Mitsuharu Misawa: The Supreme Triple Crown Champion - Young years in All Japan Pro Wrestling

Passivity and Shooting

When Mitsuharu Misawa joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in March 1981, his fellow wrestlers were Shiro Koshinaka, three years his senior, and Masaji Goto (later known as Tarzan Goto), who was one year his senior, living at the training camp in Kinuta, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. Also living there were Takahiro Takigawa and Naoki Takano, both of whom were about to make their debuts. 

Takigawa was a former New Japan Pro Wrestling trainee. He had also worked as Fujinami's attendant before rejoining All Japan. At 183 cm and 81 kg, he had a well-built physique, performed well on TV, and was expected to have a bright future. 

Takano was the cousin of New Japan's George Takano. At 178 cm and 75 kg, he was still slender, but by today's standards, this is still a respectable size for a wrestler. By comparison, Misawa was 181 cm and 81 kg when he joined.

Takigawa debuted on April 1st, shortly after Misawa joined, at Koshigaya City Gymnasium, under the tutelage of Koshinaka. Takano debuted on April 7th at Tokushima City Gymnasium, under the tutelage of Mitsuo Momota. However, both left the promotion soon after during their break. Other trainees who joined at the same time as Misawa also quit. In the end, only Koshinaka, Goto and Misawa remained at the training camp from May onward.   

At the time, All Japan didn't have a full-time coach; instead, younger wrestlers were trained by older wrestlers who came to the dojo. Misawa, the new trainee, was instructed by Mitsuo Momota, who came to practice every day. The second son of Rikidozan, the founder of Japanese professional wrestling, he joined Japan Pro Wrestling in February 1968 and participated in All Japan from its inception. Due to his small stature at 173 cm, he was often tasked with mentoring younger wrestlers in the opening matches. The "Big Three"—Atsushi Onita, Masanobu Fuchi, and Kazuharu Sonoda (Haru Sonoda) were also trained by Momota. 

The training that Momota imposed on young wrestlers was modelled after the Gotch classes at JWP. Karl Gotch came to Japan soon after Momota joined JWP, and he taught Gotch classes at the Empire Gym (formerly the Riki Palace underground dojo) in Owada-cho, Shibuya Ward, until May 1969. It was at Gotch's classes that Momota built the foundations of his career as a professional wrestler. His routine consisted of warming up with running around the ring and doing forward and backward rolls, followed by push-ups, bridges, and moving back and forth while holding a bridge, all to strengthen the neck. After this basic training, he would then do sparring. When the students were exhausted, he would practice defensive moves. He would do this intentionally while they were exhausted, so that they would be able to perform defensive moves properly no matter how tough the situation in a match. He would then finish with squats. It was a hard training session lasting three hours straight. 

Furthermore, training using equipment like barbells was only available to wrestlers who wanted to do it, and was held in the evenings or at night after eating chanko.       

"I wondered how amazing professional training would be, but a guy who joined at the same time as me wasn't very good, so I just went along with his pace. And you know, I had been through rigorous training in high school, so at first I thought, "This is easier than I thought." But after he ran away in the middle of the night,  I was basically left to my own devices, receiving "care" from all the seniors. Some seniors even tried to teach me drop kicks, saying, "I can't do it myself, but I can teach you!" (wry smile). I hated training...all of it. I hated it, even the smell when I opened the dojo door (wry smile). As a trainee, you work every day without knowing when you'll be able to debut," is Misawa's memory from his days as a trainee.    

The most important professional wrestling technique that All Japan, led by Giant Baba, valued was defence*. In other martial arts such as judo, sumo and wrestling, you defend yourself from being thrown, but in professional wrestling the ukemi technique is one in which you take the move and reduce the damage. To practice the basics, you jump high into the air, flatten your body (including your legs and arms) and land on your back to dissipate the damage.

Many wrestlers agree that the shoulder-throw ukemi, where you're tossed high into the air, was tough. Knowing when to tuck your chin, when to flatten your body (and body control is incredibly difficult).  Nowadays, the only places you'll see shoulder-throw attacks and defenses are All Japan Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, which is a descendant of All Japan. The current leader in shoulder-throw ukemi is probably Misawa's beloved protégé, Naomichi Marufuji.

Momota, who played the role of Misawa's coach, said of Misawa's Ukemi as a trainee, says "Pro wrestling breakfalls have to make a sound, and they're different from judo breakfalls in many ways, but Misawa could learn almost any type of breakfall after being taught it just once". 

"Misawa was a quick learner. Even though I was a year senior, he quickly reached the same level as me. It was pure innate ability. At the time, I thought, "Oh, maybe this is what genius looks like." It took me a long time to master the back-to-back ukemi. I also did sumo, but I did judo in middle school, so even though I was supposed to jump up, I would always go for the judo style, starting from my hips. I still remember them tugging me with ropes attached to my feet and forcing me to do ukemi. Momota says Kintaro Oki learned it the same way (laughs). Misawa and I would often be forced to do the ukemi together, and since I'm clumsy, I was always envious of his dexterity."         

That was Goto, his closest senior.

There's a famous story about Giant Baba, who heard only the sounds of practice and asked, "Who was that?" and when he heard, "Misawa," he replied, "I knew it, it becomes one sound*". "One sound" is a phrase unique to Baba. The sound, when combined without any fragmentation, means that the entire body is able to hit the ground flat. Even as a rookie, Misawa was a genius at defensive moves.

Misawa himself said about it, "I didn't just do it. I thought, in my own way, that if I did it this way, I would probably be able to avoid suffocating. I also made sure to watch my opponent's moves until the end. If you take it in the wrong way, you get hurt. Well, in the old days, some of the seniors would just come to the dojo to throw Goto and me around, rather than to teach us (laughs) But that's how it got ingrained in my body". 

Looking back on the shoot sparring, which was his first experience of joint locks. He reflected on it as follows, "It was tough, especially since there are no joint locks in amateur wrestling. Bending the neck more than 90 degrees is considered a foul. You're also not allowed to grab the neck. Ultimately, it's not a forbidden move, in amateur wrestling terms. You're starting from scratch and doing something you've never done before, so that's the kind of thing you have to remember. Well, I don't do as much ground fighting these days, but it's still something I have to remember. There's a difference between not knowing and not using it."

Misawa first showed off his ground skills at the ZERO-ONE Nippon Budokan event on April 18, 2001, when he and Takeshi Rikio partnered up to fight U.F.O.'s Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami. He quickly went in for a single-leg tackle against Ogawa and took him to the ground, and when Ogawa attempted a single-leg tackle in return, he quickly pulled back, pinned him down by the scruff of the neck, and completely cut him off with a front neck lock. 

When asked about his unusual tactics after the match, he casually replied, "I guess I wouldn't say it was an unusual tactic, but I just kind of let my body go. Maybe that's the wrong way to put it. Like, 'Maybe I don't need to be so hung up on technique.' Like, 'I just need to knock him down, right?' (wry smile)... There's no need for much flamboyance, right?' That was the kind of thing." And there we have it, the casual killer, Misawa.  

Tears over the absurd hierarchical relationship

What's tough for new apprentices is not only the rigorous training, but also the strict hierarchical relationship between seniors and juniors. Regardless of age, joining as soon as possible means becoming a senior. While the sports world today is committed to eradicating violence, there was a time when it was said that "the character for "clenched fist", was often read as "senior." 

The relationship between Misawa and Goto was also tricky. Goto joined the company a year earlier and debuted six months earlier, but Misawa was a year older. Goto happened to see Misawa's resume at the All Japan office, and was aware that "a great guy is joining," so when Misawa joined, he acted even more like a senior.

"Misawa was my junior, but even before his debut, the people around me saw him as equal or even superior to me, so I was strangely stubborn and acted like the senior. I was still a 17-year-old kid, but Misawa was mature, and so he didn't show it in his attitude. After his debut, he quickly rose to the top, but even so, he always called me 'Goto-san' and respected me," Goto said, expressing his gratitude for Misawa's "mature attitude" in his younger days. 

When Misawa first joined the wrestling world, tours often involved staying in inns* rather than hotels, making post-match parties a real challenge for the younger wrestlers. Even Koshinaka said, "I don't have any good memories of alcohol in my time.  In our day, if you said, 'I can't afford both food and alcohol,' you'd get punched. And then you had to wrestle the next day." This was unbearable for Misawa and Goto, who were underage at the time.

"All Japan was amazing back then (wry smile). Even if a senior offered me a drink and Baba was there, he would get mad and say, "You are underage and drinking alcohol*", but once Baba was gone I would be told, "Drink it, you idiot!". He would pour sake into a huge chanko pot, and make me drink it down.  I'd drink because I'd get scolded for not drinking, but it never ended with one glass. It was two or three. I hated alcohol, so going to drinking parties was the hardest thing for me. Of course, Misawa couldn't drink at all either," Goto said.        

There's also a little-known story about Misawa crying after a senior wrestler hit him over the head with a sashimi platter at a post-match banquet.

"That was my fault. While I was eating chanko at a ryokan inn, a senior started talking to me. I hadn't heard what he was saying, so I replied "Huh?" He didn't seem to like that, and told me to eat ten bowls of rice right now. Then to Misawa, who was standing next to me, he said "You too!" Misawa had just joined wrestling, and he was crying tears of frustration. That was the only time I ever saw Misawa cry," Goto said.

Despite the unreasonable experiences unique to Showa-era pro wrestling, Misawa grew into a tough guy both physically and mentally.

Official debut after just five months of joining 

Misawa's debut was on August 21, 1981, in the second round of the "Super Idol Series" at a special ring in the parking lot in front of Urawa Racecourse. While it's now common for rookie debut matches to be announced in advance, back then, debut matches for wrestlers who started out as mere apprentices were held the day before or the day after a televised match, often at venues with minimal media presence. Misawa was reportedly only informed the day before the match.

"Well, I'd been participating in battle royals for about three months after I joined, but you know, that was just because I got thrown by the seniors (wry smile). Baba-san asked me the day before, 'Can you fight?' I couldn't say 'no,' so I answered 'yes,' and he just said, 'I see.' I wondered if my debut was near, and then the next day, my name was listed in the matches in the program" (Misawa)

At the time, All Japan Pro Wrestling had a system similar to the old Japan Pro, wrestlers would compete in battle royals before officially debuting in singles matches. Regarding his official debut after this battle royal, Koshinaka said, "During my time, (Great) Kojika worked hard to create a Battle Royale slot on the card, but by the time Misawa debuted, the number had decreased significantly. Well, I got beaten up badly by my seniors and looked like trash (wry smile), but the Battle Royale before my singles debut was different from practice; it gave me the courage to perform in front of an audience, so it was quite helpful for me. Then, when it came to battles, mid-level wrestlers would come out, and I was able to experience the weight of their techniques firsthand, which was invaluable". 

Koshinaka entered pro wrestling in July 1978, and participated in a Battle Royale two months later. He made his debut eight months later, on March 5, 1979, at the Tateyama Civic Center against Kazuharu Sonoda (Haru Sonoda). Goto, who joined in April 1980, also competed in a Battle Royale three months after joining, but his official debut wasn't until February 19, 1981, at the Reiyama Civic Gymnasium in Fukushima, against Koshinaka, a whopping 11 months later. Misawa's official debut after five months was exceptionally quick. "Back then, there were a lot of mid-level wrestlers, so debuting after five months was incredibly fast," Momota admits.

Misawa's debut opponent was Koshinaka. Koshinaka also faced Goto in his debut, so he must have been especially excited about Misawa's debut. Koshinaka who joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in July 1978, just before his 20th birthday, found himself in a tough environment. At the time, All Japan Pro Wrestling only had three young wrestlers: Onita, Fuchi, and Sonoda, known as the "Big Three." Sonoda was only four years his senior, while Onita and Fuchi were more than five years his senior. It wasn't the kind of environment where young wrestlers could compete with each other like in New Japan.   

"My immediate seniors were Onita, Fuchi, and Sonoda, but there was a five-year career gap between us. Back then, hierarchical relationships were strict, and I was suddenly placed below guys five years my senior. So even if I wanted to complain, I didn't have anyone to vent to. There was no one to vent to when I was feeling down. A five-year difference in career means you have to use honorific language for the rest of your life. For example, when I fight Onita, if I say to him, "You bastard!" he'll look surprised and say, "Huh?" I'm sure Onita still feels like, "I joined All Japan right out of middle school, so I'm five or six years my senior, so what's that about?!" (wry smile) Before that, several people had come hoping to join, but they'd just run away in the middle of the night. So I was really happy when Goto and Misawa joined and stayed (laughs). "I'd always been at the very bottom and been overworked, but now everything I'd been carrying on my own was being shared in three equal parts, so it was a bit of a relief" Koshinaka laughed. 

With no classmates, Koshinaka had no time to rest during practice at the dojo, and was doted on by the seniors, but of course he couldn't compete in matches and was easily defeated. After the three of them went overseas to train, from the Giant Series in October 1980 until he faced Goto in his debut match on February 15, 1988, Koshinaka only faced three veteran wrestlers older than the three - the Momota brothers (Momota and Yoshihiro) and Mr Hayashi. Koshinaka's first victory was in Goto's debut match, so he had been losing for two years.

Koshinaka's circumstances changed dramatically after Misawa joined the pro wrestling scene at the Champion Carnival in March and April. He was given singles matches against top mid-level wrestlers like Rocky Haneda, Killer Brooks (who was also competing in the main event of the Carnival), and other foreign wrestlers like The Avenger. He also teamed with Great Kojika to face Prince Tonga (King Hak-ming) and Akio Sato. He teamed with Tonga to face Takashi Ishikawa and Sato, and singles matches against mid-level wrestlers like Masao Ito, Sato, Haneda, Ishikawa, Motoshi Okuma, and Kojika. 

In the Super Power Series that followed in June and July, he was also given the opportunity to partner with Sato to face the Von Erich brothers, Kevin and David, who had just captured the Asia Tag Team Championship from the gangster duo of Kojika and Okuma.

This change came about because Sato became the booker in charge of All Japan. As I'll explain later, Sato's contribution to changing the way opening matches were conducted during this era was significant. Thanks to Sato's approach, Koshinaka was finally able to compete against mid-level wrestlers, and he was excited. He held his own against Misawa in his debut match, winning with a single leg crab hold in 5 minutes and 6 seconds.  

"Misawa didn't really stand out in practice. He didn't have anything outstanding, but when we had him compete, I realized he understood all the basics of pro wrestling without any instruction. So I don't remember the details of the match or how I won, but I do remember it being incredibly easy. And I mean that in a good way. With a normal wrestler, there's a lot to teach him. I feel like he has nothing. I'm sure he was just memorizing it on his own as a trainee, acting as a second, before the match was even scheduled. Normally, even if you understand, your body won't move, but I think that's something he developed through wrestling in high school." (Koshinaka)

Nineteen year old Misawa reflected on his debut, "Back then, most summer matches were held outdoors. I remember the venue, and the waiting room was kind of like a politician's den. But I didn't have enough time to look around the venue. The match was scheduled suddenly, and I wasn't mentally prepared, so I don't remember what I did in the match, but I was conscious of the fact that I was competing in front of the audience. After the match, I remember thinking, "Now I can walk proudly as a wrestler, too." I lost the match, but I was happy."

The nineteen year old Misawa also spoke about his image of an ideal wrestler and goals: "It's fun to watch, and maybe it's because I'm small, but I like the Mexican style. I'd really like to go to Mexico. What if I was told to wear a mask? I don't really like wearing one myself, but if someone told me to, I'd wear one. My goal is to become a junior heavyweight champion like New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Fujinami, since I'm small."

It's a pretty innocent answer, but in two and a half years, he'll be in Mexico, three years later he'll put on a mask and become Tiger Mask, and four years later he'll become the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Lecture Time and Goto's Stubbornness

His debut match was held outdoors, but his second match on the following day, at Korakuen Hall, the holy ground of professional wrestling, was a 20-minute single match against Mitsuo Momota, where he submitted to a reverse crab hold after 4 minutes and 4 seconds. In his debut series, he lost all 15 matches, with one loss to Koshinaka,  six to Mitsuo Momota, seven to Yoshihiro Momota, and one to Mr. Hayashi. As can be seen from the match breakdown, just like Koshinaka and Goto, the rookies who had just debuted often faced the Momota brothers.   

In particular, Mitsuo's detailed post-match criticism, such as "You could have done this here," was feared among younger wrestlers as "lecture time."

"Momota is probably the person I fought the most in my career. Momota was strict not only in practice and matches, but also after the matches. That lecture time (wry smile). At its worst, the lecture would go on endlessly until the semis, and Baba would come in and say, "Hey, enough already. Get him in my corner!" Koshinaka testified.

Goto, who missed Misawa's debut matches due to a taxi accident, accompanied him on tour even though he couldn't compete, and paid close attention to the lectures Misawa got.   

"Misawa is amazing. It took me a month to make my debut, but he made his debut in just half that time, five months. When I fought with Mitsuo, the match itself was five to six minutes long, and the lecture afterwards was fifteen minutes. So I was paying more attention to what happened after the match, wondering, 'Is he going to lecture me?' But there was no lecture, and even from my perspective at the time, he had a pretty good match with Mitsuo, so I thought, 'I can't afford to be complacent now!' and asked Baba, and I was allowed to compete in the next October series. ……………Yeah, there was one time when I did a weird spin in a necklock and Momota dove headfirst like he was doing a handstand, and he gave me a lengthy lecture in front of the toilet (laughs)."

Regarding this lecture, Momota said, "Goto was slow (laughs). I was a barrier to the younger wrestlers and in a position of mentor, so I would point out their mistakes after the match. Misawa was the only one who I told once and he never made the same mistake again. The others were like, 'How many times do I have to tell you, you bastard!' but Misawa was the only one who I told, 'Let's fix this here,' and he never made the same mistake again. Criticizing him for a necklock? I remember that. Goto remembers that very well too (wry smile). I also clearly remember him criticizing Misawa for a necklock. I told him that with a necklock, if you don't pull your opponent's neck tightly, they'll end up slamming their head into the canvas, so you have to land the move properly. I think that was probably the only time. That just shows how skilled Misawa was."

Goto, who had personally appealed to Baba to return at the October Giant Series, and Misawa's first match was a 15-minute single match on October 17th at the Hyuga Inudo Fruit and Vegetable Market. Goto won with a reverse crab hold in 7 minutes and 5 seconds, marking his first victory in his eight months since his debut. 

After graduating from junior high school, Goto entered the sumo wrestling Kokonoe stable. His stablemates included the sixty-first Yokozuna, Hokutoumi, (currently the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association Hakkaku), and  and Tadao Yasuda, aka Takanofuji, who was active in New Japan. All three of them made their debut in March 1970. Goto originally aspired to be a professional wrestler and entered sumo to bulk up, retiring after the November tournament of that year. After an interview with Baba, he joined All Japan in April 1980 at the age of 16 years and 8 months.      

It's no surprise that Goto, with such a strong sense of rivalry, was fueled by Misawa, a year older yet a year junior to him, who had a proven track record in wrestling and was clearly more highly anticipated than him even before his debut. It's fair to say that this first victory was a testament to his determination.