(JWA) A disappointing world title fight - Baba's first main event appearance - The history of Japanese wrestlers who have appeared at MSG (After Hours NOW)
Weekly Pro 24th October 2000 (Issue No. 1000) The first Japanese wrestler to headline a show at MSG was Giant Baba , but his debut was on September 18th (where he defeated Billy Sybysko aka Bill Dromo), and he made seven appearances before challenging Sammartino for the WWF Championship (on February 17th). Even for Baba, it wasn't headlining a show right from the start. The newspaper article from his first appearance featured a rare photograph of Rikidozan , who was on a US wrestling tour at the time, standing in front of the MSG entrance alongside his manager Fred Atkins and Baba. On that day, Baba, Mammoth Suzuki, and Yoshinosato all appeared at MSG at the same time, so it seems that Rikidozan, as the boss of the group, was visiting MSG to pay his respects to promoter Vince McMahon Sr. and ask him to take good care of the three. It would have been interesting if he had taken off his shirt and stepped into the ring. Although it wasn't reported in Japan, on September 19th, t...
