On the tenth anniversary of his death, we look at the life and impact of a titan of puroresu journalism and fan culture, and the magazine he built.
Broken Crown: The Fall of Japan Pro Wrestling, 1971-1973 – Part Four: The Broken Crown
A last-minute merger attempt almost saves JPW, but a stubborn backout leads to their quick death. In the months that follow, its remaining stars sign with a begrudging Baba, who quickly moves to ensure none will threaten his plans for AJPW.
Broken Crown: The Fall of Japan Pro Wrestling, 1971-1973 – Part Three: All Japan
As AJPW coalesces and NJPW starts to build momentum, Japan Pro Wrestling plummets ever further.
Broken Crown: The Fall of Japan Pro Wrestling, 1971-1973 – Part Two: Lion’s Birth
As Antonio Inoki builds NJPW, his former promotion makes a short-sighted decision which costs them the only other man who can keep them afloat.
Broken Crown: The Fall of Japan Pro Wrestling, 1971-1973 – Part One: Maborosi no Coup d’état
50 years after Antonio Inoki's firing, we look at the coup which spelled the beginning of the end for Japan Pro Wrestling. Part 1 of 4.
Hunting Dog: The Life of Ichiro Hatta
The life and impact of the father of Japanese amateur wrestling.
Jumbo Tsuruta, Part One: 1951-1972
Jumbo Tsuruta's life before professional wrestling.
Introduction
In 2021, I created a thread on professional wrestling message board ProWrestlingOnly. In this thread, I shared information on the history of Japanese professional wrestling (henceforth puroresu) which I had gathered from Japanese-language sources. I continued to expand the thread for many months, and I intend to continue that further. However, this platform will give …
From Milo To Misawa 