Shohei Baba

Shohei Baba (Baba Shōhei, 1938–1999) was a professional wrestler and co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was also known as Giant Baba.

Career

Before entering professional wrestling he had been a professional baseball pitcher for the Tokyo Giants. This, combined with his large size (well above average for a Japanese man), made him an instant star in his teacher Rikidozan's promotion, the Japanese Wrestling Association. With his dojo classmate and later promotional rival, Antonio Inoki, they formed a tag team that won the NWA International Tag Team Title a record four times, a record that Baba would break later with another partner, Jumbo Tsuruta.

In 1972, with JWA on the decline, Baba formed his own promotion, All Japan Pro Wrestling, with the backing of Nippon TV. All Japan eventually took over the JWA's spot in the National Wrestling Alliance after its collapse, and under Baba's strong business acumen, the rest of the NWA's talent, from the World champion on down, enjoyed an amazing run in Japan. Baba himself was able to win the belt three times, although his reigns were short and limited to Japanese territory.

By 1984, Baba was a shell of his former self and began phasing himself out to give rise to the next generation of wrestlers, led by Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu. He became, by his own choice, a curtain-jerker - slow-moving, and only winning against mid-card talent.

An exceptionally technical athlete, Baba prided himself on the fundamentals of professional wrestling and coined the term "garbage wrestling" to describe outlandish, new promotions such as Atsushi Onita's FMW. Baba had his last match in 1998, prior to being confined to a hospital bed, in which he eventually died of cancer; he was known for being an avid cigar smoker.

In wrestling

Nicknames

"Giant of the East"

Finishing and signature moves

Running neckbreaker (Lariat takedown)
DDT
Russian legsweep
Overhead chop
Big boot
Coconut Crush (Side headlock facebreaker knee smash)
Dropkick

Championships and accomplishments

3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion
3-time NWA International Heavyweight Champion
1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion ''(Detroit version) (with Jumbo Tsuruta)
12-time NWA International Tag Team Champion (once with Michiaki Yoshimura, 4 times with Antonio Inoki, once with Seiji Sakaguchi, and 6 times with Jumbo Tsuruta)
4-time PWF Heavyweight Champion
1-time All Asian Heavyweight Champion
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 26 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003. PWI also ranked him # 10 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Jumbo Tsuruta.
won All Japan's "Champion's Carnival" tournament 7 times

External links

Puroresu.com: Giant Baba

People from Niigata Prefecture | 1938 births | 1999 deaths | Japanese professional wrestlers | Professional wrestling executives