History of Puroresu

pre-1940s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s

1990s

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

Jushin Thunder Liger

1990

01/04	Bull Nakano defeats Mitsuko Nishiwaki in tournament final in Tokyo to win the vacant WWWA World Title. Nakano is the first Japanese heel to win the title.
02/07	Marine Wolves (Suzuka Minami & Akira Hokuto) defeat Aja Kong & Grizzly Iwamoto in Osaka to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
02/10	New Japan Pro-Wrestling has their second Tokyo Dome card. Jumbo Tsuruta, Gen'ichiro Tenryu, and Tiger Mask(Mitsuharu Misawa) from All Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestle on a New Japan card for the first time. A former yokozuna Kouji Kitao debuts also on this car
03/01	Universal Pro-wrestling, the first lucha libre promotion in Japan, starts with Gran Hamada, Yoshihiro Asai, and Mexican wresters.
03/02	Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) defeat Footloose (Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki) in Nagoya to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
03/06	Terry Gordy & Steve Williams defeat Stan Hansen & Gen'ichiro Tenryu in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
03/15	Seiji Sakaguchi retires.
04/09	Kenta Kobashi & Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) defeat Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) in Okayama to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
04/13	All Japan, New Japan, and WWF have a combined card at Tokyo Dome. In main event, Hulk Hogan pins Stan Hansen. Giant Baba and Andre the Giant team for the first time to defeat the Demolition.
04/26	Gen'ichiro Tenryu leaves All Japan and sings a contract with Megane Super, the second biggest eyeglass company in Japan.
05/14	During a tag match, Tiger Mask tells his partner Toshiaki Kawada to unmask him as Mitsuharu Misawa. Misawa starts without the mask two days later.
05/17	Mitsuharu Misawa vacates All Asia Tag Team Title to concentrate on singles matches.
06/05	Terry Gordy defeats Jumbo Tsuruta in Chiba to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title. Also on the same card, Shin'ichi Nakano & Akira Taue defeat Davey Boy Smith & Johnny Smith in Chiba to win the vacant All Asia Tag Team Title.
06/08	Stan Hansen defeats Terry Gordy in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
07/02	All Japan's Hiromichi Fuyuki, Shunji Takano, Shin'ichi Nakano, Tatsumi Kitahara, and Masao Orihara all join SWS as well as New Japan's George Takano and Naoki Sano.
07/17	Terry Gordy defeats Stan Hansen in Ishikawa to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
07/19	Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki defeat Terry Gordy & Steve Williams in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
07/27	Triple Crown Heavyweight Title is declared vacant since the champion Terry Gordy is hospitalized. Stan Hansen defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Matsudo to win the vacant title.
07/30	World Tag Team Title (All Japan) is vacant when the co-holder Great Kabuki jumps to Super World Sports.
08/04	Ohnita has the first of his famou death matches. He defeats Tarzan Goto in a no-rope electric-explosive barbed-wire death match.
08/19	Riki Choshu defeats Big Van Vader in Tokyo to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
09/07	Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace defeat Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton) in Fukui to win the vacant All Asia Tag Team Title.
09/30	Both Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki have the 30th anniversary cards. Baba teams with Abdullah the Butcher to wrestle against Andre the Giant and Stan Hansen. Inoki teams with Tiger Jeet Singh to defeat Big Van Vader & Animal Hamaguchi. In attendance for Ino
10/18	Super World Sports has its first card. The top star of the promotion is Gen'ichiro Tenryu. The fans, press, and many wrestlers of other promotions criticized SWS as a money puroresu because of the way wrestlers jumped.
11/20	SWS and WWF sign the working relationship.
12/01	UWF has its last card in Matsumoto, Nagano. President Shinji Jin announces that all wrestlers are fired.
12/07	Terry Gordy & Steve Williams win the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League in Tokyo and to win the vacant World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
12/09	Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura) defeat Marine Wolves (Suzuka Minami & Akira Hokuto) in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
12/20	New Japan and World Championship Wrestling sign the working relationship.
12/26	Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Riki Choshu in Hamamatsu to win IWGP Heavyweight Title. Also on the same card, Lou Thesz has his last match at the age of 74, losing to Masahiro Chono.

1991

01/11	Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura) vacate WWWA World Tag Team Title after losing non-title hair match to Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue in Kawasaki.
01/17	Big Van Vader defeats Tatsumi Fujinami in Yokohama to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
01/19	Jumbo Tsuruta defeats Stan Hansen in Matsumoto to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
03/04	Yoshiaki Fujiwara starts New UWF Fujiwaragumi(later Pro-Wrestling Fujiwaragumi) with Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, and Yuusuke Fuke.
	Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Big Van Vader in Hiroshima to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
03/21	New Japan has Starrcade at Tokyo Dome, an interpromotional card with WCW. In main event, Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Ric Flair to defend his IWGP Heavyweight title and win NWA World Heavyweight Title. Later, the decision is reversed by WCW, and Flair keeps WCW title while Fujinami is introduced in Japan as NWA World champion.
03/30	SWS has an interpromotional card with WWF at Tokyo Dome.
04/01	After a match against John Tenta, Kouji Kitao has an inappropriate comment using a mic and is fired by SWS immediately.
04/04	Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura) defeat Yumiko Hotta & Akira Hokuto in Sendai to win the vacant WWWA World Tag Team Title.
04/06	British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith) defeat Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in Osaka to win the vacant All Asia Tag Team Title when Kobashi's partner Johnny Ace is injured and unable to defend the title.
04/18	Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey defeat Terry Gordy & Steve Williams in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
04/20	Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) defeat British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith) in Tokyo to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
05/10	UWF International has its first card at Korakuen Hall. The wrestlers include everybody from UWF except Akira Maeda and those in Fujiwaragumi.
05/11	Akira Maeda's RINGS has its first card at Yokohama Arena.
05/19	On a WCW card, Flair defeats Fujinami in St. Petersburg, FL to end the dispute over NWA and/or WCW World Heavyweight title.
05/31	Tatsumi Fujinami has his 20th anniversary of his puroresu career and defends IWGP Heavyewight title against Masahiro Chono at Osaka Castle Hall in memorial card.
07/04	Jushin Thunder Liger defeats Pegasus Kid in a mascara contra mascara. Pegasus unmasks as Chris Benoit, a former New Japan trainee.
07/06	Terry Gordy & Steve Williams defeat Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey in Yokosuka to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
07/08	Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace defeat Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) in Osaka to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
07/18	Joel Deaton & Billy Black defeat Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace in Tokyo to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
07/24	Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada defeat Terry Gordy & Steve Williams in Kanazawa to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
07/26	Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) defeat Joel Deaton & Billy Black in Matsudo to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
09/04	Misawa defeats Tsuruta with a facelock during a tag match to be the first Japanese to defeat Tsuruta with a submission hold.
12/06	Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vacate World Tag Team Title (All Japan) for the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League.
	Terry Gordy & Steve Williams win the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League in Tokyo and to win the vacant World Tag Team Title (All Japan).

1992

01/04	Riki Choshu defeats Tatsumi Fujinami in Tokyo to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
01/28	Stan Hansen defeats Jumbo Tsuruta in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
03/04	Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue defeat Terry Gordy & Steve Williams in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
03/20	Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada defeat Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura) in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
04/03	JWP Project has its first card at Korakuen Hall after Japan Women's Pro breaks up. Starts include Dynamite Kansai, Devil Masami, Mayumi Ozaki, Plum Mariko, Cutie Suzuki, and Hikari Fukuoka. The rest of the group starts Ladies' Legend Pro-Wrestling and ha
05/14	Yoshiaki Yatsu leaves SWS. Later, he starts Social Pro-Wrestling Federation.
05/25	Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeat Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) in Miyagi to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
06/19	SWS has its final card at Nagasaki International Gym. Gen'ichiro Tenryu's group forms Wrestling And Romance(WAR) while Takano Bros., Kendo Nagasaki and others form Network Of Wrestling(NOW). However, Takano Bros. quit NOW before its first card and formed
08/12	Masahiro Chono defeats Rick Rude in tournament final in Tokyo to win the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title.
08/16	Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) defeats Riki Choshu in Fukuoka to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
08/22	Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Stan Hansen in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
11/13	Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vacate World Tag Team Title (All Japan) for the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League. However, Tsuruta does not participate the tournament due to liver problems.
11/26	Aja Kong defeats Bull Nakano in Kawasaki to win WWWA World Title.
12/04	Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada win the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League in Tokyo and to win the vacant World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
12/27	OBITUARY: Motoshi Okuma (51) - one of All Japan's original wrestlers

1993

01/04	On the annual New Japan Tokyo Dome card, Great Muta defeats Masahiro Chono in Tokyo to win NWA World Heavyweight Title. In the main event, Gen'ichiro Tenryu pins Riki Choshu.
01/27	OBITUARY: Andre the Giant Rousimoff [France - heart attack]
01/30	Terry Gordy & Steve Williams defeat Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki in Chiba to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
02/13	PWC(Pro-Wrestling Crusaders) opens at Tokai City Gym.
02/21	Barry Windham defeats Great Muta in Ashville, NC to win NWA World Heavyweight Title.
03/16	A lucha libre group Michinoku Puroresu(North Eastern Wrestling), the first regional promotion in Japan, has its first card in Iwate with The Great Sasuke as the top star.
04/11	Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (JWP) defeat Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada in Osaka to become the first wrestlers outside All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
04/18	OBITUARY: Masahiko Kimura (75) - the greatest judoka ever and puroresu pioneer
05/03	New Japan has the first puroresu card at Fukuoka Dome. In main event, Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami defeat Choshu & Tenryu. Fujiwara returns to New Japan for the first time in four years.
05/05	On FMW Kawasaki Stadium card, Atsushi Ohnita defeats Terry Funk in a typical death match.
05/20	Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue defeat Terry Gordy & Steve Williams in Sapporo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
06/02	The Patriot & The Eagle defeat Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in Koyama to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
07/29	All Japan holds the retirement ceremony for The Destroyer at Nippon Budokan.
09/03	Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase defeat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
09/09	Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) defeat The Patriot & The Eagle in Omiya to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
09/20	Shin'ya Hashimoto defeats Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) in Nagoya to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
09/21	Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, and other wrestlers who left Fujiwaragumi form Pancrase and have their first card at Tokyo Bay NK Hall.
09/26	On New Japan's Osaka Castle Hall card, Tatsumi Fujinami pins Tenryu in their first singles match.
12/03	Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi win the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League in Tokyo and to win the vacant World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
12/05	On a UWF International card at Jingu Stadium, Nobuhiko Takada defeats Super Vader with a cross arm scissors.
12/06	Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada defeat Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
12/15	On Gen'ichiro Tenryu's 30th Anniversary card in fighting sports(include both sumo and puroresu), Tenryu defeats Fujinami.

1994

01/04	On the annual New Japan Tokyo Dome card, Gen'ichiro Tenryu pins Inoki to be the first Japanese to pin both Baba and Inoki.
02/04	Michinoku has the first card in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall.
03/05	Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Misawa & Kenta Kobashi. Misawa becomes the second Japanese ever to pin Baba.
04/04	Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Shin'ya Hashimoto in Hiroshima to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
04/16	New Japan holds a one-night all-star junior heavyweight tournament Super J Cup - 1st stage -, organized by Jushin Thunder Liger, at Ryogoku Kokugikan. In the final, Wild Pegasus pins Great Sasuke of Michinoku who pinned Liger in semi-final.
04/26	OBITUARY: Masutatsu Ooyama - founder, Kyokushin Kaikan karate
05/01	Shin'ya Hashimoto defeats Tatsumi Fujinami in Fukuoka to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
05/05	Gen'ichiro Tenryu pins Onita in a no-rope barbed-wire electric explosive steel cage death match at an FMW Kawasaki Stadium card.
05/23	IWA Japan holds its first card at Korakuen Hall.
07/28	Steve Williams defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
10/09	Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue defeat Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada in Kawasaki to become the 99th WWWA World Tag Team Champions.
10/15	On Pancrase Ryogoku Kokugikan card, Masakatsu Funaki defeats Minoru Suzuki with a choke sleeper in 1'51.
10/22	Toshiaki Kawada defeats Steve Williams in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
11/13	Heisei Ishingun has their first card at Tokyo Bay NK Hall. In the main event, Shiro Koshinaka, the group leader, defeats Tiger Jeet Singh with Antonio Inoki as referee.
11/20	All Japan Women's holds their first Tokyo Dome card. Akira Hokuto wins the V*TOP Woman Japanese Championship Tournament, defeating Aja Kong in the final.
12/05	Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) vacate All Asia Tag Team Title to concentrate on winning World Tag Team Title.
12/07	Youji Anjoh of UWF International goes to Los Angeles to challenge Rickson Gracie, the strongest in the famous Gracie Juujutsu. Gracie destroys Anjoh in 3minutes.
12/10	Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi win the annual Real World Tag Team Championship League in Tokyo and to win the vacant World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
12/17	Wayne Shamrock becomes the first King of Pancrase, defeating Funaki in semi-final and Manabu Yamada in final.

1995

01/03	The 99th WWWA World Tag Team champions Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vacate the title, wanting to win the tournament to be the 100th champions.
01/29	Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori defeat Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) in 5-team round-robin tournament final in Tokyo to win the vacant All Asia Tag Team Title.
03/04	Stan Hansen defeats Toshiaki Kawada in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
03/21	Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue defeat Manami Toyota & Blizzard Yuki (Sakie Hasegawa) in the 8-team elimination tournament final in Osaka to become the 100th WWWA World Tag Team Champions.
03/26	Manami Toyota defeats Aja Kong in Yokohama to win WWWA World Title.
04/02	Baseball Magazine Sha, the publisher of Weekly Puroresu, has an interpromotional card at Tokyo Dome with the wrestlers from New Japan, All Japan, FMW, UWF International, Fujiwaragumi, RINGS, Pancrase, All Japan Women's, Michinoku, JWP, LLPW, IWA Japan, and Go Gundan. On the same day, WAR has a card at Korakuen Hall with wrestlers from New Japan, Michinoku, and LLPW. Kintaro Ohki has the retirement ceremony on this card.
04/07	NWA World heavyweight champion Dan Severn wins the Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament in Charlotte, NC, defeating Dave Bennetau in the final. On the same card, the King of Pancrase title holder Ken Wayne Shamrock fights Royce Gracie to a 36min time limit draw.
04/15	Chigusa Nagayo, who returned to puroresu in previous year, starts GAEA JAPAN with KAORU and Bomber Hikaru(Mitsuyo Mura, a former wrestler of Japan Women's Pro).
04/23	Tarzan Goto, Mr. Gannosuke, and Flying Kid Ichihara leave FMW.
04/28	[04/28/95 - 04/29/95] New Japan has the first pro-wrestling card in North Korea, Rikidozan's home country, with Muhammad Ali in attendance. On the second day, Antonio Inoki pins Ric Flair in front of 190 thousands people in the audience.
04/29	[04/28/95 - 04/29/95] New Japan has the first pro-wrestling card in North Korea, Rikidozan's home country, with Muhammad Ali in attendance. On the second day, Antonio Inoki pins Ric Flair in front of 190 thousands people in the audience.
05/03	Keiji Mutoh defeats Shin'ya Hashimoto in Fukuoka to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
05/05	Atsushi Ohnita defeats Hayabusa in a typical FMW style death match in his retirement. Hayabusa becomes the top star of FMW.
05/26	Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Stan Hansen in Sapporo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
06/09	Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue defeat Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
06/27	Aja Kong defeats Manami Toyota in Sapporo to win WWWA World Title.
07/25	Kazuo Yamazaki appears on a Heisei Ishingun card after leaving UWF International.
08/30	Dynamite Kansai of JWP defeats Aja Kong in Osaka to become the first wrestler outside All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling to win WWWA World Title.
	Masayoshi Motegi defeats El Hijo del Santo in tournament final in Tokyo for the revived NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title.
09/24	Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda defeat Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue in Kawasaki to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
10/01	Kensuke Sasaki(New Japan) and Akira Hokuto(All Japan Women's) marry to be the first couple of active Japanese pro-wrestlers.
10/02	Nobuhiko Takada vacates his World Heavyweight Title when Lou Thesz refuses to recognize the double title match between Takada and IWGP champion Keiji Mutoh on 10/09/95 at Tokyo Dome.
10/09	New Japan vs. UWF International at Tokyo Dome, promoted by New Japan with a record-breaking crowd of 67,000. In main event, Keiji Mutoh defends IWGP heavyweight title against Nobuhiko Takada.
11/19	All wrestlers except Yoshiaki Fujiwara leave the Fujiwaragumi and form Battlarts.
12/04	Manami Toyota defeats Dynamite Kansai in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.

1996

01/04	Nobuhiko Takada defeats Keiji Mutoh in Tokyo to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
01/22	Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue defeat Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
01/24	Stan Hansen & Gary Albright defeat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue in Matsumoto to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
02/20	Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue defeat Stan Hansen & Gary Albright in Morioka to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
03/24	The Great Sasuke defeats Aero Flash in Shirakawa to win WWF World Light Heavyweight Title.
04/20	Shin'ya Hashimoto defeats Nobuhiko Takada in Tokyo to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
05/23	Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama defeat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue in Sapporo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
05/24	Akira Taue defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Sapporo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
06/01	Antonio Inoki holds an international card World Wrestling Peace Festival in Los Angeles; wreslters from New Japan, WCW, Michinoku, EMLL, and AAA participate on the card. In the main event, Inoki teams with Dan Seven to defeat a team of Yoshiaki Fujiwara
06/15	OBITUARY: Dick Murdoch (49) [Amarillo, TX - heart attack] - one of top gaijins in All Japan, New Japan, and FMW
06/22	Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda defeat Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue in Sapporo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
	El Samurai defeats The Great Sasuke in Naruko to win WWF World Light Heavyweight Title.
06/30	An interpromotional card Rikidozan Memorial is held at Yokohama Arena. 15 organizations are involved on the card but show the gap between major league organizations and independent promotions.
07/24	Kenta Kobashi defeats Akira Taue in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
08/02	The J-CROWN tournament starts for unification of eight titles in lighter weight divisions. In the first round matches, IWGP champion The Great Sasuke defeats NWA World Junior Heavyweight champion Masayoshi Motegi, and International champion Ultimo Dragon defeats British Commonwealth champion Jushin Thunder Liger.
08/03	In the first round of the J-CROWN tournament to unify eight titles in lighter weight divisions, WWF World Light Heavyweight champion El Samurai defeats WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight champion Gran Hamada, and UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight champion Shinjiro Ohtani defeats NWA World Welterweight champion Negro Casas.
08/04	In the semi-finals of the J-CROWN tournament to unify eight titles in lighter weight divisions, The Great Sasuke (IWGP & NWA World Junior Heavyweight) defeats El Samurai (WWF World Light Heavyweight & WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight), and Ultimo Dragon (International & British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight) defeats Shinjiro Ohtani (UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight & NWA World Welterweight).
08/05	In the final of the J-CROWN tournament to unify eight titles in lighter weight divisions, IWGP Junior Heavyweight, NWA World Junior Heavyweight, WWF World Light Heavyweight, & WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight champion The Great Sasuke defeats International Junior Heavyweight, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight, UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight, & NWA World Welterweight champion Ultimo Dragon to become the first unified octuple champion.
09/05	Steve Williams & Johnny Ace defeat Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
09/11	UWF International holds a card at Kawasaki Stadium. Toshiaki Kawada of All Japan makes the first appearance for a different promotion and defeats Yoshihiko Takayama with high kicks. The original Tiger Mask defeats The Cobra, who was the replacement aft
10/11	Ultimo Dragon defeats The Great Sasuke in Osaka to win octuple crown title.
12/08	Kyoko Inoue defeats Manami Toyota in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.
12/27	UWF International holds its last card at Korakuen Hall. The promotion closes because of financial problems.

1997

01/04	Jushin Thunder Liger defeats Ultimo Dragon in Tokyo to win octuple crown title.
01/17	Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue defeat Steve Williams & Johnny Ace in Matsumoto to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
01/20	WWWA World champion Kyoko Inoue defeats All Pacific and IWA World Women's champion Takako Inoue in Tokyo to win all three titles. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa defeat Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title on the same card.
	Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Kenta Kobashi in Osaka to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
04/12	Naoya Ogawa, former judo world heavyweight champion, defeats Shin'ya Hashimoto in a mixed martial arts match at Tokyo Dome. Also on the same card, Inoki defeats Tiger King (formerly known as the original Tiger Mask) in the first match between two.
05/11	Kyoko Inoue vacates WWWA World Title in Nagoya, being unsatisfied after a match against Kaoru Itoh ends as a 60min time limit draw.
05/27	Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace defeat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue in Sapporo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
06/06	Yuji Yasuraoka defeats octuple crown title holder Jushin Thunder Liger in Tokyo to win International Junior Heavyweight Title. Liger still holds the seven other titles.
06/17	Kyoko Inoue defeats Kaoru Itoh in Sapporo to win the vacant WWWA World Title.
06/18	Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita defeat Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa in Sapporo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
07/06	El Samurai defeats Jushin Thunder Liger in Sapporo to win septuple crown title.
07/25	Steve Williams & Gary Albright defeat Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace in Tokyo to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
08/10	Shinjiro Ohtani defeats El Samurai in Nagoya to win septuple crown title.
08/16	OBITUARY: Plum Mariko [brain injury suffered in a tag team match from previous day] - the first death caused by an accident during a match in Japan
08/20	Yumiko Hotta defeats Kyoko Inoue in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.
08/31	In Riki Choshu's retirement ceremony at Yokohama Arena, Akira Maeda appears on New Japan's ring for the first time in ten years. Also on the same card, Kensuke Sasaki defeats Shin'ya Hashimoto to win IWGP Heavyweight Title.
09/10	OBITUARY: Jack Adkisson / Fritz Von Erich (68) [Texas - cancer]
10/04	Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace defeat Steve Williams & Gary Albright in Nagoya to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
10/11	Rickson Gracie, the strongest of the Gracie Jiu-jitsu, defeats Nobuhiko Takada in a vale-tudo match at Tokyo Dome. Takada taps out at 4:47 in the first round.
11/05	WWF orders septuple crown champion Shinjiro Ohtani to vacate WWF World Light Heavyweight Title. Ohtani vacates all other titles except IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title.
12/07	TAKA Michinoku defeats Brian Christopher in a tournament final Springfield, MA to win the vacant WWF World Light Heavyweight Title.
12/21	UFC is held in Japan for the first time. Kazushi Sakuraba of Kingdom wins the heavyweight division by defeating Conan Silvera.

1998

01/04	Riki Choshu retires for the first time.
01/09	Johnny Smith & Wolf Hawkfield defeat Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori in Kagoshima to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
	Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vacate WWWA World Tag Team Title.
01/14	Tenryu defeats Nobukazu Araya in tournament final to become the first J1 heavyweight champion and is awareded the old Japanese Heavyweight Title belt originally held by Rikidozan.
01/20	OBITUARY: Bobo Brazil [heart problems]
01/25	Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue defeat Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace in Yokohama to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
03/21	Shinobu Kandori defeats Yumiko Hotta in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.
04/04	Inoki has retirement match, defeating Ultimate Fighting champion Don Frye, in front of the record-breaking crowd of 70,000 at the Tokyo Egg Dome. Muhammad Ali, Bob Backlund, Willem Ruska, Maeda, Tenryu, Hamaguchi, Killer Khan, and the first K-1 champion Andy Hug are in attendance for Inoki's retirement ceremony. Also on the same card, Inoki's first pupil Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Kensuke Sasaki, "Choshu's boy", to win IWGP Heavyweight Title for the sixth time.
04/12	ZAP I (Kaoru Itoh) & ZAP T (Tomoko Watanabe) defeat Takako Inoue & Kumiko Maekawa in Tokyo to win the vacant WWWA World Tag Team Title.
05/01	All Japan Pro-Wrestling holds a supercard at Tokyo Dome. In main event, Toshiaki Kawada defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace defeat Stan Hansen & Vader.
06/12	Kenta Kobashi defeats Toshiaki Kawada in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
07/01	OBITUARY: Toyonobori - one of the puroresu pioneers
08/08	Masahiro Chono defeats Tatsumi Fujinami in Osaka to win IWGP Heavyweight Title. On the same card, Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeat Koji Kanemoto & Dr. Wagner Jr. in 4-team round-robin tournament final to become the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team champions.
09/21	Masahiro Chono vacates IWGP Heavyweight Title after suffering a neck injury on 98/09/19 in Nagoya.
09/23	Scott Norton defeats Yuji Nagata in Yokohama to win the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title.
10/06	Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida defeat Johnny Smith & Wolf Hawkfield in Niigata to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
10/18	Christian Cage defeats TAKA Michinoku in Chicago to win WWF World Light Heavyweight Title.
10/24	Inoki's new organization, Universal Fighting-arts Organization, has the first card at Ryogoku Kokugikan with Naoya Ogawa defeating Don Frye in main event.
10/31	Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Kenta Kobashi in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
11/29	All Japan Women's has the 30th anniversary card at Yokohama Arena with Nagayo defeating Manami Toyota to defend AAAW Heavyweight Title. The organization also had the first induction ceremony of All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame.
12/26	In her retirement match, Jaguar Yokota loses to Devil Masami.
12/27	Cuty Suzuki retires.
12/30	OBITUARY: Sam Muchnick (93) - a long-time NWA president and St. Louis promoter

1999

01/04	New Japan has an annual Tokyo Dome card. Keiji Mutoh defeats Scott Norton in Tokyo to win IWGP Heavyweight Title. Kendo Ka Shin & Dr. Wagner Jr. defeat Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa in Tokyo to win IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title. In what seem to be a lot more significant, a match between Naoya Ogawa and Shin'ya Hashimoto match ends as a no-contest when Ogawa "shoots" on Hashimoto. Also, Atsushi Ohnita wrestles in a New Japan card for the first time only to get disqualified blowing fire into Sasaki's face.
01/07	Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama defeat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue in Kohchi to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
01/19	OBITUARY: Junzo Hasegawa / Yoshinosato (70) - wrestler, JWA president
01/22	Toshiaki Kawada defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Osaka to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
01/29	Toshiaki Kawada vacates Triple Crown Heavyweight Title after breaking his right arm in the title match on 99/01/22.
01/31	OBITUARY: Shohei "Giant" Baba (61)
02/13	Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki defeat Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida in Tokyo to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
02/20	Less than a month after his teacher's death, Tsuruta announces that his retirement ceremony is to be held on 03/06/99 at the Budokan. After his wrestling career, Tsuruta becomes a professor at the University of Portland.
02/21	Akira Maeda loses his retirement match against Alexander Kareline, who is known as the strongest fighter on the earth, at Yokohama Arena.
03/01	OBITUARY: Satoshi Hasegawa (22) - Pancrase wrestler [by falling out from his third floor apartment]
03/06	Vader defeats Akira Taue in Tokyo to win the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
03/10	Yumiko Hotta defeats Shinobu Kandori in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.
03/14	Naoya Ogawa defeats Dan Severn to win NWA World Heavyweight Title with Dory Funk Jr. as the special referee. Ogawa successfully defends the title for five occasions in the U.S. in June of the same year.
04/10	Jushin Thunder Liger & The Great Sasuke defeat Kendo Ka Shin & Dr. Wagner Jr. in Tokyo to win IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title.
05/02	Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Vader in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
05/07	All Japan announces the new board members after the death of the founder/president Giant Baba. Misawa becomes the new president, and Kawada and Mitsuo Momota are the vice presidents.
05/23	OBITUARY: Owen Hart (34) [Kansas City - failed stunt during a WWF PPV card] - former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion
06/04	Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama defeat Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki in Sapporo to win All Asia Tag Team Title.
06/09	Johnny Ace & Bart Gunn defeat Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama in Sendai to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
06/24	Tatsumi Fujinami is promoted to the president of New Japan.
07/10	Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita defeat ZAP I (Kaoru Itoh) & ZAP T (Tomoko Watanabe) in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
07/11	Kyoko Inoue defeats Yumiko Hotta in Tokyo to win WWWA World Title.
07/13	Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeat Jushin Thunder Liger & The Great Sasuke in Morioka to win IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title.
07/23	Takao Ohmori & Yoshihiro Takayama defeat Johnny Ace & Bart Gunn in Sendai to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
08/09	OBITUARY: Jackie Satoh (41) [stomoach cancer] - former WWWA World singles and tag team champion and one half of the legendary Beauty Pair
08/25	Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa defeat Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama in Hiroshima to win All Asia Tag Team Title. However, Misawa vacates the title after the match in order to give the chance to other wrestlers.
	Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa defeat Takao Ohmori & Yoshihiro Takayama in Hiroshima to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
09/25	Gary Steele wins a 3-way match against Naoya Ogawa and Brian Anthony in Charlotte, NC by pinning Anthony to win NWA World Heavyweight Title.
10/02	Naoya Ogawa defeats Gary Steele in Thomaston, CT to win NWA World Heavyweight Title.
10/11	Ogawa defends NWA World Heavyweight Title against Hashimoto by TKO.
10/22	Yumiko Hotta defeats Kyoko Inoue in Fukuoka to win WWWA World Title.
10/23	Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama defeat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa in Nagoya to win World Tag Team Title (All Japan).
10/25	Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue defeat Johnny Smith & Maunakea Mossman in 5-team round-robin tournament final in Nagaoka to win the vacant All Asia Tag Team Title.
10/30	Vader defeats Mitsuharu Misawa in Tokyo to win Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
11/27	OBITUARY: Hiro Matsuda (62) [Tampa, FL - colon cancer]
12/08	Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa defeat Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita in Tokyo to win WWWA World Tag Team Title.
12/10	Gen'ichiro Tenryu defeats Keiji Mutoh for IWGP Heavyweight Title in Osaka to become the first Japanese to hold the heavyweight titles of the two major organizations: All Japan's Triple Crown and New Japan's IWGP.

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