Note: This article was written in 2017 1997: Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Thunder Liger – J-Crown titleWrestling World 1997 (attendance: 62,500 / 52,500)http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00148_1_9 You know that famous shot of Ultimo Dragon holding 10 belts at once? Well 8 of those are what makes up the J-Crown – a short-lived unification of weight class limited titles between 8 different promotions. A […]
1996: Keiji Mutoh © vs Nobuhiko Takada – IWGP Heavyweight titleWrestling World 1996 (attendance: 54,000) Back in August 1995, New Japan Pro Wrestling found itself in the midst of an invasion. The shoot style Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFi), led by Nobuhiko Takada claimed that New Japan was fake and they were real. Note the use of the phrase […]
1995: Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto Battle 7 (attendance: 52,500) We make a departure from the IWGP Heavyweight title picture for 1995 and head to the undercard as the third Tiger Mask battles young Yuji Nagata. Kanemoto was one of Jushin Liger’s top dance partners through the 1990s and was an important part in building the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title […]
1994: Shinya Hashimoto © vs Masahiro Chono – IWGP Heavyweight title Battlefield (attendance: 48,000) Yesterday we looked at Mutoh and Chono, today we throw the third musketeer into the mix. Shinya Hashimoto. The Three Musketeers each used a different style of wrestling. For Mutoh it was speed, Chono used a more power-based game and Hashimoto the strike-based strong style. Between […]
1993: The Great Muta © vs Masahiro Chono © – IWGP Heavyweight & NWA World Heavyweight title Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome (attendance: 63,500 / 53,500) http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00114_1_7 From looking to the past, to looking to the future (as of the time of the match anyway, it’s all looking to the past for us). Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono (alongside Shinya […]
1992: Tatsumi Fujinami © vs Riki Choshu © – IWGP Heavyweight & Greatest 18 title unification Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome (attendance 50,000) http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00104_1_12 The feud that netted New Japan two of its biggest stars (not named Inoki) in the 1980s, Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami put on a number of classics over the years. Fitting that as we start […]
Born: May 30, 1955 (Aurelian Jake Smith Jnr.) | Birthplace: Gainesville, TexasBilled Hometown: Stone Mountain, Georgia | Billed Weight: 249 lbs Jake Roberts was a second generation wrestler, his father being Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith Sr, who mostly worked in the southern United States, and later became a booker and promoter for Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling, and then as a road […]
Born: August 11, 1953 (Terry Gene Bollea) | Birthplace: Augusta, GeorgiaBilled Hometown: Venice Beach, CA | Billed Weight: 302 lbsOther Aliases: Super Destroyer, Sterling Golden, Terry Boulder, Hollywood Hogan Related Article: New World Order Profile Terry Gene Bollea was born on August 11, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia. The family moved when he was an infant to Florida, where at sixteen […]
Born: July 25, 1881 (Alfred Albert Joe de Re la Gardiur) | Birthplace: Diekirch, LuxembourgDied: January 31, 1941 (Cancer) Before naming himself professional wrestler Dutch Mantell, he was born Alfred Albert Joe de Re la Gardiur to a French father and a Belgian mother in Diekirch, Luxembourg. From an early age, Alfred wished to go to the United States after being regaled […]
Born: October 6, 1935 (Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino) | Birthplace: Pizzoferrato, Abruzzi, ItalyDied: April 18, 2018 (Multiple Organ Failure)Billed Hometown: Abruzzi, Italy / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Billed Weight: 265 lbs Bruno Sammartino was born in 1935, in the small village of Pizzoferrato, Abruzzi, Italy. The youngest of seven children, only he, a brother and a sister were still alive when World […]
