(NOAH) Misawa establishes a new group, All Japan in crisis!

Weekly Pro

4th July 2000

(Note about Motoko's address. In the article they address her as "Owner Motoko", which is an honorific for a business owner. I have chosen to simply call her "Motoko-san" as "Owner Motoko" does not translate well into English, also as "Baba-san" is used for Giant Baba later on, and will cause confusion).

Misawa, who has resigned from All Japan Pro Wrestling, has moved to launch a new promotion. On the 16th (June), a total of twenty-five wrestlers (and one referee) who submitted their resignations to All Japan, attended a press conference for the "Misawa Faction" that was held at Differ Ariake, Tokyo, on the same day. On the All Japan side, the "remaining group" of Kawada and Fuchi, have renewed their contracts. Motoko Baba, the owner, has announced that the next tour "Summer Action Series" will go ahead.

What will happen to the long established All Japan?

Motoko Baba's "statement" and "remaining" are two wrestlers, Kawada and Fuchi.

Mitsuharu Misawa, who has left All Japan Pro-Wrestling, has started working towards the establishment of a new promotion. It was a turbulent week, with the eyes of pro wrestling fans, the mass media, and people all over Japan focused on the movements of the "Misawa faction". 

As reported in the last issue of this magazine, on May 28, Misawa was "dismissed" from his position as president and representative director at a board meeting held in Tokyo. Following that he participated in the "2000 Super Power Series" as a contestant. At the board meeting held on June 13th after the end of the event, six directors, including former President Misawa (the board of directors consists of eleven members in total), resigned from their posts. At this point it was decided that not only Misawa, but Kenta Kobashi (director), Akira Taue (Athlete chairman), Mitsuo Momota (Vice chairman of the board) and other "executive wrestlers" would leave the company. This was the beginning of the daily rush of coverage in sports newspapers. All Japan's response to the media in response to the departure of Misawa, Kobashi, Taue and other key members was faster than expected. On the 14th, Motoko Baba

sent a "statement" to the media about (quoted from the original) "a series of movements surrounding All Japan Pro Wrestling". Motoko-san described the resignation of the six directors at the committee meeting on the 13th as "feeling like being caught by a fox*", and regarding Misawa, "I can only believe that he planned to become independent several months ago," and "I cannot help but feel resentment* towards President Misawa and his sympathizers who abandoned their duties without taking any responsibility". In addition, Motoko-san once again declared that she is determined to keep All Japan alive no matter what happens, she also touched on the idea that "Kawada and Fuchi will inherit Baba's will to excite All Japan Pro Wrestling". 

The contract renewal for All Japan this year, began urgently on the 14th. Toshiaki Kawada (Executive Vice President) took the lead at the negotiating table and a contract (for a single year) was achieved. On the same day, in response to a request from the press, All Japan released the schedule of the "Summer Action Series 2000", which would have sixteen matches, and on the 15th the seven participating foreign wrestlers. At the final match on the 23rd July, at the Nippon Budokan, Stan Hansen has decided on a "special participation" in only one match, and Kawada held a brief press conference in the "unmanned president's office", commenting on the reason for his remaining, saying "I couldn't discard All Japan's name*". Regarding the parting with Misawa, who has been his "teammate" since High School (Ashikaga Institute of Technology High School Wrestling Club), at the end of twenty years he only

said, "If Misawa develops, I think that's a good thing". Also, the 1st July Differ Ariake (Tokyo), 11th July (Osaka), 15th July Nanao (Ishikawa), 23rd July (Nippon Budokan) events will be recorded and broadcast by Nippon Television as usual (but on the 19th they have decided to cancel). Motoko-san is determined to carry out the next tour as planned, no matter what. But on this day, the group of wrestlers of the "Misawa Faction" also made a big move. In the morning, luggage was carried out from the dormitory and dojo in Kanagawa prefecture. That evening, the chairman of the wresters, Akira Taue convened an "emergency athletes meeting" in Tokyo, and "explained the circumstances and progress" (quoted from Taue). A total of twenty-three wrestlers (including one trainee*) attended the "Athletes Association", including Misawa, Kawada, Masanobu Fuchi, Maunakea Mossman*, and Hiroshi Hase, who could not be contacted due to campaigning for the election to the House of Representatives. It is believed that at this meeting the Wrestlers Association made the final confirmation of the circumstances of former President Misawa's departure from All Japan, and the plan to establish a new promotion centered on the "Misawa Faction". After about an hour and a half of the meeting, Taue verbally resigned from All Japan. Since he is a freelancer who has not renewed his contract, he commented "There is no need for a letter of resignation". On the same day, just after 7pm, Misawa, Kobashi, Taue and Momota, "the former executive wrestlers", along with Yoshihiro Momota* and Kenichi Ohyagi*, who had resigned from the board of directors along with these four, went to the offices of corporation lawyers in Tokyo and had a meeting that lasted about two and a half hours. Then, on the afternoon of the the

following day, the 16th, Misawa held a press conference in Differ Ariake*, officially announcing the establishment of a new promotion, with a total of 25 fellows. Rather than a "split", the press conference seemed to be a big migration made by the wrestlers belonging to All Japan. On the morning of that day, the most impressive thing at the press conference, held by the All Japan Misawa group on the 16th, was that each individual wrestler had a really bright and sunny face in the "group photo" for the mass media. Misawa's words of greeting were lively, and straight to the point, "I felt a gap between my ideals in the tradition of All Japan, and thought that if I continued to pursue my ideals, I would destroy the professional wrestling that Baba-san had created" and "The members here are companions who are trying to create a better pro wrestling". During the Q&A with the press, when asked about the "ideal pro wrestling", he prefaced it by saying, "although it will be abstract" he just answered, "Pro wrestling that both wrestlers and fans can enjoy". The office consists of twenty-three wrestlers, excluding Kawada, Fuchi, Hase and Mossman (who is returning to the United States), six on site staff* (excluding referee Kyohei Wada*, who has decided to stay), ring announcer Fumito Kihara and one trainee. "Resignation Notices" for a total of thirty people have arrived by registered mail.  

Since he was in All Japan, Misawa has always professed to "create pro-wrestling that is relevant to the times" and "make pro-wrestling for young people". Since its founding in October 1972 (Showa 47), All Japan has been a long-established promotion that has valued "professional wrestling in the living room*" above all else. Regarding Misawa's own comment, "the gap between the tradition of All Japan and my own ideals", is probably what he is referring to. Giant Baba came to use the slogan "Bright, Fun, Intense Professional Wrestling" as the new motto of All Japan. In fact, it was in the 1990s when the leading roles in the ring shifted from Jumbo Tsuruta to Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi and Taue in the "Four Heavenly Kings Era". The official name of the new promotion must be on the mind of President Tatsumi Fujinami*. For many years, Baba has been fighting fiercely since his days with Inoki, and I can't say that he would be happy that All Japan has turned out this way. But, on the contrary, it will have the opposite effect, as things that repel each other will grow. The shock is made bigger, and I am sure the fans are shocked too. I don't know the details, but I hopefully it will settle down in a good form. All Japan Pro Wrestling should not be left behind, and it is not easy to create such a history and tradition, but its easy to lose. Our company has been around for nearly thirty years, and Rikidozan (Japan Pro) was around for about ten? I wonder if it is hard to survive in a world like this. However, since the traditions of New Japan and All Japan should be cherished, even if it is something new, the soul remains...

Keiji Mutoh* said by a telephone interview done on the 12th at New Japan, that he didn't know much about the uproar at All Japan, only what he read in the newspapers, which said the same things, and "Now PRIDE and all kinds of things are appearing, and to say the least, there is something about tradition that's in jeopardy. However, wrestlers must be able to make a living wherever they go. An exchange match with Misawa's new promotion? While working for a magazine the other day, I had a long talk with him, and I think he's compatiable. Contrary to what you might think, he's quite calm. It's hard to describe the pressure of the post, but well, I hope he does his best.     

Translated from Weekly Pro

Picture credits: Weekly Pro

Notes

Caught by a fox: This would best translate as being left shocked, dumbfounded etc. In Japanese folklore, the fox is a trickster spirit which is able to shapeshift and cause mischief. I have chosen to keep the original meaning in for more impact and to reflect the era of which Motoko Baba came from and this letter was written in.   

Motoko's resentment: She would wonder (somewhat unbelievably) how "Misawa, whose father (Baba) loved him" could do this, but her resentment would linger as she left his matches off of any subsequent video releases, even if fans wanted to see them. However, the night that Misawa died (ironically June 13th), she knew the call was about him before she even answered the phone. 

"I couldn't discard All Japan's name": Ironically Kawada would spend the last few matches of his career in Noah, albeit his final one (to date) was in New Japan. This meant that in one way or another (tragically in Misawa's case) all The Four Pillars did indeed end their careers in Noah. 

One trainee: Probably Takashi Sugiura.

Maunakea Mossman: Taiyo Kea 

Yoshihiro Momota: Mitsuo Momota's older brother. He died suddenly of liver failure in November 2000. Motoko Baba claimed he was responsible for the motion of dismissing Misawa as President, but he too was part of the walkout.    

Kenichi Ohyagi: Accountant, and with links to Nippon Television. Information on him is scarce, but he may have had something to do with representing stakeholder interests.  

On site staff: The people who construct the ring, the set, ticket sales etc. Neither Noah or All Japan have a tradition of their trainees putting up the ring, this is done by a crew overseen by referees. 

Kyohei Wada: Baba could see that once he was gone there would be nothing stopping Misawa and Motoko falling out in a big way, and he made Wada promise that he would stay with Motoko. He knew the flaws in her character, but he didn't think that she was so bad that everyone would desert her, and he wanted to make sure that one person at least would not. According to Wada when Misawa was going around canvassing support for the split, he had told him he knew what was going on but to not approach him, or discuss it anywhere near him. True to his word, Wada remained with All Japan, and is still there after the deaths of both Misawa and Motoko. Desperate for a child, Motoko even tried to adopt him on her deathbed. 

"Professional wrestling in the living room": Evening viewing for families

Tatsumi Fujinami: President of New Japan from 1999 until 2004. Funnily enough for this story, his son, LEONA, has appeared in Noah. 

Keiji Mutoh:  23 years later he too would play out the last few years of his career at Noah, and have technically his last match against Masahiro Chono

Differ Ariake (picture): The caption read "Differ Ariake, which is scheduled to be the home base of Misawa's new promotion. All Japan will open their next tour here."