Shōhei Baba

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Shōhei Baba JapanJapan
Giant Baba 1962 Scan10011 161022b.jpg
Data
Ring name Giant Baba
Great Baba
Shōhei Baba
Ishope Baba
height 203 cm
Fighting weight 128 kg
birth January 23, 1938
Sanjō ; Niigata , Japan
death January 31, 1999
Tokyo , Japan
Trained by Rikidozan
debut September 30, 1960

Shōhei Baba ( Japanese 馬 場 正 平 , Baba Shōhei ; born January 23, 1938 in Sanjō , Japan ; † January 31, 1999 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese wrestler and wrestling promoter. Baba was also a co-founder of the Japanese wrestling organization All Japan Pro Wrestling , which he directed until his death. In addition to his old training companion Antonio Inoki , he was the most famous wrestler in Japan and was able to position his league as the market leader.

Life

Baba's original goal was a career as a baseball player , but he only played three games as a pitcher for the Japanese team Yomiuri Giants , all three without a win. He then hit the road to wrestling and was trained together with Antonio Inoki by the influential and legendary Rikidozan (1924-1963), a former sumo wrestler. In the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA), the dominant league in Japan at the time, Baba gained his first experience from his debut on September 30, 1960. After Rikidozan's death in 1963, it was Inoki and Baba in particular who helped the league to continue its success.

In 1971 there was a dispute between the JWA, Inoki and Baba: Inoki called for a fight for a title held by Baba, but the JWA leadership did not yet consider Inoki a worthy challenger. The internal problems came to a head and with some distance Inoki and Baba separated from the JWA. While Inoki was establishing his New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion , Baba launched All Japan Pro Wrestling with the debut show on October 21, 1972 .

The league grew and became increasingly popular alongside Inoki's NJPW. In the early years Baba was able to rely on friends from the USA like Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer, Bruno Sammartino and the Funk brothers. Together with the experience of these wrestlers, his connections to the NWA and commercial skills, All Japan was able to rise to the most successful promotion in Japan.

Shohai Baba's media presence in one of Japan's premier sports brought him to the attention of the mainstream press. Baba was a frequent guest in various quiz and entertainment programs and was a popular advertising medium. His social influence was considerable: Paul McCartney was banned from entering the country for 10 years because drugs were found on him at a Japanese airport. When wrestler Steve Williams threatened the same, Baba stepped in and was able to avert a penalty.

A few days after his 61st birthday, Baba suddenly died of liver failure . Until the time of his death, Baba was President of All Japan Pro Wrestling . In the following months, problems arose between Mitsuharu Misawa and Baba's widow Motoko. After Baba's death, Mitsuharu Misawa became president of AJPW, and Motoko Baba was the owner of AJPW after her husband's death. Along with most of the league's top stars, Misawa left AJPW and founded Pro Wrestling NOAH .

Wrestling

successes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wrestling Observer Newsletter