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| Acronym | JWA |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 30, 1953 |
| Defunct | April 14, 1973 |
| Style | Puroresu |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Founder(s) | Rikidōzan |
| Owner(s) |
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| Successor | All Japan Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling |
TheJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance (日本プロレス協会,Nihon Puroresu Kyōkai), also known as theJapan Pro Wrestling Association and theJapanese Wrestling Association (JWA), was the firstprofessional wrestling promotion to be based inJapan. It operated from 1953 to 1973.
Rikidōzan, a formerrikishi (sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-style professional wrestler in 1951, decided in 1953 to establish a territory that would represent theNational Wrestling Alliance in Japan.
In those early days, Japanese professional wrestlers came from out of thesumo orjudo ranks; former sumotori usually used their shikona (Rikidōzan,Azumafuji,Toyonobori, etc.) while former judokas usually used their real names or modifications of them (Masahiko Kimura, Michiaki Yoshimura, etc.) Rikidōzan pushed himself as the top star of the promotion, first battling other Japanese wrestlers such as Kimura and Toshio Yamaguchi, but found a strong niche in feuds with American wrestlers such asLou Thesz,The Destroyer andBobo Brazil. In 1957 he defeated Thesz to win the title that would be the JWA's top title thereafter, theNWA International Heavyweight Championship. As a newly found hero to the war-weary Japanese masses, Rikidōzan expanded into several business ventures. It resulted inhis murder at the hands of a gangster in 1963, at the peak of his fame.
After Rikidōzan's death in 1963, he was replaced as president byMichiharu Sadano, who wrestled as Toyonobori. In 1966, Sadano was replaced byJunzo Yoshinosato.
The company continued to operate as the nation's premier (and only male) wrestling circuit until challenged in the late 1960s byInternational Wrestling Enterprise, which featured the first major World heavyweight championship based in Japan, theIWA title. The JWA's top stars,Giant Baba andAntonio Inoki left to form their own promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, respectively) in 1972. With its top drawing cards gone, the JWA was therefore out of business the following year.
World Big League (ワールド大リーグ戦,wārudo dai rīgu-sen), later renamed to simply World League (ワールドリーグ戦,wārudo rīgu-sen) was aprofessional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1959 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year.
Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant since its beginning to be a world tournament. It had been one of the most important pro-wrestling tournaments of its time, because it was one of the very few (and for some years after its creation the only) pro-wrestling tournament of its time to be considered representative of the entire pro-wrestling world.
In 1970, JWA created a tag team counterpart of the World League, known asWorld Tag League.
Its prestige ledAntonio Inoki andGiant Baba to create their own respective promotions,New Japan Pro-Wrestling andAll Japan Pro Wrestling, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World League. Therefore, respectively, theG1 Climax for the NJPW and theChampion Carnival for the AJPW are considered the direct descendants of the original World League.
The following is a list of the winners of each edition:[4]
NWA Tag League (NWAタッグ・リーグ戦,NWA taggu rīgu-sen), also called World Tag League, was aprofessional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1970 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year. Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant to be a world tournament. It was created in 1970 as the tag team counterpart of World Big League.
Its prestige ledAntonio Inoki andGiant Baba to create in their respective promotions,New Japan Pro-Wrestling andAll Japan Pro Wrestling, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World Tag League. Therefore, respectively, theG1 Tag League for the NJPW and theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World Tag League. In fact, in 2012, NJPW renamed the G1 Tag League the World Tag League.[5]
The following is a list of the winners of each edition:[6]
In 2024, the revival ofMaple Leaf Pro Wrestling lead byScott D'Amore established thePWA Champions Grail, a new championship merging the lineage of Rikidozan and Toyonobori's 1962Toyonaka trophy with theWrestling Retribution Project trophy won byKenny Omega in Hollywood in 2011.
This is not an exhaustive list, as the JWA was the only Japanese promotion until 1966 and many wrestlers, both Japanese who competed for a brief time and then retired, or foreigners who came for a single tour, were booked.
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