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127-533: The World Tag League is held under a points system, with 2 points for a win, 1 for a time limit draw, and 0 for a loss, no contest or double decision. The current format, introduced in 2014, is essentially identical to that of the G1 Climax, with the top-scoring team from two blocks of eight advancing to the final. The 1980 MSG Tag League featured 9 teams in a single block and was held from November 21 to December 10, 1980. The 1981 MSG Tag League featured 10 teams in

254-467: A feud with fellow NXT Pro Tyson Kidd , whose rookie was also eliminated, when Kidd broke Tatsu's toy figurine of himself and stole one of its legs. They traded wins during their feud, and Tatsu reclaimed the leg by winning a Necklace on a Pole match on the July 26 episode of NXT . After the match, Kidd assaulted Tatsu's right leg, taking him off NXT for over a month. However, over the next few weeks,

381-446: A " Bullet Club hunter", which saw him state that he had grown sick of seeing WWE and NXT employees wearing Bullet Club shirts and was now looking to eliminate the villainous stable from professional wrestling, starting with A.J. Styles. Yoshitatsu wrestled his return match on November 8 at Power Struggle , where he was defeated by Styles, following outside interference from Jarrett. Styles won after performing with his signature finisher,

508-632: 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

635-859: 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

762-763: 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

889-576: A chance to earn a World Heavyweight Championship shot in a 20-man number one contenders battle royal. On April 26, Tatsu was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 supplemental draft . He only had two matches on SmackDown in 2011; a number one contenders battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship and an "All I Want for Christmas" battle royal, the winner of which would receive one wish. Tatsu

1016-690: A comeback at the Team Vision Gym in Orlando, Florida. On January 4, 2016, Yoshitatsu returned as part of the English announcing team at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome . On March 22, NJPW announced that Yoshitatsu would wrestle his NJPW return match on April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016 , where he, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin defeated Bullet Club's The Elite ( Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)) to win

1143-467: 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

1270-624: 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

1397-555: A few backstage brawls with The Nexus , trying to help John Cena get rid of them, which he did not. After months off WWE television, Tatsu returned on the November 11 episode of Superstars , defeating Zack Ryder. On the November 29 episode of Raw , Tatsu teamed with Mark Henry to defeat WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater , after a distraction by John Cena. The following week on Raw , Tatsu and Henry received

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1524-566: A four-team semifinal was set up, with the matchups being randomly drawn. This was a handicap match, not involving Tomko due to scheduling conflicts. The 2008 G1 Tag League, featuring 12 teams in two blocks, will be held from October 18 to November 5. The 2009 G1 Tag League featured two blocks of five and ran from October 17 through November 1. The 2010 G1 Tag League featured two blocks of six and ran from October 22 through November 7. The 2011 G1 Tag League featured two blocks of six and ran from October 22 through November 6. The 2012 edition of

1651-728: 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

1778-511: 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

1905-505: 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

2032-432: 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

2159-560: 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,

2286-416: 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

2413-413: 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

2540-615: A record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block, though Yoshitatsu managed to pin Bone Soldier in their final round-robin match. In April 2017, Yoshitatsu joined the Taguchi Japan stable. In February 2017, NJPW sent Yoshitatsu to their Mexican partner promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) for a tour. He debuted for the promotion on February 17. On September 12, 2017, Yoshitatsu made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), entering

2667-627: A rematch to Benjamin on the July 9 episode of ECW . On the October 20 episode of ECW , Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder to become number one contender for the ECW Championship , although he failed to win the championship the following week against Christian . On the December 22 episode of ECW , Yoshi Tatsu defeated Jack Swagger to earn a spot in the ECW Homecoming battle royal , the winner of which would challenge Christian for

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2794-570: A returning Togi Makabe . Over the summer of 2007 Yamamoto began teaming regularly with Hiroshi Tanahashi forming a team called "New Japan Dragons", earning a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship against the then champions, Bernard and Tomko, albeit in a losing effort. For the 2007 G1 Tag League Yamamoto teamed up with Takashi Ilzuka , while they defeated three teams (Hirooki Goto and Milano Collection A.T. , Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, and Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko);

2921-574: A shot at the titles in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match , which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov . They were the first team eliminated. On the February 14 episode of Raw , Maryse and Ted DiBiase were about to kiss , but Maryse instead kissed Tatsu. On the February 24 episode of Superstars , during the match between Daniel Bryan and DiBiase, Tatsu came out and gave Maryse flowers, which Maryse hit DiBiase with, allowing Bryan to defeat DiBiase. Tatsu failed at

3048-407: A single block and was held from November 14, 1986 to December 11, 1986. The 1987 Japan Cup Tag League featured 8 teams in a single block and was held from November 9, 1987 to December 7, 1987. The 1991 Super Grade Tag League featured 7 teams in a single block and was held from October 5 to October 17. Due to a tie for second place, the two second-place teams faced each other in a semifinal to decide

3175-488: A single block and was held from November 18 to December 8, 1983. † Hanson was injured and could not compete in the final. The 1984 MSG Tag League featured 7 teams in a single block and was held from November 16 to December 5, 1984. The 1985 IWGP Tag Title League featured 8 teams in a single block and was held from November 15 to December 12, 1985. †Brody and Snuka no-showed the finals and jumped to All Japan Pro Wrestling The 1986 Japan Cup Tag League featured 8 teams in

3302-473: A single block and was held from November 19 to December 10, 1981. Due to a tie for second place, the two second-place teams faced each other in a semifinal to decide the finalists. The 1982 MSG Tag League featured 8 teams in a single block and was held from November 19 to December 10, 1982. "Young Simpson" may be a mistranslation; no data has been found other than being tag team partner of British wrestler Wayne Bridges. The 1983 MSG Tag League featured 9 teams in

3429-606: A single block, with the top two teams facing in the finals. The tournament winners advanced to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 15 . The 2021 World Tag League will take place in tandem with the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors from November 13 to December 15. The World Tag League sees 12 teams competing in a single block, with the top two teams facing in the finals. The tournament winners advance to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 16 . The 2022 World Tag League took place in tandem with

3556-602: A sports background in boxing and jujutsu , Yamamoto passed an audition held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in September 2001 and began training professional wrestling at the promotion's dojo the following March. During his training, Yamamoto also travelled to Los Angeles to train at the local NJPW dojo. Yamamoto made his in-ring debut on October 12, 2002, facing Wataru Inoue in Korakuen Hall . Initially Yamamoto worked low card matches for NJPW, normally on

3683-468: 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

3810-869: 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

3937-407: A victory, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Due to a four-way tie for first place, the four teams were paired in the semifinals, with the two winners facing off in the final. . The 1999 G1 Tag League, featuring 9 teams, was held from September 10 to September 23. The 2000 G1 Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from November 17 to November 30. It strayed slightly from the standard formula; as there

World Tag League (NJPW) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-545: 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

4191-495: 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

4318-431: Is a Japanese professional wrestler , former boxer and mixed martial artist currently working as a freelancer. Yamamoto started his professional wrestling career under his real name in October 2002 with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he remained until 2007, when he signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2009, Yamamoto left WWE's developmental territory to join the promotion 's main roster under

4445-819: The Pedigree as his finishing move. Yoshitatsu, Elgin and Tanahashi made their first successful title defense on April 23 against the Bullet Club trio of Bad Luck Fale , Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi . On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016 , they lost the title back to Omega and The Young Bucks. On September 12, Yoshitatsu, upset with Captain New Japan's poor performances, announced a Twitter poll that would decide whether he would get to stay in Hunter Club. On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe , Yoshitatsu revealed

4572-478: The Styles Clash . While performing the move, Yoshi Tatsu moved his head down before the point of impact with the mat. Instead of having his face slammed into the mat he took his weight, Styles' weight, and all of the force onto his neck. After the match, Jarrett hit Yoshitatsu with a guitar. On November 14, Yoshitatsu and Hiroshi Tanahashi announced they were forming a new tag team named "The World". The World

4699-548: The AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Carbell Ito and Seigo Tachibana from Tajiri, Yusuke Kodama and Hokuto Omori . They were forced to vacate the title after Carbell Ito suffered a fractured wrist on September 28 but Yoshitatsu and Tachibana would regain the titles on October 16 with Takayuki Ueki . On December 31, 2023, at #ajpwMANIAx2023, he announced he was leaving AJPW. On January 3, 2024, Yoshi Tatsu made an appearance at

4826-656: 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

4953-672: The Kanji word for " pride " appeared on the TitanTron to distract Kidd during his matches – a message from Tatsu. He returned on the September 6 episode of NXT , where he debuted black tights emblazoned with Kanji characters and the Japanese flag, his small lock of blond hair dyed red and half his face painted. He defeated Kidd on that episode to end the feud. Tatsu later explained that his new look and wrestling style were because he wanted to better portray Japanese culture , Japanese pride and

5080-582: 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

5207-502: The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship . Afterwards, Yoshitatsu announced he was forming a new stable named "Hunter Club" to oppose Bullet Club. However, neither Elgin nor Tanahashi accepted Yoshitatsu's invitation to join the stable, which led to Captain New Japan stepping up as the first member of the new group. Yoshitatsu then debuted a new gimmick, where he began mimicking Triple H , which included him adopting

World Tag League (NJPW) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5334-651: 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

5461-641: The Nippon Budokan , marking the return of the promotion to the arena for the first time in eighteen years. On December 15, 2023, AJPW was announced as one of the founding members of the United Japan Pro-Wrestling alliance, a joint effort to further develop professional wrestling in Japan through promotion and organization, with Seiji Sakaguchi being named as the chairman of the project. Yoshi Tatsu Naofumi Yamamoto ( 山本 尚史 , Yamamoto Naofumi , born August 1, 1977)

5588-426: The ring name Yoshi Tatsu ( ヨシ・タツ , Yoshi Tatsu ) . After his June 2014 release from WWE, Yamamoto returned to NJPW the following October, performing under the tweaked ring name Yoshitatsu ( ヨシタツ , Yoshitatsu ) . Following his departure from NJPW in late 2017, Yamamoto became a freelancer , and started working most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling, who he signed full time for between 2020 and 2023. With

5715-766: 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

5842-603: The "WWE style" of wrestling. Initially he wrestled as Mr. Yamamoto, then simply as Yamamoto. He briefly teamed with Sheamus O'Shaunessy under the team name The Movers and the Shakers. Later on, he changed his ring name to Yoshitatsu, before tweaking the spelling to Yoshi Tatsu. Yoshitatsu is Yamamoto's father's given name. On June 30, 2009, Yamamoto joined the ECW brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu. He had his first match that night, defeating Shelton Benjamin , although he lost

5969-422: The 2005 Young Lion Cup where he only won one match, defeating Yujiro . In 2006, Yamamoto participated in his first G1 Climax tournament, losing all four matches. Yamamoto teamed up with Manabu Nakanishi to compete in the 2006 G1 Tag League , defeating Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko to earn their sole victory in the tournament. On January 8, 2006, Yamamoto and Osamu Nishimura defeated Toru Yano and

6096-482: The 2018 league. In 2019, the World Tag League sees 16 teams competing in a single block, with the first-placed team being declared the winner. The tournament winners advanced to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 14 . The 2020 World Tag League took place in tandem with the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors from November 15 to December 11. The World Tag League sees 10 teams competing in

6223-439: The 2022 Super Junior Tag League from November 21 to December 14. The World Tag League sees 10 teams competing in a single block, with the top two teams facing in the finals. The tournament winners advance to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 17 . On December 2, it was announced that Chase Owens would be absent for the remainder of the tournament, following the passing of a family member, leading them to forfeit

6350-495: 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

6477-404: 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.

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6604-595: 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

6731-528: 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

6858-682: The ECW title at the Royal Rumble . On the January 12 episode of ECW , however, Tatsu was not able to win the battle royal when he was eliminated by Kane. At the Royal Rumble, Tatsu competed in his first Royal Rumble match , but was eliminated by John Cena . Tatsu then formed a tag team with Goldust and the duo became the number one contenders for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship but failed in capturing

6985-605: 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

7112-588: The Gaora TV Championship to Jun Kasai in a tables, ladders and chairs match on January 3, 2021. Yoshitatsu would compete in a series "Different Style Fights", innovated by Antonio Inoki , these worked matches pit professional wrestlers against martial artists and have a focus on a more realistic style of pro-wrestling. His most notable match came on June 26 where he defeated former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation champion boxer turned mixed martial artist Yōsuke Nishijima . On July 22, he won

7239-472: 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

7366-641: The January 18 episode of NXT . On the February 9, 2012 episode of Superstars , Tatsu defeated Johnny Curtis . This would be his last televised victory in WWE, as he lost the rest of his televised matches in 2012 and 2013, even on NXT , which in August 2012 had become WWE's re-branded developmental territory. On the January 23, 2013 episode of NXT , Tatsu and Percy Watson entered the NXT Tag Team Championship Tournament to crown

7493-496: 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

7620-492: The NJPW debuts of Chuckie T. , Jeff Cobb and Sami Callihan . The tournament featured a format change, where several top wrestlers, namely Hiroshi Tanahashi , Kazuchika Okada , Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito , who already had matches booked for Wrestle Kingdom 12 , were left out of the tournament. The 2018 tournament saw a change to a single block and a decrease in teams. From the previous year's 16, 14 teams were competing in

7747-561: 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

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7874-466: 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

8001-681: 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

8128-480: 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

8255-521: 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

8382-407: The World Tag Team Championship for a second time, Yoshiken were defeated on August 18. On May 27, 2019, Yoshitatsu defeated Tajiri to win the Gaora TV Championship . Tatsu signed full time with All Japan on January 1, 2020, with the contract being announced at their first show of the year on January 2. After nine successful title defences and a record breaking 587 days as champion, Yoshitatsu lost

8509-587: 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

8636-482: The aggressive style of Japanese wrestling . He said his face paint was a tribute to The Great Muta . Tatsu stopped wearing his face paint to the ring by October 2011. From December 2011, Tatsu formed an alliance with Trent Barreta to feud with Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks . Both teams played pranks on each other; Tatsu was locked in a closet and Reks' hands were superglued to an Xbox controller . The feud ended when Hawkins and Reks defeated Barreta and Tatsu on

8763-431: The annual Ōdō Tournament and defeating Tajiri in his first round match. Six days later, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara . On November 9, Yoshitatsu unsuccessfully challenged Joe Doering for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. He entered the 2017 Real World Tag League with Miyahara and had a good showing, winning five matches, but

8890-517: 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

9017-506: 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

9144-493: 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

9271-468: 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

9398-480: 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

9525-526: 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

9652-421: The finalists. The 1992 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from October 8 to October 21. The 1993 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 10 teams, was held from October 8 to November 4. The 1994 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 10 teams, was held from October 19 to October 30. The 1995 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from October 15 to October 30. Due to a tie for second place,

9779-399: 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

9906-532: The inaugural champions, but were defeated by The Wyatt Family ( Luke Harper and Erick Rowan ) in the first round. Tatsu continued sporadically wrestling on NXT throughout the rest of 2013 and 2014, but lost all his matches. In his final WWE pay-per-view appearance, Tatsu unsuccessfully competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania XXX in April 2014. On June 12, 2014, Yamamoto

10033-477: 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,

10160-847: The line. The 2024 edition of the World Tag League will take place from November 19 to December 8. It will feature sixteen competing teams divided across two blocks. The first two placed teams of each block move to the semifinals and the winners of those matches to the final. The League will feature the debut of Callum Newman , Hiromu Takahashi , Boltin Oleg , and Bullet Club Rogue Army members Stevie and Tome Filip (collectively known as The Natural Classics). The winning team will advance to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 19 . 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

10287-478: The losing side to gain ring experience. On December 27, 2003, Yamamoto lost to Ryusuke Taguchi in a chance at a match on NJPW's most prestigious show, the January 4 Dome Show Wrestling World . Yamamoto participated in the 2004 Young Lion Cup where he defeated Hirooki Goto , Akiya Anzawa , and Hiroshi Nagao to earn a total of six points, not enough to qualify for the finals. Yamamoto also participated in

10414-483: The main event match and, in doing so, helped Hiroshi Tanahashi defeat A.J. Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . Yamamoto did not return to working under his real name due to being known better under the name Yoshi Tatsu, but he also could not continue working under his WWE name because of trademark issues, which led to the name's tweaked spelling. He was given the new gimmick of

10541-516: The mystery member was revealed to Yoshitatsu, with the three naming their stable "Team 2000 X". As Tatsu, Yamamoto is featured as a playable superstar for the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 , WWE '12 and WWE '13 (as DLC ) video games. He was previously featured in King of Colosseum II and Wrestle Kingdom 2 under his real name. Yamamoto is a graduate from Kokushikan University with

10668-507: 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

10795-444: The newly rebranded World Tag League took place from November 20 through December 2. The 2013 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 23 through December 8. The 2014 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 22 through December 7. Following his team's opening match in the tournament, Yoshitatsu was forced to pull out of the tournament with a neck injury, leading to him and Hiroshi Tanahashi forfeiting

10922-485: 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

11049-497: 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

11176-522: 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

11303-451: 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

11430-703: 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

11557-487: 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,

11684-493: 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

11811-400: 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

11938-481: 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

12065-698: The remainder of their matches. The 2023 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 20 to December 10. The tournament returned to block format for the first time since 2017. It featured sixteen competing teams divided across two blocks. The first two placed teams of each block moved to the semifinals and the winners of those matches to the final. The League featured the debut of Mogul Embassy 's Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona (collectively known as Gates of Agony ), CMLL 's Zandokan Jr., Atlantis Jr. and Soberano Jr. , Alex Zayne , former Young Lions Yuya Uemura , Yota Tsuji , Ren Narita and Ryohei Oiwa , Guerrillas of Destiny 's Hikuleo and El Phantasmo (at

12192-468: The rest of their matches. The 2015 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 21 through December 9. A.J. Styles was sidelined with a back injury following November 24, forcing him and Yujiro Takahashi to forfeit the rest of their matches. The 2016 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 18 through December 10. The 2017 edition of the World Tag League took place from November 18 through December 11. The tournament featured

12319-432: The result of the poll and agreed to remove Captain New Japan from Hunter Club. This led to Captain attacking Yoshitatsu and aligning himself with Bullet Club. After starting a feud with Captain New Japan, now renamed "Bone Soldier", Yoshitatsu announced on November 5 that he had recruited Billy Gunn as his new Hunter Club partner for the 2016 World Tag League . Yoshitatsu and Gunn finished the tournament on December 8 with

12446-462: 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

12573-406: 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

12700-426: 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

12827-562: 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

12954-494: 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

13081-489: The start of the D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 Final event where it was announced he would tour with DDT Pro-Wrestling starting January 5. On September 30, a masked wrestler caused a three-way match to end in a no contest between former Good Looking Guys members Jack Morris , Anthony Greene and LJ Cleary , after he attacked the referee. Afterwards, he refused to shake Clearly's hand, only to shake Morris' instead with

13208-759: 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

13335-493: The team ended up in last place. On November 2, 2007 Yamamoto wrestled his last match for NJPW, teaming with his mentor Yuji Nagata in a losing effort against Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano. In late 2007, Yamamoto was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to a full-time contract, which meant that he had to relocate to the United States. He immediately was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), to undergo assessment and training in

13462-683: The time holders of the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship ), Bullet Club 's Rogue Army member Jack Bonza and Pro Wrestling Noah 's Kaito Kiyomiya . The winning team advanced to an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 . Since Bishamon were the reigning champions, as the winners of the Tag League they got the privilege to choose their challengers which they choose runner-ups Guerrillas of Destiny as their opponents with Guerrillas of Destiny's Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship also on

13589-519: The titles on the final episode of ECW . After the ECW brand was discontinued, Tatsu made his debut on the Raw brand on the February 22, 2010 episode of Raw , where he teamed up with Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston to defeat The Legacy ( Randy Orton , Ted DiBiase , and Cody Rhodes ), after Orton turned on his partners. Tatsu won a 26-man battle royal in the dark match to open WrestleMania XXVI by last eliminating Zack Ryder. In July 2010, Tatsu had

13716-444: 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

13843-448: The two leaving the arena together. Morris then announced that the masked man's identity would be revealed on October 14. On October 7, Morris faced Greene in a match, which ended in a no-contest, after the masked wrestler attacked Greene. Afterwards, Daga , who pretended to help Greene, turned on him, aligning himself with Morris and the masked wrestler, before the three attacked Morris and Greene's former stablemate LJ Cleary. On October 14,

13970-429: The two second-place teams faced each other in a semifinal to decide the finalists. Masa Saito also replaced Riki Choshu in his team with Kensuke Sasaki after one match. The 1996 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from October 13 to November 1. It altered the traditional points system, rewarding just 1 point for a victory, and 0 for a draw or loss. The 1997 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 8 teams,

14097-401: The usual 30-minute time limit as it was also for Tanahashi and Yoshie's IWGP World Tag Team Championship , giving it a 60-minute time limit. The 2006 G1 Tag League featured two blocks of five and ran from October 15 to November 6. The 2007 G1 Tag League was held from October 18, 2007 to November 2, 2007 over ten shows, featuring eight teams in one block. Due to a four-way tie for first place,

14224-491: 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

14351-443: 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

14478-435: 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

14605-469: Was a WWE Pro for the fifth season of NXT , also known as NXT Redemption , and his Rookie was Byron Saxton . On the April 26 episode of NXT , Tatsu was attacked by Saxton after Tatsu cost his match against Lucky Cannon . This caused tension between the two until the May 17 episode of NXT , when Tatsu defeated Saxton. On the May 31 episode of NXT , Saxton was the second rookie eliminated. Tatsu then began

14732-413: Was a four-way tie for first place, all four teams advanced to a small single-elimination tournament to decide the 2000 G1 Tag champions. The 2001 G1 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from November 30 to December 11. The 2003 G1 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from October 15 to October 30. The match between Mike Barton and Jim Steele and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie did not have

14859-404: 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

14986-480: 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

15113-426: 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

15240-612: 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

15367-424: Was held from November 18 to December 8. It used the same points system as the previous year, awarding 1 point for a win and 0 for a loss or draw. Due to a tie for second place, the two second-place teams faced each other in a semifinal to decide the finalists. The 1998 Super Grade Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from November 16 to December 6. It returned to the traditional points system, awarding 2 points for

15494-401: 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

15621-561: 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

15748-412: Was one short of a finals berth. On February 3, 2018, Yoshitatsu and Miyahara defeated Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama to win the World Tag Team Championship . Calling themselves Yoshiken, their reign lasted only 22 days, as they lost the belts to The Big Guns on February 25. In April, he entered his first Champion Carnival , posting three wins to finish fifth in block B. Challenging Ishikawa and Suwama for

15875-764: Was released from his WWE contract, along with ten other talents. On July 29, 2014, Yamamoto made his first post-WWE match at BELIEVE 77. At BELIEVE 79, Yamamoto defeated Aaron Epic to win the SCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, his first professional wrestling title (which he vacated on March 28, 2015 due to his neck injury ). On September 20, 2014, Yamamoto made his debut for Chikara , losing to Ashley Remington via disqualification , following outside interference from Juan Francisco de Coronado. On October 13, 2014, at King of Pro-Wrestling , Yamamoto, billed as Yoshitatsu, returned to New Japan, attacking Jeff Jarrett when he interfered in

16002-522: Was scheduled to take part in the 2014 World Tag League , but after their opening match on November 22, Yoshitatsu was forced to pull out of the tournament with a neck injury. On November 25, Yamamoto announced he had two broken bones in his neck, suffered presumably in his match with Styles when he botched the Styles Clash . Yamamoto had a halo installed in his skull, which he wore for the next three months. In May 2015, Yamamoto started training for

16129-582: 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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