Big Japan Pro Wrestling

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (大日本プロレス, Dai Nihon Puroresu) (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling
AcronymBJW
FoundedMarch 16, 1995
StyleDeathmatch
Strong style
HeadquartersYokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Founder(s)Shinya "Great" Kojika
Kendo Nagasaki
Owner(s)Eiji Tosaka

History

Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, during the boom period for Deathmatch wrestling in Japan. Kendo Nagasaki left in 1999; Shinya Kojika is still president of the company to date.

The promotion followed in the footsteps of organizations such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING), and the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan), who helped popularise a hard-hitting, violent and bloody style of wrestling known as the Deathmatch, or in more recent years, "hardcore" wrestling. These matches are usually weapon filled, using both "conventional" weapons (such as chairs and tables), as well as "extreme" weapons not usually seen in mainstream wrestling, and previously unused in wrestling at all. These weapons include but are by no means limited to, nails, thumbtacks, fire, and fluorescent light tubes. Barbed wire is also often used liberally in these matches, sometimes wrapped around other weapons, laid on the floor surrounding the ring, wrapped around the ring ropes, or even replacing the ropes altogether. In its early years, BJW was unable to directly compete with the budgets of its competition. This led to the innovation of several unique gimmick matches, many of which helped hide its monetary shortcomings. These include:

Steel cage deathmatch with 200 fluorescent light tubes – Ryuji Ito vs. Yuko Miyamoto at BJW 15th Anniversary Show ~Death & Crazy That's The Way Of The BJ-World~ on May 4, 2010[1]
"Razor Blade Cross Board" – Six Man Tag Team Barbed Wire Razor Blade Death Match (Jun Kasai & D. J. Hyde & Nick Gage vs Jaki Numazawa & Isami Kodaka & Masashi Takeda) at BJW 15th Anniversary Show ~Death & Crazy That's The Way Of The BJ-World~ on May 4, 2010[1]
  • Circus Deathmatch - above the ring is a scaffold and under that scaffold, there is a type of circus net made of barbed wire. When a wrestler falls off the scaffold the barbed wire spider net is there to "catch" the wrestlers. After a wrestler, or a team of wrestlers, has been thrown into the net it is cut down and the match continues to a pinfall.
  • Piranha Deathmatch - Barbed wire boards are placed in the corners. In the middle of the ring, there is a tank full of Piranhas. To win you must hold your opponent in the tank for ten seconds.
  • Scorpion Deathmatch- This match is similar to the Piranha Deathmatch, but with cacti replacing barbed wire boards and a tank full of scorpions rather than piranhas.
  • Crocodile Deathmatch - Two wrestlers compete in a non-specific death match. The loser of the match must then go on to wrestle a crocodile. This type of match has only been performed once, between Shadow WX & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga.
  • Fire Stone Deathmatch - Electrified space heaters wrapped in barbed wire surround the ring both outside and inside, and the match is won by pinfall.
  • Big Japan W*ING Crisis Big Born Deathmatch (also known as "Crisis Big Born Deathmatch") - A match that combines several different deathmatch types. The match begins on a scaffold above a barbed wire net over a ring. The ring itself is surrounded by cacti, fire stones (electric space heaters wrapped in barbed wire), and dry ice. Thumbtacks are scattered in the ring. In the middle of the ring is a tank of scorpions. Various weapons including light bulbs, light tubes, baseball bats, drills, buzzsaws, and swords are permitted. The match is fought with all members of two teams active at the same time under hardcore street fight rules. When all the wrestlers have fallen into the barbed wire net, the next phase of the match begins. The barbed wire net is removed and the match continues. Wrestlers leave and win the match by submission, by having their head put in the scorpion tank for ten seconds, or by passing out.
  • "Ancient Way" Death Match - Both fighters wrap their hands in hemp rope, which is then coated in honey and dipped in broken glass to make them deadly weapons.

Away from the Deathmatches, BJW also has had well-established normal wrestling titles. On February 3, 1998, Yoshihiro Tajiri won a one-night-only 8-man tournament in Tokyo to crown BJW's first World Junior Heavyweight Champion. This match showed a distinct departure from the violent matches BJW is known for. The company also has had a World Heavyweight Championship, a World Women's Championship, a World Tag Team Championship, and a World 4-Man Tag Team Shuffle Championship. Although the World Tag Team and Deathmatch, titles are the only ones still active.

Currently, the BJW roster is split into "Deathmatch BJ", "Strong BJ" and "Strong J". The deathmatch workers wrestle for the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship, the non-deathmatch heavyweight workers for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship, and the junior heavyweight workers for the BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling Core

Big Japan Pro Wrestling Core (BJW Core) is a video-on-demand service owned by Big Japan Pro Wrestling. In November 2017, BJW announced "Big Japan Pro Wrestling Core", a new worldwide video-on-demand site for the promotion's events. The service features matches from the promotion's archives, dating back to 1995. The service has a current monthly subscription price of ¥888. In December 2018, BJW announced that the service would shut down at the end of the year, with plans to relaunch in February 2019 using a new service provider.[2][3] The service was then reactivated.

Working relationships

Big Japan has had interpromotional feuds with both New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). These were both kayfabe feuds that were done to generate more income for both companies. During late 1996 and early 1997, BJW agreed with NJPW. Being a relatively new promotion, BJW needed mainstream publicity. NJPW agreed to a feud, which would allow Big Japan wrestlers to appear in their company and use New Japan's popularity to give exposure to their company. In return, Big Japan agreed to lose the feud and the majority of the interpromotional matches, therefore strengthening the New Japan brand. The situation provided an interesting clash of wrestling styles, as NJPW often favored a strong style of competition. The two promotions held Wrestling World 1997, the biggest event during the interpromotional feud and the fifth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show. In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, BJW competed against CZW. CZW was a relatively new American promotion at the time, and also largely focused on an extreme style of wrestling. Wrestlers feuded in both companies having matches in the United States and Japan. During the CZW feud, top star Tomoaki Honma departed the company to become a freelancer.

In 2008, BJW entered into a working relationship with Chikara. In October 2008, several BJW wrestlers went to America and faced Chikara in The Global Gauntlet. BJW did well, winning the best of five series on night one, but narrowly lost the Global Gauntlet match on the second night. In 2009, BJW hosted Chikara's inaugural Japanese tour.

In 2011, BJW established a three-way working relationship with CZW and German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), which led to the creation of the World Triangle League tournament. The working relationship ended in 2015.

BJW has also had a long working relationship with the Union Pro Wrestling promotion, which has included BJW workers holding titles in Union Pro and vice versa. The relationship ended in 2014 when UPW shut down.

Roster

Deathmatch BJ

Ring name Real name Notes
Abdullah Kobayashi Yōsuke Kobayashi
Drew Parker Drew Parker
Jaki Numazawa Naoki Numazawa
Kankuro Hoshino Naotake Hoshino
Masaya Takahashi Masaya Takahashi
Ryuji Ito Ryuji Ito
Yuki Ishikawa Yuki Ishikawa BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion

Strong BJ

Ring name Real name Notes
Daichi Hashimoto Daichi Hashimoto Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champion
Daisuke Sekimoto Daisuke Sekimoto
Hideyoshi Kamitani Hideyoshi Kamitani
Kazumi Kikuta Kazumi Kikuta
Ryota Hama Ryota Hama
Ryuichi Kawakami Ryuichi Kawakami
Takuya Nomura Takuya Nomura BJW Tag Team Champion
Takuho Katoh Takuho Katoh
Yasufumi Nakanoue Yasufumi Nakanoue Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champion
Yuichi Taniguchi Yuichi Taniguchi
Yuji Okabayashi Yuji Okabayashi
Yuya Aoki Yuya Aoki BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion

Strong J

Ring name Real name Notes
Kazuki Hashimoto Kazuki Hashimoto
Kota Sekifuda Kota Sekifuda
Takaaki Sato Takaaki Sato
Tatsuhiko Yoshino Tatsuhiko Kimura
Tomato Kaji Tomato Kaji BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion
Yuki Morihiro Masaki Morihiro Referee

Freelancers

Ring name Real name Notes
Brahman Kei Kei Sato
Brahman Shu Shu Sato
Daiki Shimomura Unknown
Hercules Senga Tatsuhito Senga
Isami Kodaka Isami Kodaka Basara
Kohei Sato Kohei Sato
Koju Takeda Koju Takeda
Fuminori Abe Fuminori Abe Basara
BJW Tag Team Champion
Masashi Takeda Masashi Takeda
Minoru Fujita Minoru Fujita
Quiet Storm Unknown
Ocra Uto Yoshihisa Uto
Ryuichi Sekine Ryuichi Sekine Basara
Shinobu Shinobu Sugawara 666
Shunma Katsumata Shunma Katsumata DDT Pro-Wrestling
Takayuki Ueki Takayuki Ueki
Takumi Tsukamoto Takumi Tsukamoto Basara
Toshiyuki Sakuda Toshiyuki Sakuda
Tsutomu Oosugi Tsutomu Oosugi
Yuko Miyamoto Yuko Miyamoto 666
Yusuke Kodama Yusuke Kodama

Staff

Ring name Real name Notes
Daikokubo Benkei Kazumi Kotani Retired wrestler
Eiji Tosaka Eiji Tosaka Announcer
Owner
Frank Atsushi Atsushi Ohashi Referee
Great Kojika Shinya Kojika Chairman
Occasional wrestler
Mac Takeda Hiroki Takeda Referee
Ryohei Nakatani Ryohei Nakatani Referee
Ryuji Yamakawa Seiji Yamakawa Retired wrestler
Makes occasional appearances
Yuji Kumawaka Yuji Kumawaka Announcer
Yuji Shindo Yuji Shindo Announcer

Notable alumni/guests

Male

Female

CZW Warriors (2000–2002)

A derivation of this stable also appeared in Fire Pro Wrestling Returns as the Mad Gaijins, which consisted of Mad Man Pondo and 2 Tuff Tony.

Championships

As of October 25, 2023.

Current

This is a list of championships promoted by the company. Some of them are not created by it.

ChampionshipCurrent champion(s)ReignDate wonDays heldLocationNotes
BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship Yuki Ishikawa 1 July 16, 2023 101+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Abdullah Kobayashi at BJW.
BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship Yuya Aoki 1 May 4, 2023 174+ Yokohama, Japan Defeated Yuji Okabayashi at BJW Endless Survivor ~ Infinity Independent.
BJW Tag Team Championship
Astronauts
(Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura)
3
(3, 3)
May 5, 2022 538+ Yokohama, Japan Defeated Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi) at BJW Big Japan Welcome Back.
BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship Tomato Kaji 1 May 4, 2023 174+ Yokohama, Japan Defeated Kota Sekifuda at BJW Endless Survivor ~ Infinity Independent.
Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship

Project Havoc
(Leyton Buzzard, Tempesta and Tyson Maddux)
1
(1, 1, 1)
October 14, 2023 11+ Yokohama, Japan Defeated Daichi Hashimoto, Kazumasa Yoshida and Yasufumi Nakanoue at BJW Shopping Street Wrestling 2023 Series ~ New Chapter Begins Round 7.

Defunct

Championship Final champion(s) Date won
BJW Heavyweight Championship Men's Teioh September 5, 2004
BJW Women's Championship[4] Kaori Yoneyama January 2, 2003
BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1998–2002) Homicide November 15, 2002
BJW 8-Man Scramble Championship Kiyoko Ichiki May 14, 2000

Former

Championship Last champion(s) Date won
FMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship Saburo Inematsu & Ryuichi Sekine April 12, 2015
Sakatako Intercontinental Tag Team Championship Abdullah Kobayashi & Takayuki Ueki October 2, 2016

Tournaments

BJW also holds annual tournaments to decide the top wrestler or tag team in the promotion:

Tournament Latest winner(s) Date won
Ikkitousen Strong ClimbDaichi HashimotoApril 26, 2020
Ikkitousen Deathmatch SurvivorIsami KodakaApril 14, 2019
Saikyo Tag LeagueDaichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi KamitaniOctober 20, 2020

Broadcasters

Domestic:

Worldwide:

  • BJW Core

See also

References

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