World Big League

The World Big League, also known as World League was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance from 1959 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year.

Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant since its beginning to be a world tournament. It had been one of the most important pro-wrestling tournament of its time, because it was one of the very few (and for some years after its creation the only) pro-wrestling tournaments of its time to be considered representative of the entire pro-wrestling world.

In 1970 JWA created a tag team counterpart of the World Big League, known as World Tag League.

Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create in their respective promotions, New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Climax for the NJPW and the Champion Carnival for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World League.

Tournament history
In the early 1950s, wrestling got popularity mainly from street television, from the background that many Japanese were recruiting a sense of inferiority to the West in the postwar period, and Rikidōzan was defeating one American wrestler after another. This was shortly after World War II, and the Japanese needed someone who could stand up to the Americans. Rikidōzan thus became immensely popular in Japan. However, in the latter half of the 1950s, popularity gradually fell and it was forced to enter the recession.

In 1957 Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance signed a contract with Nippon Television to carry out the regular broadcast. At the same time, he began to invite Lou Thesz. On October 7th and October 13th the same year, Rikidōzan wrestled Lou Thesz in a sixty-minute draw for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match was a great suscess, having many spectators and drew an 87.0 rating in the top ten television programs of all time in Japan.

This led later the creation of the World League bringing wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant since its beginning to be a world tournament. It had been one of the most important pro-wrestling tournament of its time. The format of the tournament was a round robin tournament in the past the japanese wrestlers were in one block and the gaijins.

This format was later adopted by JDStar wrestling at the League Princess and JWP Joshi Puroresu at their Open Class Challenge League, etc.

Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create in their respective promotions, New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, tournaments which were presented as the direct followers to the JWA World League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Climax for the NJPW and the Champion Carnival for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World League.