Champion Carnival
Jake Lee with the Champion Carnival trophy in 2021
Promotions	All Japan Pro Wrestling
First event	1973

TheChampion Carnival (チャンピオン・カーニバル,Chanpion Kānibaru) is aprofessional wrestling tournament held byAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nicknameHaru no Saiten (春の祭典; "Spring Festival") and is sometimes abbreviated toCC.^[1][2] Created by AJPW founderGiant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since 1973 and is the longest-running singles tournament in professional wrestling, while also ranking as the most prestigious event in the AJPW calendar.^[3] It is considered a successor to theWorld League, held byJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) between 1959 and 1972, predating theNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)G1 Climax tournament by a year.^[4]

The tournament is held in around-robin format, where all participating wrestlers face each other once with the winner being awarded two points and the loser none. A draw results in both wrestlers being awarded a point. After all wrestlers have faced each other once, the top two wrestlers advance to the final to determine the tournament winner.^[5]

Baba himself holds the record for most Champion Carnival wins, having won the tournament seven times.^[6] Other notable winners includeAbdullah the Butcher,Jumbo Tsuruta,Keiji Mutoh,Mitsuharu Misawa,Stan Hansen,Toshiaki Kawada andKento Miyahara.^[6] Four wrestlers have won both the Champion Carnival and the G1 Climax: Mutoh,Satoshi Kojima,Kensuke Sasaki andYuji Nagata, with Kojima the only one to win them alongsideFire Festival and Nagata the only one to win them alongside theGlobal League.^[4]

From 1959 to 1972, theJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), run byRikidōzan, held a tournament calledWorld League (also known as the "World Big League"), which featured both Japanese and foreign professional wrestlers.^[4] Rikidōzan himself dominated the annual tournament early on, however, after his death in 1963, the tournament was won six times byGiant Baba and once byAntonio Inoki.^[4] JWA folded shortly after both Baba and Inoki left the promotion to createAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), respectively.^[4] Both men took the concept of World League with them to their new promotions, with Baba creating the "Champion Carnival" in 1973 and Inoki creating the World League in 1974, later renaming itG1 Climax.^[4]

The first Champion Carnival took place only six months after Baba had founded AJPW. The initial tournament was held in asingle-elimination format and was intended for AJPW's heavyweight wrestlers such asHiro Matsuda,Samson Kutsuwada and Thunder Sugiyama. For the tournament, Baba also recruited several foreign wrestlers, such asBaron Scicluna,The Destroyer,King Curtis Iaukea andMark Lewin.^[5] Baba himself won the inaugural tournament, defeating Lewin in the final.^[4][5] A year later, AJPW presented the second Champion Carnival, which most notably introduced former OlympianJumbo Tsuruta, who eventually went on to become one of the promotion's top names. Baba also won the second Champion Carnival, this time defeatingMr. Wrestling in the final.^[5][7] Heading into the 1975 Champion Carnival, Baba changed the tournament's format. Now the four wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the single-elimination tournament were put into around-robin tournament, where the wrestler with the best record would be declared the winner. Baba went on to win the tournament for the third year in a row, defeatingGene Kiniski in the final.^[5][8] A year later, the single-elimination portion of the tournament was eliminated and the Champion Carnival was changed to a pure round-robin tournament, a format it holds to this day.^[5] The 1976 tournament was the first Champion Carnival not won by Baba. It was instead won by CanadianAbdullah the Butcher, who defeated Baba in the final.^[5] Baba went on to win the tournament four more times, winning a total of seven out of the ten first Champion Carnivals.^[5] In early 1980s, AJPW loaded the Champion Carnival with some of the top foreign wrestlers in the world, includingBilly Robinson,Bruiser Brody,Dick Slater,Jack Brisco,Stan Hansen,Ted DiBiase andTerry Funk.^[5] However, after rival promotion NJPW took over as the number one promotion in Japan with a record-breaking business streak, AJPW decided to put the Champion Carnival on hiatus, not wanting the tournament to be overshadowed by their competitors. The hiatus lasted from 1983 to 1991.^[5]

In 1991, AJPW had overtaken NJPW and was again the top promotion in Japan, boasting a roster of top foreign wrestlers mixed with top Japanese wrestlers.^[5] The 1991 tournament showcased several younger wrestlers, includingKenta Kobashi,Mitsuharu Misawa andToshiaki Kawada, who bypassed the promotion's aging veterans and went on to become the promotion's cornerstones for the next decade.^[5] However, despite the emergence of the younger wrestlers and the participation of foreign wrestlers such asDoug Furnas,The Dynamite Kid,Johnny Ace,Johnny Smith andMick Foley, the 1991 tournament was won by an AJPW veteran Jumbo Tsuruta, who defeated Stan Hansen in the final.^[5] The 1992 tournament was booked around the storyline of the "young lions" challenging the veterans for AJPW supremacy. Stan Hansen went on to win his first Champion Carnival, defeating Mitsuharu Misawa in the final.^[5][9] Despite losing in the final, the tournament made Misawa a star, someone earmarked to occupy the promotion's top spot.^[5] A year later, Hansen again defeated Misawa in the final. The 1993 tournament was also noteworthy for introducing rookieJun Akiyama.^[5] In 1994, Toshiaki Kawada became the first of the "young lions" to win the Champion Carnival, defeating"Dr. Death" Steve Williams in the final, a match that has been called "arguably the greatest Carnival tournament match of all time".^[5] For the next several years the tournament was dominated by AJPW's younger wrestlers with Kawada repeating his win, Mitsuharu Misawa winning two tournaments and Kenta Kobashi one tournament.^[5] The 1997 tournament ended in a rare three-way draw between Kawada, Kobashi and Misawa, resulting in a round-robin playoff between the three, where Kawada emerged victorious.^[5][10]

On January 31, 1999, Giant Baba died, leaving the promotion in the hands of Mitsuharu Misawa.^[5] The 1999 Champion Carnival was the first one not booked by Baba. As the new booker, Misawa made a controversial decision to leave Stan Hansen out of the tournament, while givingVader the win in the final over Kenta Kobashi.^[5] Problems between Misawa and Giant Baba's widow Motoko Baba led to Misawa exiting AJPW in 2000, taking 26 out of the 28 Japanese AJPW wrestlers with him to form the newPro Wrestling Noah promotion.^[11] Struggling to cope with the loss of the majority of its roster, AJPW eventually hired NJPW wrestlerKeiji Mutoh to lead the promotion.^[12] Mutoh went on to win the Champion Carnival three times (2002, 2004 and 2007),^[1] before leaving the promotion in 2013, after which he was replaced by Jun Akiyama.^[13] 2013 also saw Akiyama finally win his first Champion Carnival, twenty years after his debut appearance in the tournament.^[14]

In recent years, several outsiders have won the tournament, withfreelancerMinoru Suzuki winning it in2009 and2010,^[1] NJPW representativeYuji Nagata winning it in2011,^[15]Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) representativeDaisuke Sekimoto winning it in2016,^[2] freelancerShuji Ishikawa winning it in2017,^[16] and Pro Wrestling Noah representativeNaomichi Marufuji winning it in2018.^[17]

On April 2, 2020, AJPW held a press conference, delaying this year's Champion Carnival, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. On May 28, they confirmed that the tournament has been moved to September.

Abdullah the Butcher, a two-time and the first non-Japanese winner of the tournament

Toshiaki Kawada (top), a two-time winner of the tournament

Keiji Mutoh, a three-time winner of the tournament

The 1973 Champion Carnival is the first edition of the Champion Carnival. It took place from March 17 to April 21, featuring fifteen wrestlers in a single-elimination format.Giant Baba received a first-round bye, and was the inaugural winner of the tournament.

¹This match originally ended in a no-contest on April 10, so a rematch was scheduled for April 14 to determine the 1st finalist with Mark Lewin winning.
²The finals were contested under best of 3 falls rules, with Baba winning the first fall at 12:49 and Lewin winning the second fall at 16:55. Baba won the third and decisive fall at 19:20, thus becoming the inaugural Champion Carnival winner.

The 1974 Champion Carnival is the second edition of the Champion Carnival. It took place from April 13 to May 11, featuring fifteen wrestlers in a single-elimination format.Giant Baba emerging as the winner after defeatingMr. Wrestling in the final match. It was Baba's second tournament win.

¹The first round match between Destroyer and Abdullah was so rough that it was impossible for the match to take place, and both were disqualified due to four consecutive no-contests.
²The finals were contested under best of 3 falls rules, with Wrestling winning the first fall at 8:30 and Baba winning the second fall at 11:15. Baba won the third and decisive fall at 14:20, thus becoming the second Champion Carnival winner.

The 1975 Champion Carnival is the third edition of the Champion Carnival. It took place from April 5 to May 3, featuring fourteen wrestlers in a unique single-elimination format with repechage and a final round-robin league.Giant Baba emerged as the winner after defeatingGene Kiniski in the final match. It was Baba's third tournament win.

¹This match originally ended in a time limit draw on April 6, so a rematch was scheduled for April 10 to determine the winner with Jumbo Tsuruta winning.
²This match originally ended in a no-contest on April 5, so a rematch was scheduled for April 6 to determine the winner but the match ended with double count-out, so a rematch was scheduled for April 12 to determine the winner with Giant Baba winning.
³This match was contested under best of 3 falls rules, with Baba winning the first fall at 12:12 and Kiniski winning the second fall at 15:14. Baba won the third and decisive fall at 18:39, thus becoming the third Champion Carnival winner.

The 1976 Champion Carnival took place from April 7 to March 8, featuring fourteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won byAbdullah the Butcher, who defeatedGiant Baba via disqualification in the finals. It was Butcher's first tournament win.

The 1977 Champion Carnival took place from April 8 to May 14, featuring fifteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won byGiant Baba, who defeatedJumbo Tsuruta in the finals. It was Baba's fourth tournament win.

The 1978 Champion Carnival took place from March 4 to April 7, featuring fifteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won byGiant Baba, who defeatedAbdullah the Butcher via countout in the finals. It was Baba's fifth tournament win.

The 1979 Champion Carnival took place from March 3 to April 6, featuring sixteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won byAbdullah the Butcher, who defeatedJumbo Tsuruta in the second of two playoff matches after both men tied atop the standings. The first playoff match resulted in a double-countout, and a second match was held.

• Playoff matches:

• Abdullah the Butcher vs.Jumbo Tsuruta ended in a double-countout (13:14)
• Abdullah the Butcher defeated Jumbo Tsuruta (2:11)

The 1980 Champion Carnival took place from March 28 to May 1, featuring thirteen wrestlers in a round-robin format. The tournament was won byJumbo Tsuruta, who defeatedDick Slater in the final.

The 1981 Champion Carnival took place from March 27 to April 23, featuring fourteen wrestlers in a round-robin format.Giant Baba won the tournament for the sixth time.

The 1982 Champion Carnival took place from March 23 to April 18, featuring eighteen wrestlers in a round-robin format.Giant Baba won the tournament for the seventh time.

The 1991 Champion Carnival took place from March 23 to April 18, featuring fourteen wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format. The two wrestlers who finished atop each block met in the final.

Jumbo Tsuruta, the reigningTriple Crown Heavyweight Champion, defeatedStan Hansen in the final.

The 1992 Champion Carnival took place from March 20 to April 17, featuring twenty wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format. The two wrestlers who finished atop each block met in the final.

Stan Hansen, the reigningTriple Crown Heavyweight Champion, defeatedMitsuharu Misawa in the final.^[19]

The 1993 Champion Carnival took place from March 25 to April 21, featuring thirteen wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format. Stan Hansen repeated as tournament champion, a feat that had only been achieved byGiant Baba.

Jun Akiyama suffered an arm injury in a tag team match on the first event of the tournament, partnered withTakao Omori againstSatoru Asako andMasao Inoue (their first matchas a team). Akiyama was unable to participate in the tournament as a result.

The 1994 Champion Carnival took place from March 19 to April 16, featuring twelve wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format.Toshiaki Kawada won the tournament in his fourth appearance.Mitsuharu Misawa was injured during the tournament, causing him to miss most of it.

The 1995 Champion Carnival took place from March 21 to April 15, featuring eleven wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format.Mitsuharu Misawa won the tournament.

There were originally twelve wrestlers scheduled for the tournament, but that number dropped to eleven on March 22 whenSteve Williams was suspended from AJPW for one year after being found in possession ofpainkillers at the airport and returned to theUnited States.