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| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Founder | Riki Choshu |
| Split from | New Japan Pro-Wrestling |
Japan Puroresu (ジャパンプロレス) orJapan Pro-Wrestling was the first renegadeprofessional wrestling promotion in Japan. It was formed byRiki Choshu and his Ishingun after leavingNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1984. The promotion co-promoted withAll Japan Pro Wrestling until 1987 when it dissolved.
In August 1984,Riki Choshu had formed Ishin Gundan withAnimal Hamaguchi,Isamu Teranishi,Yoshiaki Yatsu,Masa Saito andKuniaki Kobayashi to feud withAntonio Inoki and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. However, just as the feud was heating up, tensions both in and out of the ring forced Ishingun and a few others to leave NJPW that September. The next month, they formedJapan Pro-Wrestling and also announced a co-promotion withAll Japan Pro Wrestling. Masa Saito briefly went back to North America but returned to Japan in 1985 and joined in the new promotion.
In the beginning JPW promoted their own shows, but soon these began to be on-and-off. By the end of 1985, the entire active roster (excluding trainees and wrestlers on foreign circuits) were essentially AJPW wrestlers working on a separate contract, that of their promotion. While New Japan suffered from the lack of strong Japanese vs. Japanese feuds due to the loss of Choshu andAkira Maeda who led theJapanese UWF, All Japan enjoyed banner years as Choshu feuded with its luminariesJumbo Tsuruta andGenichiro Tenryu, and Kobayashi feuded with the new version ofTiger Mask,Mitsuharu Misawa.
On March 23, 1987, Choshu and JPW announced the cancellation of the contract with AJPW. By the end of March 1987, Japan Pro-Wrestling dissolved, as some went back to NJPW, while some stayed with AJPW. AJPW championships were stripped off of the JPW stars that went back to NJPW. Hamaguchi chose to retire (he would return to wrestling in 1990) and Killer Khan, who had joined in 1985, would return to theWWF for a final run.
In 1995, Choshu reformed his Ishingun with Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Masa Saito to briefly feud withHeisei Ishingun, which included Kuniaki Kobayashi.
In 2003, Choshu reformed Japan Pro-Wrestling inFighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling, but after a year, due to financial issues withKensuke Sasaki, evolved the promotion to Riki Pro and ran smaller scale shows, until Chōshu finally returned to NJPW in 2005 as booker.
Tag Team and Stables
Kensuke Sasaki, Koki Kitahara and Super Strong Machine briefly returned to AJPW as freelancers in the mid-2000s.
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