All Asia Heavyweight Championship

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All Asia Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion
Date establishedNovember 22, 1955
Current champion(s)So Daimonji
Date wonJune 6, 2023
Other name(s)
Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) All Asia Heavyweight Championship
Asia Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Rikidōzan
Longest reignKintarō Ōki (fourth reign, 5,023 days)
Shortest reignBill Dromo (first reign, 18 days)

The All Asia Heavyweight Championship (Japanese: オールアジアヘビー級王座, Hepburn: Ōru Ajia Hebī-kyū Ōza) is a title owned and promoted by the Pro Wrestling Land's End promotion. The title was originally created in 1955 in Japan Wrestling Association (JWA), with the inaugural champion crowned on November 22, 1955.[1] Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won as a result of a match with a predetermined outcome. The current champion is So Daimonji, who is in his first reign.

History[edit]

This title was contested for originally in JWA where it was known as the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) All Asia Heavyweight Championship or All Asia Heavyweight Championship for short. 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 Kintarō Ōki.[2]

On December 15, 2017, the Pro Wrestling Land's End promotion announced that it had gotten the blessing of Pacific Wrestling Federation chairman Dory Funk Jr. and Mitsuo Momota, the son of inaugural champion Rikidōzan, 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 name[4] and a new design of the championship. The tournament was won by Ryoji Sai who defeated Bodyguard in the finals of an eight-man tournament.[4]

Inaugural championship tournament (1955)[edit]

Final standings
Rikidōzan 4.0
King Kong Czaya 2.5
Dara Singh 2.5
Tiger Joginder Singh 1.0
Syed Saif Shah 0.0
Dara Czaya Shah Tiger Rikidōzan
Dara S. Draw Dara S Dara S Rikidōzan
Czaya Draw Czaya Czaya Bye[note 1]
Shah Dara S Czaya Tiger J Rikidōzan
Tiger J. Dara S Czaya Tiger J Rikidōzan
Rikidōzan Rikidōzan Bye[note 1] Rikidōzan Rikidōzan
Final
   
1 Rikidōzan KO
2 King Kong Czaya 90:50[5]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b King Kong Czaya and Rikidōzan received a bye into the finals.

Championship revival tournament (2018)[edit]

First round
(January 21)
Semifinals
(January 21)
Final
(January 21)
         
Bodyguard Pin
Dr. MONZ Jr. 6:45[4]
Bodyguard Sub
Dolgorsuren Beringon 0:59[4]
Yun Boy-ik Pin
Dolgorsuren Beringon 04:24[4]
Bodyguard Pin
Ryoji Sai 19:23[4]
Uncle Pin
Masashi Takeda 7:53[4]
Masashi Takeda KO
Ryoji Sai 13:20[4]
Ryoji Sai Pin
Che Yon 9:53[4]

Reigns[edit]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance
1 Rikidōzan November 22, 1955 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 2,945 Defeated King Kong Czaya in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. [2]
Vacated December 15, 1963 Title vacated when Rikidōzan died. [2]
2 Kintarō Ōki November 9, 1968 House show Seoul, South Korea 1 797 Defeated Buddy Austin to win the vacant title. [2]
3 Bill Dromo January 15, 1971 House show Tokuyama, Japan 1 18 [2][6]
4 Kintarō Ōki February 2, 1971 House show Hiroshima, Japan 2 2,061 The title became inactive on April 14, 1973, when the JWA closed, and was reactivated on March 26, 1976, after New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the creation of its own version of the title. [2]
Vacated September 24, 1976 Title held up after match against Waldo Von Erich in Omiya, Japan. [2]
All Japan Pro Wrestling
5 Kintarō Ōki October 21, 1976 House show Fukushima, Japan 3 373 Defeated Waldo Von Erich in a rematch to win the held up title. [2]
6 Giant Baba October 29, 1977 House show Kuroiso, Japan 1 1,251 Already held the PWF Heavyweight Championship, so both titles may have been defended simultaneously, or not at all. [2][7]
Vacated April 13, 1981 Championship vacated for undocumented reasons.
The NJPW version of the title is retired on May 21, 1981.
[2]
South Korea
7 Kintarō Ōki May 5, 1981 House show South Korea 4 5,023 While not being defended for nearly a decade the championship was not officially retired until Ohki officially retired. [2][8]
Deactivated February 4, 1995 Title abandoned. [8]
Pro Wrestling Land's End
8 Ryoji Sai January 21, 2018 House show Seoul, South Korea 1 189 Defeated Bodyguard in a tournament final to win the vacant title. [2][8]
9 Bodyguard July 29, 2018 Summer Action Series 2018 Osaka, Japan 1 182 This was an All Japan Pro Wrestling event. [2][8]
10 Kim Nam-seok January 27, 2019 House show Seoul, South Korea 1 467 [2][8]
Vacated May 8, 2023 Title vacated because Kim was not able to enter Japan to defend the title due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [9]
11 So Daimonji June 6, 2023 Yokohama Fukushimania Yokohama, Japan 1 326+ Defeated Dylan James to win the vacant title. [2][8][10]

Combined reigns[edit]

As of April 27, 2024.

Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined
days
1 Kintarō Ōki 4 8,254
2 Rikidōzan 1 2,945
3 Giant Baba 1 1,251
4 Kim Nam-seok 1 467
5 So Daimonji 1 326+
6 Ryoji Sai 1 189
7 Bodyguard 1 182
8 Bill Dromo 1 18

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "All Asia Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  3. ^ "緊急告知!!". Land's End (in Japanese). 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "2018年1月21日(日) ワールドアジアヘビー級王座決定 ワンデイトーナメント in SEOUL". Land's End (in Japanese). 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  5. ^ "JWA Asia Championships - Tag 10". Cagematch. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  6. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 15, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/15): Big John Studd wins 1989 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  7. ^ "PWF Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "All Asia Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 2014-09-17. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  9. ^ Pro Wrestling Land's End [@landsend_voyage] (May 8, 2023). "Notice regarding the All Asia Heavyweight Title match" オールアジアヘビー級王座決定戦開催についてのご報告 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Land's End Yokohama FukushiMania". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.

External links[edit]