Mid 20th Century
136-532: Seigigun ( 青義軍 , Seigigun , literally translated to "Blue Justice Army") was a professional wrestling stable in New Japan Pro-Wrestling , led by Yuji Nagata . Seigigun was first formed in September 2009 as a branch of New Japan Seikigun ("regular army") that seeks justice. Upon the formation of the group, Nagata and Inoue also began forming a "teacher/student" like team, teaming up at
272-524: A Two Out of Three Falls match . Goto returned to New Japan on May 3, when he teamed with Tama Tonga to defeat Takashi Sugiura and Makoto Hashi in a tag team match. Later in the event, Goto attacked and declared a war on Hiroshi Tanahashi after he had successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Goto would once again fail in his IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge on June 18, 2011. After
408-435: 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
544-452: A bye to the second round. Goto defeated Chase Owens to advance to the quarterfinals. In the next round, Goto was scheduled to face David Finlay , but advanced to the semi-finals, when Finlay pulled out of the tournament due to an illness. Goto defeated the previous year's cup winner Sanada in the semi-finals, thus advancing to his first New Japan Cup final in 8 years. In the Cup final, Goto
680-415: 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
816-415: 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
952-609: A 3 way for the IWGP Tag Team Titles but came up short. In August, Nagata and Inoue both entered the 2010 G1 Climax with both in the same block. Neither won with Nagata coming in 5th place with 8 points while Inoue finished in last place with 2 points. In September 2010, Hirasawa left New Japan and Seigigun to go on a learning excursion to Puerto Rico , young lion: King Fale was recruited in Hirasawa's place. On September 26, Nagata and Inoue challenged Bad Intentions for
1088-413: 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
1224-532: 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
1360-519: 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
1496-585: 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
SECTION 10
#17327974627281632-600: A chance to face Jon Moxley for the title at Forbidden Door , a co-produced show between NJPW and American wrestling company All Elite Wrestling . At the event, Goto was defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi. Instead at the show, Goto and Yoshi-Hashi competed in the opening match on the Buy-In, defeating Q. T. Marshall and Aaron Solo . This win lead to the pair getting an AEW World Tag Team Championship eliminator match on AEW Rampage , making their AEW debuts against current champions The Young Bucks , which they lost. In June, Goto
1768-406: 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 . Hirooki Goto Hirooki Goto ( 後藤洋央紀 , Gotō Hiroōki , born June 25, 1979)
1904-404: 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
2040-410: 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
2176-532: A future singles match between the two. In March, Goto once again made it to the finals of the New Japan Cup , before losing to Kazuchika Okada. Goto and Shibata finally faced off in a singles match on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013 , which ended in a draw. A rematch between the two took place on June 22 at Dominion 6.22 , where Shibata was victorious. A third match between the two on July 20 ended in another draw. During early August, Goto participated in
2312-405: 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
2448-742: 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
2584-571: A member of Team Japan (consisting of CTU members Goto, Jyushin Thunder Liger, Black Tiger and Minoru), one of the four teams competing in the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament . He debuted in TNA on April 23, 2006 at Lockdown , where he teamed with Black Tiger and Minoru against Team USA members Sonjay Dutt , Jay Lethal and Alex Shelley . Team Japan defeated USA when Black Tiger pinned Lethal. On
2720-424: 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
2856-440: 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
SECTION 20
#17327974627282992-635: A press conference the following day, Goto drew the ire of KENTA, after calling into question his in-ring abilities, leading KENTA to return the favor and attack him. On January 5, 2020, on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Goto defeated KENTA to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the fifth time. He lost the title to Shingo Takagi on February 1, at The New Beginning in Sapporo. In June, Goto took part in
3128-559: A record of four wins and three losses, the team failed to qualify for the finals, after losing to Evil and Sanada in their final round-robin match. On January 4, 2018, Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Hair vs. Hair match to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, forcing Suzuki to have his head shaved bald. On January 5, 2018, at New Year's Dash, he was challenged to a title match by Evil , which he accepted. The match took place on February 10, 2018 at The New Beginning in Osaka , where Goto
3264-455: A record of four wins and two losses, finishing second in their block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 2, Goto and Anderson defeated Tencozy ( Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they defeated the reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions, K.E.S. ( Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer ), to win the tournament. Sword & Guns received their shot at
3400-503: A record of nine wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 15, Goto & Yoshi-Hashi defeated EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi in the finals to win the 2021 World Tag League. On January 4, 2022, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defeated Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On Night 2, Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh , failed to capture
3536-557: A record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On August 14, Goto was defeated in the finals by Kenny Omega . At the end of the year, Goto took part in the 2016 World Tag League , teaming with Chaos stablemate Tomohiro Ishii. The two finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals due to losing to block winners Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in their final round-robin match. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome , Goto defeated Katsuyori Shibata to win
3672-426: A rematch for the title, but was again defeated by Nakamura. On November 11 at Power Struggle , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the Tokyo Dome . From November 20 to December 1, Goto took part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League , alongside Karl Anderson under the team name "Sword & Guns". The team finished with
3808-480: A rematch. From July 23 to August 15, Goto took part in the 2015 G1 Climax . After six victories, one of which came over reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Goto entered the final day with a chance to advance from his block, but was eliminated after suffering his third loss of the tournament against Yuji Nagata. Through NJPW's working relationship with the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion, Goto returned to
3944-566: A rudo unit with Hajime Ohara and Shigeo Okumura in CMLL. In August 2007, Goto returned to New Japan after his almost one-year stay in Mexico. Upon his return, the now much more muscular Goto graduated from a Jr. heavyweight to a Heavyweight. Goto showed a great deal of promise and skill since last seen in July 2006. He showcased a whole new moveset and he quickly tried to establish himself as one of
4080-503: A singles match. On February 12 at The New Beginning , Goto defeated Masato Tanaka to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the first time. Goto made his first title defense on March 11, defeating Yujiro Takahashi. On April 1, Goto entered the 2012 New Japan Cup . After victories over Yujiro Takahashi, La Sombra and Togi Makabe, Goto defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi on April 8 in the finals to win
4216-533: A tag team match against Satoshi Kojima and MVP . This marked Goto's final appearance for New Japan, before leaving for his second excursion to Mexico. Goto made his return to CMLL on March 25 and would, for the next month, work for the promotion as a heel, culminating in a match on April 29 at Arena México 's 55th anniversary show, where he unsuccessfully challenged Último Guerrero for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship in
Seigigun - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-503: 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
4488-586: 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
4624-463: Is a Japanese professional wrestler . Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . He is known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi, a two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion , five-time IWGP Tag Team Champion , one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion , five-time NEVER Openweight Champion , one-time winner of
4760-410: 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
4896-434: Is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which 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
5032-427: 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
5168-661: The 2007 G1 Tag League with Milano Collection AT, but the pair would finish in third place. In 2008 Goto wrestled one of his childhood idols, The Great Muta at New Japan's annual January 4 Tokyo Dome Show . Although having a good showing, Goto would fall to Muta. Goto's progress was good through 2008 but a surprise victory in New Japan's prestigious G1 Climax in August surpassed everyone's expectations. Goto earned 8 points in Block B, tied for first with Nakamura, but he advanced to
5304-530: The 2009 G1 Tag League and finished in 4th place with 4 points. On December 5, 2009, Nagata challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but lost. At Wrestle Kingdom IV In Tokyo Dome , Inoue, Machine, and Hirasawa defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger , Koji Kanemoto , and Kazuchika Okada in the opening match while Nagata teaming with Akebono lost to Tajiri and Masato Tanaka . In March, Nagata and Inoue entered
5440-566: The 2013 G1 Climax . On August 8, however, it was revealed that Goto had suffered a fractured jaw and was pulled from the tournament. He was leading the A block with four wins (which included a big win over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada) and two losses and had three matches left when he was pulled from the G1. Goto returned on December 8, challenging Katsuyori Shibata to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome . On January 4, 2014, Goto defeated Shibata in his return match. The match ended
5576-562: The 2014 G1 Climax , where he finished with a record of four wins and six losses. During the tournament final event on August 10, Goto and Shibata faced off in another singles match, where Shibata was victorious. Goto then entered a storyline, where he started leading a counterattack against the Bullet Club and Chaos stables, with the goal of revitalizing the New Japan Seikigun ("regular army"), which he represented alongside
Seigigun - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-654: The G1 Climax ( 2008 ), five-time winner of the World Tag League ( 2012 , 2014 , 2021 , 2022 , and 2023 ), and a record three-time winner of the New Japan Cup ( 2009 , 2010 , and 2012 ). Goto attended Kuwana Kogyo High School in Kuwana, Mie , where he was classmates with Katsuyori Shibata . Goto later attended Kokushikan University , where he took part in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling . Goto's first introduction to professional wrestling
5848-513: The G1 Climax 2018 and he ended up with 3 wins and 6 losses, failing to advance to the finals. On the final day of the G1 Climax, a returning Taichi later challenged him for the NEVER Openweight Championship, which Goto accepted. On September 17, at Destruction in Beppu , Goto lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Taichi in his second defense. On October 27, Goto requested for a rematch for
5984-637: The IWGP Tag Team Championship but lost. In October, Seigigun entered the 2010 G1 Climax Tag League with Nagata and Inoue forming one team while Machine and Fale formed another. Machine and Fale would finish in last place of their block with 0 points, Nagata and Inoue would ultimately go on to win the tournament defeating Bad Intentions in the semi-finals and No Limit in the finals. With the G1 Climax Tag League victory, Nagata and Inoue challenged Bad Intentions once again for
6120-561: The IWGP Tag Team Championship . At Wrestling Dontaku 2010 on May 3, 2010, Seigigun defeated Bad Intentions and No Limit in a 3 way to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. One month later at Dominion 6.19 on June 19, Seigigun lost the title to Bad Intentions in another 3 way (also involving No Limit). On June 28, Seigigun entered a six man tag tournament with Nagata, Inoue, and Hirasawa forming one team while Machine teamed with Tonga Strong Machine and Pink Strong Machine however both teams lost. On July 19, Nagata and Inoue once again took part in
6256-495: The New Japan Cup tournament. Nagata lost in the first round to Yujiro Takahashi while Inoue defeated Giant Bernard in the first round but lost to Masato Tanaka in the second round. Following the New Japan Cup, Hirasawa continued in the midcard largely serving as the fall guy in tag match, Machine also remained in the midcard, & Nagata and Inoue formed a team and began a feud with No Limit and Bad Intentions over
6392-624: 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
6528-557: 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
6664-511: The junior heavyweight division , and teamed together the same year to try to take the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a tournament, but were defeated in the final by veterans Gedo and Jado . In early 2005, he won the NJPW Young Lion Cup , defeating Hiroyuki Itō in the tournament final. After turning heel and joining Jyushin Thunder Liger 's "Control Terrorism Unit" ("C.T.U.") stable , Goto adopted
6800-745: The ring name "C.T.U Ranger Red". He won his first championship on May 15, 2005, teaming with Minoru to defeat Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue in the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . The duo held the titles for nine months, losing to El Samurai and Ryusuke Taguchi on February 19, 2006 in Tokyo. In 2006, Goto joined the American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion as
6936-431: 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
SECTION 50
#17327974627287072-584: 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
7208-400: 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
7344-509: 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
7480-608: The 2011 New Japan Cup with Inoue falling to Yano in the first round while Nagata fared better as he won the tournament, defeating Nakamura in the finals. On June 18, Hirasawa returned from Puerto Rico, now performing under the ring name Hideo Saito, and turned on Nagata and the Seigigun, joining rival group Chaos. After a long hiatus, Nagata reunited the Seigigun on March 3, 2013, at New Japan's 41st anniversary event, where he, Super Strong Machine (making his first wrestling appearance in nineteen months), Wataru Inoue and Captain New Japan,
7616-496: The 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of five wins (one against Jay White) and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament, due to losing to Shingo Takagi in their head-to-head match. Goto would avenge his loss to Shingo at September's Destruction in Kobe however. In the same event, he would challenge White for his newly won Intercontinental Championship, although White repeatedly refused,
7752-512: The 2020 New Japan Cup, being eliminated from the tournament by EVIL in the second round. On August 9, Goto, Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi defeated fellow CHAOS stablemates Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Sho in a tournament final to win NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. From September 19 until October 17, Goto took part in the 2020 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to
7888-430: The 6-man tag-team championships back to House of Torture. The month after this, Goto competed in a tournament to crown the inaugural NJPW World Television Champion , but was defeated by Kenta in the first round. In November, Bishamon competed in the World Tag League , finishing joint-top of the block and thus advancing to the finals. In the finals, Bishamon defeated Aussie Open ( Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis ) to win
8024-524: The April 27, 2006, episode of TNA Impact! , Goto and Minoru lost to Dutt and Shelley, giving a first round victory and two points to Team USA. On May 14, 2006 at Sacrifice , Goto and the other members of Team Japan accompanied Liger to ringside, assisting him in his victory over Team Canada captain Petey Williams . Later that night, all four members of Team Japan took part in a gauntlet match that
8160-653: 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
8296-522: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but yet again failed to win the title, being defeated by the defending champion, Kazuchika Okada, on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka . Goto went into the match with new attire, painting his body white and covering himself with script. Following the match, Okada offered Goto a spot in the Chaos stable. Over the next several events, Okada tried to shake hands with Goto and get him to join Chaos on multiple occasions, but
SECTION 60
#17327974627288432-562: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome , Takashi Sugiura successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Goto. In March, Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi , Masato Tanaka and Togi Makabe to win the 2010 New Japan Cup for the second year in a row. Goto went on to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on April 4, but would once again fail in his attempt to win
8568-496: The IWGP Tag Team Championship from Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson. On August 1, Goto entered the 2011 G1 Climax , where he went on to win six out of his nine matches, but a loss to Strong Man on the final day of the tournament dropped him to second place in his block, causing him to narrowly miss the finals of the tournament. In the 2011 G1 Tag League , Goto teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi as "The Billion Powers". After picking up two wins and two losses in their first four matches in
8704-420: The IWGP Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , but were defeated in a rematch by K.E.S. In February 2013, Goto made a challenge towards former high school classmate Katsuyori Shibata, which led to a tag team match on February 10, where he and Wataru Inoue were defeated by Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba . Afterwards, Goto and Shibata had a heated confrontation, building to
8840-499: The IWGP Tag Team Titles on December 11 but would once again lose. Following the tag title loss, Nagata began a short feud with Minoru Suzuki which culminated in a match at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome , which Nagata won. At The New Beginning on February 20, Nagata, Inoue, and Fale teamed with Hiroyoshi Tenzan against Chaos (Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano , Takashi Iizuka , and Yujiro Takahashi ) in an elimination match which they came up short. In March, Nagata and Inoue entered
8976-649: The NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team championships from House of Torture. In March 2022, Goto competed in the New Japan Cup , defeating Yuji Nagata and Dick Togo , before being defeated by Cima in the third round. At Hyper Battle , Goto and Yoshi-Hashi, now going by the tag- team name Bishamon , lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships to United Empire's Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan . At Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall , Goto competed in an AEW Interim World Championship eliminator match for
9112-676: The NEVER Openweight Championship for the first time. Goto made his first successful title defense on February 5 at The New Beginning in Sapporo against Juice Robinson . His second defense took place at the NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2017 event, where he defeated ROH wrestler Punisher Martinez . On April 9 at Sakura Genesis 2017 , Goto made his third successful defense against Zack Sabre Jr. , despite outside interference from Sabre's Suzuki-gun stablemates Minoru Suzuki and El Desperado . Afterwards, Goto brawled with Suzuki, setting up his next title defense. On April 27, Goto lost
9248-493: The NEVER Openweight Championship for the fourth time. Goto would lose the belt to Kota Ibushi on December 9, without having any defenses. 2019 would see Goto change effectively. After some massive losses, including one to Jay White on April 29, Goto would travel to the United States to train under Shibata's LA Dojo system to improve as he also briefly wrestled for Ring of Honor during their War Of The Worlds series. From July 6 until August 11, 2019, Goto returned and took part in
9384-471: The NEVER Openweight Championship to Michael Elgin in a 3-way match which also involved Taichi , ending his second reign at 156 days. On June 17, 2018 at Kizuna Road, Goto defeated Elgin in a rematch for the NEVER Openweight Championship to win back the title Goto made his first successful title defence against Jeff Cobb at G1 Special in San Francisco . From July 14 to August 12 Goto took part in
9520-437: The NEVER Openweight Championship to Suzuki. On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall , he failed to reclaim the title in a rematch against Suzuki in a Lumberjack Deathmatch. The following month, Goto entered the 2017 G1 Climax , where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses, failing to advance from his block. At the end of the year, Goto teamed with Yoshi-Hashi in the 2017 World Tag League . Finishing with
9656-432: The NEVER Openweight Championship, replacing his Chaos stablemate Will Ospreay , who was scheduled to challenge Taichi at Power Struggle for the title but was unable to do so due to Ospreay suffering an injury. Taichi, however, waved off Goto's challenge and declined immediately. Despite this, the title match was eventually still set at Power struggle which took place on November 3. At the event, Goto defeated Taichi to win
9792-408: 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
9928-488: 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
10064-659: The Strong Openweight Championships, to Bullet Club Wardogs ( Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd ). The following night in a rematch, the duo defeated Coughlin and Kidd to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships. The following week, Goto entered the G1 Cimax tournament, where he'd compete in the D Block. Goto finished with 6 points, failing to advance to the tournament's quarterfinals. Bishamon returned to tag-team competition in November, competing in
10200-451: The United States on August 21, teaming with Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Okada, Beretta and Rocky Romero . Goto's Intercontinental Championship reign ended on September 27 at Destruction in Kobe , when he was defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura in another title rematch. After defeating Tetsuya Naito on January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome , Goto received his eighth shot at
10336-539: The annual World Tag League , participating in the B-Block. The duo finished with 9 points, making them runner's up in the block, thus advancing them to the semi-finals. In the semi-final round, Bishamon defeated Bullet Club Wardogs (Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd). In the tournament finals, Bishamon defeated, Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions, Guerrillas of Destiny ( Hikuleo and El Phantasmo ), to win their third consecutive NJPW World Tag League, whilst also making them
10472-401: 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
10608-418: 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
10744-561: 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
10880-424: 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
11016-418: 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
11152-423: 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
11288-512: 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
11424-540: 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
11560-405: 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
11696-603: 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
11832-655: The final due to a direct win over the former IWGP champion and RISE leader. Meeting Togi Makabe in the final, Goto overcame outside interference and blood loss to defeat the leader of the Great Bash Heel (G.B.H.) faction, pinning him with the Shouten. In March 2009 Goto defeated Karl Anderson , Shinsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nagata and Giant Bernard to win the 2009 New Japan Cup and earn a shot at Hiroshi Tanahashi's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3, 2009, at Wrestling Dontaku 2009 , Tanahashi defeated Goto to retain
11968-408: The finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Goto and Toru Yano broke the record of the shortest match in the tournament's history with the match lasting 18 seconds, surpassing the record held by Kenzo Suzuki against Tadao Yasuda in the 2002 tournament, which their match lasted 37 seconds. From November 15 until December 6, Goto and Yoshi-Hashi took part in the 2020 World Tag League, finishing
12104-541: The finals. On December 7, Goto and Shibata defeated Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in the finals to win the 2014 World Tag League. This led to a rematch between the two teams on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome , where Goto and Shibata defeated Anderson and Gallows to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. Goto and Shibata's reign ended in their first defense on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka , where they were defeated by Anderson and Gallows. On March 8, Goto and Shibata once again faced off in
12240-470: 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
12376-610: 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
12512-460: 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
12648-722: The group stage of the tournament, Goto and Tanahashi defeated the Beast Combination (Satoshi Kojima and Togi Makabe) on November 4 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On November 6, Goto and Tanahashi were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Bad Intentions . On November 12 at Power Struggle , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Masato Tanaka for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship . On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome , Goto reignited his rivalry with Pro Wrestling Noah's Takashi Sugiura, defeating him in
12784-526: 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
12920-480: 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
13056-496: 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
13192-512: The likes of Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi. On November 8 at Power Struggle , Goto received his first shot at the NEVER Openweight Championship , but was defeated by the defending champion, Tomohiro Ishii. Later in the month, Goto and Shibata entered the 2014 World Tag League , where they opened with a three match losing streak, only to come back and win their four remaining matches, winning their block and advancing to
13328-437: The masked persona of former member Mitsuhide Hirasawa, were defeated in an eight-man tag team match by Hirooki Goto , Karl Anderson , Ryusuke Taguchi and Tama Tonga . On April 7 at Invasion Attack , King Fale returned to New Japan, turning on the Seigigun, including unmasking Captain New Japan, and aligning himself with Prince Devitt . With Fale turning on the stable and Inoue being absent due to injuries, Nagata announced he
13464-533: The match was set up anyway for Power Struggle , where Goto would lose. From November 16 until December 8, Goto and Karl Fredericks took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failing to win the tournament with a record of three wins and twelve losses. Afterward, Goto began feuding with KENTA . Throughout the 2019 World Tag League, KENTA began mocking Goto after his matches, leading Goto to attack him on November 29. Despite being attacked by Goto, KENTA continued to mock Goto leading him to attack KENTA again on December 8. At
13600-472: The match, Goto and Tanahashi seemingly made peace with each other, with Tanahashi suggesting that they go for the IWGP Tag Team Championship together. On June 23, Goto, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi won their second J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in a row by defeating the team of Giant Bernard, Jyushin Thunder Liger and Karl Anderson in the finals of the three-day-long tournament. On July 3 Goto and Tanahashi failed in their attempt to capture
13736-498: 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
13872-650: The month, Goto competed in the 2023 New Japan Cup , receiving a bye to the second round, where he defeated Kyle Fletcher. In the following round, Goto was defeated by Tama Tonga . In April at Sakura Genesis , Bishamon lost the IWGP Tag Team titles to Aussie Open, ending their third reign at 94 days. Later in the month, Goto made his debut on Tamashii, NJPW's Australasian subsidiary. In June at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall , Bishamon won their third IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and Goto's overall fourth, defeating House of Torture and United Empire to win both
14008-625: 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 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
14144-717: 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
14280-426: The record winners. Due to them already being IWGP Tag Team Champions, the duo decided to use their World Tag League win to have a title vs title rematch against Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D), at Wrestle Kingdom 18 . On January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom. Bishamon was defeated by G.O.D, ending the team's third IWGP Tag Team title reign at 214 days. In March 2024, Goto entered the annual New Japan Cup , receiving
14416-492: The reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima vetoed the result of the match and named Nakamura his first challenger for the belt. On December 11, while Kojima successfully defended his title against Nakamura, Goto was derailed from his quest to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with a loss against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The following day Kojima defeated Goto in a non–title match, ending Goto's dream of main eventing Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome . Instead, Goto teamed with
14552-425: The returning Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Pro Wrestling Noah representatives Yoshihiro Takayama and Takashi Sugiura . On March 6 Goto began his quest to win his third New Japan Cup in a row, but was defeated in the first round by Shinsuke Nakamura. On March 20, the final day of the tournament, Goto turned heel by abandoning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi during
14688-428: The rivalry between Goto and Shibata and led to the two forming a tag team. The following day, Goto scored the pinfall in an eight-man tag team main event against Chaos , after which he challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka , Goto received his seventh shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but was yet again unsuccessful in capturing
14824-434: The second round of the 2015 New Japan Cup in a match, where Goto was victorious. Goto eventually made it to the finals of the tournament on March 15, where he was defeated by Kota Ibushi . On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2015 , Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the second time. Goto made his first title defense on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall , defeating Nakamura in
14960-520: The signature blue on his gear. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) 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
15096-440: 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
15232-426: 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,
15368-402: The title. Afterwards, Goto and Shibata entered the IWGP Tag Team Championship picture, defeating the reigning champions, Bullet Club ( Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson), in a non-title match at New Japan's 42nd anniversary event on March 6. They received their title shot on April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014 , but were defeated by Gallows and Anderson. From July 21 to August 8, Goto took part in
15504-400: The title. On June 28, 2010, Goto, teaming up with Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi entered the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament. Two days later the trio defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tajiri and Kushida in the finals to win the tournament. During August's G1 Climax Goto debuted a new finishing maneuver, a cross-legged cradle , which he initially titled as Goto Special but
15640-571: The top Heavyweights in New Japan. Not that far into his return Goto join the Stable " R.I.S.E " with Shinsuke Nakamura , Travis Tomko , Giant Bernard , and fellow former CTU teammates Minoru, Milano Collection AT , and Prince Devitt . On November 11, he challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , but after a long and hard-fought match, Tanahashi would win with the Texas Cloverleaf. Shortly after that Goto entered
15776-498: The tournament for a second year in a row. On January 4 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17 , the duo defeated FTR to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the second time as a tag-team. Bishamon made their first title defense at The New Beginning in Sapporo in February, defeating TMDK ( Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste ). A month later, the duo successfully defended the titles against Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Later in
15912-472: The tournament for the third time and earn another shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012 , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 20, Goto made his second successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tomohiro Ishii . On July 22, Goto lost the title to Shinsuke Nakamura in his third defense. On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling , Goto received
16048-411: The tournament with a record of five wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. In March 2021, Goto took part in the 2021 New Japan Cup, losing in the second round to eventual finalist Shingo Takagi on March 13. From September 19 to October 20, Goto took part in the 2021 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of three wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of
16184-443: The tournament. Goto, Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi's reign would break the record for the longest reign as champions at 454 days and the most successful title defenses with 9 defenses, before losing the titles to House of Torture (EVIL, Sho & Yujiro Takahashi) on November 6 at Power Struggle. From November 14 to December 12, Goto took part in the round-robin portion of the 2021 World Tag League, alongside Yoshi-Hashi. The team finished with
16320-519: 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
16456-471: 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
16592-523: The vacant IWGP Tag Team titles and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships , thus becoming double champions. Five Days later, Bishamon reunited with Tomohiro Ishii at All Together Again , a joint event between NJPW, Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), to defeat NOAH's Masa Kitamiya , Daiki Inaba and Yoshiki Inamura . On July 4 on night 1 of NJPW Independence Day , Bishamon lost
16728-535: 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
16864-420: 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
17000-425: 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
17136-500: Was announced to be competing in the G1 Climax 32 tournament in July, as a part of the C Block. Prior to the beginning of the tournament, Goto teamed with Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh to win the Never Openweight 6-man tag-team championships in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch. Goto finished his G1 campaign with a total of 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals. In September 2022 at Burning Spirit , Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh, lost
17272-488: 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
17408-546: Was disbanding Seigigun. On April 2, 2014, Seigigun reunited for one night to take part in Wataru Inoue's retirement event, where Nagata, Captain New Japan and Super Strong Machine defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Taka Michinoku ). Even though the group is disbanded, Yuji Nagata still represents them while wrestling for the Main Unit. He is still considered the leader of Seigi-gun and continues to wear
17544-435: Was later renamed Goto-Shiki Hold (Goto Style Hold), has earned him pinfall victories over former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Yuji Nagata and Shinsuke Nakamura, but a loss to eventual G1 winner Satoshi Kojima on the final day of the tournament dropped him fourth in his block, narrowly missing the finals. On October 11 Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to earn the right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. However,
17680-650: 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
17816-415: 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
17952-546: Was the Fire Pro Wrestling videogame series. Then, he started watching JPW, NJPW, AJPW, and Michinoku Pro. Upon graduating, Goto qualified to join New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but left the promotion after incurring a shoulder injury. He returned to NJPW in November 2002 after healing and began training in the NJPW dojo. He debuted on July 6, 2003, in Gifu, Gifu , wrestling Ryusuke Taguchi . The two men competed in
18088-417: 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
18224-535: Was turned down each time. In March, Goto made it to the finals of the 2016 New Japan Cup , but was defeated there by Tetsuya Naito. After the final match, Goto finally agreed to shake hands with Okada, after he saved him from a post-match assault by Naito and his Los Ingobernables de Japón stable, and joined Chaos. From July 18 to August 12, Goto took part in the round-robin portion of the 2016 G1 Climax , where he won his block, besting both Hiroshi Tanahashi and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, with
18360-490: Was victorious. On February 23, 2018, Goto made his second successful defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship against The Beer City Bruiser at the NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2018 event. On April 27, 2018, at Road to Wrestling Dontaku, Goto made his third successful defense of the NEVER Openweight championship in a rematch with Juice Robinson. On June 9, 2018 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo hall , Goto lost
18496-569: Was won by Team Canada captain Petey Williams. The 2006 World X Cup was won by Team USA (with five points), with Team Japan coming last with three points. On August 1, 2006, Goto left for a lengthy learning excursion to Mexico after losing in a farewell match at the CTU 2nd Anniversary Show. While in Mexico he wrestled primarily for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and for Último Dragón 's Toryumon Mexico . During his time in Mexico, he formed
#727272