The (All) Asia Heavyweight Championship is a title contested in the Land's End Pro Wrestling promotion. The title was originally created and defended in Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) promotion.[1] When JWA shut down in 1973, the title went inactive until being reactivated in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1976 after New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced the creation of its own version of the title.[2] The NJPW title was retired in 1981, while the AJPW title was retired in 1995, following the retirement of final champion Kintaro Ohki.[2]
History[]
The championship was unveiled in November 1955 by Japan Wrestling Association during the JWA Championships tour. The title was created alongside the All Asia Tag Team Championship. On November 22, 1955 Rikidozan defeated King Kong in a tournament final to become the first champion. The title was later vacated after Rikidozan's death. Then a tournament was held in Seoul, South Korea to crown a new champion, which was won by South Korean wrestler Kintaro Ohki who defeated Buddy Austin to be crowned the new champion. Ohki made 23 successful title defenses until losing the championship to Canadian wrestler Bill Dromo.
The title became inactive on April 14, 1973, when the JWA closed the title was then in possession of Rikidozan family. The title was reactivated on March 26, 1976 by All Japan Pro Wrestling after New Japan Pro Wrestling announces the creation of its own version of the title. The title during Giant Baba's reign was also simultaneously defended alongside the PWF Heavyweight Championship. New Japan Pro Wrestling's version was retired on May 21, 1981. The title was then abandoned on February 4, 1995 after reigning champion Kintaro Ohki, who had not wrestled in nearly a decade, officially retired and the title was abandoned.
On December 15, 2017, the Land's End Pro Wrestling promotion announced that it had gotten the blessing of PWF chairman Dory Funk Jr. and Mitsuo Momota, the son of inaugural champion Rikidozan, to revive the Asia Heavyweight Championship with a tournament to crown the new champion set to take place in South Korea on January 21, 2018.[3] This also led to a new design of the championship. The tournament was won by Ryoji Sai who defeated The Bodyguard in the finals of an eight-man tournament.
Inaugural championship tournament (1955)[]
| Wrestlers | Score |
|---|---|
| Rikidozan | 4.0 |
| King Kong Czaya | 2.5 |
| Dara Singh | 2.5 |
| Tiger Joginder Singh | 0.0 |
| Syed Saif Shah | 0.0 |
| Results | D. Singh | Czaya | Shah | T. Singh | Rikidozan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D. Singh | X | Draw | D. Singh | D. Singh | Rikdozan |
| Czaya | Draw | X | Czaya | Czaya | Note 1[note 1] |
| Shah | D. Singh | Czaya | X | T. Singh | Rikdozan |
| T. Singh | D. Singh | Czaya | T. Singh | X | Rikidozan |
| Rikidozan | Rikdozan | Note 1[note 1] | Rikidozan | Rikidozan | X |
| Final | ||||
| 1 | Rikidozan | KO | ||
| 2 | King Kong Czaya | 90:50 | ||
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 King Kong Czaya and Rikidozan recieved a bye into the finals.
Championship revival tournament (2018)[]
| First round (January 21) | Semifinals (January 21) | Final (January 21) | ||||||||||||
| The Bodyguard | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Dr.monz Jr. | 6:45 | |||||||||||||
| The Bodyguard | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Dolgorsuren Belingen | 0:59 | |||||||||||||
| Ahn Jae-hong | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Dolgorsuren Belingen | 04:24 | |||||||||||||
| The Bodyguard | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Ryoji Sai | 19:23 | |||||||||||||
| Uncle | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Masashi Takeda | 7:53 | |||||||||||||
| Masashi Takeda | KO | |||||||||||||
| Ryoji Sai | 13:20 | |||||||||||||
| Ryoji Sai | Pin | |||||||||||||
| RYO | 9:53 | |||||||||||||
Title History[]
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Location | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rikidozan | 1 | November 22, 1955 | Tokyo, Japan | 2,945
Days |
Defeated King Kong in a tournament final to become the first champion. |
| — | Vacated | — | December 15, 1963 | N/A | N/A | Title vacated when Rikidozan died. |
| 2 | Kintaro Ohki | 1 | November 9, 1968 | Seoul, South Korea | 1,209
Days |
Defeated Buddy Austin to win the vacant title. |
| 3 | Bill Dromo | 1 | January 15, 1971 | Tokuyama, Japan | 18 Days | |
| 4 | Kintaro Ohki | 2 | February 2, 1971 | Hiroshima, Japan | 2,061 Days | The title became inactive on April 14, 1973, when the JWA closed and was reactivated on March 26, 1976 New Japan Pro Wrestling announces the creation of its own version of the title. |
| — | Vacated | — | September 24, 1976 | N/A | N/A | Title held up after a match against Waldo Von Erich in Omiya, Japan. |
| 5 | Kintaro Ohki | 3 | October 21, 1976 | Fukushima, Japan | 373 Days | Defeated Waldo Von Erich in a rematch to win the held up title. |
| 6 | Giant Baba | 1 | October 29, 1977 | Kuroiso, Japan | 1,262 Days | Already held the PWF Heavyweight Championship, so both titles may have been defended simultaneously, or not at all. |
| — | Vacated | — | April 13, 1981 | N/A | — | He may have never defended the title and New Japan Pro Wrestling version is retired on May 21, 1981. |
| 7 | Kintaro Ohki | 4 | 1981 | South Korea | ? Days | |
| — | Title Abandoned | — | February 4, 1995 | N/A | N/A | Ohki, who had not wrestled in nearly a decade, officially retired and the title was abandoned. |
| 8 | Ryoji Sai | 1 | January 21, 2018 | Seoul, South Korea | 189 Days | Defeated The Bodyguard in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| 9 | The Bodyguard | 1 | July 29, 2018 | Osaka, Japan | 182 Days | |
| 9 | Kim Nam Seok | 1 | January 27, 2019 | Seoul, South Korea | 2302+ |
