31-528: Takashi Ishikawa ( 石川 孝志 , Ishikawa Takashi , born February 5, 1953) is a Japanese former professional wrestler and sumo wrestler from Fujishima , Higashitagawa District , Yamagata Prefecture , Japan . He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched to sumo and won the high school section of the National Sports Festival . He was an amateur sumo champion while at Nihon University , winning
62-459: A 10-5 record can expect a prize for his efforts. There is no minimum or maximum limit to the number of sanshō that may be given. It is not uncommon for more than one wrestler to be awarded the same prize, and similarly there are occasions when one of the three sanshō titles is not awarded at all. For example, it is unlikely that the Shukun-shō will be awarded if the tournament is won 15-0 by
93-626: A lone yokozuna . Sanshō are announced before the final day's matches, sometimes with a condition that the wrestler must win their last bout to receive the prize. For example, Wakatakakage received the Technique Prize in March 2022 unconditionally but had to win his last match and take the championship with a 13-2 record to also receive the Outstanding Performance prize. He lost the match, and even though he went on to win
124-721: A professional wrestler and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling . Giant Baba sent him to Pat O'Connor for training. After training, he was sent to the Funks' territory in Amarillo, Texas, where he debuted on November 8, 1977, under the name Takashi Onome. In January 1978, he was sent to Kansas City for Central States Wrestling . Returning to Japan in November 1978, Ishikawa wrestled a tour with International Wrestling Enterprise , before returning to AJPW in December 1978. In October 1979, he
155-593: A tradition that started with Rikidozan himself between 1951 and 1953. Some of the more famous examples of these exchanges are Hakushi in WWF , Masahiro Chono , The Great Muta and Jyushin Thunder Liger in WCW , as well as ECW which featured talent such as Hayabusa from Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and The Great Sasuke of Michinoku Pro Wrestling . Before the advent of cable television some Japanese wrestlers in
186-505: A variety of personalities , promotions and styles . It has also created a mass of other cultural icons in Japan including: Antonio Inoki , Giant Baba , Jyushin "Thunder" Liger , Tiger Mask , Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta , Mitsuharu Misawa , and Kenta Kobashi among others. Throughout the years, several promotions have opened and closed, but a few have persisted to remain the most popular and thriving companies: New Japan Pro-Wrestling
217-488: A working agreement with Akira Maeda that paid millions to RINGS when he was featured, but eventually was scrapped with Maeda's retirement and the subsequent RINGS collapse. In 2009, due to the bearish global economy , NTV cancelled all wrestling programming, including NOAH's Power Hour (lesser affiliates still air large cards), marking the end of a tradition going back to Rikidōzan. Since 2014, various New Japan Pro-Wrestling live specials have been broadcast on AXS TV in
248-1578: A working agreement with World Championship Wrestling in the mid-1990s, when the latter brought in wrestlers from Gaea to bolster the ranks of their then-fledgling women's division, with Akira Hokuto becoming the first and only WCW Women's Champion , and a WCW Women's Cruiserweight Championship was even introduced and defended in Gaea shows. Recent examples of Japanese wrestlers working in foreign promotions include Satoshi Kojima in Major League Wrestling , Kenta Kobashi , Go Shiozaki , Takeshi Morishima , and Kenta in Ring of Honor , Hirooki Goto , Masato Yoshino , Tiger Mask IV , Hiroshi Tanahashi , Kazuchika Okada , Seiya Sanada , and Ayako Hamada in TNA/Impact, Aja Kong, Dick Togo , Great Sasuke , Jinsei Shinzaki , Kaori Yoneyama , Manami Toyota and Mayumi Ozaki in Chikara , Hideo Itami, Yoshi Tatsu, Kenzo Suzuki , Taka Michinoku , Asuka, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kairi Sane in WWE , and Ayumi Kurihara , Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tomoka Nakagawa in Shimmer Women Athletes . Riho and Hikaru Shida have both become AEW Women's World Champion . Sansh%C5%8D (Sumo) Sanshō ( 三賞 , lit: three prizes) are
279-603: Is Shinsuke Nakamura , who continues to perform under his birth name in WWE. Japanese wrestlers who appear in other American circuits such as Impact Wrestling (originally Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or TNA) and Ring of Honor rarely change their names. Some joshi stars from AJW had wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980s and 1990s, with The Jumping Bomb Angels and Bull Nakano known for being particularly successful. Gaea Japan once had
310-463: Is currently considered by many as the top promotion. Puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "professional wrestling", which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's activities in the online Usenet community. Growing out of origins in
341-534: The Pro Wrestling Noah split, NTV decided to follow the new venture rather than staying with All Japan. Nowadays, however, mirroring the decline that professional wrestling in the U.S. had in the 1970s and early 1980s, NOAH's Power Hour and New Japan's World Pro Wrestling have been largely relegated to the midnight hours by their broadcasters. The advent of cable television and pay per view also enabled independents such as RINGS to rise. WOWOW had
SECTION 10
#1732801312228372-451: The Shukun-shō is awarded to a wrestler who defeats the yokozuna or the eventual tournament winner, or who otherwise displays outstanding performance relative to his rank; and the Kantō-shō to a wrestler who has most clearly fought tenaciously and to the best of his abilities. The Ginō-shō is considered the most prestigious, and is also the prize most often not awarded at all: in 1988, it
403-732: The UWF and later opened Pancrase with some other Japanese shootfighters. As a result of the introduction of lucha libre into Japan, major Mexican stars also compete in Japan. The most popular Mexican wrestler to compete in Japan is Mil Máscaras , who is credited with introducing the high-flying moves of lucha libre to Japanese audiences, which then led to the style called lucha-resu, later embodied by Tiger Mask . Foreign wrestlers from diverse backgrounds have earned huge followings, sometimes greater than those of Japanese top rosters in respective Japanese promotions they have wrestled in. American Stan Hansen , Indian Tiger Jeet Singh , Canadian Abdullah
434-663: The wrestling mask was the rule, adopted mask-based personae; examples were Osamu Matsuda becoming El Samurai , Yoshihiro Asai becoming Último Dragón , and Masanori Murakawa becoming Great Sasuke . Despite the advent of cable television and the Internet, some Japanese wrestlers still adopt all-new ring names, particularly when they join WWE , which trademarks ring names frequently. Recent examples include Mitsuhide Hirasawa as Hideo Saito , Naofumi Yamamoto as Yoshi Tatsu , Kana as Asuka , Kaori Housako as Kairi Sane , and Kenta Kobayashi as Hideo Itami . A recent counter-example
465-554: The 1950s, televised by Nippon TV , often attracted huge crowds to Tokyo giant screens. Eventually TV Asahi also gained the right to broadcast JWA, but eventually the two major broadcasters agreed to split the talent, centering about Rikidōzan's top two students: NTV for Giant Baba and his group, and Asahi for Antonio Inoki and his group. This arrangement continued after the JWA split into today's major promotions, New Japan and All Japan, led by Inoki and Baba respectively. In 2000, following
496-551: The All Japan Sumo Championships and the amateur yokozuna title. From 1975 to 1977 he was a sumo wrestler with the Hanakago stable and used the fighting name of Ōnoumi, which had also been his stablemaster's fighting name. He reached a highest rank of maegashira 4, but was forced to retire at the age of 24 after complications with diabetes . After retiring from sumo, Ishikawa decided to become
527-625: The Butcher , and British wrestler Dynamite Kid were among those cited as top foreign grapplers in a poll of Japanese fans: All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as others, have also sent wrestlers to compete in the likes of the United States , Mexico , the United Kingdom , Puerto Rico and so on. Usually, these talent exchanges are chances for puroresu stars to learn other styles to add to their own strengths,
558-1066: The TPW Tag Team Championship with Yoji Anjo . In June 1997, he would win the BJW Tag Team Championship with Kengo Kimura . Although he retired from active competition on January 19, 1998, he did wrestle a few matches for BJW in January 1999. Sanshō key: F =Fighting spirit; O =Outstanding performance; T =Technique Also shown: ★ = Kinboshi ; P = Playoff (s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Japanese wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling in Japan has existed for several decades. The first Japanese person to involve themselves in catch wrestling (the basis of traditional professional wrestling)
589-549: The U.S. adopted names that often were inconsistent and often portrayed by more than one Japanese wrestler, such as "Tokyo Joe" ( Katsuji Adachi , Koji "Thunder" Sugiyama and Tetsunosuke Daigo), "Mr. Sato" ( Akio Sato and Akihisa Mera ) and "Great Togo" ( Kazuo Okamura and Haruka Eigen ). Some names and gimmicks of North American origin stuck to the wrestler and defined his in-ring personality permanently, such as Hiro Matsuda , Killer Khan , Great Kabuki, Great Muta, Mr. Hito, and Mr. Pogo . Japanese wrestlers sent to Mexico , where
620-493: The US through his involvement with All Elite Wrestling .) Even in joshi puroresu , a few notable foreigners have found success wrestling for joshi promotions, such as Monster Ripper , Madusa , Reggie Bennett , and Amazing Kong . The now defunct World Championship Wrestling had a strong talent exchange deal with New Japan, Ken Shamrock was among the first Americans to compete in shoot style competition in Japan, starting out in
651-627: The United States. Since its establishment, professional wrestling in Japan heavily incorporated foreigners (called gaijin ) particularly North Americans to help popularise native talent. Rikidōzan's JWA and its successor promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling were members of the American-based National Wrestling Alliance at various points, and used these connections to bring North American stars. International Pro Wrestling
SECTION 20
#1732801312228682-839: The championship in a playoff shortly afterwards, was not given the Shukun-shō. In July 2023, eight sanshō were awarded in total, the most ever, while at others only one has been presented (most recently in September 2023). The September 2018 tournament marked the first time since the introduction of sanshō in 1947 that none of the three prizes were awarded at all. On a few rare occasions, one wrestler has been awarded all three prizes simultaneously for his performance. This accolade has been given on only six separate occasions to six different wrestlers. *record in bold indicates wrestler also took championship In September 2001, Kotomitsuki, in his championship tournament, came very close to being
713-493: The prize winners are decided by a panel which includes press writers covering the tournament. There is no requirement that the prizes must be awarded, and it sometimes happens that one or more of the sanshō are not given. It is also common for an award to be awarded to more than one wrestler. The three prizes are Typically, the Ginō-shō is awarded to a wrestler or wrestlers who display the most skillful kimarite , or techniques;
744-596: The promotion was engaged in an inter-promotional war with New Japan Pro-Wrestling . At NJPW's Fantastic Story at Tokyo Dome on January 4, 1993, he lost to Tatsumi Fujinami . He would remain with WAR until September 1994. His last match with the promotion was on September 1, defeating Yamato. In December 1994, he formed Tokyo Pro Wrestling. While wrestling and running TPW, he would also make overtures to Big Japan Pro Wrestling , Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling , Social Progress Wrestling Federation, Independent Wrestling Union, WAR, NJPW, and IWA Japan . In April 1996, he would win
775-428: The three special prizes awarded to top ( Makuuchi ) division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947. All wrestlers in the top division below the rank of ōzeki are eligible. In order to be considered for a special prize, a rikishi must make a kachi-koshi or majority of wins during the tournament. Among eligible rikishi,
806-459: 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., with fewer theatrics ; the stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighter's spirit and perseverance. Since its beginning, Japanese professional wrestling depended on television to reach a wide audience. Rikidōzan's matches in
837-471: Was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda . There were subsequent attempts before and after World War II to popularize the sport in Japan, but these generally failed until the advent of its first big star, Rikidōzan , in 1951, who became known as the "father" of the sport. Rikidōzan brought the sport to tremendous popularity with his Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) until his murder in 1963. Following his death, professional wrestling thrived, creating
868-617: Was held on December 16, teaming with Mighty Inoue in a victory over Motoshi Okuma and Haruka Eigen . After a hiatus, Ishikawa returned to pro wrestling in September 1990 for Super World Sports , where he was part of Genichiro Tenryu 's Revolution stable and was the booker for the promotion. He would also wrestle with stars in the World Wrestling Federation . Unfortunately in June 1992, SWS collapsed. After SWS's collapse, Ishikawa joined Tenryu in forming WAR . Soon after,
899-866: Was sent abroad to Puerto Rico for World Wrestling Council . Under the name Mitsu Ishikawa, he won his first championship, the WWC North American Tag Team Championship with Haru Sonoda . In March 1980, he would briefly return to Amarillo and won the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship with Hugo Savinovich , before Savinovich left the area and was replaced by Sonoda, making Ishikawa a two-time champion. In May 1980, Ishikawa would return to AJPW full-time. He would win five AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championships , twice with Akio Sato , once with Ashura Hara , and twice with Mighty Inoue , before retiring in December 1988. His last match with AJPW
930-993: Was the first Japanese promotion to link into European circuits. It was through IWE that Frenchman André the Giant got his international reputation for the first time. In recent years, many of North America's most popular wrestlers, such as Sting , Hulk Hogan , Bret Hart , Dynamite Kid , Big Van Vader , Mick Foley , Eddie Guerrero , Chris Jericho , Kurt Angle , Rob Van Dam , Sabu , Mil Máscaras , El Canek , Dos Caras , El Solitario , Samoa Joe , AJ Styles , Bryan Danielson , CM Punk , Travis Tomko , Giant Bernard , Bill Goldberg , Chris Sabin , Low Ki , Brock Lesnar , Davey Richards , Chris Hero , and others have wrestled in Japan, whereas others such as Stan Hansen , "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Kenny Omega spent much of their careers in Japan and thus are (or have been) better known there than in their homeland. (Omega has since become more recognized in both his homeland of Canada and
961-481: Was withheld for five consecutive tournaments. However, each award is worth the same amount of money, two million yen . It is a de facto standard that a newly promoted makuuchi wrestler who manages a 10-5 or better record in his first tournament will be awarded a sanshō , normally the Fighting Spirit prize. Similarly, a wrestler newly promoted to the san'yaku ranks above maegashira who achieves