The duo next faced Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh at NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome.

Kawada is the last true representative of what All Japan stood for. [43] On April 7, 2013, Kojima unsuccessfully challenged visiting Rob Conway for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at New Japan's Invasion Attack event. Link to post Share on other sites. [78] They lost the title to Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi, Evil and Sanada) in a four-team gauntlet match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2017.

When Kawada's run as Triple Crown ended he opted to become a freelancer but still primarily worked for AJPW. in a four-way match, which also included Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano, and Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man, starting Kojima's sixth reign as champion. For 529 days, Toshiaki Kawada has proven that he is finally the Ace of All Japan Pro Wrestling and the last remaining standing Pillar acting as the cornerstone for the company he stayed loyal to. [17][18] On January 30 Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to earn a rematch with Tanahashi. Shibata’s been kicking old people since the very start. On February 16, 2005, he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, AJPW's unified heavyweight championship from Toshiaki Kawada. [1] As a singles wrestler, he was the first wrestler to hold NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Championship simultaneously, and one of three wrestlers to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Triple Crown Championship and NWA World Heavyweight Championship (the other two being Keiji Mutoh and Shinya Hashimoto) and is an overall six-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions. After successful defenses against Jeremiah Plunkett, Damien Wayne and Houston Carson, Kojima lost the title back to Rob Conway on June 2 in Las Vegas. 1963) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er, famous for his work in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling and other many enterprises. It's both a sound and a symbol rich in meaning and depth and when pronounced correctly it is actually AUM, WITH THANKS TO: Abeshin, President GEORGE W. BUSHI, Venus Tokyo Entertainment Division, Noah_GHC, Koichiro Takeda, (Article) Traces To Nowhere: The tragic story behind the Takeshi Morishima arrest, The Green Guide to the Pro Wrestling Noah Roster (March 2019). [83] He was eliminated from the torneo cibernetico on September 1 by Último Guerrero. [20][21] Kojima received his rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on February 20 at The New Beginning, but was again defeated by Tanahashi.

Pro-Wrestling Noah news and articles in English (@Hi5ame) Team Bischoff (WWE, 11/16/03), Fight Club: PRO "Project Mayhem V" 9/23/16, Back from the Dead: The Rebirth of Pro Wrestling NOAH, HERE WE GO #4: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (7 December 2002), New Jack vs. Mr. Mustafa (ECW, 21 March 1999), Kaz Hayashi vs. AKIRA (AJPW, 31 October 2004). champion determined in Tokyo Dome Show main event", "小島軍（仮）座談会で小島の本性が暴かれる!? Shibata found that every time he hit, now he was getting hit back harder. On June 28, 2017, Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) announced that Kojima would be making his debut for the promotion in the 2017 International Gran Prix. Shibata’s enthusiasm worked against him.
January 2018 Now I write about it, because I like that too. He held both of the company's tag team titles, the World Tag Team Championship twice. April 2018 [36] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Kojima and Tenzan lost the title to Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in their third defense. [31] In the 2011 G1 Tag League, Kojima teamed with Togi Makabe as the "Beast Combination". Check. Check. The title match between the two took place on September 29 at Destruction and saw Okada retain his title. He seemed to encourage Kawada by, for the lack of a better term, being too much of a cock; by using Kawada’s signature kicks and stretch plum against him he reminded Kawada just who the fuck he was. Afterwards, the former tag team partners came together to fend off an attack from CHAOS. [65] After four successful title defenses, they lost the title to K.E.S. A 4th member in Zodiac joined later in 2009. When Noah was founded, it was Taue that invited Kawada (not Misawa), Kawada said no, and Taue knew not to pressure him. Toshiaki Kawada. Due to the Kawada trip not working out I haven't eaten today. December 2014. ", "バディファイトPresents Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 東京ドーム", "Caldwell's NJPW Tokyo Dome results 1/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of New Japan's biggest show of the year - four title changes, former WWE/TNA stars featured, more", "Caldwell's NJPW iPPV results 5/25: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live show featuring Styles vs. Okada for IWGP World Title, MOTY Contender, NWA Tag Titles, more", "NWA news: New NWA World champion determined in Vegas", "『World Tag League 2014』出場チーム＆公式戦が決定！ 棚橋はヨシタツとタッグ結成！ 桜庭、AJ、柴田、ROH、NWAも参戦! Merry Christmas.

Kenoh does not lack topics.

[57] On April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014, Tencozy defeated The IronGodz to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. ( Log Out /  TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[27] Kojima managed to win five more matches in the tournament, but a loss to former partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan on the final day eliminated him from the running for a spot in the finals. This was conveyed very well in these shorter matches where they might only have lasted 5-10 minutes but he’d put these considerably more experienced wrestlers through an absolute war before getting knocked out in an extremely severe fashion. August 2016 There were only four wrestlers of the original group that did not go, two natives and two gaijins. ( Log Out /  [39] From November 20 to December 1, Tencozy took part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League. Check. AJPW needed someone with a name value to potentially still draw in fans and no one had a bigger name than Mutoh for sure but it came with a caveat. [81], On August 27, 2017, Kojima made a one-night return to AJPW, wrestling his first match for the company in five years. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The dads. Akira Taue appeared wearing sandals instead of running shoes when All Japan sent some of their wrestlers to a seaside training camp for three days. [72] On March 19, 2016, Kojma unsuccessfully challenged Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Akira Taue is probably the only person not scared by seeing Toshiaki Kawada stretching out. Share this post. Shibata wrestles with similar “don’t give a fuck” attitude these days but he seems far mellower in general. 2,600 people in attendance) Osaka, Japan. August 2018 Kojima entered the NJPW Dojo in February 1991. Unusual appearance but angry personality? February 2015

He was getting stomped on the head, kicked in the throat and suplexed on his neck too. Shibata found that every time he hit, now he was getting hit back harder. January 2015 (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. and Lance Archer). Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. What the hell happened to this place? Fujinami is well into his 60s and looks great - genetics are unfair. In October 2006 it was announced that Tencozy would reform for the upcoming World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament.

TravJ1979, October 3, 2016 in Pro Wrestling. Have to try again tomorrow . In July 2007, Kojima shocked the All-Japan Army when he betrayed them and joined the Voodoo Murders, where he was quickly made the group's co-leader along with TARU. Before Giant Baba died he had one final wish to his students and that is no matter what happens, all he wants is for legacy to be kept alive and that is the promotion itself. [64] Upon his return to Japan, Kojima and Tenzan successfully defended the NWA World Tag Team Championship against K.E.S. They didn't talk too much about Noah, I don't think Taue really wanted to; however, he appeared in good spirits. Is it usual the administrator and owner of the website ghosting ? It's been a long holiday for me and I really needed this. He is already a former 4x Triple Crown Champion with his first win dating all the way back on October 22, 1994 defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Change ). He lost the title on March 21, 2010 to Ryota Hama.[10]. The promotion capitalized on this to build new stars, and Kawada and his three greatest rivals, Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa. For those who may not understand the magnitude of this move, think of it like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin leaving the WWF and going to WCW in its dying days, an unexpected move but definitely a big deal nonetheless as for a long time New Japan and All Japan have been rival promotions and rarely worked with each other. [29], On September 19, it was announced that Kojima had signed a contract with New Japan to become an official member of the promotion's roster. Shibata found that every time he hit, now he was getting hit back harder. Like many Japanese wrestlers, Kojima has a background in judo, but he chose not to continue the sport when he went to college. Now in his fifth reign, this is potentially Kawada's last chance to prove to the world that he is the ace and will defend the honor not only of the prestigious Triple Crown created by Jumbo Tsuruta, but the entire honor of those that became before him that paved the way for All Japan Pro Wrestling. April 2017 March 2019 He got his start loading trucks for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and after some months of persuasion finally convinced head trainer Animal Hamaguchi to accept him into the dojo. The team finished with a record of four wins and two losses, winning their block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.
Majority of the original AJPW wrestlers left for NOAH and they brought along with them the same philosophies and styles of wrestling there as well, mixing in King's Road with some modern elements at the time. Check. June 2015 [51], During the tournament, Kojima pinned Rob Conway, which led to him challenging him to a rematch for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Thank you. The one complaint would be the lack of a Shibata vs. Manabu Nakanishi match, but they may be saving that for the next Wrestle Kingdom. There are multiple factors as to why this specific title run is often forgotten by many and gets astray in the grand history of professional wrestling and we will get into that as we progress in this article. Upon joining AJPW, Kojima began to use the Great Koji (copying The Great Muta) and Great Kosuke (copying The Great Sasuke) personas for special matches. April 2020 But before he took the fight to the Generalissimo there was a young man who he had to put back in line. He's closed. They traded strikes and Kawada was dazed, unable to respond to a slap and falling to a knee. [85], Kojima, along with fellow NJPW wrestlers Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito and Toru Yano, appears as a member of the gang Justis in the 2016 video game Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. [79] On March 6, Tencozy defeated Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the sixth time. レッスルキングダムVI in 東京ドーム", "NJPW 40ｔｈ anniversary King of Pro-Wrestling", "NJPW 40ｔｈ anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012", "ブ『G1 Climax 23』出場メンバー発表!! [59] The following day, Tencozy also successfully defended the NWA World Tag Team Championship against The IronGodz. Taue, known for his aversion to training, said that "seaside is for sandals". I actually kind of want to sign up for cougarlife.com after listening to this. One of the highlights of New Japan 2016, for me at least, has been Katsuyori Shibata’s ongoing beef with the old guard of the promotion.

By 2005 he’d had enough of breaking bones, instead settling for breaking hearts over the next few years with his beautiful singing voice in HUSTLE. Keeping the wish of his late mentor, alive.