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81-902: Sasaki is the first of five men ever to hold all three of puroresu ' s major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , and the GHC Heavyweight Championship ), the others being Yoshihiro Takayama , Keiji Muto , Satoshi Kojima , and Yuji Nagata - totalling seven world championship reigns. Sasaki also competed in MMA and won both fights by submission , remaining undefeated in mixed martial arts competition. Sasaki debuted in Riki Choshu 's Japan Pro-Wrestling ,

162-523: A combat sport . It should be also noted that the term "Puroresu" in Japan refers to all professional wrestling, regardless of country of origin. For example, American promotions WWE and Ring of Honor are referred to as "Puroresu" in Japan. Japanese wrestling historian Fumi Saito noted: "Puroresu is completely Japanese-English, and in the U.S. the same word is used for both pro and amateur wrestling. It may be easier to understand if you think of wrestling in

243-401: A heptagon with a enlarged U.S. flag along with the company's scratch logo located at the top of the main plate in white and black paint. Below the logo is a gold banner with the words “WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT” etched inside. In the center of the main plate is a black banner with the words “UNITED STATES CHAMPION” etched in gold. On the bottom of the center plate, the name plate attaches to

324-583: A mass exodus to form Pro Wrestling Noah , particularly when Motoko Baba sold her stock to Keiji Mutoh, but Noah would continue to practice ōdō (referred to as Royal Road with Ark by the promotion) in its booking. This element of ōdō has been criticized for its negative influence on professional wrestling, and 1990s All Japan been cited as a cautionary tale in response to legitimately dangerous maneuvers. Meltzer wrote in 2009 that head drops were "never necessary" as Misawa and his peers in AJPW were already "having

405-416: A real fight against Muhammad Ali in 1976 that was watched by an estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide. Many of New Japan's wrestlers, including top stars such as Seiji Sakaguchi , Tatsumi Fujinami , Akira Maeda , Satoru Sayama , Yoshiaki Fujiwara , Nobuhiko Takada , Masakatsu Funaki , Masahiro Chono , Shinya Hashimoto , Riki Choshu , Minoru Suzuki , Shinsuke Nakamura , and Keiji Mutoh , came from

486-593: A 39 °C (102.2 °F) fever. He won the G1 Climax for the second time in August 2000 with a victory over last year's winner Manabu Nakanishi in the final, now holding both of New Japan's two heavyweight singles crowns. On October 9, 2000, Sasaki surrendered the IWGP title after he lost to Toshiaki Kawada in a non-title match at an All Japan vs. New Japan event called Do Judge . In a tournament final, Sasaki regained

567-744: A Finals Decision match against Satoshi Kojima and Suwama on December 9; both teams were tied, and opponents were needed for Keiji Muto and Joe Doering in the final of the League. Sasaki successfully defended the Triple Crown Championship against Satoshi Kojima (on March 1, 2008). Sasaki participated in the 2008 Champion Carnival over five straight shows in the Korakuen Hall from April 5 to April 9, scoring 4 points after 1 win (over Joe Doering ), 1 loss (to Minoru Suzuki) and 2 draws (with Suwama and Osamu Nishimura ). Sasaki lost

648-711: A critically acclaimed era with several classic matches authorized by the American wrestling publication Wrestling Observer Newsletter featuring wrestlers such as Manami Toyota , Aja Kong , Kyoko Inoue , Bull Nakano , Mayumi Ozaki , Megumi Kudo , Dynamite Kansai , amongst others. This era was also notable for multiple wrestlers returning from retirement such as Chigusa Nagayo , Lioness Asuka , Jaguar Yokota , Devil Masami , and Bison Kimura , which increased interest. In 2022, New Japan Pro Wrestling inaugurated their own IWGP Women's Championship . WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship

729-620: A few months later; however, that was very brief, lasting only 15 days. The pair would have two reigns as IWGP Tag Team Champions , and had memorable matches with The Steiner Brothers . Two more tag title reigns followed when in late 1992, Sasaki assumed the name "Power Warrior" and teamed with Road Warrior Hawk . As The Hell Raisers , they dominated the tag team scene in New Japan. In October 1992, he also started wrestling periodically for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and would wrestle there on and off until December 1996. Sasaki dropped

810-458: A legitimate martial arts background. This style led to the development of shoot wrestling and the spin-off Universal Wrestling Federation . Sayama developed and founded Shooto , a pioneer mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, in 1985. That same year, Sayama's student Caesar Takeshi founded Shootboxing . Funaki, Suzuki and others would found Pancrase and hold their first event almost two months before UFC 1 . Maeda founded RINGS in 1991 as

891-694: A more "narrative" style, derived from the American model of professional wrestling as physical storytelling. However, ōdō distinguished itself from American professional wrestling by largely eschewing many of its storytelling devices. Angles and gimmicks were virtually non-existent, as all the storytelling in ōdō occurred through the matches themselves. Blading was also banned outright. Because Baba disliked submissions, they were also eschewed for decisive pinfalls. In 2011, Japanese wrestling magazine G Spirits cited Misawa's July 29, 1993 Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship title defense against Kawada as

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972-468: A one-month span. Sasaki solidified his dominance in the heavyweight division by defeating both Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh in his first two title defenses, thus defeating The Three Musketeers in three straight title matches. In April 1998, he lost the title to Tatsumi Fujinami . In March 1999, he won another IWGP Tag Team Championship with Shiro Koshinaka . Sasaki won his second IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Genichiro Tenryu while wrestling with

1053-712: A physical championship belt, and later became the first to wear a newly designed belt, which was used up through WCW's closing in March 2001, after being purchased by rival promotion, the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF). When WWF purchased WCW, they used the United States title during the WWF's Invasion storyline. The title was deactivated after being unified with the then- WWF Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series , when United States Champion Edge defeated Intercontinental Champion Test , becoming

1134-559: A redemption storyline where he attempted to win back the support of both the wrestlers and fans in NJPW. In August, he entered his first G1 Climax since 2002, but was prevented from reaching the finals by losing to Tenryu on the final day. By October, Sasaki was once again a firm fan favourite, and regained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in controversial fashion, beating Kazuyuki Fujita in just 2:29 after reversing

1215-819: A satellite of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), in February 1986. On February 16, 1986, he made his debut against Shinji Sasazaki in a losing effort. Shortly afterwards, Sasaki became a regular in AJPW for over a year. He defected to rival promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), following Choshu, who returned to NJPW in 1987. During his time with NJPW, Sasaki teamed up with the likes of Osamu Matsuda and Kenichi Oya . In January 1989, Sasaki embarked on an excursion to North America. He first started wrestling there in Puerto Rico in World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he held his very first championship,

1296-822: A shoot-style promotion, which began transitioning to legitimate MMA competition in 1995. Takada was a co-founder of PRIDE and Rizin . Ōdō ( 王道 , "King's Road"; also translated as "Royal Road") is a style which originated in All Japan Pro Wrestling , and is most closely associated with the Four Pillars ( 四天王 , Shitennō ) , the informal Western fan’s nomenclature for 1990s AJPW wrestlers Toshiaki Kawada , Kenta Kobashi , Mitsuharu Misawa , and Akira Taue . However, matches involving these four have been also referred to in Japan as Shitennō puroresu ( 四天王プロレス ) . As opposed to strong style's European catch wrestling influences, ōdō opted for

1377-458: A sleeper into a pinfall. This win was legitimately protested by Sasaki and his wife Akira Hokuto, who destroyed the trophy given to Sasaki backstage and criticised Fujita for purposely dropping the championship so he could focus on MMA. Nevertheless, Kensuke successfully defended the belt twice against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki , before dropping it to Tenzan in December. After dropping

1458-582: A strong bond with his protégé Katsuhiko Nakajima , whom he considers to be a member of the family. Puroresu Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Puroresu ( プロレス ) is a Japanese term used for professional wrestling in and outside of Japan . The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "professional wrestling" ( プロフェッショナル・レスリング , purofesshonaru resuringu ) , which in Japanese

1539-517: A tag team known as Pirates Gundan (Pirates Army), and regularly teamed with the likes of Scott Norton and Genichiro Tenryu . On March 12, he won back the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan in Tokyo. Sasaki dropped the title to Bob Sapp a little over two weeks later. After introducing his student Katsuhiko Nakajima and forming the Kensuke Family group, Sasaki began

1620-477: A total of seven points, losing out to eventual winner Yoshihiro Takayama . In 2005, Sasaki established his own agency, Kensuke Office. The agency is run by Sasaki's wife (former joshi wrestler), Akira Hokuto . Under the Kensuke Office agency, Sasaki and pupil Katsuhiko Nakajima toured other promotions, particularly All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah (PWN). In September 2006, Kensuke Office

1701-572: Is a men's professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE , defended on the SmackDown brand division . It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw . The current champion is LA Knight , who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Logan Paul at SummerSlam on August 3, 2024. The championship

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1782-453: Is abbreviated to “puro” (プロ- “pro”) & “resu” (レス - an abbreviation of “wrestling”). The term became popular among English -speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's activities in the online Usenet community. Growing out of origins in the traditional US style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. Japanese pro wrestling is distinct in its psychology and presentation of the sport and how it functions based on Japanese culture. It

1863-637: Is common for pro wrestlers and mixed martial artists in Japan to cross over . Despite some similarities to the popular style of professional wrestling in the United States , Japanese wrestling is known for many differences from the Western style. Puroresu in Japan is known for its " fighting spirit " ( 闘魂 , tōkon ), and the wrestlers are known for their full contact strikes. Many Japanese wrestlers have some degree of knowledge in many different martial arts and wrestling styles; because of this, there are usually doctors and trainers at ringside for assisting

1944-427: Is simply a standard, and may or may not correspond exactly with any given promotion's codified rules. Matches are held between two or more sides ("corners"). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are governed by tag team rules (see below). The match is won by scoring a "fall", which is generally consistent with standard professional wrestling: Additional rules govern how

2025-555: Is treated closer to a legitimate competition, with fewer theatrics ; the stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighter's spirit and perseverance. Pro wrestling in Japan led to the development of shoot wrestling and has been closely related to mixed martial arts (MMA) starting with Shooto and Pancrase , organizations which predate the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), along with influencing subsequent promotions such as RINGS and PRIDE . It

2106-543: Is usually promoted by companies that specialize in women’s wrestling, rather than divisions of otherwise male-dominated promotions as is the case in the United States (a major exception was FMW , a men's promotion which had a small women's division, but even then depended on talent from women's federations to provide competition). However, joshi puroresu promotions usually have agreements with male puroresu promotions such that they recognize each other's titles as legitimate, and may share cards . All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling

2187-567: The United States Championship by defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match . On the following episode of SmackDown Live , after recapping all of his previous accolades, Ziggler said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him and he dropped the title in the ring and left. After unsuccessful attempts at contacting Ziggler, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared

2268-427: The 2018 Superstar Shake-up , the title briefly returned to Raw when champion Jinder Mahal was drafted to the brand. However, it was immediately returned to SmackDown after Jeff Hardy defeated Mahal for the title and was drafted to SmackDown the next night. The championship definitively returned to Raw in 2019 when reigning champion Samoa Joe was drafted to the brand during that year's Superstar Shake-up . During

2349-543: The Global Tag League of 2010, which ran from January 9 to January 24. Sasaki and Morishima finished the league with a total of four points, losing out to A-Block winners Yoshihiro Takayama and Takuma Sano . Sasaki also participated in Pro-Wrestling NOAH's Global League of 2010 from March 28 to May 2. During the league, he defeated Jun Akiyama in a highly acclaimed contest. Sasaki finished with

2430-504: The IWGP Tag Team Championships on November 11, 1990, defeating the team of Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono . Holding the titles for only a month facing teams like Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto , The Dragon Bombers ( Shiro Koshinaka and Takayuki Iizuka ) before eventually falling to Hiro Saito and Super Strong Machine on December 26 that same year. He would only win one more title with Hiroshi Hase

2511-638: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , but saw success throughout the year, first winning the Champion Carnival by beating Jamal in the final. On July 26, Sasaki and his student Katsuhiko Nakajima then beat the Voodoo Murders ( "brother" Yasshi and Shuji Kondo ) to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship . Kensuke (as his old "Power Warrior" character) and Road Warrior Animal teamed up on September 1 at

Kensuke Sasaki - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-841: The WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship , with Mr. Pogo twice between January 14, 1989, and April 1, 1989. He also wrestled for Stu Hart 's Stampede Wrestling promotion in Canada, where he wrestled under the name Benkei Sasaki and was trained by Hart in the Hart Dungeon . During his time in Canada, he won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in August 1989, with All Japan loyalist Sumo Hara . He also wrestled for Otto Wanz 's Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) in tours of Austria and Germany under

2673-814: The 1980s, with their televised matches resulting in some of the highest rated broadcasts in Japanese television as well as the promotion regularly selling out arenas. In 1985, Japan's second women's wrestling promotion formed in Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling . The promotion ran their first show on August 17, 1986. It featured Jackie Sato who returned from retirement and future stars such as Shinobu Kandori , Mayumi Ozaki , Cutie Suzuki , and Dynamite Kansai , who would go on to be top stars in LLPW and JWP . In 1992, Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling dissolved, splitting into LLPW and JWP . These promotions worked together with FMW and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to create

2754-485: The April 6, 1991, episode of World Championship Wrestling , Nikita Koloff destroyed the classic 1980s United States Heavyweight Championship belt during a post-match brawl with Lex Luger, who was in his fourth reign as champion. Koloff, who claimed to be the true champion, knocked Luger unconscious by striking him with the title belt and then repeatedly smashed the championship belt into a ringpost. Luger would appear without

2835-678: The Differ Ariake to defeat Yasshi and Kondo. On November 19, Sasaki got another shot at the Triple Crown, this time losing to Satoshi Kojima . In July 2006, Sasaki suffered an injury and required time off, meaning he and Nakajima had to vacate the All Asia Tag Titles. After five months away from the ring, Sasaki returned to All Japan in January 2007. In May, Sasaki and Nakajima teamed up with rookie Seiya Sanada to win

2916-733: The GHC Heavyweight Title, becoming the first person to hold the Heavyweight title in all three major Japanese promotions. On March 1, 2009, he lost the GHC Heavyweight title to Jun Akiyama . On September 21, 2009, he teamed with Morishima to win the GHC Tag Team titles from Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith . They lost the titles on December 6, 2009, to Takeshi Rikio and Muhammad Yone . Sasaki teamed up with regular tag partner Takeshi Morishima to participate in

2997-624: The IWGP Title again, ally turned enemy Riki Choshu returned to NJPW in a backstage role which led to Sasaki's appearances became more sporadic, and he stopped wrestling for NJPW once again in early 2005. After returning to NJPW, Sasaki once again started wrestling for AJPW too as a freelancer, entering the 2004 Champion Carnival and making it to the final where he lost to Keiji Mutoh . After making occasional appearances throughout 2004, Sasaki went over to AJPW full-time in early 2005. On January 16, he unsuccessfully challenged Toshiaki Kawada for

3078-722: The November 8, 2024, episode of SmackDown , general manager Nick Aldis introduced the women's counterpart to the United States Championship . The design of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship from 1991 to 1995 featured five plates. A center plate on the gold background consisted of a map of the Contiguous United States with a flag shown alongside with an eagle. On top of the plate shows

3159-589: The Power Warrior persona in 1995 (as he only revived the persona on special occasions, such as teaming with Hawk and Animal in six-man tag team matches) and began climbing the ranks in singles competition. He won his first major title, the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship on November 13, 1995, defeating Sting at a NJPW Event. This was the title's first title change outside of the United States. He soon lost

3240-684: The Samurai! TV Triple Arrow Six Man Tag Team Cup, beating the Voodoo Murders (Kondo, Yasshi and Taru ) in the final. On August 26, 2007, Sasaki defeated Minoru Suzuki to become the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion . Sasaki made his first defense against Toshiaki Kawada on October 18, 2007, and would go on to team with Kawada after Katsuhiko Nakajima suffered an injury on October 18 in the 2007 World's Strongest Tag Determination League . Sasaki and Kawada would lose

3321-557: The Triple Crown Championship to Carnival Winner Suwama on April 29, 2008, and left the promotion in June. Sasaki debuted for Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, losing to Kenta Kobashi at Destiny 2005 . After losing the Triple Crown titles in 2008, he jumped to Pro Wrestling Noah and announced he would make it his full-time home promotion, while still operating the Kensuke Office . On September 6, 2008, he defeated Takeshi Morishima for

Kensuke Sasaki - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-460: The U.S. as having the same nuance as ' sumo ' in Japanese. You call both 'wrestling' even if it's competitive or professional wrestling." Puroresu has a variety of different rules, which can differ greatly from wrestling in other countries. While there is no governing authority for puroresu, there is a general standard which has developed. Each promotion has its own variation, but all are similar enough to avoid confusion. Any convention described here

3483-577: The United States Championship became officially recognized as a component of the re-established honor. In August at that year's SummerSlam , United States Champion John Cena faced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in a Winner Takes All match , which Rollins ultimately won to become the first wrestler to hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship simultaneously. Rollins held both titles until Cena defeated Rollins in his rematch for

3564-590: The United States Championship belt, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the long-standing scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February. On the July 6, 2020, episode of Raw , after 17 years since the title's reactivation, MVP introduced a completely new belt design for

3645-716: The United States Championship since 2001. The United States Championship began as a regional championship called the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, one of several versions of the title allowed in different territories under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) bylaws. It was created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) run by Jim Crockett Jr. Introduced on January 1, 1975, Harley Race became

3726-420: The United States Championship. The belt now features only three plates. The center plate is an upside down heptagon. The top portion of the center plate features the WWE logo flanked by white stars on a gold background. Below this, "UNITED STATES" is written in red, with "CHAMPION" prominently written below that in blue; eight stars divide the two. Below the word champion is an eagle with its wings spread out across

3807-465: The WCW logo with the two banners reading on the black background "UNITED STATES" along with two stars on each side while the text says "HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION" on the bottom. Both side plates on each side feature one with the U.S. flag with the text "UNITED STATES" while the other shows two wrestlers grappling with the WCW logo on top and the text "CHAMPION" on the bottom. After its minor update in 1995,

3888-408: The belt now featured three plates with the center plate slightly redesigned with the side plates also feature a gold filigree with the text "WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING". This belt would also appear on WWF's programming until November 2001. After its reactivation in July 2003, the newly renamed WWE United States Championship was redesigned. This belt consisted of five plates. The center plate featured

3969-426: The best matches in wrestling" before they incorporated these maneuvers into their style. Throughout the 1990s, three individual styles— shoot style , lucha libre , and hardcore —were the main divisions of independent promotions , but as a result of interpromoting, it is not unusual to see all three styles on the same card. Pro wrestling done by female wrestlers is called joshi puroresu, or women’s wrestling, and

4050-648: The championship the only one from WCW to be reactivated as a WWE title (although the WCW Cruiserweight Championship had also become a WWE title, it was not deactivated and reactivated; it replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship during the Invasion storyline). Eddie Guerrero became the first champion after its reactivation by winning a tournament at that year's Vengeance , defeating Chris Benoit in

4131-455: The company to die a slow death. After leaving World Japan, Sasaki initially returned to NJPW in 2004 as a heel freelancer, with the New Japan roster, specifically Yuji Nagata unwelcoming of his return in kayfabe. In his return match, Sasaki lost to Nagata at Wrestling World 2004 by referee's decision in an extremely bloody contest. He later aligned himself with Manabu Nakanishi , who had recently begun his "lone wolf" character. The two formed

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4212-545: The final match. This was done shortly after the Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart. The first brand extension ended on August 29, 2011, allowing the United States Championship, as well as all other titles, to be defended on both Raw and SmackDown . In 2015, WWE introduced an updated version of its Grand Slam Championship , and

4293-567: The first match in the Shitennō style, and the 1993 World's Strongest Tag Determination League final, in which Misawa and Kobashi wrestled Kawada and Taue , was referred to as the "completed form" of the style by Tokyo Sports in 2014. According to Kawada, ōdō matches, which placed a heavy emphasis on fighting spirit , were about "breaking the limit you set in the last". AJPW referee Kyohei Wada , who recounted that Baba told his talent "whatever you want to do, do it, and whatever you can show

4374-465: The first round beating Dan Chase in 2001 and future UFC fighter Christian Wellisch in 2003. In November 2002, he was originally scheduled to fight Minoru Suzuki , but due to injury, he pulled out and was replaced by Jushin Thunder Liger . During this period, he would alter his look, cutting his signature mullet (he would occasionally dye his hair different colors), wearing ring gear bearing

4455-607: The inaugural champion. The title quickly replaced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as the top singles title in the promotion. While the NWA recognized only one World Heavyweight Champion , there was no single undisputed United States Champion as a number of NWA regional promotions recognized their own version of the title and champion. That changed, however, in January 1981; San Francisco -based NWA territory Big Time Wrestling , which

4536-509: The main event of a Diamond Ring event. Two days later, Sasaki held a press conference to announce his retirement from professional wrestling. Following Sasaki's retirement, Diamond Ring was left with only one remaining wrestler, Katsuhiko Nakajima, with Satoshi Kajiwara resigning and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya joining Pro Wrestling Noah. Between 2001 and 2003, Sasaki took a couple hiatuses from pro-wrestling and focused on mixed martial arts . He has two fights under his belt, winning both by submission in

4617-467: The main plate by two screws at the back. One of the side plates featured an light etching of an American bald eagle resting on top of a shield with the WWE logo painted white and red within the shield with an eagleholding a red and white striped banner as well as blue-painted square with a white star at the center is placed above the eagle The other side plate featured an portrait of an Statue of Liberty surrounded by four stars on each corner. In August 2014,

4698-505: The name Kendo Sasaki. In December 1989, Stampede Wrestling closed its doors, and Sasaki wrestled for the Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA), until March 1990 when he was fired by Ed Whalen for kicking Mike Lozanski too stiff. Sasaki returned to NJPW in March 1990, and formed a popular tag team with Hiroshi Hase , with whom he would have a long on-off tag team partnership. They quickly won

4779-499: The new Intercontinental Champion. In July 2003, a year after the first brand extension went into effect in the promotion renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the title was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by then- SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon and with a completely new belt design. It was commissioned to be a secondary championship for the SmackDown! brand, making

4860-712: The only two men to have held both the United States Championship and a world championship simultaneously; in Booker T's case, the world title was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , while Rollins held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (both Lex Luger and Goldberg were the United States Champion when they won their first world championship, but unlike Booker T and Rollins, they vacated

4941-594: The outcome of the match is to take place. One such example would be the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation , as it does not allow pinfall victories in favor of submissions and knockouts; this is seen as an early influence of mixed martial arts , as some wrestlers broke away from traditional wrestling endings to matches in favor of legitimate outcomes . Another example is that most promotions disallow punches, so many wrestlers utilize open handed strikes and stiff forearms; this rule

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5022-711: The people, show it", would later compare his job officiating these matches to "conducting a symphony". However, this escalation eventually manifested through the use of dangerous maneuvers that focused on the head and neck, particularly during the finishing stretches of ōdō matches. The physical consequences of this style, or at least its use of head drops, has often been cited as the underlying reason for Misawa's death after an in-ring accident in 2009. Professional wrestling journalist and historian Dave Meltzer noted, after his death, that Misawa "regularly took psychotic bumps", including back suplexes where he would land on his head. AJPW would steer away from ōdō after Misawa led

5103-402: The plate, with the red and white stripes of the American flag beneath its wings. Coming in line with WWE's other championship belts, the belt features two side plates with a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates consist of a gold WWE logo over a silver globe. Following the revival of the United States Championship in 2003, the title

5184-405: The rise of Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka , known as the " Crush Gals ", who as a tag team achieved a level of unprecedented mainstream success in Japan, unheard of by any female wrestler in the history of professional wrestling all over the world. Their long running feud with Dump Matsumoto and her "Gokuaku Domei" ("Atrocious Alliance") stable would become extremely popular in Japan during

5265-482: The secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as secondary to the World Championship. WCW began to pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991. On

5346-479: The then-WCW United States Championship was defended in the WWF until it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series . After the 2002 brand extension and the promotion being renamed WWE , the championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship in July 2003 as a secondary title of the SmackDown brand. The United States Championship has switched between brands over

5427-501: The title at Night of Champions the following month. In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension; during the draft , United States Champion Rusev was drafted to the Raw brand. Days later, he successfully defended the title against SmackDown draftee Zack Ryder at Battleground , keeping the title exclusive to Raw. On April 11, 2017, United States Champion Kevin Owens , along with

5508-599: The title to dubious circumstances however, losing to One Man Gang which was later claimed to be an official title match. August 1997 skyrocketed Sasaki's rise to superstardom. On August 3, he won the G1 Climax tournament by defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the final. A week later, he captured the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Kazuo Yamazaki . Finally at the end of the month, he captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating long reigning champion Shinya Hashimoto , winning three major honors in

5589-452: The title vacant and announced a tournament to crown a new champion. The final was originally scheduled to occur at the 2018 Royal Rumble , but was moved up to the January 23 episode of SmackDown Live . However, on the January 16 episode, after Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode won their respective semifinals matches, Roode challenged Mahal to have the final that night and Bryan scheduled it for that episode's main event. The inaugural champion

5670-517: The title, defeating Kawada, at the January 4, 2001, Tokyo Dome show. In March 2001, Sasaki lost the IWGP Heavyweight Title to Scott Norton and in late 2002 he resigned from the promotion after a falling out with company management. In the beginning of 2003, Sasaki joined his mentor, Riki Choshu, in his new Fighting of World Japan Pro Wrestling (World Japan) promotion. He became the only WMG Heavyweight Champion; however, tensions between him and Choshu over financial issues caused Sasaki to withdraw and

5751-448: The title, moved to SmackDown as a result of that year's Superstar Shake-up . Owens was already scheduled to defend the title against Chris Jericho at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30. Then-SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared that regardless of who won at Payback, the United States Championship would remain on SmackDown; Jericho defeated Owens for the title at Payback and he transferred to SmackDown. During

5832-528: The word, "Volcano", and adapting moves he learned in MMA training to expand his pro wrestling moveset. In March 2004, Sasaki defeated Francisco Filho in a sumo-style match for K-1 . Kensuke Sasaki married Akira Hokuto on October 1, 1995, after proposing to her on their first date. Together, they have two sons: Kennosuke (born November 1998) and Seinnosuke (born March 2003). Kennosuke married professional wrestler Rin Kadokura in 2022. Also, Kensuke has

5913-421: The wrestlers after a match. Most matches have clean finishes and many of the promotions do not use any angles or gimmicks . Japanese wrestling is also known for its relationship with fellow mixed martial arts promotions. Puroresu remains popular, and it draws huge crowds from the major promotions. With this and its relationship with other martial arts disciplines, the audiences and wrestlers treat puroresu as

5994-570: The years, usually as a result of the WWE Draft ; the 2023 draft moved the title back to SmackDown. Of WWE's currently active championships, the United States Championship is the only one that did not originate in the promotion. It is the second-oldest active title in the company, behind the WWE Championship (1963), but the third longest-tenured championship, behind the WWE and Intercontinental Championships (1979), as WWE has only owned

6075-480: Was Harley Race . There have been 102 different champions, with Ric Flair having the most reigns at six. The longest-reigning champion is Lex Luger , who held the title for 523 days from May 22, 1989, to October 27, 1990. "Stunning" Steve Austin 's second reign was the shortest, lasting approximately five minutes. Dean Ambrose is the longest-reigning champion under the WWE banner at 351 days, lasting from May 19, 2013, to May 5, 2014. Booker T and Seth Rollins are

6156-563: Was also applied in the early stages of Pancrase . New Japan Pro-Wrestling , headed by Antonio Inoki , used Inoki's "strong style" approach of wrestling as a combat sport, influenced strongly by the styles of catch wrestlers such as Lou Thesz , Karl Gotch , and Billy Robinson . Wrestlers incorporated kicks and strikes from martial arts disciplines, and a strong emphasis was placed on submission wrestling . Inoki became known for "different styles fights" which were predetermined matches against practitioners of various martial arts. This led to

6237-678: Was announced as a member of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA). Beginning in 2007, Kensuke Office has organised its own shows, and some of the talent featured on the shows include Minoru Suzuki , Jun Akiyama , Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshihiro Takayama , Kikutaro , Takeshi Morishima, KENTA and Catfish Man . In January 2012, Kensuke Office was renamed Diamond Ring. Currently, Diamond Ring serves as developmental territory of Pro Wrestling NOAH, featuring several of its superstars. On February 11, 2014, Sasaki suffered his first loss to Katsuhiko Nakajima in

6318-482: Was designated to SmackDown. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following list indicates the transitions of the United States Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The tournament for the vacant WWE United States Championship was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003 for the SmackDown! brand, with the final being at Vengeance (2003) . At Clash of Champions 2017 , Dolph Ziggler won

6399-577: Was established on January 1, 1975, as the version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Jim Crockett Promotions , and later assumed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which eventually seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Harley Race was the inaugural champion. After WCW was purchased by the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001,

6480-408: Was the dominant joshi organization from the 1970s to the 1990s. AJW's first major star was Mach Fumiake in 1974, followed in 1975 by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda, known as the " Beauty Pair ". The early 1980s saw the fame of Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami , major stars of the second wave of excellent workers who took the place of the glamour-based "Beauty Pair" generation. That decade would later see

6561-585: Was the last remaining promotion outside the Mid-Atlantic territory that recognized its own United States Champion, ceased operations around that time, leaving the Mid-Atlantic version as the only remaining United States Championship. The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The United States title then became

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