promotion still operating in its usual corporate manner led by Keiji Muto, rarely broadcasting pay-per-views to SKY PerfecTV! and SAMURAI TV. While Muto owned 75% of All Japan's shares beginning in 2003 after Mrs. Baba permanently left, the remaining shares went to Gaora TV, who would oversee All Japan's production and would buy the majority of the tape library post-2003. They upload several segments of their tape library to their official YouTube channel. In January 2003,
21750-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
21924-493: The promotion's corporate name was changed to "Zen Nihon Puroresu Systems". On August 7, it was reported that All Japan had agreed to return the NWA International Heavyweight , NWA United National and PWF World Heavyweight Championship belts, which make up the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, to Motoko Baba, the widow of the promotion's founder Giant Baba, bringing an end to the final remnant of
22098-400: The promotion, with intentions to follow Misawa to Noah. NTV also announced that they will carry weekly tapings of Misawa's Noah promotion, with the title of the program being called "Colosseo." Noah took All Japan's 30-minute timeslot on Sundays at midnight. Misawa was interviewed in Tokyo on June 21, where he announced that he and the other wrestlers leaving to form Noah would compete on four of
22272-481: The purchase was not made public until February 2013. In January 2013, AJPW signed Atsushi Aoki , Go Shiozaki , Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru , all of whom had quit Pro Wrestling Noah the previous month, to return to AJPW, initially as freelancers. On March 17, 2013, it was announced that Hiroshi Hase was stepping down as Pacific Wrestling Federation Chairman, and that he would be succeeded by Kenta Kobashi , following Kobashi's retirement as
22446-606: The replacement to Mark Henry in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event . At Elimination Chamber on 19 February, Khali failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship after being eliminated first by Big Show. On 23 March episode of SmackDown , Khali was added to Theodore Long's WrestleMania XXVIII team, but they were defeated by John Laurinaitis ' team on 1 April. In July it
22620-462: The rights to the company and Baba family stock by early 2003, when another exodus of gaijin wrestlers began, most notably Steve Williams , KroniK ( Brian Adams and Bryan Clark ), Bill Goldberg and Mike Rotunda . Not long after George Hines and Johnny Smith also left. By mid-2005, All Japan's attendance had dropped and the promotion seemed to be in trouble again but by 2007 had new sponsors and seemed to have recovered. After Misawa and most of
22794-584: The ring name Khali after the Hindu goddess Kali , who is associated with eternal energy. He later clarified that the name The Great Khali was given to him by WWE in an interview given to India TV for their show Aap Ki Adalat . Rana's training schedule consists of two hours of weight training , morning and evening, every day. Until his early thirties, Rana maintained his size on a mostly vegetarian diet, however he has since incorporated chicken and other meats in order to fulfill his protein needs. On 26 July 2012 it
22968-543: The ringside area, leaving Cena prone to an attack by Umaga . On 19 February episode of Raw , Khali demanded better competition after easily defeating The Highlanders . Four days later on SmackDown! , Khali interfered in a Falls Count Anywhere Money in the Bank qualifying match between Kane and King Booker by costing Kane the match, leading to a feud culminating in a match at WrestleMania 23 , which Khali won in his first appearance at WrestleMania after slamming Kane with
23142-406: The roll as the top gaijins in the mid-2000s. They became the main attractions Taka Michinoku 's Roughly Obsess and Destroy (R.O.D.) stable, being rapidly pushed when they debuted in November 2003. They were a heel stable akin to the early New World Order , trying to take over All Japan and defeat all of the native roster. In February 2004, Taiyō Kea pulled an upset victory against Satoshi Kojima at
23316-426: The same reason: All Japan had recently decided to change all of its wrestler contracts to pay-per-appearance contracts. In October 2016, the promotion announced it had reached a deal with satellite television provider Nippon BS Broadcasting for a monthly highlights show, Eleven , to be broadcast on the third Monday of each month. On November 27, 2016, the promotion returned to Ryōgoku Kokugikan for its first event at
23490-562: The sixteen shows in All Japan's Summer Action Series 2000 tour, which began on July 1. NTV also aired the final All Japan TV show on the network, which aired for 45 minutes and featured footage from Jumbo Tsuruta 's funeral, the Noah wrestlers' press conference from June 16, Kawada's press conference from June 19, highlights of the first ever Kawada vs. Misawa Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship match from October 21, 1992, and Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama and Takao Omori for
23664-494: The sold out Hakata Star Lane in Fukuoka. After the show, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams came out and shook Misawa's hand, and requested one last singles match between the two. However, Misawa returned to the bus immediately after his match, not staying for the last two matches of the show. Every one of All Japan's titles were vacated due to the departure of the aforementioned wrestlers and title holders. Mrs. Baba appointed Stan Hansen as
23838-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
24012-407: The steel ramp with a chokebomb. On 8 January 2007 episode of Raw , Jonathan Coachman announced that Khali had signed with Raw (without Daivari, who stayed on ECW) and would wrestle John Cena in the main event , which Khali won by disqualification after Cena took a steel chair held by Armando Estrada and hit Khali with it, though after the match he performed a chokeslam on Cena and left
24186-759: The tag-team division, where they won several victories. By the end of 2004, Jamal got even with Kawada, where he and Kea eliminated Kawada and Mitsuya Nagai in the Real World Tag League '04 tournament semifinals. Jamal and Kea would defeat Satoshi Kojima and Kaz Hayashi to win the tournament with the trophies on the December 1, 2004 edition of AJPW TV. Keiji Muto competed at a Pro Wrestling Noah event on July 10, 2004, teaming with fellow AJPW wrestler Taiyō Kea to face Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa. On July 18, 2004, Mitsuharu Misawa returned to All Japan and defeated Satoshi Kojima at Battle Banquet . Misawa returned to All Japan again on October 31, 2004, for
24360-477: The tallest tag team in professional wrestling history at an average height of 7 foot 1 inches and a combined weight of 805 pounds, teaming up for the first time at the Tokyo Dome in October when labelled as Club 7 by Chono defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi , Kenzo Suzuki , Wataru Inoue and Yutaka Yoshie in a handicap Match when Silva pinned Tanahashi and Inoue at the same time. Singh suffered his first loss in
24534-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
24708-444: The tournament, the match usually starts with consecutive singles matches between three wrestlers, which wrestler who have two wins in a row first is declared the winner. On October 18, 2021, Zeus announced his resignation from All Japan after he had purchased all shares of Osaka Pro Wrestling from Yuji Sakagami announcing that he would be leaving the promotion on December 31 when his contract expires. Zeus himself expressed interest in
24882-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
25056-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
25230-572: The unnamed Singh debuted on WWE television as a villain on 7 April episode of SmackDown! , attacking The Undertaker and leaving him defenceless during his match with Mark Henry , thus causing a no contest ruling. The following week on SmackDown! he was introduced as The Great Khali and Daivari explained that he finally had a client who would destroy The Undertaker (after Muhammad Hassan and Mark Henry had previously failed). Khali made his in-ring debut on 21 April episode of SmackDown! , defeating Funaki . On 12 May episode of SmackDown! , Khali
25404-491: The venue in three years, headlined by Kento Miyahara defending the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Suwama. In August 2017 Toryumon Mexico started working with All Japan Pro Wrestling in with a collaborated event tour called Lucha Fiesta . On February 4, 2018, AJPW announced " All Japan Pro Wrestling TV ", a new worldwide streaming site for the promotion's events. On October 10, 2019, Akiyama left his position as president to become General Manager. Tsuyoki Fukuda
25578-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
25752-443: The world. On June 19, 2000, it was confirmed (at a press conference at All-Japan's dojo held by Toshiaki Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi) that NTV decided to discontinue broadcasting All Japan after 27 years; however, NTV maintained their 15% stock in All Japan (as Motoko Baba held the remaining 85%), and would prevent All Japan from being put on another network. On June 20, twelve All Japan office employees resigned from their positions with
25926-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
26100-435: The year, Manabu Soya also quit All Japan to jump to Wrestle-1. After the exodus (along with the departures of ring announcer Makoto Abe and referees Daichi Murayama and Daisuke Kanbayashi), the promotion has now been reduced to less than half the active roster. On June 21, 2013, it was revealed that since 2009, AJPW mainstay Masanobu Fuchi , who has been with the promotion since debuting in 1974, had long since resigned from
26274-421: Was John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s hand-picked opponent against World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio (Khali had a height advantage of 21 inches and weight advantage of 250 pounds) and defeated Mysterio in a squash match . In his match against The Undertaker at Judgment Day on 21 May, Khali defeated The Undertaker with a kick to the head after receiving some illegal help from Daivari. Khali continued on
26448-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
26622-504: Was an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Punjab Police . He has appeared in four Hollywood films, two Bollywood films and several television shows. He is the founder and head coach of India's largest professional wrestling promotion, Continental Wrestling Entertainment, founded in 2015. Rana was born in a Rajput family to Jwala Ram and Tandi Devi in the Dhiraina village of Himachal Pradesh 's Sirmaur district . One of seven siblings in
26796-404: Was announced as an advisor for the new division. On May 7, 2021, the Japanese government announced an extension to the state of emergency currently in place in Tokyo and other prefectures, leading AJPW to postpone their event on May 15 at Ota City General Gymnasium to June 26. On June 26, it was announced since the creation of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion that the title would be decided in
26970-480: Was announced as the new Pacific Wrestling Federation chairman. On June 5, 2014, All Japan announced a corporate restructuring taking place on July 1, which would see Jun Akiyama take over as the promotion's new president. On July 1, the promotion announced another corporate name change to "All Japan Pro Wrestling kabushiki gaisha " (dropping the Japanese "Zen Nihon Puroresu" name), while also relocating its headquarters from Tokyo to Yokohama . Akiyama established
27144-426: Was announced that Akebono was also leaving All Japan with the goal of returning to mixed martial arts. On November 16, yet another wrestler, the reigning World Junior Heavyweight Champion Kotaro Suzuki, announced his departure from All Japan at the end of the month. Four days later, Yoshinobu Kanemaru also announced he would be leaving All Japan following December 15. Akiyama revealed that the departures were all for
27318-467: Was announced that Khali was undergoing surgery for a benign tumor found in his pituitary gland due to acromegaly . The Great Khali officially returned to Friday Night Smackdown on 2 November 2012 against David Otunga . Khali returned at the SmackDown tapings on 16 October in a match taped for Saturday Morning Slam . On 26 December episode of Main Event , Khali won a 20-man battle royal to become
27492-612: Was appointed as the new Chairman of the Pacific Wrestling Federation , following Stan Hansen 's voluntary resignation. Hase is the third chairman in PWF's history. Joe Doering would become the main gaijin around this time. October 12, 2007 Baseball Magazine Sha, the publisher of Puroresu Shukan released AJPW trading cards . On June 7, 2011, Keiji Muto announced his resignation as the President of All Japan Pro Wrestling and named Masayuki Uchida as his successor. On August 28, 2012, AJPW and Gaora TV announced that AJPW would introduce
27666-574: Was assaulted and injured by The Nexus, thus removing him from the match. Following the attack, Khali took another hiatus to compete in Big Boss , in which he was the runner up on. Khali made his return at the 2011 Royal Rumble , but was eliminated shortly by Mason Ryan . On 14 March episode of Raw , after Khali defeated The Miz by disqualification, Miz assaulted Khali with a steel chair, injuring him. Khali won an interbrand dark match battle royal at WrestleMania XXVII on 3 April. On 26 April, Khali
27840-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
28014-618: Was defeated by World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, who after the match "fractured" Khali's fibula with a steel chair. On 29 January 2012, Khali returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble as the number 15 entrant in the Royal Rumble match , eliminating Ezekiel Jackson and Jinder Mahal before being eliminated by Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler. Khali returned on 3 February episode of SmackDown , saving Justin Gabriel from Rhodes, Hunico and Hunico's bodyguard Camacho , then being announced as
28188-581: Was drafted back to SmackDown as part of the 2011 supplemental draft . Khali returned on 29 April episode of SmackDown , talking backstage with Jinder Mahal , who made his WWE debut that night. On 2 May episode of Raw , Khali dressed up as the Tooth Fairy at The Rock 's birthday party. On 6 May episode of SmackDown , Mahal — unimpressed by how Khali and Ranjin Singh have been partaking in childish activities instead of winning matches — confronted Singh about his mismanagement of Khali. Mahal then interrupted
28362-750: Was his final match for WWE so far. He was inducted into the prestigious WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. Khali made an appearance at the WWE Superstar Spectacle 2023 event in Hyderabad , Telangana , India and stated that he had one final match in him. In February 2015, Khali opened his own wrestling promotion and school in Jalandhar , Punjab, the Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE), which held its first event on 12 December 2015. In February 2016, he won
28536-493: Was hit with an FU off a crane bed, thus marking the first time Khali had been pinned in a singles match. On 11 June episode of Raw , as part of the 2007 WWE draft , Khali was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as the brand's first draft pick. In July, Khali began a feud with Batista and the two were scheduled for a match at The Great American Bash . However, because Edge vacated the World Heavyweight Championship due to
28710-401: Was later confirmed by All Japan, and led to Keiji Muto's resignation from the promotion. In the weeks that followed, Masakatsu Funaki , Kaz Hayashi , Shuji Kondo , Ryota Hama , Masayuki Kono , Hiroshi Yamato , Koji Kanemoto , Minoru Tanaka , Yasufumi Nakanoue, Kai , Seiya Sanada and Andy Wu announced their resignation from the promotion out of loyalty to Muto. They all left
28884-561: Was later made president of AJPW. On April 2, 2020, AJPW president Tsuyoki Fukuda decided to cancel the 2020 Champion Carnival in April, with the tournament being rescheduled for a later date and three opening shows of the Super Power Series 2020 tour would also be canceled following that the promotion would start to do empty arenas shows at 2AW 's 2AW Square arena. On June 26, AJPW General Manager Jun Akiyama announced that he would leave AJPW for DDT after nine years with
29058-458: Was later revealed that Ranjin Singh was Khali's brother, while the feud with Kane resulted in matches at SummerSlam on 23 August and Breaking Point on 13 September, both of which Khali lost. Khali required knee surgery and Kane assaulted him with the ring steps during a match so Khali could have time off. Whilst injured, Khali made a surprise appearance alongside Ranjin Singh, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon on 2 November episode of Raw as
29232-516: Was medically cleared, Khali was challenged by The Undertaker to a Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam on 20 August. The match was moved to the SmackDown! just prior to SummerSlam and was won by The Undertaker, giving Khali his first definite loss in WWE. The Great Khali and Daivari were moved to the ECW brand officially when they made their ECW debuts on 31 October episode of ECW on Sci Fi , when Daivari defeated "The Reject" Shannon Moore in
29406-602: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
29580-541: Was reported that Rana underwent a brain surgery due to a tumor on his pituitary gland . Rana became a naturalised U.S. citizen on 20 February 2014. He also holds an Overseas Citizenship of India card. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 10 February 2022. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
29754-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
29928-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
30102-560: Was their brother-in-law and that if Khali did not obey Mahal, then he would divorce Khali's sister and put his family back into poverty. On 9 September episode of SmackDown , Khali and Mahal went against WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom ( Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston ) in a losing effort after Khali pushed Mahal, allowing Kingston to hit his finishing move onto Mahal and after the match he walked away from Mahal, thus ending their alliance. On 23 September episode of SmackDown , Khali defeated Mahal. On 30 September episode of SmackDown , Khali
30276-573: Was voluntarily, due to his primary involvement with the House of Councillors . Gaijins who signed with AJPW full-time were given pushes regardless of which promotion they arrived, most notably Stan Hansen , "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , Gary Albright , Vader and Mike Barton . All Japan would achieve its third best-selling attendance with an attendance of 58,300 in the Tokyo Dome on the May 1, 1998 pay-per-view, having seen consistent growth since 1992. On
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