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129-642: Formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE and Pro Wrestling Zero1-MAX, respectively), it was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2001 until late 2004, and briefly reaffiliated in 2011. It was also affiliated with AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) from 2005 until late 2007, the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA) from 2006 to 2009, and has been affiliated with

258-480: A Japanese citizen in 1996, and after retiring in 2001 he worked as a coach at Azumazeki stable before leaving the Sumo Association in 2003. After an unsuccessful period as a K-1 fighter, he became a professional wrestler . In All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) he was a two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , two-time World Tag Team Champion , and two-time All Asia Tag Team Champion . He also won

387-653: A World Title tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Unbeknownst to any one, the event was staged for ECW's public withdrawal from the NWA, with tournament winner Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA title belt and instead picking up the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, proclaiming himself to be the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. ECW founder Tod Gordon would subsequently announce ECW's secession from

516-514: A controversial segment from that month's Samhain PPV event, in which Father James Mitchell along with several women and wrestlers were seen consuming cocaine , drew negative reactions online. The following month, The CW signed a deal with WWE for its weekly NXT program. Though it was rumored to be in-response to the Samhain segment, Corgan later revealed in a 2024 interview with Fightful that

645-586: A herniated disc in his lower back and faced calls for his retirement. After receiving the personal backing of the Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association , he scored a respectable 11–4 record in his comeback tournament in May 1999. In 2000 he enjoyed his first completely injury-free year since 1993 and won two tournaments, finishing as runner-up in three others. He won 76 bouts out of a possible 90,

774-487: A koshinage , throwing him entirely out of the ring. On 1 July, Akebono made an appearance in a house show in Japan to help Big Show during a match against Carlito after Carlito's bodyguard Matt Morgan had interfered. The next day, Akebono teamed with Big Show to defeat Carlito and Morgan in a tag team match. On 4 August 2005, Akebono made his official wrestling debut in Japan, appearing at AJPW's Wrestle-1 event against

903-511: A 13–2 record in January of that year, narrowly losing the top division championship to Takanohana. A second 13–2 record two tournaments later, in May, saw him win the top division championship for the first time, and with it promotion to ōzeki . After an injury during the summer, he went on to win consecutive championships in November 1992 and January 1993 to win promotion to yokozuna . At

1032-451: A 25–25 tie in bouts against one another. At the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , a professional sumo wrestler was chosen to represent each of the competing countries and lead them into the stadium. After Takanohana fell ill, Akebono was given the honor of representing Japan in the opening ceremony. Akebono also led other sumo wrestlers in a ring cleansing ceremony at

1161-459: A Japanese [citizen]." At the end of 1996, he was engaged to Yu Aihara, a television tarento , but broke it off the following year. In February 1998, Akebono announced his engagement to Christiane Reiko Kalina, a teacher who is of Japanese and American descent. They married in September 1998 and have two sons and a daughter. In April 2017, he was hospitalized after feeling unwell while on

1290-462: A Japanese national like Taro, a cultural contraposition, also gained comparisons with Japanese professional wrestling legend Rikidōzan in his bouts against The Sharpe Brothers . The match was short and intense. Outweighing Sapp by over 150 pounds, Akebono pushed him toward the ring corners with energetic, fast punches, but his stamina fell minutes into the round. The more experienced Sapp then attacked him with low kicks and punching combinations to

1419-534: A basketball scholarship, but sat out his freshman season. Rowan was planning to study for a career in hotel management, but he had always been interested in sumo from watching television broadcasts. A family friend introduced him to Azumazeki Oyakata, the former Takamiyama , who also originally hailed from Hawaii. Azumazeki overcame his initial concerns that Rowan might be too tall and his legs too long for sumo and agreed to let him join his Azumazeki stable , founded in 1986. Rowan flew to Japan in early 1988. Adopting

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1548-471: A big factor in the increased popularity of sumo at tournament venues and on TV in the early 1990s. During his eight years at the yokozuna rank, Akebono won a further eight tournament championships, for a career total of eleven, and was a runner-up on thirteen other occasions, despite suffering several serious injuries. Although his rival yokozuna Takanohana won more tournaments in this period, their individual head-to-heads remained very close. Akebono became

1677-559: A company named Baltic Curry. First On Stage renamed the promotion to Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max , with Otani and Nakamura taking over the promotion's general operations. Among other major changes made to the promotion's structure was the decision to join AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) as the alliance's only Japanese member. Due to their new affiliation with the AWA, the promotion's previous National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliation

1806-454: A contract with All Japan, officially ending his freelancing days. On 11 September, Akebono entered the 2013 Ōdō Tournament and, in his first match under an All Japan contract, defeated former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama , unveiling his new finishing maneuver, Yokozuna Impact , in the process. After wins over Low Ki and Bambi Killer , Akebono reached the finals, where, on 23 September, he defeated Go Shiozaki to win

1935-534: A fellow superheavyweight, Choi Hong-man , who had just defeated another former sumo wrestler in Wakashoyo . It would be the first time Akebono found an enemy capable to outwrestle him, given Choi's 350 pounds and strong ssireum background, and it showed when the Korean stopped Akebono's first charges, capitalizing too on his large reach to strike freely. The match was stopped at 24 seconds when Akebono's corner threw

2064-427: A holding company run by Houston, Texas-based attorney and wrestling promoter R. Bruce Tharpe, sued Trobich, Baucom, the NWA, and its then-parent company, Trobich's Pro Wrestling Organization LLC, claiming insurance fraud regarding the NWA's liability insurance policy. A settlement was negotiated that transferred the rights to the NWA name and trademarks from Trobich's company to Tharpe's. The new organization moved from

2193-507: A hospital in Tokyo . His death was announced on the morning of April 11 in Japan, and a funeral was held in Tokyo three days later. Akebono's widow Christiane Reiko told reporters after the funeral that he had suffered from arrhythmia for seven years. She also said that Akebono's body would be cremated , with half of his ashes remaining with his family in Japan and the other half placed into

2322-507: A larger audience than ever before. Rising demand and national expansion made wrestling a much more lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This era would go on to be known as the "Golden Age" of professional wrestling. From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcast wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network . In 1956, allegations were made that

2451-459: A membership model to a licensing model and significantly reduced the amount of territory some of the members held, which caused many promotions to immediately cut ties with the NWA. On September 9, 2012, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) announced it had left the NWA. CWFH was the unofficial home promotion of both the then-current NWA champion ( Adam Pearce ) and the most recent previous champion ( Colt Cabana ), both of whom publicly left

2580-463: A new distribution agreement with FITE TV . As part of this agreement, the NWA would remove content from their YouTube channel. On January 5, 2022, the NWA announced the launch of the NWA All Access subscription package on FITE TV, including past and upcoming pay-per-view events (PPV), new episodes of Powerrr on Tuesdays, and the newly announced NWA USA weekly series. In addition, it

2709-666: A new promotion called NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA). NWA:TNA was given creative control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships through an agreement with the NWA. This would last until March 2007, when the NWA terminated its agreement with TNA. TNA would lose control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships by the morning of the 2007 Sacrifice pay-per-view event on May 13. On September 17, 2010, KDOC-TV Los Angeles premiered NWA: Championship Wrestling from Hollywood . In August 2012, International Wrestling Corp.,

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2838-646: A number of issues. At the time Quinn walked out, a wrestler of his named Édouard Carpentier was involved in an angle where he and Lou Thesz were both being presented around the NWA as world champion after Carpentier had a disputed win over Thesz on June 14, 1957. As the 1950s came to a close, professional wrestling was losing television ratings, and soon TV stations dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which aired as late-night filler programming. Promoters started using localized television by purchasing airtime from rival territories, at

2967-739: A plan to reform the promotion, which would include holding a show in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on April 13, 2021, as part of the promotion's 20th anniversary. A further goal would be holding a show in the Roygoku Kokugikan annually, while also providing Zero1 wrestlers with fixed contracts and social security. During a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , the promotion suffered from severe financial problems. Kazuhiro Iwamoto resigned from his position as president while wrestlers Tatsuhito Takaiwa , Ikuto Hidaka , and Kohei Sato all departed

3096-662: A rare group of men who have won the Champion Carnival , while holding the Triple Crown Championship, but on 22 April, after securing the top spot in his block, Akebono was forced to pull out of the tournament and forfeit his two remaining matches, after being hospitalized with poor health. On 30 May, Akebono officially relinquished the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship due to his health issues. On 27 July, it

3225-612: A rematch against Bob Sapp on 31 December 2015, at Rizin Fighting Federation Grand Prix event. He lost the fight by technical decision when a cut on his head could not be stemmed. On 31 March 2005, Akebono made an appearance on SmackDown! to accept the Big Show 's challenge to a ( kayfabe ) sumo match at WrestleMania 21 . Akebono made his wrestling debut later that night, defeating jobber Eddie Vegas. At WrestleMania 21, Akebono defeated Big Show with

3354-608: A sharp kick to the head by springing from the top rope. The bout transpired this way until the third round, when Bonjasky scored a roundhouse kick that knocked Akebono out. At the end of the year, Akebono had his mixed martial arts debut against Ultimate Fighting Championship pioneer Royce Gracie at K-1 Premium 2004. The bout was not easy to negotiate, as Royce demanded it to be refereed by John McCarthy , former UFC referee and Gracie's trainee, or he would not fight. The yokozuna had trained now under Maz Tanaka and would be Gracie's biggest opponent, so some believed he could overcome

3483-534: A significant offense, Musashi ultimately rallied up with punches and several kinds of kicks, controlling the exchanges. After Akebono ended the match with a new foul, a sumo throw, unanimous decision was given to his opponent. After another decision loss against Chinese fighter Zhang Qingjun in South Korea, Akebono travelled to United States to fight American legend Rick Roufus in K-1 Las Vegas. During

3612-544: A simple, childlike personality), under the control of his mother, entered the service of Takada Monster Army and competed against several other wrestlers in a winning streak. Due to the constant abuse from Yinling, and wanting to meet his father, Monster Bono rebelled against it and left the Monster Army, changing his name to Bono-chan and allying with A-chan and Yoshie-chan to form a sumo-style face stable. Soon after, Yinling faced Bono-chan and demanded that he return to

3741-485: A singles match. The same night, Akebono appeared in a match between The Great Muta and the imposter The Great Ruta to defend Muta from Voodoo-Murders, showing his own Muta impersonation called The Great Bono. Later, Akebono and Mutoh competed in the Real World Tag League 2005, during the tournament, making it all the way to the finals, but were defeated by Team 3D . At the end of the year, Akebono won

3870-619: A wheelchair. He was to begin intensive physical therapy. On 2 January 2019, it was reported that he had lost the use of his legs and suffered from partial memory loss, unable to remember his pro-wrestling days. For a short period, he was unable to speak without the aid of his wife. Although still unable to walk, he attended a memorial service for his former tsukebito Ushiomaru at Azumazeki stable in December 2019. Akebono died of heart failure in April 2024 at age 54 after being admitted to

3999-415: A whole year until the next summer's tournament. They also hold a Yasukuni Shrine show every April and a yearly junior tournament called the "Tenkaichi Jr." National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) is an American professional wrestling promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948,

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4128-504: A wrestling tour in Kitakyushu . Early reports indicated that he had been placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering a cardiac condition, but his family later released a statement on Akebono's website criticizing "misleading" articles and saying he was undergoing treatment "due to a right leg cellulitis and an infection." A family spokesperson thanked Akebono's fans for their support, saying "The number of messages from around

4257-458: Is a documentary series chronicling the journey and career of the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion as well as others in the division. Debuting on October 20, 2017, on the NWA's YouTube channel, it was the first series to be produced after the organization's acquisition. NWA Shockwave was a web television program that aired on the NWA's YouTube channel and Facebook page. The series debuted on December 1, 2020. On August 10, 2020, it

4386-645: Is the flagship program of the NWA which currently streams on Tuesday nights on The CW 's app. The series debuted on October 8, 2019, originally airing on the NWA's YouTube channel. From 2021 to the end of 2022, the show had a first airing on Tuesday at 6:05 pm ET on FITE TV , with the episode debuting on the NWA's YouTube channel later in the same week in Friday at 6:05 pm ET. A companion series, titled NWA Power Surge (stylized as NWA Powerrr Surge ), premiered on April 13, 2021, and features wrestler interviews, unseen matches, and Powerrr recaps. Ten Pounds of Gold

4515-465: The dohyō (ring). In his prime, he had incredible thrusting strength and on many occasions would blast lesser wrestlers out of the ring in one or two strokes using tsuppari techniques. His most common winning kimarite was oshi-dashi , a simple push out, and he also regularly won by tsuki-dashi , the thrust out. In later years he also used his reach to more often grab his opponent's mawashi , or belt, and then use his weight and power to force

4644-567: The dohyō-iri , or yokozuna ring-entering ceremony. While an oyakata , Akebono also appeared in TV commercials and opened a restaurant called ZUNA. In June 2013 he returned to Azumazeki stable for the first time since leaving the Sumo Association to oversee some training sessions as an assistant instructor. Akebono left the Sumo Association in November 2003 to join K-1 . The decision

4773-432: The honbasho when all three ended up tied at the end of the 15-day tournament, and in May 1997 he defeated Takanohana twice on the final day, once in their regular match and once in a playoff, to win his first title in over two years. The competition between Akebono and Takanohana, who reached yokozuna himself in 1995, was said to be one of the great defining rivalries of postwar sumo. The two finished their careers with

4902-506: The shikona of Akebono, meaning "new dawn" in Japanese , he made his professional debut in March 1988. This entry cohort was one of the most successful ever, producing two other yokozuna , Takanohana and Wakanohana (sons of the popular champion from the 1970s, Takanohana Kenshi ), as well as a great ōzeki , Kaiō . Akebono rose rapidly through the ranks, equaling the record for

5031-589: The Brazilian jiu-jitsu groundwork by smothering him with his large size advantage. Come the match, Akebono charged toward Gracie and pushed him to the ground, where he passed his guard momentarily before the Brazilian escaped to his feet. Gracie then seized Akebono's arm and locked in an omoplata / wristlock combination, forcing a submission. Akebono was disappointed with his performance: "I did everything my trainers told me not to do." In March 2005, Akebono

5160-473: The Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA), a professional wrestling alliance that intended to "foster an environment of cooperation rather than competition." The alliance planned to hold occasional "Super Shows" where all member promotions would send wrestlers to compete under the GPWA banner. Noah's CEO Mitsuharu Misawa was inaugurated as the first chairman of the GPWA, while Zero1-Max's Yoshiyuki Nakamura

5289-656: The Great Muta in the first match of the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix Tournament, in a losing effort. The same month, it was announced that Akebono had been hired by AJPW and placed under the tutelage of Keiji Mutoh, the Great Muta's true identity. Akebono took on the role of Mutoh's enforcer and forming a tag team called "Mutoh Room" to combat the heel stable Voodoo-Murders . On 19 November, Akebono defeated Voodoo-Murders member Giant Bernard in

Pro Wrestling Zero1 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-488: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated when Lesnar got the pinfall after hitting him with the title. Months later, after the championship had become vacant, Akebono participated in a tournament for it, defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the first round, but being eliminated by Giant Bernard in the second. In October, Akebono and Choshu participated in the 2006 G1 Tag League , advancing to

5547-640: The Lucha Libre World Cup in Mexico. On 16 September, Ōdō formed a partnership with Pro Wrestling Zero1 . Akebono's last recorded match happened on 11 April 2017, for Dramatic Dream Team , where he teamed with Yasu Urano and Harashima and lost to fellow former Triple Crown champion Yoshihiro Takayama and his team with Yuto Aijima and Shigehiro Irie . Following Akebono's heart disability in April 2017 (below), and Motoko Baba's death on 14 April 2018, Ōdō became an inactive promotion. Akebono

5676-521: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The match took place on November 12 and saw Storm retain the title. This was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed by Corgan. On December 9, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch at Cage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion after Gary Steele . In 2018, the NWA briefly allied with Impact Wrestling ,

5805-684: The Open the Triangle Gate Championship , but were defeated. On 14 October 2009, Chou Zetsurins finally won the title, and defended them until May 2010, when they were defeated by Deep Drunkers ( Kzy , Takuya Sugawara and Yasushi Kanda ). In March 2009, Akebono appeared in Pro Wrestling Zero1 defeating Kohei Sato . Later, Akebono joined the Sword Army stable, led by Masato Tanaka . Akebono also participated in

5934-777: The Tokyo Sports award for "Rookie of the Year" and "Team of the Year" with Mutoh, who then stated that Akebono had successfully graduated from his lessons, and was then released from his contract to move to other companies and gain experience. On 4 January 2006, Akebono appeared in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) alongside Yutaka Yoshie in a match against Black Strong Machine and Hiro Saito , coming out victorious. Later that month, Akebono competed for Pro Wrestling NOAH , teaming up with his old friend Takeshi Rikio to defeat Junji Izumida and Kenta Kobashi . After

6063-860: The United Wrestling Network (UWN) since 2017. The promotion was founded by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) stars Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani . In 2000, Hashimoto proposed an independent promotion within NJPW called "New Japan Pro-Wrestling Zero", but the idea was shot down. When Hashimoto was fired by NJPW in November 2000, he registered the Pro Wrestling Zero-One name. In its early years, Zero1 had working agreements with Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), NJPW, Riki Pro , Hustle , Big Mouth Loud, King's Road, and Dragondoor. These agreements enabled Zero1 wrestlers to challenge for and hold

6192-586: The 1960s, it acted as the sole governing body for professional wrestling in the United States . It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the original member promotions went out of business as a result of the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF, now WWE) national expansion . In September 1993, the largest remaining member promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), left

6321-587: The 1970s, the NWA once again took over as the top promotion and gained huge dominance with their program, Georgia Championship Wrestling , which would become the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television through then-superstation TBS in 1979. They brought in Gordon Solie , dubbed "The Walter Cronkite of Professional Wrestling," from former NWA President Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida territory to be lead commentator and host. Videotape trading and cable television paved

6450-857: The 1970s. They changed their name from the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. At some point during the decade, Muchnick reportedly declared Atlanta, Georgia as the "leading wrestling city" for its "drawing capacity and near-capacity crowds at the City Auditorium or the Omni every Friday." While the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) both faltered during

6579-455: The 2007 G1 Climax tournament. He defeated Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan but failed to progress to the semifinal stage. Akebono debuted in Hustle in 2007, being the storyline son of Yinling and The Great Muta . Under the name Monster Bono, Akebono was introduced being unrealistically born from a giant egg before easily defeating RG in his first bout. After that, Monster Bono (who had

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6708-437: The 2014. During a September 16, 2016 press conference, Dream On Stage was announced as Zero1's new parent company. Also announced was a partnership between Zero1 and Akebono 's Ōdō company. On May 22, 2017, Zero1 partnered with the United Wrestling Network to become the group's official Japanese affiliate. On July 3, 2018, it was announced that the promotion be undergoing a management change, with Yoshitaka Ono stepping down as

6837-456: The 2015 Champion Carnival . He retired from professional wrestling in 2017 due to health problems. Chad Rowan was born on 8 May 1969, to Randolph and Janice Rowan, and was of Hawaiian descent. He grew up with two younger brothers, one of whom, Ola, also became a sumo wrestler for a brief period after Chad. He attended Kaiser High School , where he played basketball and became an all-star center . He went to Hawaii Pacific University on

6966-516: The CEO. Katsumi Sasazaki would be appointed the representative director and president of the promotion, while Shinjiro Otani took on the chairman of the board position and Masato Tanaka and Kohei Sato split the vice-president role of the promotion. On February 1, 2020, Zero1 president Kazuhiro Iwamoto announced that the ownership of the promotion would be transferred from the previous management company Dream On Stage to iFD. Iwamoto additionally announced

7095-821: The CW executives didn't have a problem with the spot, and that "it was a completely invented story by either a troll inside the company, a leaker or something.” Following Samhain, episodes of Powerrr were later added to The CW's app in November. In January 2024, NWA announced that new episodes of Powerrr would be available on The CW app from February 6. The same year, NWA included new territories: NWA Chicago in Chicago , Illinois , Kross Fire Wrestling (KFW) in Sevierville, Tennessee , World League Wrestling in Missouri as NWA's developmental system, and NWA Texas. Powerrr

7224-686: The Fire Festival 2009 defeating several other wrestlers, but failed to win in the end. After that, he formed an irregular team with Shinjiro Otani called Kazan, which defeated Masaaki Mochizuki & Masato Tanaka in the final round of the Furinkazan tournament, as well winning the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship on 24 January 2010 before vacating them on December of that year. On 3 February 2013, Akebono teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto to win

7353-423: The Monster Army, but the outcome of the battle was a victory for Bono-chan, and Yinling ( kayfabe ) died under his weight. In retaliation to this, Toshiaki Kawada and Mr. Kawada (Toshiaki's elder father) scheduled a match between them and Bono and his father, The Great Muta, at Hustlemania 2008. Bono and Muta came victorious, but were attacked by The Esperanza , leading Muta to sacrifice himself to drag Esperanza to

7482-517: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was featured at All In , with Cody defeating Aldis for the title, becoming the first second-generation NWA World heavyweight champion. After All In, the NWA would return to hosting its own events. The NWA 70th Anniversary Show , which took place on October 21, 2018, was the first to be produced directly under Lightning One, and was co-produced with Global Force Entertainment ;

7611-552: The NWA World Heavyweight, World Tag Team and World Junior Heavyweight Championships all changed hands at NJPW events. In September 2016, NWA signed a deal with the new Japanese Diamond Stars Wrestling (DSW) promotion to promote shows in not only Japan, but also other parts of Asia. As part of the deal, DSW chairman Hideo Shimada was appointed the NWA Vice President of the Asian Pacific region while Jimmy Suzuki

7740-604: The NWA and ROH. This would be the last event to be co-promoted with ROH; on July 24, 2019, the NWA announced that had ended their partnership. Subsequently, it was announced the following month that the NWA would host tapings in Atlanta on September 30 and October 1 for a new television series, later revealed to be titled NWA Powerrr . In January 2020, Marty Scurll , and other Ring of Honor characters, began to appear at NWA events once again as part of an inter-promotional angle. In addition to re-signing with ROH, Scurll would join

7869-426: The NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions, the heads of which made up the board of directors. The group operated a territory system which sanctioned their own company championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to

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7998-422: The NWA had transitioned into a stand-alone, singular promotion. In October 2023, the NWA re-established its territory system, with Michael Hutter's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first promotion sanctioned. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In 1948, Paul "Pinkie" George , a professional wrestling promoter from the U.S. Midwest , founded

8127-408: The NWA reestablished itself as a governing body, with EC3 's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first territory to be sanctioned. On December 4, NWA welcomed Joe Cazana Promotions (JCP) to their territory system. On October 18, it was reported by news blog Haus of Wrestling that NWA had signed a deal with The CW to air Powerrr and a reality show documenting behind the scenes footage. However,

8256-755: The NWA was an illegal monopoly blocking competition. An investigation led by the US Department of Justice resulted in the NWA Consent Decree of 1956 ( United States v. National Wrestling Alliance ). Several promoters would leave the organization during this time, with some managing to find niches in the United States. In 1957, Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis, having fallen out with Muchnick over

8385-457: The NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede . The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions on TBS to counterprogram WrestleMania IV . By 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was facing bankruptcy. On October 11, under the direction of owner Ted Turner , TBS bought the assets of JCP and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after the TV show of the same name. Originally incorporated by TBS as

8514-550: The NWA, Corgan would also purchase Tharpe's stake in the NWA's "On Demand" VOD service and licensing of the Paul Boesch wrestling library. Corgan's ownership of the NWA took effect on October 1, 2017. All licenses granted by Tharpe to use the NWA branding expired the previous day, putting Corgan in complete control of both the brand and its championships. On September 23, 2017, Nick Aldis made his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and challenged Tim Storm for

8643-480: The NWA, rechristening the promotion as Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation reached an agreement to use the likeness of the NWA titles, branding, and its history, to create a storyline. It would be later claimed that WWE still owned the rights. Despite the NWA receiving international television publicity during the angle, it was considered a failure due to low viewer interests. In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett launched

8772-477: The NWA, with Pearce vacating the NWA World Title while exiting. Other major NWA territories like NWA Pro/NWA Pro West , NWA Georgia , NWA Pro East , NWA Southwest and NWA Midwest folded. In 2013, the NWA re-established a relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Bruce Tharpe became an on-screen character, portraying a villainous manager of wrestlers representing the NWA. Over the next two years,

8901-445: The NWA. The NWA would continue as a loose coalition of independent promotions, with NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) given exclusivity over its World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships from June 2002 to May 2007. In August 2012, the NWA discontinued its memberships and started licensing its brand to wrestling promotions. In 2017, it was purchased by Billy Corgan through his Lightning One, Inc. company. By late 2019–2023,

9030-494: The NWA. On September 5, 2020, Rosa unsuccessfully challenged AEW Women's World Championship Hikaru Shida at All Out . On October 27, 2020, Serena Deeb defeated Rosa during the United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live event to become the new NWA World Women's Champion. On March 2, 2021, the NWA announced their return to promoting events, with the Back For The Attack and new Powerrr episodes as part of

9159-508: The National Wrestling Alliance with the backing of six other promoters: Al Haft , Tony Stecher , Harry Light , Orville Brown , Don Owen , and Sam Muchnick . The concept of the NWA was to consolidate the championships of these regional companies into one true world championship of professional wrestling, whose holder would be recognized worldwide. The newly formed NWA Board of Directors decided that Brown would become

9288-428: The November 1990 tournament he was awarded his first special prize , for Fighting Spirit, and in January 1991 he earned his first gold star for defeating yokozuna Asahifuji . In March 1991 he defeated ōzeki Konishiki in the first ever match between two non-Japanese wrestlers in the top division. In 1992, after a year of 8–7 or 7–8 records near the top of the makuuchi division, Akebono suddenly came alive with

9417-489: The Opening Ceremony (also meant to cleanse the stadium itself). Akebono suffered frequent injuries during his career. His first serious knee injury came in May 1994 when, after winning his first ten matches of the tournament, he lost a bout to Takatōriki and fell awkwardly. He flew to Los Angeles and underwent career-saving surgery. From November 1998 to March 1999 he missed three successive tournaments due to

9546-634: The United States. That same year, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the NWA created its primary supercard , Starrcade , the first to be broadcast via closed-circuit networks and was regarded as their flagship event. On Saturday, July 14, 1984, in what would become known as Black Saturday , McMahon bought NWA member Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and merged it into the WWF. The WWF would take over GCW's TV slot on TBS , which had been home to GCW's World Championship Wrestling program for 12 years. This move proved disastrous as ratings would plummet, and

9675-548: The Universal Wrestling Corporation, Turner promised fans that WCW would retain the athlete-oriented style of the NWA. The sale was completed on November 2, 1988, with a television taping of NWA World Championship Wrestling that very same date in WCW's hometown of Atlanta. By September 1993, WCW would withdraw completely from the NWA. On August 27, 1994, NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) held

9804-486: The WWF would end up losing money on the deal. Then-NWA President Jim Crockett, Jr. , the owner of JCP, would buy the World Championship Wrestling program from McMahon for $ 1 million and returned NWA programming to TBS. By 1985, JCP would become the flagship territory of the NWA by acquiring more time slots on TBS and merging with other NWA territories in an attempt to compete with the WWF. With

9933-477: The backing of Motoko Baba, the widow of All Japan founder Giant Baba . On 13 March 2016, Akebono made his debut for AJPW splinter promotion Wrestle-1 , reuniting with SMOP partner Ryota Hama. Ōdō held its first event on 20 April in Korakuen Hall . The main event of the show saw Akebono, Ryota Hama and Taiyo Kea defeat Daisuke Sekimoto, Masato Tanaka and Yuji Okabayashi. In early June, Akebono took part in

10062-532: The best record of any wrestler that year. Akebono was one of the tallest sumo wrestlers ever, at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) tall, and also one of the heaviest with a peak weight of 233 kg (514 lb) in March 1999. He was also one of the most aggressive and ferocious sumo wrestlers. Despite having long legs, considered a disadvantage in sumo as it tends to make one top heavy and susceptible to throws, he covered for this by training exceptionally hard, and using his long reach to thrust his opponents out of

10191-420: The championship to Jun Akiyama in his third defense on 1 November 2015. The following day, it was announced that Akebono was leaving All Japan and once again becoming a freelancer, looking to return to martial arts. It was also announced that he would continue working for All Japan as a freelancer. On 4 December 2015, Akebono announced he was forming a new company named Ōdō. He would serve as its president with

10320-509: The combined weight, but Silva interrupted his attack by locking a Kimura lock standing. Although they went to the mat with Akebono on top, Silva finally rolled him over and submitted him to the hold. With this last result, Akebono managed only one win in 14 bouts in his K-1 and mixed martial arts career. Because of this, he was referred to as "Makebono" ( make meaning "lose" in Japanese) by some fight fans and magazines in Japan. Akebono fought

10449-540: The company's booking team, enabling him to appear for both the NWA and ROH. However, in the fallout of the Speaking Out Movement , Scurll was accused of having intercourse with a 16-year-old female who was inebriated. After an investigation, Scurll would be removed from his position as booker, and by the following January in 2021, would be no longer under contract. Nick Aldis was scheduled to face PCO at Supercard of Honor XIV on April 4, 2020, before

10578-547: The consequence of putting some of them out of business. On January 24, 1963, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match and was declared NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the third and final time. However, after the event, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt of the Capital Wrestling Corporation (CWC) refused to recognize the title change since Thesz

10707-548: The dignity and humility necessary for such an exalted rank. One commentator remarked, "He makes me forget he is a foreigner because of his earnest attitude toward sumo." Akebono was a long-standing and strong yokozuna , lasting nearly eight years in the rank and winning the top division championship on a further eight occasions. His career highlights include the rare achievement of winning the top division championship in three consecutive tournaments, in 1993. In July 1993 he beat Takanohana and Wakanohana in consecutive matches to win

10836-719: The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 18, 2020, Dave Lagana resigned as Vice President of the NWA after allegations of sexual assault were made public. The promotion would go into hiatus as a result of this and the pandemic. During this time, several wrestlers would also leave the NWA, including former Tag Team Champions James Storm , Eli Drake , Marti Belle , and Royce Isaacs , former Women's Champion Allysin Kay , former Television Champion Ricky Starks , former Television Champion Zicky Dice . NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa would make appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) while under contract with

10965-452: The event was streamed live on FITE TV . The main event saw Aldis defeat Cody to recapture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Willie Mack winning a tournament for the vacant NWA National Championship , which became the main secondary title. The Fourth Crockett Cup , an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that was revived to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions , took place on April 27, 2019, as another collaboration between

11094-684: The fight, Roufus avoided being cornered by Akebono's pushes and counterattacked with ineffective kicks and punches. Again, Akebono showed an unsportsmanlike side when he tried repeatedly to throw Roufus out of the ring, leading referee Cecil Peoples to warn him. At one point, Akebono even pushed away Peoples himself. Due to the fouls and to Roufus's incessant attacks, decision was given to the American. The next month, Akebono faced Dutch striker Remy Bonjasky back in Japan. Ignoring his opponent's signature high kicks, Akebono pressed with punches and pushes, but Bonjasky kept dodging and attacking, even landing

11223-401: The fight, but Choi did the same, delivering even a flying knee during the first round. At the last of the second round, the Korean landed a left hook that knocked Akebono out. Akebono's last MMA match saw him meeting professional wrestler Giant Silva , another sizable opponent. The rikishi started the match pushing Silva against the ropes, both of them almost falling out of the ring due to

11352-475: The final stage by Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko . During his stay at New Japan, Akebono began to show his comedic side and began imitating and parodying other fighters. On 13 September 2006, Akebono was presented with a tiger mask and the name of Bono Tiger to team with Tiger Mask IV . On 4 March 2007, he made a brief appearance in Michinoku Pro Wrestling as The Great Bonosuke, fighting on

11481-621: The finals to win All Japan's premier tournament, the Champion Carnival. In the build-up to Akebono's challenge for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Go Shiozaki, he and Yoshie lost the World Tag Team Championship to Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara on 6 May. On 21 May, Akebono defeated Shiozaki to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the second time. Akebono eventually went on to lose

11610-489: The first NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight champion. Later in 2011, Zero1 left the NWA, renaming their NWA-branded championships to "New Wrestling Alliance" championships. Following their 2011 departure from the NWA, Zero1 launched an American affiliate, Zero1 USA, taking over the promotion previously known as NWA Midwest. In 2012, an Australian division of Zero1, known as Zero1 Australia, opened in Adelaide taking over what

11739-462: The first ever NWA World Heavyweight Champion . In 1950, Sam Muchnick , one of the original promoters of the NWA and Lou Thesz 's booker, was named the governing body's President, a position to which he was unanimously re-elected and held until 1960, making him one of the longest-tenured presidents in the organization's history. Following the advent of television , professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during this time, reaching

11868-594: The former NWA:TNA, to hold an Empty Arena match at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida. It was contested by Tim Storm and Jocephus and served as a qualifier to challenge then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. The match was recorded on January 14, 2018, and uploaded to YouTube the next day. Starting in 2018, NWA allied with Ring of Honor (ROH). NWA wrestlers such as Aldis, James Storm , and Eli Drake appeared at several ROH events, with ROH-contracted talent even winning NWA titles. On September 1, 2018,

11997-457: The head and body, knocking the yokozuna down twice before finishing him by KO at 2:58. Some months later, Akebono followed with another high level match, this time against the famed Musashi . Akebono had improved his conditioning under Ray Sefo and Fai Falamoe and outweighed Musashi by more than twice his weight, so there was expectation about his performance. As expected, Akebono started strong, overwhelming Musashi with sumo charges against

12126-506: The last round before losing to Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Nagata . In August 2007, Akebono participated in the G1 Climax tournament, defeating Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan and completing the tournament with a 2-2-1 record. In October, Akebono and Masahiro Chono competed in the 2007 G1, beating Hirooki Goto and Milano Collection AT , Naofumi Yamamoto and Takashi Iizuka and Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata, but were eliminated in

12255-491: The match, Akebono announced that he had been hired by NJPW and was congratulated by Rikio, promising to team again in the future, which never happened due to Rikio having to retire due to his injuries in 2010. In February, Akebono made his official debut in New Japan as an ally of Riki Choshu , defeating then IWGP Tag Team Champions Cho-Ten ( Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan ). On 19 March, he faced Brock Lesnar for

12384-420: The most consecutive kachi-koshi (majority of wins in a sumo tournament) from debut, reaching sekiwake before suffering his first make-koshi or losing record. He was promoted to jūryō in March 1990, the first sekitori from his stable, and to makuuchi in September of the same year. He made his top division debut in the same tournament as Wakanohana, as well as Takatōriki and Daishōyama . In

12513-459: The opponent from the ring by yori-kiri . He liked a migi-yotsu , or left hand outside, right hand inside grip, and was fond of using his left hand to employ uwatenage , or overarm throw. After winning his eleventh top division title in November 2000, Akebono suffered another injury and, after sitting out the tournament in January 2001, he decided to retire rather than face a daunting struggle back to fighting fitness. Upon retirement, his topknot

12642-438: The other promotions' titles. The promotion also operated their own dojo, which was referred to as the "Takeshiba Coliseum". On November 30, 2004, Shinya Hashimoto gave up ownership of the promotion, telling the press that due to financial problems he had decided to step away from the company. A new parent company "First On Stage" was formed consisting of president Yoshiyuki Nakamura, ring announcer Oki Okidata, Shinjiro Otani and

12771-399: The promotion. In July 2020, it was announced that the company was acquired by Daiko Holdings Group. That same month, they hired former Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling women's wrestler Megumi Kudo as their general manager. Zero1 holds a heavyweight tournament every summer in the last week of July called the " Fire Festival " (Himatsuri) where the winner holds the "Fire Sword" (a katana) for

12900-400: The rankings, reaching the top division in 1990. After two consecutive yusho or tournament championships in November 1992 and January 1993 he made history by becoming the first non-Japanese-born wrestler ever to reach yokozuna , the highest rank in sumo. One of the tallest and heaviest wrestlers ever , Akebono's rivalry with the young Japanese hopefuls, Takanohana and Wakanohana , was

13029-399: The ropes and corners. He controlled the first round, but became fatigued at the second, moment in which Frye came back with punches, dropping Akebono multiple times. After some ground and pound , Frye locked a guillotine choke for the win. A rubber match between Akebono and Choi Hong-man happened then, in which would be Akebono's last bout under kickboxing rules. He tried his best to control

13158-429: The ropes through the first round. He shocked the crowd with unsportsmanlike conduct in the second, as he suddenly started unloading illegal hooks and rabbit punches on a seated Musashi when the latter slipped and fell. Referee Nobuaki Kakuda warned Akebono while the fight looked to be stopped in a DQ, but a still dazed Musashi insisted to keep on. The fight continued for the remnant time, but although Akebono achieved

13287-468: The side of The Great Sasuke wearing the same outfit. On 17 February 2007, Akebono briefly returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling to team with Toru Owashi against Jonidan (Nobutaka Araya) and SUMO Rikishi in an extravagant match between sumos, resulting in a win for his team. After training with Satoru Sayama (the original Tiger Mask) in MMA and pro wrestling, he returned to the New Japan ring to participate in

13416-477: The success of WrestleMania III in 1987, the WWF would schedule another pay-per-view, Survivor Series , on Thanksgiving night to compete directly with NWA's Starrcade event, and demanded exclusivity from cable providers on carriage of the event. As a result, Starrcade was moved to December the following year, with the show now held around Christmas Day beginning in 1988. The WWF then scheduled their first Royal Rumble event in January 1988 to counterprogram against

13545-525: The time of his promotion, the rank of yokozuna had been vacant for eight months (an exceedingly rare occurrence) and his promotion, despite the fact that he was the first foreign yokozuna , was welcomed by many. He had met the stipulation of winning two consecutive tournaments that had been mentioned by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council when turning down Konishiki the previous year, and was also seen as having conducted himself with

13674-558: The title once before losing them 7 months later to Voodoo-Murders members Big Daddy Voodoo and TARU . After that, Akebono split with Hama and became the enforcer for the group Partisan Forces ( Minoru Suzuki , Masakatsu Funaki and Taiyo Kea ) to continue his feud with the Voodoo-Murders. Partisan Forces broke up in June 2011, so Akebono reformed S.M.O.P. with Hama. After having an unsuccessful shot at KENSO and The Great Muta for

13803-509: The tournament. On 27 October, Akebono defeated Suwama to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Akebono made his first successful title defense on 24 November against Joe Doering . His second successful defense took place on 3 January 2014, against Takao Omori . On 23 February, Akebono made his third successful title defense against Go Shiozaki. Akebono's fourth title defense took place on 18 March, when he defeated Kento Miyahara . In April, Akebono looked to enter

13932-529: The towel. Akebono and Choi rematched in July at K-1 Grand Prix event in Hawaii. Akebono lasted longer, but he found the same problems as the first time, with Choi scoring repeated jabs from the safety of his reach while he blocked the sumo's push and charge style. Akebono was eventually knocked down, and although he resumed his attack, Choi knocked him out to end the match. Akebono then returned to MMA format to end

14061-605: The underworld. Without his parents, Bono-chan changed his name to Bono-kun as a sign of maturity and joined the Hustle Army, making a promo based on that of Barack Obama campaign slogan " Yes, We Hustle ". Later in Hustle Aid, before his scheduled match with Genichiro Tenryu against Arma & Geddon , Bono had a strange dream and transformed into The Great Bono, his last stage of maturity. After The Great Bono defeated their opponents with forcefulness, Hustle announced he

14190-798: The vacant World Tag Team Championship , Akebono and Hama entered a short feud with Big Daddy and Mazada, whom they defeated on several occasions, and also competed in the 2011 Real World Tag League, receiving two more chances for the All Asia Tag Team Championship against Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi , lost both times. S.M.O.P. finally regained the All Asia title by defeating Sekimoto and Okabayashi on 1 July 2012, but vacated them on 4 September 2012, due to Akebono being sidelined with pneumonia . In November 2012, Akebono debuted his masked alter ego "Brazo de Bono", based on Brazo de Plata . On 1 September 2013, Akebono signed

14319-574: The vacant championship by defeating Kohei Sato and Zeus. Akebono returned to AJPW, allying himself with Ryota Hama . On 23 September 2009, Akebono and Hama, known collectively as S.M.O.P. (Super Megaton Ohzumo Powers), won the All Asia Tag Team Championship , defeating Minoru Suzuki and Nosawa Rongai . S.M.O.P. also participated in the 2009 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing 5th out of 9 teams with four victories and four defeats. S.M.O.P. would only defend

14448-456: The way for the decline of the NWA's inter-regional business model, as viewers could now see plot holes and inconsistencies between each territories' storylines. The presence of stars like Ric Flair on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw. The WWF left the NWA for good in 1983, as Vincent K. McMahon , who bought the WWF from his father in 1982, worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across

14577-420: The world has been overwhelming." The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the original story was correct and the cellulitis claim was a cover story for a serious heart issue. Akebono's wife confirmed in March 2018 that her husband had suffered acute heart failure and had been in a medically induced coma for two weeks. He lost nearly 130 pounds, much of it in muscle, and still could not walk, requiring

14706-540: The year, going against former comedian Bobby Ologun at K-1 Premium. The sumo champion neutralized Ologun's striking by taking him down and smothering him during the earlier rounds, but he was later stunned by a barrage of punches and controlled for the rest of the match, losing the decision. In 2006, Akebono had his third mixed martial arts match against another Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, Don Frye , at K-1's Hero's 5 event. As usual, Akebono used his size, charging through Frye's punches and clinching him against

14835-598: Was announced as the alliance's president. The GPWA would later fold in 2009. In 2008, the promotion shortened its name to Pro Wrestling Zero1 . In 2011, the promotion returned to the NWA as their Japanese territory. In March 2011, NWA presented Zero1 with the NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship in celebration of the promotion's tenth anniversary. In July, Daisuke Sekimoto won the Fire Festival to become

14964-513: Was announced that Powerrr would return to YouTube, airing on Fridays after the FITE premiere, and that NWA USA would air on Saturdays on the platform before moving to Sundays on FITE. Finally, it was announced that the NWA would expand their PPV schedule to six events per year, as part of a new deal with FITE TV. Though the partnership ended in 2023, with NWA's programming returning to YouTube, FITE still carries NWA PPV events. On October 9, 2023,

15093-468: Was announced that Akebono had been appointed to All Japan's board of directors. Akebono wrestled his return match on 16 August. On 30 August, Akebono received his rematch for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Joe Doering. On 22 March 2015, Akebono won the World Tag Team Championship for the second time, when he and Yutaka Yoshie defeated Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori. On 25 April, Akebono defeated Suwama in

15222-494: Was announced that the NWA will partner with the United Wrestling Network (UWN) to produce a live, weekly pay-per-view (PPV) series named UWN Primetime Live . Matches from this series would also be featured as part of Shockwave . NWA USA is a weekly program that debuted on January 8, 2022, on YouTube and focuses on the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship division. The last episode

15351-565: Was appointed senior NWA consultant. On May 1, 2017, it was reported that Billy Corgan , lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins , had agreed to purchase the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks and championship belts. The report was confirmed by Tharpe that same day. Over the following weeks, the NWA trademarks were moved from Tharpe's International Wrestling Corp. over to Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. production company. According to multiple sources, as part of his acquisition of

15480-402: Was born to Randy, a taxi driver of Irish and Native Hawaiian descent and Janice, an office worker of Cuban and Native Hawaiian descent. He became a Japanese citizen in 1996, giving up his American citizenship and changing his legal name from Chad Rowan to Akebono Tarō, saying "Changing my nationality has nothing to do with who I am, just like I am still my mother's son even after I became

15609-521: Was ceremonially cut off in the ring by 320 of his friends and previous opponents in front of 11,000 people. After his retirement, he became a member (or elder) of the Japan Sumo Association as a coach, or oyakata , and worked with his former mentor in the Azumazeki stable . He helped train the Mongolian wrestler Asashōryū who also became a yokozuna , and Akebono instructed him on how to perform

15738-471: Was given to rival promotion NJPW. Since April 2005, Zero1 has held yearly pay-per-view events at the Yasukuni Shrine , which is controversial for its relation to World War II . Larger Japanese wrestling promotions like NJPW, AJPW, and Noah have traditionally stayed away from such venues due to their controversial nature. On September 12, 2006, Zero1-Max joined 12 other wrestling companies to form

15867-543: Was granted a place in the K-1 Korea Grand Prix, whose first round saw him facing Nobuaki Kakuda , a 44 years old Seidokaikan Karate fighter who usually refereed his matches. Through his usual strategy, Akebono surprisingly dominated the match, as Kakuda was unable to mount an offense. After wearing Kakuda down with knees and uppercuts while leaving him no space to counterattack, Akebono was given his first win by unanimous decision. He would advance round to face

15996-420: Was influenced by financial problems due to the failure of his restaurant, among other financial difficulties. His koenkai , or supporters network, had dissolved after his marriage in 1998, depriving him of a valuable source of income. In addition, he earned far less as an oyakata than he had as a yokozuna . K-1 offered him a chance to clear his debts by fighting for them. At the time of his debut, Akebono

16125-571: Was involved in a highly publicized matchup at K-1 Premium 2003 against popular superheavyweight fighter Bob Sapp . The combined popularity of Sapp and Akebono attracted a crowd of 45,000 to the Nagoya Dome and granted the event a 43% viewership, making it the first time a combat sports event outdrew the NHK music festival Kōhaku Uta Gassen , Japan's traditionally biggest New Year show. The classical matchup of an American foreigner like Sapp against

16254-504: Was leaving to search for his father. On 21 September 2008, Akebono appeared in the Battle Royal of Dragon Gate 's Storm Gate 2008 event, which was won by Akira Tozawa . Akebono made some more appearances, defeating the likes of Stalker Ichikawa , Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki . That month, Akebono, Mochizuki and Fujii agreed to form a trio called Chou Zetsurins to face the team of World-1 (BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino and PAC) for

16383-638: Was not a strong draw in their Northeastern territory. They then withdrew the CWC from the NWA. As a result, McMahon and Mondt formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later to be known as WWE ) with Rogers as its first world champion in April 1963. Although both Gagne and McMahon promoted their own world champions, their promotions continued to have representatives on the NWA Board of Directors and regularly exchanged talent with NWA promotions during this time. Wrestling's popularity continued to decline in

16512-594: Was previously known as NWA Pro Australia; in 2014 the relationship between Zero1 and Zero1 Australia ended with the Australian-based promotion renaming to Wrestle Rampage. Later in 2012, the Zero1 Hong Kong and Zero1 Mexico branches opened. In 2013, Yoshiyuki Nakamura opened a new division of Zero1 in Belarus. On December 17, 2013, Zero1 announced a corporate restructuring taking place at the start of

16641-430: Was released May 8, 2023. Singles Tag Team Akebono Tar%C5%8D Akebono Tarō ( Japanese : 曙 太郎 , Hepburn : Akebono Tarō , born Chadwick Haheo Rowan ; 8 May 1969 – 6 April 2024 ) was an American-born Japanese professional sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii . Joining sumo in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up

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