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39-603: The All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Corporation , established in 1968, was the successor to the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Association , which had been formed in August 1955, to oversee the plethora of women's wrestling promotions that had sprung up in Japan following a tour in November, 1954, by Mildred Burke and her World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA). These promotions included

78-661: A stroke on February 18, 1989, in Northridge, California, and was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 2009, Jeff Leen published a biography of Burke, titled "Queen of the Ring". In June 2023 filming began on Queen of the Ring , a biopic of Burke, based on Leen's book. Canadian actress Emily Bett Rickards will play Burke in the film. Devil Masami Masami Yoshida (吉田 雅美，born January 7, 1962)

117-631: A WWWA tournament earlier that year in Los Angeles . On October 15, 1970, in Tokyo , Vagnone lost the WWWA title to Aiko Kyo , and AJW had a new world championship singles belt. The next year, AJW acquired the WWWA World Tag Team Championship as well, when Jumbo Miyamoto and Aiko Kyo were made the first champions on June 30, 1971. During the early 1970s, AJW's championship booking was dominated by

156-544: A body slam on the man instead, which resulted in Wolfe agreeing to train her. Wolfe tutored her and realized that she was the prospect for which he was waiting. The close proximity of their training resulted in a relationship and ultimately marriage. Changing her name to Mildred Burke, she defeated Clara Mortenson for the Women's World Championship in January 1937. During this time, Burke

195-442: A head in 1952 when Wolfe and Burke separated. Burke found herself frozen out of professional wrestling among all National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) channels. Desperate, Burke decided to consult Jack Pfefer for help. The NWA attempted to reconcile the couple, but the only agreed upon solution was that one would sell out to the other. Burke volunteered to sell to Wolfe for Burke's Attractions, Inc., which went into bankruptcy and into

234-501: A letter to NWA members on November 4, 1953, Burke refuted Wolfe's claim that she would wrestle only one woman grappler. She claimed that there were twelve grapplers with whom she would work. Wolfe, however, used his influence to get her frozen from NWA members, and her promising run in the Southeast with Cowboy Luttrall and Paul Jones in 1954 fizzled. Emotionally exhausted, Burke wrestled Wolfe's daughter-in-law June Byers and there

273-524: A nightmare year for All Japan Women as the owners of All Japan Women's went bankrupt after losing money in real estate, the stock market and other business ventures. Due to this, they lost 14 wrestlers from July to September 1997. Kyoko Inoue , Etsuko Mita , Mima Shimoda , Chaparita Asari, Yoshiko Tamura and others left to form NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling . Toshiyo Yamada left for Gaea Japan . Aja Kong , Mariko Yoshida , Reggie Bennett , Yumi Fukawa and Rie Tamada left to form Arsion . In October 1997,

312-618: A protective measure. She started International Women's Wrestlers Inc. with Bill Newman and the promotion had offices in New York City, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia . These offices served in the dual capacity of booking offices and training centers. Her efforts to spread women's wrestling internationally reached Japan and brought about the World Wide Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA). Mildred Burke introduced women's wrestling to several countries, including almost every state of

351-625: A sideshow act in strip-tease theaters. In 1967, another attempt to organize the sport of women's professional wrestling was made with a new All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Association. This time the Fabulous Moolah , the NWA Women's Champion , came across from the United States and traded her title with Yukiko Tomoe , to lend legitimacy to the promotion. The new Association broke up later that year. Finally, in 1968, Takashi Matsunaga, who had been

390-486: Is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her appearances in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling , GAEA Japan and JWP Joshi Puroresu under the name Devil Masami . She is a member of the All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1998. Masami debuted on August 21, 1978. She began teaming with Tarantula in 1981, winning the WWWA World Tag Team Championship on August 10, 1982 and vacating

429-542: Is overall a three-time women's world champion under different incarnations and recognitions. Burke's heyday lasted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, when she held the NWA World Women's Champion for almost twenty years. Burke started out in 1935, wrestling men at carnivals. She was managed by her second husband, promoter Billy Wolfe . She is a charter member of WWE Hall of Fame's Legacy Wing , Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame , Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame , and

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468-669: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame . Born Mildred Bliss on August 5, 1915, in Coffeyville, Kansas , at age 15 she dropped out of school and began to work as a waitress on the Zuni Indian Reservation in Gallup, New Mexico . She lived there for three years, before leaving for Kansas City after agreeing to marry her boyfriend. He took her to a professional wrestling event, which sparked her interest in

507-459: The All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Federation , and the All Japan Women's Wrestling Club , started in 1948, which was the first women's wrestling promotion in Japan. For a time the Club pushed female wrestling as a legitimate sport, booking sporting arenas. By the mid-1960s, the association had fallen apart, due to infighting between the member promotions, and female wrestling was relegated back to being

546-546: The WWE Hall of Fame as a "Legacy" member . On August 17, 2018, NWA 's owner Billy Corgan acquired Burke's original title belt and presented it on August 28, at NWA EmPowerrr . The NWA World Women's Championship is also referred to as "The Burke". In her later years, Burke ran a women's wrestling school in Encino, California . Among her students were WWE Hall of Famer The Fabulous Moolah and Rhonda Sing . Burke died from

585-567: The Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan . This was at AJW's 30th anniversary event. All but two members of the Hall of Fame (indicated with a † ) were inducted at the initial ceremony. Mildred Burke Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Mildred Burke (August 5, 1915 – February 18, 1989) was an American professional wrestler . She

624-587: The promoter for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Federation, formed the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Corporation (AJW) with his brothers Kenji, Kunimatsu and Toshikuni. The promotion held its first card on June 4, 1968, and got a television deal with Fuji TV in the same year. In the fall of 1970, AJW, which had been contesting the American Girls' Wrestling Association Championship since the previous year, hosted Marie Vagnone , new holder of Mildred Burke's WWWA World Single Championship which had been revived in

663-515: The 1980s, AJW continued to feature extraordinarily talented and popular female wrestlers, including Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Famers , Bull Nakano , Jaguar Yokota , Devil Masami , Dump Matsumoto , and the Crush Gals ( Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka ). The feud between the pop culture sensations, the Crush Gals, and the heel stable, Gokuaku Domei, led by Matsumoto, was possibly

702-531: The Best was held each fall, also from 1985 to 2004, and was a tag team tournament. AJW also held several regular annual events during the 1990s. The first was Wrestlemarinpiad , which was held in the fall or spring from 1989 to 1997, and for the last time in 2000. Also prominent was Wrestling Queendom , held from 1993 to 1997, the first held in November and the rest in the end of March. The AJW Hall of Fame had its first inducted class enshrined on November 29, 1998, at

741-819: The United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and parts of the Orient: Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, and the Philippines. All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) bought the legal rights of the WWWA World Championship from her and later created the WWWA World Tag Team Championship , in 1971 and the All Pacific Championship , in 1977. In 2002, she was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame . , and in 2016, Burke inducted into

780-507: The World Women's Champion even after the NWA had recognized rival June Byers as champion since then, and continued to defend it. She vacated the title in 1956, when she retired from professional wrestling. In 1970, the title was revived by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as their top prize. After the tensions with Wolfe and the NWA, Burke traveled with an escort for the rest of her career as

819-503: The age of 25. Masami would continue wrestling as a freelancer shortly after her retirement, wrestling for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and JWP . She then began working for GAEA Japan . On November 2, 1996 in Singapore, Chigusa Nagayo defeated Masami in a match to crown the first AAAW Single Champion . Masami, however, defeated Nagayo for the title on November 20, 1997, holding it until August 23, 1998, when Nagayo defeated her to regain

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858-724: The cards were sporadic. In 2012 the "New" AJW stopped promoting cards. The most notable annual events in AJW were the Japan Grand Prix and Tag League the Best . The Japan Grand Prix was held each summer, from 1985 to 2004, and was a tournament to determine the number one contender for the WWWA World Single Championship , similar to the G1 Climax or Champion Carnival seen in the men's promotions New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling , respectively. Tag League

897-570: The collapse of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling . This created an unprecedented era of co-operation between the various companies which resulted in many inter-promotional shows including Big Egg Wrestling Universe , the first ever all women's show at the Tokyo Dome . Competition increased again as Gaea Japan formed in 1995 and JDStar formed in 1996 with both promotions having former All Japan Women's stars including Chigusa Nagayo , Akira Hokuto , Lioness Asuka and Jaguar Yokota . 1997 would prove to be

936-486: The courts. It was emphasized that her contract prohibited Wolfe from competing in wrestling and was in breach of the binding agreement. She consulted with Leroy McGuirk and hoped that she would be vindicated by the NWA at their September 1953 meeting in Chicago. Burke faced many obstacles, as women were banned from yearly NWA conferences, and this diminished the importance of women in professional wrestling. An example of

975-529: The discrimination was evident during the dispute with Wolfe. Burke sat in the lobby of the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago as male dignitaries argued behind closed doors about her future. Wolfe's voice was the only one heard by the membership. In the end, the NWA declined to recognize women's wrestling after the meeting, Wolfe regained his stake, but many women were loyal to Burke and refused to wrestle for Wolfe. In

1014-485: The hands of receiver James Hoff of Columbus. Eight months later, Hoff named Wolfe as administrator and was approved by Franklin County Judge William Bryant. A memorandum dated August 20, 1953, was circulated by Wolfe, in which he boldly announced that he was the booker for Burke and her stable of 27 wrestlers. The claim was disputed by Burke on August 26, 1953, stating that the issue would be settled in

1053-457: The longest-running promotion in Japan up to that time (Men's promotions New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling have since reached 50 years as of 2022). Promotion company Tajima Kikaku re-established "New" AJW in 2006, however they only acquired the rights to the promotion's name and logo from the Matsunaga family, not the titles. The talent was mostly borrowed from JWP Project and

1092-489: The most popular angle in all of Japanese wrestling during the 1980s, bringing very high ratings to AJW's weekly television program which caused the show be aired during prime-time. This also resulted in record numbers of girls wanting to become wrestlers with the 1984 auditions having 2,000 candidates. Up until 1986, AJW had been the only major women's wrestling ( joshi puroresu or simply joshi ) promotion in Japan. Then, on August 17, 1986, Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP)

1131-790: The pattern in the singles division. After that, only three non-Japanese women ever won the belt, the Canadian Monster Ripper , on July 31, 1979, and March 15, 1980, the Mexican La Galactica , on May 7, 1983, and the American Amazing Kong , on June 4, 2004. On July 6, 1980, the promotion had enough popularity to run more shows throughout the country, which resulted in AJW splitting into two teams. Team A featured wrestlers such as Jackie Sato , Jaguar Yokota and Mimi Hagiwara while Team B featured Nancy Kumi , Lucy Kayama and Chino Sato . This lasted until June 1981. During

1170-548: The promotion's building which held the AJW office, the wrestler dormitories, the training area, the garage (where small events were sometimes held) and a restaurant where the younger wrestlers worked was handed over to creditors. In October, they also lost their television show on Fuji TV which they later regained in July 1998. In 2002, AJW lost its television spot again and the promotion closed its doors in April 2005 after 37 years, making it

1209-501: The second. The second fall never had a finish. Officials called the match, and Burke left the ring believing that her title was safe because she had not lost two falls. The result was that many in the press stated that Byers had defeated her and the importance of Burke's championship began to diminish. In the early 1950s, Burke started the World Women's Wrestling Association in Los Angeles, California . She returned to her promotion after her match with Byers, still recognizing herself as

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-547: The sport. Burke was pregnant at the time. She worked as a stenographer prior to her wrestling career. Prior to wrestling, she was an office stenographer by day, had outstanding muscle development, and was hoping to become a professional wrestler. Locally, Billy Wolfe was training aspiring women professional wrestlers . At first, Wolfe did not want to train Burke and instructed a male wrestler to body slam her, so she would stop asking Wolfe to train her. Burke, however, performed

1287-438: The title shortly thereafter in early 1983. On April 1, 1984, she defeated Judy Martin to win the vacated All Pacific Championship . Masami vacated on December 12, 1985 after winning the vacated WWWA World Single Championship in a match against Dump Matsumoto . She held that title until August 23, 1986, losing it to Yukari Omori. On December 26, 1987, Masami faced Chigusa Nagayo in her mandatory retirement match upon reaching

1326-561: The title until they were defeated by Chikayo Nagashima and Meiko Satomura on September 23 of that year. Masami wrestled in the main event of AJW's final card on April 17, 2005, teaming up with Amazing Kong to defeat Kyoko Inoue and Misae Genki . Masami announced in 2007 that she would retire from wrestling in 2008 after thirty years in the business. Her retirement match was on December 30, 2008 where she teamed up with Dynamite Kansai and Carlos Amano to lose to Aja Kong, Toshie Uematsu , and Ran Yu-Yu , when Uematsu pinned Masami with

1365-525: The title. On September 20, 1997 in Kawasaki, Japan , she defeated Zero (Chigusa Nagayo) for World Championship Wrestling 's vacant WCW Women's Championship . The title, however, was abandoned after GAEA and WCW ceased their working relationship. On February 11, 2003 she teamed with Aja Kong to defeat the team of Meiko Satomura and Ayako Hamada for the AAAW Tag Team Championship . They held

1404-563: The traditional trading between a Japanese face and a foreign (usually North American) heel . The tag belt, for example, was traded fifty-six times between 1971 and 1975, each time between a Japanese team and an American team. This pattern began to change in 1975 with the new stardom of Mach Fumiake and the Beauty Pair ( Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda ). On March 19, 1975, Mach Fumiake won the WWWA Championship from Jumbo Miyamoto, breaking

1443-485: Was genuine heat between the two. The match took place on August 20, 1954, in Atlanta . It was a grudge match that quickly became a shoot fight, due to genuine enmity between the two women. Wolfe had the support of the local commission, and he positioned a referee that was friendly to his goals into the match. Burke later admitted that she had given up the legitimate first fall with the intention of competing stronger in

1482-456: Was mentored by Cora Livingston . In the 1930s, Burke wrestled over 200 men, but only lost to one of them. Despite the riches that her husband earned as a promoter of women grapplers, there was a dark side to their marriage. On the road, Wolfe acted as a father figure to the women he trained and managed, but he also earned a reputation as a womanizer because he repeatedly cheated on Burke. The problems caused by Wolfe's infidelity came to

1521-510: Was started, by former AJW stars Jackie Sato and Nancy Kumi, as well as boxer Rumi Kazama and others. As All Japan Women's popularity cooled off after the Crush Gals retired, the promotion's television show was moved to midnight. While AJW remained the top promotion through the early 1990s, due to talent including Akira Hokuto , Aja Kong , Manami Toyota and Kyoko Inoue , the number of joshi puroresu promotions kept increasing, with Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling and JWP forming in 1992 after

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