(NOAH/ALL JAPAN) OPENING FEATURE: The essence of All Japan-ness and the goodwill of All Japan
11th July 2000
Is the long-established All Japan Pro Wrestling's "split controversy" a prologue for the re-organization of the mat world? All Japan, whose survival is in doubt after the sudden departure of forty wrestlers and staff members from the Misawa faction, has announced details of the next series*. However, fans are already interested in the exchange with New Japan, and are concentrating on Kawada's proposed appearance.
What is the All Japan goodwill, that major New Japan is interested in?......
NTV new program [Colosseum] Pro wrestling information variety
Is the "split controversy" in All Japan Pro Wrestling, a prologue to the reorganization of the world of Japanese wrestling?
It was discovered that eighteen employees and staff had submitted resignation letters on June 20th, following the withdrawal of twenty-five wrestlers led by Mitsuharu Misawa, and including both wrestlers and employees, they now have over forty people. Nippon Television, which has been broadcasting All Japan Pro Wrestling, will discontinue after its late-night broadcast on June 21st, and a new program, Coliseum, will start from 1:45 a.m. to 2:15 a.m. on June 28. In the final All Japan episode which was broadcast on the 21st, NTV aired Misawa's new promotion's press conference, and the press conference of Kawada and Fuchi, both from a wide perspective. It showed a very television-like idea of connecting viewers' interest to a new program [Coliseum] starting the following week.
Now that they have left All Japan, their remaining camp, has a total of eleven people, including Motoko Baba (the owner), Toshiaki Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi, as well as front office and sales staff. As a result, they have already been forced to significantly downsize their operations.
As reported in last week's issue, the new program "Coliseum" is not a regular professional wrestling broadcast, but is basically a professional wrestling martial arts program. It will be called an "informational variety show". A press release (dated June 25th) distributed to various media outlets by the Program Promotion Department of the Nippon Television Public Relations Bureau states that matches will be broadcast for approximately 15 minutes of the 25-minute broadcast time. They will be able to broadcast the best matches had that week from over thirty promotions, regardless of any given group". Although the All Japan Pro Wrestling broadcast itself has ended, Nippon TV will continue to broadcast coverage of All Japan matches, and at the same time it will also broadcast footage from other promotions, (including New Japan), news will be introduced in an information corner. The "BORN" corner of the program will feature information on the movements of Misawa's new group each week. The program hosts are professional baseball commentator Masayuki Kakefu, who is known as a "secret professional wrestling fan", and Asei Machi (announcer for Nippon Television). NTV appears to have considered the continuation of its professional wrestling programming to be its most important issue, rather than the survival of All Japan.
Questions regarding the "selection" of free athletes for the upcoming All Japan Series card announcement
The day after the discontinuation of the the broadcast (the 22nd) of the long running program, "All Japan Pro Wrestling", which had been running for a total of twenty-eight years since the promotions inauguration in October 1972, All Japan's Acting President, Kawada, announced on the official website*, the details of the next "Summer Action Series 2000", and similar to the press conference held on the afternoon of the 19th (details in last week's issue), in an online message written "To all the fans", Kawada requested that the Misawa group participate in the next four series events. Misawa held a press conference at Differ Ariake, Tokyo, on the 21st, and officially accepted participation at four events: July 13th in Matsuyama, July 15th in Nanao, July 17th in Takayama and July 20th in Hakata. It has been decided that Misawa's group will be in the ring at their "old team" All Japan, only on the above dates. However, there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding between the All Japan side and the Misawa side regarding the card composition of these four events, with All Japan insisting on full delegation of matchmaking authority. For the Misawa side, "It is unlikely that they will interact with All Japan, as depending on the content, it may be undesirable". The next four shows (as listed above) have been planned by an agency, and the participation of Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama and others is a condition of business for the local promoters. The terminal condition that All Japan are currently facing is clearly visible in the situation where they have to negotiate once again with the Misawa group, who have already left the promotion, to participate in matches. In addition, in a statement on the official website, Acting President Toshiaki Kawada also announced that big wrestlers 
from other promotions will be participating as special participants in the next series. Yoshiaki Fujiwara* (Fujiwara Gun), Jinsei Shinzaki* (Michinoku Pro), Alexander Otsuka*, Mohammed Yone*, Takashi Hijikata*(Fighting Detective Team Battlers*), Shigeo Okumura (freelancer), Yuto Ajima* (West Japan Pro Wrestling), additionally it has been revealed that eight wrestlers from SHINOBI (VAMOS)* will be participating. All three wrestlers, Fujiwara, Shinzaki, and Alexander Otsuka, can be said to be the perfect lineup to help All Japan in terms of ability, name recognition, and product value. However, among the other members, there are some athletes from small indie groups who do not seem to have reached the "standard" level to enter the All Japan ring. It goes without saying that the long-established All Japan ring is a particularly difficult space for independent wrestlers and freelancers. The current strategy of hiring independent wrestlers and freelances, gives a strong impression that it is more a case of making up the numbers, rather than an open door approach. Tatsumi Fujinami*, President of New Japan, left the following comment, "It's a bad habit of professional wrestling promotions to make things look better by just having more matches, but I'm sure All Japan fans aren't looking for those kind of fights." Fans interest has already begun to shift from the All Japan split phenomenon itself, to the exchange matches between All Japan and New Japan, and the possibility of Kawada appearing in New Japan. There are many aspects of All Japan's future guidelines that have not been clarified at this stage. Irrespective of this, fans' interest has been focused more on historical trends, such as whether the goodwill of All Japan Pro Wrestling will undergo such changes in the future. It is no surprise that New Japan is interested, as "All Japan" is a huge brand name. As of June 13th, when former President Misawa and the wrestlers association decided to leave the company, and Kawada's decision to stay became a fait accompli, New Japan has already hinted at the possibility of an exchange match with All Japan, and President Fujinami has mentioned a "unification plan" between the IWGP Heavyweight and the Triple Crown Heavyweight, although this was an unofficial statement. The roots of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the treasure of All Japan, lie in the three championship belts of the International Heavyweight, PWF Heavyweight and the UN Heavyweight. The UN Championship has its roots in the belt that Antonio Inoki brought back from Los Angeles to the old Japan Pro Wrestling* ring in March 1971, when he defeated John Tolos. To President Fujinami, the UN Championship belt, that Inoki once wore and the history of New Japan are not completely unrelated. Fujinami, who is one of the few wrestlers in Japanese wrestling today, who originally worked for the former Japan Pro Wrestling (which went bankrupt in April 1973), also shows a strong interest in the Asia tag*, an antique item under the management of All Japan.
All Japan will be announcing their series from August onwards, which "Will be held as usual" (Kawada), but even if the promotion continues its activities, it does not necessarily mean that the "All Japan-ness" will remain intact. Moreover, the brand name "All Japan" is not something that Kawada alone, should be responsible for. It would be wise to conclude that with the departure of the Misawa Group, the real "All-Japaness" and "Royal Road*" have completely disintegrated.
So, what does "All-Japanness" and "All-Japanism" mean? The printed slogans advocated by Giant Baba are "Trust" and "Bright, Fun, Fierce Pro-Wrestling." "Royal Road" and "Shinise" were not the colors of the promotion that Baba-san himself appealed to, but were actually phrases used by the media to describe All Japan. What All Japan fans are looking for, what kind of professional wrestling moves them, and what they have shared with other professional wrestlers, is what they call "All Japan-ism", which has no manual. In that sense, the upcoming All Japan series will be a major crossroads in which the "judgment" will be made from the audiences side. Of course, it goes without saying that the launch of the new promotion by the Misawa group in early August, will also be a moment when All Japan fans will judge the essence of the Misawa group's "All Japan-ness*.
Notes
Series: Word used in All Japan for the next tour. Misawa disliked the word "Series" (he had tried to change this to no avail) and the word "Tour" (he thought he sounded too old fashioned), so substituted the word "Navi" (Navigation).
Internet: The original text put "Internet" in brackets as in 2000, the Internet was a very new thing.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara: Over twenty years later he would join Noah's Sugiura-gun stable
Jinsei Shinzaki: Kenoh's teacher
Alexander Otsuka: Who Kenoh made his debut against
Mohammed Yone: Noah's beloved Disco King. Although not part of the walkout, Yone came to Noah in 2001 and has been there ever since.
Fighting Detective Team Battlers: Group formed out of protest due to the sponsors proposal for a major restructuring of the promotions wrestlers, only Yoshiaki Fujiwara remained. It should be noted that the group was rebelling against the sponsor, not Fujiwara himself. The group lasted from 1995 until 2011, although by then a lot of people had left and gone elsewhere.
Takashi Hijikata: Now Ryuji Hijikata. He, SHINOBI and Shigeo Okumura are the only three who never came to Noah, but Hijikata was challenged by Naomichi Marufuji for the PWF World Junior Heavyweight in 2008, which he lost after holding it for five months.
Yuto Ajima: Appeared time to time in Noah from 2006 to 2015
SHINOBI: Masked Japanese indie wrestler called Akira Yamamoto, who had been trained by Especto Jnr. Despite the name of his promotion it was based in Japan (Tottori by all accounts), and was Lucha libre based. He himself it seems only made a few appearances in Mexico. He doesn't seem to have wrestled past 2001, and never appeared in Noah.
Tatsumi Fujinami: His son LEONA, would wrestle in Noah, Fujinami made an appearance too.
Japan Pro Wrestling: Japan's very first promotion, run by Rikidozan that ended folding due to Yakuza involvement, embezzlement etc and led to Baba forming All Japan and Inoki forming New Japan. This would in turn lead to pretty much every other promotion in Japan springing from Japan Pro in some way.
Asia tag: All Asia Tag
Royal Road: Ironically a phrase which Misawa disliked. See interview "As You Like It"
Shinise: A word which doesn't translate well as it relates to a long established store (i.e. Target, Walmart, Sainsburys, LAWSON etc), but it can also mean something which preserves the work of ones ancestors. I have put "Shinise" instead of an English translation as the word conveys the meaning better.
Noah's "All Japan-ness": This was preserved as Genichiro Tenryu commented that when he appeared in Noah he was struck as to how much like Baba's All Japan it was, especially in the way the wrestlers moved and the all important sound they made when taking/doing moves. He credited this to Jun Akiyama and Yoshinari Ogawa.
Kendo Kashin: Later would come to Noah, albeit as a freelancer both times.
Yuji Nagata: GHC Heavyweight Champion in 2014, five years after Mitsuharu Misawa's death, also held the GHC Heavyweight Tag with Hiroshi Tanahashi in 2003.
"No origin, no child": Play on words for Motoko, real meaning means to lose everything due to the insistence on having ones own way and being greedy. The saying also refers to things that didn't need to be lost, are lost, usually unexpectedly.
Kawada in New Japan: Ironically he would wrestle his last two matches in Noah and New Japan.
Picture credits: Weekly Pro
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