Mid 20th Century
131-701: Kenta Kobashi ( 小橋 健太 , Kobashi Kenta , ring name: 小橋 建太) (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Champion Carnival in 2000. Kobashi left All Japan in June 2000, taking part in
262-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
393-526: A heart attack caused by a blood clot . He was 40 years old. Following his death, the Terry Gordy Memorial Show was held in his honor on August 11 in Birmingham, Alabama . Various wrestlers including Fabulous Freebirds cohort Michael Hayes and former tag team partner Stan Hansen praised Gordy for being one of the best workers they ever worked with. In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into
524-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
655-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
786-753: A Country whipping match. Three days later, SMW folded. In 1996, Gordy appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling to challenge Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight title, as the "internationally recognized #1 contender". He had been working for the International Wrestling Association of Japan promotion, wrestling deathmatches . He lost, but went on to team up with Tommy Dreamer and later to reunite with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle The Eliminators . He also wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow at Ultimate Jeopardy in what
917-557: A Noah ring in 2013. Noah and Kobashi seemingly came to an agreement to let him retire as opposed to forcing him to leave the promotion. Despite this change in plans, Noah confirmed on December 19 that Akiyama, Shiozaki, Suzuki, Kanemaru and Aoki all would be leaving the promotion after December 24. On January 23, 2013, Kobashi announced that his retirement match would take place on at Nippon Budokan. Kobashi's retirement event, Final Burning in Budokan took place on May 11. His retirement ceremony
1048-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1179-476: A cardiac arrest. His condition was so grim that AJPW officials were prepared to announce his death. Thankfully, he regained consciousness the next day and vacated the Triple Crown title. He would return a month later, but would never receive a shot at the Triple Crown again. A month after his near-death experience, Gordy was back, as he and Williams resumed their path of destruction. In December 1990, they regained
1310-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1441-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
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#17328878408921572-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1703-465: A couple years earlier, while in WCCW. He and Khan took part in the 1986 World's Strongest Tag Determination League , where they placed third with eight points. By November 1987, Gordy reunited with Hansen for the 1987 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, where they placed second in a four-way tie with three different teams. In July 1988, Gordy and Hansen defeated Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu to win
1834-399: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Terry Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001)
1965-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2096-782: A favor for Michael Hayes. After leaving the WWF and Japan, Gordy worked in the independent circuit . On February 21, 1998, Gordy teamed with Dan Severn in a losing effort to Doug Gilbert and Dutch Mantel at the Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show for IWA Mid-South . Gordy would reunite with Hayes as they fought Glen Kulka and JR Smooth to a no contest for Power Pro Wrestling on May 28, 1999. He wrestled his last match returning to IWA Japan on February 4, 2001, with Shoichi Ichimiya, Tomohiro Ishii , Yukihide Ueno, and Yuji Kito, defeating Doug Gilbert , TJ Shinjuku, Ultra Sebun, Takashi Uwano and Keizo Mastuda. Gordy had two daughters and
2227-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2358-555: A five-day coma, ultimately suffering permanent brain damage. As a result, he had to relearn how to talk, walk, and wrestle, but he never possessed the skills he once had. He returned to AJPW for a single tour in July 1994, before leaving the company after over a decade. The Freebirds spent a brief time in the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, but were fired after missing a show and showing up late and drunk. In 1986, when
2489-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2620-466: A mass exodus led by Mitsuharu Misawa , which led to the formation of Pro Wrestling Noah . Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Kobashi worked for Noah for thirteen years, and had the longest singular GHC Heavyweight Championship reign of all time, holding the championship for 735 days between 2003 and 2005. Overall, Kobashi was a four-time world champion and an eight-time tag team champion . Kobashi spent many of
2751-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
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#17328878408922882-741: A memorable singles match (given a full 5-stars by the Wrestling Observer as well as their Match of the Year award for 2005), and teamed with Homicide to defeat the tag team of Low Ki and Samoa Joe. Kobashi also traveled to Europe, where he had matches in Germany, and at Universal Uproar in England, in November 2005. After winning the GHC Tag Team Championship on June 4, 2006, Kobashi became inactive in
3013-539: A month later, defeating Hansen to regain the Triple Crown for the second time. But two days later, he and Williams lost the World Tag Team titles to Tsuruta and The Great Kabuki . On July 26, 1990, after returning to Tokyo from a show in Isesaki, where he and Williams defeated Stan Hansen and Terry Taylor , Gordy collapsed while drinking at a bar and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. At one point, he had suffered
3144-430: A moonsault for the final win of his career. The event at Nippon Budokan was attended by 17,000 fans and aired live across Japan on the television network BS Sky! and in movie theaters. On March 17, 2013, Kobashi made an appearance for All Japan Pro Wrestling to promote his retirement match. Before the main event, Hiroshi Hase announced that he would be resigning as Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman to focus on
3275-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
3406-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3537-410: A rare title change outside Japan, as the match was held in the United States. Gordy and Hansen would continue to team until June 1989. He would take Bill Irwin as his partner for the 1989 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, but the pairing didn't work, as they placed seventh with six points. In February 1990, Gordy teamed up with Steve Williams as The Miracle Violence Connection . The pairing
3668-652: A rematch for the NWA International Heavyweight title against Tsuruta, but got counted out. In March 1986, he got yet another rematch against Tsuruta for the NWA International title, but lost. Two months later, Gordy would got a shot at the PWF Heavyweight title, now held by Riki Choshu , but lost by disqualification. In August 1986, he began teaming with Killer Khan , who taught him the Asiatic Spike
3799-578: A son, Ray Gordy , who wrestled for WWE as "Jesse" and "Slam Master J" before being released in 2010. His nephew is Richard Aslinger, who competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling as Richard Slinger . His daughter Miranda currently wrestles on the independent circuit and has also competed in Japan. He was known for his "high octane, southern lifestyle" outside of the ring. Gordy was found dead in his home in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee on July 16, 2001, after suffering
3930-435: A total of 735 days (the longest time held by any one competitor) with the second most successful defenses with 13. Del Wilkes considered him as the greatest wrestler of all time, and Eddie Kingston labeled him a "perfect wrestler". Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
4061-668: A tournament at the Great American Bash card in Albany, Georgia , one week later, and unified the titles. Their feud with Rick and Scott Steiner in Japan was hyped as a feud between the best foreign teams of the two top Japanese promotions (the Steiners were competing for rival New Japan Pro-Wrestling at the time). Despite advances by New Japan, Gordy and Williams, out of loyalty to the AJPW founder and promoter, Giant Baba , refused to compete for
Kenta Kobashi - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
4323-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
4454-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
4585-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4716-463: Is also notable because it won the best match of the year award from Tokyo Sports . He suffered the first of many knee injuries in mid 1995, but worked through it. In the early part of 1996 the company elevated Jun Akiyama by making him Misawa's main tag partner. While this was good for Akiyama and lead to some fresh tag matches, it left Kobashi without a real tag partner for most of the year, mostly having partnerships between The Patriot, Johnny Ace, where
4847-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4978-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
5109-611: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter . In 1993, he became Misawa's main tag partner in the middle of the year when Kawada became Misawa's main rival. He gained his first singles victory over a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion , when he defeated Terry Gordy in May of that year. On December 3, 1993, Kobashi gained his first pin over Kawada, won his first World's Strongest Tag Determination League , and won his first World Tag Team Championship . Kobashi received his first shot at
5240-616: The In Your House pay-per-view Buried Alive on October 20, 1996, where he interfered in The Undertaker's Buried Alive match with Mankind, hitting Undertaker with a shovel and burying him with the help of Mankind and several other wrestlers. However, at In Your House 12: It's Time on December 15, The Undertaker defeated The Executioner in an Armageddon Rules match, and Gordy left the promotion in January 1997. On an episode of Something to Wrestle With , Bruce Prichard claimed that
5371-537: The National Diet and that Kobashi would be replacing him, after his retirement on May 11. On September 8, Kobashi appeared as a color commentator at All Japan splinter promotion Wrestle-1 's inaugural event . On October 27, it was confirmed that Kobashi would not be joining All Japan after all, when Dory Funk Jr. was announced as the new PWF chairman. On February 14, 2014, Kobashi announced that starting June 8, he would begin producing his own independent events under
Kenta Kobashi - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
5633-671: The PWF Heavyweight Championship at a Georgia Championship Wrestling show at the Omni in Atlanta. The match would air in Japan. Seventeen months later, Gordy made his debut for AJPW in August 1983. He was immediately paired with Stan Hansen and took part in Terry Funk 's first retirement match on August 31, 1983. It was during this time that Lou Thesz taught Gordy what would be his main move,
5764-526: The Suzuki-gun stable did not interfere in the match. In September 2023, he made an appearance for DDT Pro Wrestling 's Shinkansen specialty match between Minoru Suzuki and Sanshiro Takagi . Notably, during the appearance, he did a gyaku-suihei chop ( knife-edged chop ) on Suzuki, who also won the match later on. He assumed the role of a ticket checker on the Shinkansen train. Other wrestlers who appeared in
5895-476: The World Tag Team Championship , before losing them back to Tsuruta and Yatsu two days later. It wouldn't be until December 1988, that Gordy and Hansen won the World Tag Team titles for the second time by winning the 1988 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, defeating Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada in the finals. They would lose the titles again to Tsuruta and Yatsu two months later in
6026-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
6157-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
6288-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
6419-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
6550-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
6681-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
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#17328878408926812-455: The Executioner gimmick was given to Gordy because McMahon had doubts that Gordy could still compete effectively and the use of a mask was intended to protect Gordy so that if that were the case, Gordy's legacy would not be tainted. Had Gordy been able to compete at a high level then there would have been the opportunity later for Gordy to unmask. It was mentioned that the hiring was mostly done as
6943-593: The Freebirds as a duo in 1982 when they feuded with Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen . In late-1982, the Freebirds went to the Dallas, Texas -based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion and had a feud with the Von Erichs ( David , Kevin , Kerry and Mike ), which kicked off when Gordy slammed the cage door on Kerry during his cage match on March 15 at WCCW Star Wars against Ric Flair , where Michael Hayes served as
7074-399: The Freebirds had an ongoing feud with Hacksaw Jim Duggan , in which Duggan and Gordy squared off, usually ending in a disqualification because of outside interference. The Freebirds spent some time in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Jim Crockett Promotions where they split to feud briefly, but later reunited. In 1989, Gordy helped Hayes to reform the Freebirds, with Jimmy Garvin , in
7205-600: The Freebirds were in Universal Wrestling Federation , the former Mid South Wrestling, Gordy became the first person to win the UWF Heavyweight Championship and held it for six months, before losing it via forfeit to the One Man Gang , after an angle the same night in which Gordy was injured in an auto accident by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , whom he feuded with. During this time, Gordy and
7336-589: The Militia, he regularly teamed up with Tommy Rich . After a brief feud with Boo Bradley over the summer, Gordy set his sights on the SMW Heavyweight Championship, now held by Brad Armstrong . Gordy won the SMW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Armstrong when he teamed with Thrasher to defeat Armstrong and the Wolfman on October 27. A month later on November 23, he dropped the title back to Armstrong in
7467-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
7598-549: The NWA, which became World Championship Wrestling in 1991. Later, he and Steve Williams defeated the Steiners to become World Tag Team Champions. Gordy and Williams returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992 and won the WCW World Tag Team titles. At that point, they were considered the most dominant team in wrestling, making $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 a week. They also won the NWA World Tag Team titles in
7729-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
7860-581: The Rookie of the Year award from the Japanese press. Kobashi won his first match in May 1989 (against Jim Crockett Promotions jobber Mitch Snow). During 1989, when The Road Warriors were in AJPW, they taught Kobashi the "Road Warrior Workout". He first gained some prominence as member of Mitsuharu Misawa 's faction during Misawa's feud with Jumbo Tsuruta . Kobashi during this period played dual roles according to who his partners and opponents were. When teamed with
7991-586: The Saturday night WTBS Georgia Championship Wrestling show saw the Freebirds take on the Junkyard Dog and Ted DiBiase, where towards the end of the match, Gordy gave DiBiase 4 consecutive piledrivers, which led to DiBiase being taken away in an ambulance. In 1981, the Freebirds split up when Buddy Roberts left the area. Michael and Terry then had a falling out, which led to a feud against each other. Terry and Michael eventually put their differences aside, and reformed
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#17328878408928122-772: The Tag Team Championship with Garvin. In February 1992, Gordy debuted for Smoky Mountain Wrestling , defeating Tommy Angel, but by the time the match aired, he had left for WCW. He would not come back until August 1994 at the Night of the Legends, where he unsuccessfully challenged Tony Anthony for the SMW Heavyweight Championship by getting himself disqualified. By June 1995, Gordy was back wrestling full-time for SMW, this time under Jim Cornette's Militia stable. While in
8253-733: The Tokyo Dome), and in the following year he had praised matches against junior heavyweights such as KENTA (March 5, 2006) and Naomichi Marufuji (April 23, 2006). Kobashi holds the distinction of having competed in a total of 23 5-Star Matches as rated by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer , second only to his long-time rival, Misawa. In late 2005, Kobashi made his first appearance in North America with Harley Race 's World League Wrestling promotion, defeating then WLW champion Wild Wade Chism. His second and third North American appearances were for Ring of Honor , where he defeated Samoa Joe in
8384-538: The Triple Crown Championship against then-champion Steve Williams on September 3, 1994, but lost at Nippon Budokan , Tokyo. Kobashi's singles matches around this time with Kawada, Misawa and Stan Hansen are amongst his most highly regarded. In tag competition he had strong efforts with opponents as diverse as rookie Jun Akiyama to elderly legend and promotion owner Giant Baba. Over the next few years Kobashi continued to gain more honors, but his position in
8515-465: The Triple Crown at AJPW's May Tokyo Dome show called AJPW 25th Anniversary , in 1998, Kobashi would replace Kawada as Misawa's top rival. On June 12, 1998, Kobashi defeated Kawada to begin his second Triple Crown reign. Shortly before his victory he again suffered a major knee injury which he would not give time to heal, which nearly ended his career, and during that time, Johnny Ace turned heel on Kobashi to form his own stable called "The Movement". He lost
8646-413: The World Tag Team titles by winning the 1990 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, defeating Stan Hansen and Dan Spivey in the finals. They would hold onto the titles until April 1991, when they dropped them to Hansen and Spivey. Three months later, Gordy and Williams regained the titles, but lost them nearly three weeks later to Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada. Five months later, they regained
8777-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
8908-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
9039-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
9170-448: The belts until May, when they lost them to Kawada and Akira Taue. His final tour as an active gaijin took place in July 1993, where his last match took place on July 29, as he and Williams defeated Johnny Ace and Kendall Windham . On August 18, 1993, while traveling from the United States to Japan to take part in another AJPW tour, Gordy took an overdose (from which he almost died of three years earlier) of pain medication and slipped into
9301-564: The biggest Noah show of the year on December 23, 2000, Kobashi defeated Akiyama, avenging his loss earlier that year. Unfortunately for Kobashi the next month his knees finally deteriorated to the point he could no longer work through the pain and he was forced to take 13 months off for healing. He went through multiple knee surgeries during this time. His return match was on February 24, 2002, and featured Kobashi reforming his pairing with Misawa to face Akiyama and New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's (NJPW) Yuji Nagata . His knees again gave out on him during
9432-445: The brand "Fortune Dream". The inaugural event featured wrestlers from various promotions, including All Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling , Kaientai Dojo , Pro Wrestling Zero1 and Wrestling New Classic . On May 10, 2015, Kobashi returned to Noah to serve as a "special witness" for a GHC Heavyweight Championship match between champion Minoru Suzuki and challenger Naomichi Marufuji. Kobashi's role included making sure that
9563-470: The card, Misawa would pin Kobashi with an avalanche Emerald Flowsion , but the fans still gave Kobashi a rousing ovation. In September 2008, Kobashi underwent emergency surgery on both of his arms. The surgery was successful, and Kobashi was expected to make a full recovery. Kobashi was expected to be out of action for up to a year, but he would return to the ring less than six months later. Prior to returning to
9694-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
9825-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
9956-688: The championship again to Misawa on October 31. The year of 1998 would end with Kobashi gaining another career milestone as he with Akiyama, teaming as " Burning ", captured his first World's Strongest Tag Determination League championship. As January began Kobashi was kicking off a new rivalry against Vader . He won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League again with Akiyama in December 1999. In February 2000 he defeated Vader to earn his third Triple Crown reign. Then in April 2000 he won his first Champion Carnival while in
10087-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
10218-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
10349-496: The company did not truly change. In the 1994 Champion Carnival he gained his first singles victory over Hansen. His next title challenge was against Kawada in January 1995. This led to a 60-minute time limit draw, and is regarded as the greatest 60 minute bout in wrestling history by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. On June 9, 1995, Kobashi and Misawa lost the tag title to Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada . The match
10480-459: The company in nine years. Kobashi teamed with Akihiko Ito and fellow AJPW alumnus Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in a losing effort to Satoshi Kojima , KAI and Hiroshi Yamato at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, Volume 8. During this period, Kobashi's knee injuries were beginning to worsen to the point that he desperately needed time off to heal. However, he was needed to establish Noah as a viable promotion, and
10611-451: The course of his career, including the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , AJPW World Tag Team Championship , WCW World Tag Team Championship , NWA World Tag Team Championship , UWF Heavyweight Championship and SMW Heavyweight Championship . He has been posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Observer , Professional Wrestling , and WWE Hall of Fame . He left behind three children. Amber Gordy, Miranda Gordy, and Ray Gordy. Gordy
10742-441: The course of the tournament gaining his first televised singles victory over Misawa. In mid-2000 Misawa left the company to form Pro Wrestling Noah ; Kobashi, along with all but three All Japan native workers, followed Misawa. He was the reigning Triple Crown champion at the time, and the championship was thus vacated. On August 30, 2009, Kobashi returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling for one night only, competing in his first match for
10873-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
11004-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
11135-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
11266-489: The finals for the first time. However, instead of the traditional one on one contest to settle the carnival, a one night 3 way round robin was held due to Kobashi, Kawada, and Misawa all having finished the Carnival round robin with the same score. In the first match Kobashi went to a 30-minute draw with Misawa. However, this match left both men greatly weakened and Kawada was able to quickly gain his first singles pin over Misawa in
11397-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
11528-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
11659-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
11790-580: The group. Gordy and Hayes had met while training in Mississippi the year prior. In 1980, the Freebirds moved to Georgia Championship Wrestling , where they won the territory's tag team championship. The Fabulous Freebirds had feuds while there, including those against Tommy Rich , Junkyard Dog , Kevin Sullivan , Austin Idol , and Ted DiBiase , and became one of the first acts to use entrance music. One match on
11921-504: The higher ranking Misawa or Toshiaki Kawada , Kobashi would play the gutsy underdog. At the same time, when teamed with the much smaller Tsuyoshi Kikuchi , he would play a "big brother" role, coming in to try to save the day after Kikuchi had been worked on for a while by the opponents. Eleven months later he won his first title, the All Asia Tag Team Championship with Tiger Mask II (Misawa); however, shortly after removing
12052-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
12183-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
12314-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
12445-662: The later years of his career sidelined due to various injuries. He underwent numerous surgeries on his arms and legs in the early-mid 2000s before retiring from in-ring action in May 2013 . Kobashi continues to make sporadic appearances in both Noah and All Japan, while also promoting his own shows under the Fortune Dream banner. Kobashi practiced judo and rugby union during high school in Fukuchiyama . He practised body building after his graduation while working "regular" jobs. He applied and
12576-455: The main event of Noah's first Tokyo Dome show on July 10, 2004. During his reign he won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Wrestler of the Year award in both 2003 and 2004. In March 2005 he finally lost the championship to Takeshi Rikio . Despite the loss of his title Kobashi remained Noah's top wrestler, the rest of the year was highlighted by matches with outsiders such as Genichiro Tenryu and Kensuke Sasaki (the latter on July 18, 2005, in
12707-510: The mask, Kobashi and Misawa would vacate the title. Over the next two years, Kobashi held the All Asia belts with Johnny Ace twice and with Kikuchi once. The title win with Kikuchi over Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas took place before a rabid crowd in Kikuchi's hometown of Sendai on May 25, 1992; the match quickly gained legendary status among tape-traders, and was voted 1992's Match of the Year by
12838-529: The match included the now-DDT signed Jun Akiyama, Kazunari Murakami and Hikaru Sato . Kobashi married his girlfriend of 14 years, singer Mizuki Mai, on October 2, 2010. In August 2015, Mai gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter. Kobashi has the fifth-most 5-star matches (as rated by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter ) with 23, behind Kazuchika Okada (27), Kenny Omega , Mitsuharu Misawa (25) and Will Ospreay (42). In 2002, he
12969-723: The match. After taking another five months to recuperate he returned and Noah began to slowly build towards him winning their top prize, the GHC Heavyweight Championship . On March 1, 2003, Kobashi defeated his rival Mitsuharu Misawa in a match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Kobashi's reign spanned for over two years and included 13 successful defenses. Notable defences included: against Masahiro Chono at New Japan's May 2, 2003, Tokyo Dome event, against Yuji Nagata on September 12, 2003, against Yoshihiro Takayama on April 25, 2004, and against Jun Akiyama in
13100-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
13231-500: The next match that gave Kobashi little time to rest. In the final match Kawada defeated Kobashi to gain his second Carnival title. In October 1997 Kobashi won his first World Tag title without Misawa when he and Johnny Ace defeated Gary Albright and Steve Williams. In the same month he challenged Misawa for the Triple Crown in another memorable match, but again Misawa defeated him. While Kawada would finally end his quest to defeat Misawa for
13362-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
13493-615: The powerbomb. In 1984, Gordy returned to AJPW with his Fabulous Freebirds teammates Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts . He and Hayes would unsuccessfully challenge for the NWA International Tag Team Championship twice. On his own, he challenged Jumbo Tsuruta for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship , but got disqualified. By the end of 1984, Hayes and Roberts left AJPW, leaving Gordy on his own there. In June 1985, he would get
13624-653: The promotion (which had business ties with WCW at the time), leading to Gordy's departure from WCW before Halloween Havoc and Williams' departure after Starrcade. After World Class folded in 1989, Gordy wrestled in various promotions. He started working for United States Wrestling Association (USWA). In 1991, he worked for Universal Wrestling Federation where he feuded with Don Muraco . In 1994, he reunited with The Freebirds ( Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin ) for Global Wrestling Federation in Texas where they feuded with Skandor Akbar , John Hawk , Black Bart and Moadib and won
13755-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
13886-614: The ring, Kobashi stated that he wanted to start in opening matches, and rebuild himself to a main event player. Kenta Kobashi made his return to wrestling on March 1, 2009, at Nippon Budokan with Pro Wrestling Noah, defeated Masao Inoue in the opening match of the card with his signature lariat. Kobashi won the GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship from Makoto Hashi on June 8, 2009, in Hachiōji , Japan during Noah's Southern Navigation tour. On December 23, 2009, Kobashi
14017-621: The special guest referee, inciting a riot among fans attending. They traded the six man title back and forth a few times over the years. Gordy was also at one time one half of the WCCW American Tag Team Champions. While in WCCW, Killer Khan taught Gordy how to perform the Oriental Spike , which he dubbed the Asiatic Spike. Gordy's connection with All Japan Pro Wrestling began in March 1982, when he challenged Giant Baba for
14148-468: The sport due to cancer, resulting in his partner Tamon Honda returning the belts on September 26, 2006. On December 10, at the Nippon Budokan, Kobashi appeared before the fans and announced that he would return "without fail". On September 8, 2007, news broke that Kobashi would make his return on the December 2, 2007, Budokan Hall event where he would team up with Takayama to face Akiyama and Misawa. On
14279-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
14410-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
14541-593: The titles and won the 1991 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, defeating Misawa and Kawada in the finals. In March 1992, they lost the titles to Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue . It was around that time they split their time between AJPW and WCW. They took part in the 1992 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, but was placed second in a tie with the team of Hansen and Johnny Ace . 1993 saw Gordy wrestle exclusively for AJPW. In January 1993, he and Williams won their final World Tag Team title together, defeating Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada. They would hold onto
14672-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
14803-481: The trio was called G.E.T ("Global, Energetic & Tough") and rookie Hawaiian wrestler, Maunakea Mossman . Kobashi defeated Akira Taue on July 24, 1996, to capture his first Triple Crown. He lost the championship to Misawa on January 20, 1997, in a very highly regarded match. In March 1997 in the Champion Carnival he gained his first pinfall victory over Misawa. At the end of the Carnival, Kobashi qualified for
14934-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
15065-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
15196-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
15327-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
15458-497: Was a standout high school football and baseball player at Rossville High School, but dropped out of high school following his freshman year. Trained by Archie Gouldie , he started wrestling at the age of 13 in 1974 as "Terry Mecca" for the International Wrestling Association . In early 1979, Gordy began wrestling under his real name and formed the Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes , with Buddy Roberts later added to
15589-522: Was accepted to All Japan Pro Wrestling 's (AJPW) dojo on June 20, 1987. He was trained there by Dory Funk Jr. , Giant Baba , Kazuharu Sonoda and Masanobu Fuchi . Kobashi debuted as a professional wrestler in Ryūō, Shiga on February 26, 1988. He was booked by Shohei "Giant" Baba to lose his first 63 matches (all singles bouts). It was all part of Baba's master plan: even in defeat, the fiery, charismatic Kobashi shined and his gutsy, never-say-die efforts earned him
15720-509: Was an American professional wrestler from Soddy - Daisy, TN. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling , World Class Championship Wrestling , Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds . He also appeared in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling as one-half of The Miracle Violence Connection . Gordy held many championships throughout
15851-494: Was an immediate success. A month later, they won the World Tag Team Championship, defeating Gordy's former partner Stan Hansen and Genichiro Tenryu. Three months later, Gordy would become a double champion with five belts, as Gordy defeated Jumbo Tsuruta for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . The elation would be short-lived, as three days later, he would lose the Triple Crown to Stan Hansen. Gordy rebounded
15982-560: Was announced by Noah that Kobashi had stepped down from his position as an Executive Vice President of the promotion. On December 3, 2012, Noah released Kobashi from his contract. The news sparked shockwaves, as Atsushi Aoki , Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki , and Yoshinobu Kanemaru spoke out, declaring their intent of not signing with Noah after their contracts expire in January, out of loyalty to Kobashi. On December 9, 2012, Kobashi attended Noah's Ryōgoku Kokugikan event and during an in-ring interview, revealed he planned to retire in
16113-472: Was billed as the second ever "Battle Of The Bam Bams" (The first happened on a Windy City Wrestling show), which he lost due to outside interference from The Eliminators. Gordy had a brief run in the WWF as The Executioner in 1996 and 1997, where he teamed up with Mankind , both managed by Paul Bearer , and feuded with The Undertaker . The Executioner came to the ring under a mask and carrying an axe as Bearer's "hired assassin". He made his TV debut at
16244-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
16375-522: Was given a marquee position on the first two shows. On August 5, 2000, he teamed with Akiyama to defeat Misawa and Taue in a two out of three falls match in the main event of the promotion's first show, and then lost to Akiyama on the second show the next day (Kobashi legitimately passed out while being captured in Akiyama's "King Crab Lock" submission and was unable to finish the match). Noah struggled to organize itself without any titles during this period. At
16506-579: Was held after the second match on the show and was attended by former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda , legendary NTV announcers Akira Fukuzawa and Kazuo Tokumitsu, former colleagues Akira Taue, Hiroshi Hase , Masahiro Chono, Mitsuo Momota , Toshiaki Kawada, and Stan Hansen via video message, along with many others. In the main event, Kobashi teamed with Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh, and Kensuke Sasaki in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeated his protégés Go Shiozaki, Kenta, Maybach Taniguchi , and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, with Kobashi pinning Kanemaru with
16637-486: Was inducted by Dave Meltzer into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame as the third inductee of the 2002 and the 148th inductee for his accomplishments in All Japan Pro Wrestling . For his last match on May 11, 2013, he was presented a replica of the GHC Heavyweight Championship belt as a farewell gift after his retirement match at Final Burning. He held the GHC Heavyweight Championship for
16768-568: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
16899-594: Was seriously injured in a three-way match against Honda and Kikuchi. He was sidelined for 19 months with nerve damage in his right arm. Kobashi made his return on July 23, 2011, teaming with Go Shiozaki in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama. On August 27, 2011, he debuted new ring gear, mixing black and orange, at the NJPW/AJPW/Noah All Together show at Budokan Hall, teaming up with AJPW's Keiji Mutoh , defeating NJPW's Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano . On October 6, it
17030-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
17161-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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