Champion Carnival

The Champion Carnival (チャンピオン・カーニバル) is a tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname Haru no Saiten (春の祭典) and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since 1973 and is the longest-running singles tournament in puroresu, while also ranking as the most prestigious event in the AJPW calendar. It is considered a successor to the World League, held by Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) between 1959 and 1972, predating the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Climax tournament by a year.

The tournament is held in a round-robin format, where all participating wrestlers face each other once with the winner being awarded two points and the loser none. A draw results in both wrestlers being awarded a point. After all wrestlers have faced each other once, the top two wrestlers advance to the finals to determine the tournament winner.

Baba himself holds the record for most wins, having won the tournament seven times. Other notable winners include Abdullah the Butcher, Jumbo Tsuruta, Keiji Mutoh, Mitsuharu Misawa, Stan Hansen and Toshiaki Kawada. Three wrestlers have won both the and the G1 Climax; Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata.

History
From 1959 to 1972, the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), run by Rikidozan, held a tournament called World League (also known as the "World Big League"), which featured both Japanese and foreign professional wrestlers. Rikidōzan himself dominated the annual tournament early on, however, after his death in 1963, the tournament was won six times by Giant Baba and once by Antonio Inoki. JWA folded shortly after both Baba and Inoki left the promotion to create All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), respectively. Both men took the concept of World League with them to their new promotions, with Baba creating the "" in 1973 and Inoki creating the World League in 1974, later renaming it G1 Climax.

The first took place only six months after Baba had founded AJPW. The initial tournament was held in a single-elimination format and was intended for AJPW's heavyweight wrestlers such as Hiro Matsuda, Samson Kutsuwada and Thunder Sugiyama. For the tournament, Baba also recruited several foreign wrestlers, such as Baron Scicluna, The Destroyer, King Curtis Iaukea and Mark Lewin. Baba himself won the inaugural tournament, defeating Lewin in the finals. A year later, AJPW presented the second, which most notably introduced former Olympian Jumbo Tsuruta, who eventually went on to become one of the promotion's top names. Baba also won the second, this time defeating Mr. Wrestling in the finals. Heading into the 1975, Baba changed the tournament's format. Now the four wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the single-elimination tournament were put into a round-robin tournament, where the wrestler with the best record would be declared the winner. Baba went on to win the tournament for the third year in a row, defeating Gene Kiniski in the finals. A year later, the single-elimination portion of the tournament was eliminated and the was changed to a pure round-robin tournament, a format it holds to this day. The 1976 tournament was the first not won by Baba. It was instead won by Canadian Abdullah the Butcher, who defeated Baba in the finals. Baba went on to win the tournament four more times, winning a total of seven out of the ten first s. In early 1980s, AJPW loaded the with some of the top foreign wrestlers in the world, including Billy Robinson, Bruiser Brody, Dick Slater, Jack Brisco, Stan Hansen, Ted DiBiase and Terry Funk. However, after rival promotion NJPW took over as the number one promotion in Japan with a record-breaking business streak, AJPW decided to put the on hiatus, not wanting the tournament to be overshadowed by their competitors. The hiatus lasted from 1983 to 1991.

In 1991, AJPW had overtaken NJPW and was again the top promotion in Japan, boasting a roster of top foreign wrestlers mixed with top Japanese wrestlers. The 1991 tournament showcased several younger wrestlers, including Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada, who bypassed the promotion's aging veterans and went on to become the promotion's cornerstones for the next decade. However, despite the emergence of the younger wrestlers and the participation of foreign wrestlers such as Doug Furnas, The Dynamite Kid, Johnny Ace, Johnny Smith and Mick Foley, the 1991 tournament was won by an AJPW veteran Jumbo Tsuruta, who defeated Stan Hansen in the finals. The 1992 tournament was booked around the storyline of the "rookies" challenging the veterans for AJPW supremacy. Stan Hansen went on to win his first, defeating Mitsuharu Misawa in the finals. Despite losing in the finals, the tournament made Misawa a star, someone earmarked to occupy the promotion's top spot. A year later, Hansen again defeated Misawa in the finals. The 1993 tournament was also noteworthy for introducing rookie Jun Akiyama. In 1994, Toshiaki Kawada became the first of the "young lions" to win the, defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in the finals in a match that has been called "arguably the greatest Carnival tournament match of all time". For the next several years the tournament was dominated by AJPW's younger wrestlers with Kawada repeating his win, Mitsuharu Misawa winning two tournaments and Kenta Kobashi one tournament. The 1997 tournament ended in a rare three-way draw between Kawada, Kobashi and Misawa, resulting in a round-robin playoff between the three, where Kawada emerged victorious.

On January 31, 1999, Giant Baba died, leaving the promotion in the hands of Mitsuharu Misawa. The 1999 was the first one not booked by Baba. As the new booker, Misawa made a controversial decision to leave Stan Hansen out of the tournament, while giving Vader the win in the finals over Kenta Kobashi. Problems between Misawa and Giant Baba's widow Motoko Baba led to Misawa exiting AJPW in 2000, taking 26 out of the 28 Japanese AJPW wrestlers with him to form the new Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion. Struggling to cope with the loss of the majority of its roster, AJPW eventually hired NJPW wrestler Keiji Mutoh to lead the promotion. Mutoh went on to win the three times (2002, 2004 and 2007), before leaving the promotion in 2013, after which he was replaced by Jun Akiyama.

In recent years, several outsiders have won the tournament, with freelancer Minoru Suzuki winning it in 2009 and 2010, NJPW representative Yuji Nagata winning it in 2011, and Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) representative Daisuke Sekimoto winning it in 2016. 2013 saw Jun Akiyama finally win his first, twenty years after his debut appearance in the tournament.

1973
The inaugural in 1973 was a 15-man single-elimination tournament, held from March 17 to April 21. Giant Baba, as a result of his position as PWF Heavyweight Champion, was given a bye to the quarterfinals.

1 This was a two out of three falls match, which Baba won 2-1, with all three falls being decided via pinfall.

1974
The 1974, held from April 13 to May 14, was another 15-man single-elimination tournament, with the PWF Heavyweight Champion, Giant Baba, being granted another bye to the quarterfinals.

1 This was a two out of three falls match, which Baba won 2-1, with all three falls being decided via pinfall.

1975
The 1975, held from April 5 to May 3, strayed slightly from the previous formula; it featured the usual single-elimination tournament, but one in which the four finalists would advance to a round-robin, the two top scorers of which would face off in the finals to decide the champion. Mr. Wrestling & Samson Kutsuwada received byes to the second round. Points awarded for the round-robin portion were 1 for a win, and 0 for a loss or draw.

1 For detailed results, see below. 2 This was a two out of three falls match, which Baba won 2-1, with all three falls being decided via pinfall.

Round-robin results

1976
The 1976, held from April 2 to May 8, was a 14-man round-robin tournament, in which the two top scorers would advance to the final match to decide the champion. It introduced the modern round-robin points system, featuring two points for a victory, one for draws, and zero for a loss. Reigning NWA International champion Kintaro Ohki participated as a representative of his home promotion in South Korea.

1977
The 1977, held from April 8 to May 16, was identical in format to the previous year, but with 15 entrants instead of 14. As a result of a tie for second place, there was also a semifinal playoff between Giant Baba and Abdullah the Butcher.

1978
The 1978 was another round-robin tournament featuring 15 entrants, held from March 4 to April 7.

1980
The 1980 was a 13-man tournament, held from March 28 to May 1.

1981
The 1981 was a 14-man tournament held from March 27 to April 23.

1982
The 1982 was an 18-man tournament, which, unlike previous years, featured no final; the man with the most points at the end of the league would be the winner. It was held from March 19 to April 16.

1991
The 1991 introduced the modern "dual-block" system, with seven wrestlers in two separate leagues, and the winners of each facing off in the final. It was held from March 23 to April 16. With his victory, Jumbo Tsuruta became the first man to not lose a single match in a round-robin style.

1992
The 1992 was another two-block round-robin tournament, this time with 10 wrestlers in each block. It was held from March 20 to April 17. Stan Hansen repeated Jumbo Tsuruta's feat the previous year, winning every match he participated in.

1993
The 1993 returned to the single-block round-robin format, this time with 13 men. It was held from March 25 to April 21.

1994
The 1994 was another single-block round-robin tournament, featuring 12 men. It was held from March 19 to April 16.

1995
The 1995 contained 11 men, and was held from March 21 to April 15.

1996
The 1996 contained 12 men, and was held from March 22 to April 20. It contained the longest decisive match in the tournament's history, with Toshiaki Kawada defeating Kenta Kobashi in 29:38, just 22 seconds shy of the time limit.

1997
The 1997 contained 13 men, and was held from March 22 to April 19. Due to a three-way tie for first place between Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa, a one-night round-robin playoff was contested among them, with the winner claiming the tournament.

Playoff

1998
The 1998 also contained 13 men, and was held from March 21 to April 18.

1999
The 1999 was a 10-man tournament, held from March 26 to April 16. The eventual winner, Vader, became the first man since the tournament's creation to win in his first attempt.

2000
The 2000 was a 16-man single-elimination tournament, the first to strictly use such a format since 1974, and was held from March 24 to April 15. It was the last Carnival before nearly all of AJPW's roster, including Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Mitsuharu Misawa and Akira Taue, left to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. It also featured the shortest match in the tournament's history, with Takao Omori defeating Akiyama in seven seconds in the first round.

2001
The 2001 returned to the round-robin format, with 10 men competing; it was held from March 23 to April 11. The winner, Genichiro Tenryu, made his first appearance in the tournament since 1982. This was also the last Carnival to use a single-block round-robin system, as all subsequent tournaments have used the dual-block formula.

2002
The 2002, held from March 23 to April 10, re-introduced the dual-block round-robin format used in 1991 and 1992, this time with 7 men in each block; the top two scorers in each would advance to a four-man tournament, with Block A's first place finalist facing Block B's runner-up, and vice versa, and the winners wrestling in the final. Ironically, both block winners, Satoshi Kojima and Genichiro Tenryu, were eliminated in the semifinals. Despite the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship being vacant as a result of Toshiaki Kawada injuring his knee after his match against Arashi (thereby forfeiting all his other scheduled matches), All Japan decided not to use the tournament to fill the vacancy, citing the time limit for tournament matches (30 minutes as opposed to 60 in championship bouts).

The winner, Keiji Mutoh, became the first man in history to win both the and the G1 Climax, as well as the second man (after Vader) to win the Carnival in his first appearance.

2003
The 2003 was a 10-man single-elimination tournament, held from March 22 to March 28. Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, George Hines, Johnny Smith, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya received byes to the quarterfinals, leaving Yoji Anjo, Gigantes, The Gladiator and Big John Tenta to fight in the first round. Reigning Triple Crown champion Shinya Hashimoto did not participate, citing prior commitments to his Pro Wrestling ZERO1 promotion.

2004
The 2004 was a round-robin tournament, featuring five men in each block. It was held from April 10 to April 20.

2005
The 2005 was identical to that of 2004, but with six men in each block instead of five. It was held from April 9 to April 20. In a situation similar to the 2002 tournament, neither block winner, Toshiaki Kawada or Satoshi Kojima, were able to make it to the finals, instead losing to runners-up Jamal and, the eventual winner, Kensuke Sasaki.

2006
The 2006 was another 12-man, two-block round-robin tournament, held from April 7 to April 20.

2007
The 2007 was a 10-man, two-block round-robin tournament. Its schedule was somewhat unique, having been contested over five straight shows at Korakuen Hall, from March 26 to March 30. It also strayed from the usual formula of the four top scorers advancing to the semifinals; instead, the two block winners simply wrestled in the final to determine the champion. The eventual winner, Keiji Mutoh, became only the second person in history to win the Carnival three times, along with Giant Baba.

2008
The 2008 was held from April 5 to April 9 over five shows, and featured the following participants.

2009
The 2009 was held from April 5 to April 12 over six shows, and featured the following participants.

2010
The 2010 was a 10-man, two-block round-robin tournament held over seven events from April 3 to April 11.

2011
The 2011 was a 12-man, two-block round-robin tournament held over five events from April 8 to April 13. KENSO suffered an injury and was forced to drop out of the tournament after his first match, forfeiting the rest of his matches.

2012
The 2012 was a 14-man, two-block round-robin tournament held over twelve events from April 21 to May 7. Yutaka Yoshie suffered an injury and was forced to drop out of the tournament after his second match, forfeiting the rest of his matches. Takumi Soya was injured after his fifth match and also pulled out of the tournament, forfeiting his final match. Reigning Triple Crown champion Jun Akiyama did not participate due to prior commitments with Pro Wrestling NOAH, his home promotion at the time.

2013
The 2013 was a 12-man, two-block round-robin tournament held over eight events from April 18 to April 29.

2014
The 2014 was a 12-man, two-block round-robin tournament held over nine events from April 13 to April 27. Reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Akebono, who was leading his block at the time, was forced to pull out of the tournament on April 22 after being hospitalized with poor health, forfeiting his last two matches. (The title was eventually declared vacant on May 30, after the tournament was over.) On April 25 it was announced that Go Shiozaki had also withdrawn from the tournament due to a broken thumb, and forfeited his final match against Jun Akiyama.

2015
The 2015 was a 12-man, two-block round-robin tournament that took place over ten events from April 5 to April 25.

2016
The 2016 was a 14-man, two-block round-robin tournament that took place over four events from April 9 to April 17. Joe Doering was scheduled to take part in the tournament, but was forced to pull out after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was replaced by Atsushi Aoki. On April 20 it was announced that Hideoyoshi Kamitani injuried himself during a match against Zeus and he forfeited all of his matches.

2017
The 2017 Champion Carnival was a 14-man, two-block round-robin tournament that will take place over eleven events from April 16 to April 30. The tournament feature outside participation from freelancers KAI and Shuji Ishikawa, from Big Japan Pro Wrestling Daichi Hashimoto and Daisuke Sekimoto and from Land's End Pro Wrestling Ryoji Sai and from Kaientai Dojo Kengo Mashimo.

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