GooverDan Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Through The King's Road We Walk... The year is 1992, and All Japan Pro Wrestling is going through a period of great changes to come. With their group of biggest stars starting to age, Giant Baba is beginning to build the next generation of wrestlers who will carry the company on their backs for the next decade. Proving that his puroresu style is the right method and will be the one to influence future generations, compared to Antonio Inoki's shooting-style, which up until now has been gaining a lot of success with the public. With the right booking and letting everything flow naturally, All Japan Pro Wrestling could be the biggest puroresu promotion in Japan. And the amount of stars being concentrated in one place could bring a golden era for Japanese wrestling. Let's take a look at them! Being fully aware that his best days as a wrestler are coming to an end, Shohei Baba is starting to drop several places in terms of his main event scene, continuing to be a huge draw for the Japanese audience with his looks alone. Giant Baba is no longer thinking about going for championships, let alone wanting to beat his top stars. Being now at the bottom of the card most of the time, Baba starts to distance himself from the main event scene to let his group of students succeed and be worthy successors. Stan Hansen is in the best period of his career, having already won the world title twice at this point, he doesn't look like he wants to lower his level at any time. If the young promises want to have a chance to shine, they will have to go through the Texan, which has already proven to be a very tough nut to crack. Much is being said about the future of All Japan Pro Wrestling's first Icon, Jumbo Tsuruta. Having won virtually everything in the promotion, there is talk about continuing to push him for the Triple Crown title for now, until there are new up-and-comers to be worthy contenders of this relatively new world title. There are also rumors that Tsuruta may be in the final twilight of his career, so it is very likely that the First All Japan Icon will give one last great performance before hanging up his boots for good. In fact, the young prodigy, Mitsuharu Misawa, is the wrestler many should keep an eye out for this year, as it is very possible that his first big win this year will be for the Triple Crown title, or winning this year's Champion Carnival. And you can tell that Baba has already given him a great opportunity to shine. Because of his role in the fierce rivalry against Tsuruta, which is already taking two years. But not all eggs are in the same basket. Many future promises of professional wrestling are evolving better and better to become future legends. Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and a young Toshiaki Kawada are also starting to take more important matches on the card. And there is certainty that if they stay healthy, they can become powerful champions for the future. With all these big stars and up-and-comers in All Japan, it's safe to say that a bright future awaits for this promotion throughout this decade, will they succeed in overtaking the Golden Lion Empire to make way for a new philosophy in puroresu? It will only remain to be seen if that could be fulfilled, in the meantime, get ready, to start walking in the King's Road... (Hey guys, this is my second attempt to do a dynasty on All Japan Pro Wrestling. I once tried in TEW 2016 but needless to say it was a disaster of a launch and quit just in the first two entries. But I am more than determined to be able to make this my personal project and continue it as far as possible. I'm sorry if my introduction to the dynasty sucked or showed little thoughtfulness, like I said, it's my first time in a long time and I'm doing the best I can. I just hope you like it when I do the tours and the more important shows, the events will be more elaborate than the tours, which will just show the results.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 Through The King's Road We Walk... The year is 1992, and All Japan Pro Wrestling is going through a period of great changes to come. With their group of biggest stars starting to age, Giant Baba is beginning to build the next generation of wrestlers who will carry the company on their backs for the next decade. Proving that his puroresu style is the right method and will be the one to influence future generations, compared to Antonio Inoki's shooting-style, which up until now has been gaining a lot of success with the public. With the right booking and letting everything flow naturally, All Japan Pro Wrestling could be the biggest puroresu promotion in Japan. And the amount of stars being concentrated in one place could bring a golden era for Japanese wrestling. Let's take a look at them! Being fully aware that his best days as a wrestler are coming to an end, Shohei Baba is starting to drop several places in terms of his main event scene, continuing to be a huge draw for the Japanese audience with his looks alone. Giant Baba is no longer thinking about going for championships, let alone wanting to beat his top stars. Being now at the bottom of the card most of the time, Baba starts to distance himself from the main event scene to let his group of students succeed and be worthy successors. Stan Hansen is in the best period of his career, having already won the world title twice at this point, he doesn't look like he wants to lower his level at any time. If the young promises want to have a chance to shine, they will have to go through the Texan, which has already proven to be a very tough nut to crack. Much is being said about the future of All Japan Pro Wrestling's first Icon, Jumbo Tsuruta. Having won virtually everything in the promotion, there is talk about continuing to push him for the Triple Crown title for now, until there are new up-and-comers to be worthy contenders of this relatively new world title. There are also rumors that Tsuruta may be in the final twilight of his career, so it is very likely that the First All Japan Icon will give one last great performance before hanging up his boots for good. In fact, the young prodigy, Mitsuharu Misawa, is the wrestler many should keep an eye out for this year, as it is very possible that his first big win this year will be for the Triple Crown title, or winning this year's Champion Carnival. And you can tell that Baba has already given him a great opportunity to shine. Because of his role in the fierce rivalry against Tsuruta, which is already taking two years. But not all eggs are in the same basket. Many future promises of professional wrestling are evolving better and better to become future legends. Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and a young Toshiaki Kawada are also starting to take more important matches on the card. And there is certainty that if they stay healthy, they can become powerful champions for the future. With all these big stars and up-and-comers in All Japan, it's safe to say that a bright future awaits for this promotion throughout this decade, will they succeed in overtaking the Golden Lion Empire to make way for a new philosophy in puroresu? It will only remain to be seen if that could be fulfilled, in the meantime, get ready, to start walking in the King's Road... (Hey guys, this is my second attempt to do a dynasty on All Japan Pro Wrestling. I once tried in TEW 2016 but needless to say it was a disaster of a launch and quit just in the first two entries. But I am more than determined to be able to make this my personal project and continue it as far as possible. I'm sorry if my introduction to the dynasty sucked or showed little thoughtfulness, like I said, it's my first time in a long time and I'm doing the best I can. I just hope you like it when I do the tours and the more important shows, the events will be more elaborate than the tours, which will just show the results.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 The Roster: Major Stars: Giant Baba - Stan Hansen - Jumbo Tsuruta Stars: Andre The Giant - Mitsuharu Misawa - Steve Williams - Terry Funk Well Known: Abdullah The Butcher - Akira Taue - Doug Furnas - Dan Kroffat - Kenta Kobashi - Johnny Ace - Terry Gordy - Toshiaki Kawada Recognizable: Bobby Fulton - Dan Spivey - Giant Kimala - Giant Warrior - Haruka Eigen - Jackie Fulton - Joel Deaton - Johnny Smith - Masanobu Fuchi - Masao Inoue - Mitsuo Momota - Rusher Kimura - Tommy Rogers - Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - Yoshinari Ogawa Unimportant: Al Perez - Billy Black - Chris Youngblood - Fire Cat - Isamu Teranishi - Mark Youngblood - Richard Slinger - Satoru Asako - Scott Armstrong - Kevin Von Erich - Eddie Guerrero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 The Champions: AJPW Triple Crown: Jumbo Tsuruta [January 1991 - Present] Previous Champions: 3. Stan Hansen [July 1990 - January 1991] 2. Terry Gordy [July 1990 - July 1990] 1. Jumbo Tsuruta [October 1989 - June 1990] AJPW World Junior Heavyweight: Masanobu Fuchi [October 1989 - present] Previous 5 Champions: 5. Joe Malenko [July 1989 - October 1989] 4. Mitsuo Momota [April 1989 - July 1989] 3. Shinichi Nakano [April 1989 - April 1989] 2. Masanobu Fuchi [March 1989 - April 1989] 1. Mighty Inoue [January 1989 - March 1989] AJPW Unified World Tag Team: Miracle Violence Connection (Steve Williams & Terry Gordy) [December 1991 - present] Previous 5 Champions: 5. Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuharu Misawa [July 1991 - December 1991] 4. Miracle Violence Connection [July 1991 - July 1991] 3. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey [April 1991 - July 1991] 2. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams [December 1990 - April 1991] 1. Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki [July 1990 - July 1990] AJPW All Asia Tag Team: Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat [July 1991 - present] Previous 5 Champions: 5. Billy Black & Joel Deaton[July 1991 - July 1991] 4. Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi [July 1991 - July 1991] 3. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat [April 1991 - July 1991] 2. Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith [April 1991 - April 1991] 1. Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi [september 1990 - February 1991] AJPW Champion Carnival: 1991 Champion Carnival Winner - Jumbo Tsuruta Previous 5 Winners: 5. Giant Baba 4. Giant Baba 3. Jumbo Tsuruta 2. Abdullah The Butcher 1. Giant Baba AJPW Real World Tag League: 1991 Real World Tag League Winners - Miracle Violence Connection Previous 5 Winners: 5. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy 4. Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu 3. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy 2. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 1. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siah463 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 I'll always love an All Japan dynasty no matter what year it is, but 92' is a good one, considering it's the year Jumbo's got Hep C, it'd be nice to give his career a proper retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Best of luck on this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 I'll always love an All Japan dynasty no matter what year it is, but 92' is a good one, considering it's the year Jumbo's got Hep C, it'd be nice to give his career a proper retirement. I'll try to give Tsuruta a good last run with the promotion until he retires, and try to balance it a little to not overshadow the Four Pillars and the incoming talent I'm planning to hire, but at the same time I'm not going to use him just to put talent over, he deserves better than that. Best of luck on this! Thanks, Historian! Your SAISHO and BCG dynasties were a pretty big inspiration to do this diary. And I hope you don't mind if I use your style of booking tours, because I feel it will be a better way to make the dynasty a more light reading and get the bigger details to go to the bigger events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sco xY2Jx Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Best of luck with this. I love the 90's era of AJPW. Match quality was through the roof and going back and watching The Kings Road YouTube series with Joe Mantiecello only enhances the love. I'll be following. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 I'm ready to Walk The King's Road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Fun start! I'm not super familiar with this period of AJPW (or AJPW in general!), but I'm keen to see how it goes. I might also take a look at the YouTube series referred to above! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 New Year Giant Series 1992 Press Conference! Rusher Kimura, Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta were part of the press conference for the New Year Giant Series tour announcement to kick off 1992 with a bang. With several cameras taking pictures of the three of them, there were expectations of what might happen in this announcement. What does Mr. Baba have in mind for this year? Giant Baba was the first to address the press, to announce that he signed several wrestlers, both to be part of the tour and to be part of the prestigious AJPW roster to help fill in some of the gaps in a roster that at first glance looks big but really needs a couple more guys to be sure to make it through a tour without several of the guys being unable to compete because of the injuries. It is certain that several gaijin signed for the tour, some well known in Japan, others in whom Baba sees potential and will want them to stay for a season so they can polish their natural born skills. And most of them will be expected to debut on the tour or debut on the next, which would be the Excite Series. Beyond the signings, he also announced that the main event at the end of the tour will be for the Triple Crown championship. It will be a bout between the champion, Jumbo Tsuruta vs. the most popular gaijin in AJPW at the moment, Stan Hansen, with a time limit of 60 minutes. Tsuruta was looking with attention to what his mentor was announcing, he seemed to be focused and looking with determination to his next challenge, which is to stop Stan Hansen. Rusher Kimura was next to speak, announcing that the AJPW dojo facilities are back up and running, after being closed for some time for renovations. And there is good talk that there will be some rookies coming from the dojo who will be making their debut later this year. Also, under the approval of Mr. Baba, the next contender for the World Junior Heavyweight championship will be determined in a battle royal on the second day of the tour. This is supposed to be in order to sell more tickets, and to have a new figure in the junior division besides Masanobu Fuchi, who has already been champion for more than 700 days. While it is known that Baba has no particular interest in giving a decent booking to his junior heavyweight division, it is known that he accepted Rusher Kimura's idea to lend a hand in making that division stronger, and this seems to be a fresh start for them. And before the microphone was handed over to Jumbo Tsuruta so that he could make his announcement... Misawa and Kawada make a suprise appearance! And the tension rose rather quickly when they both walked directly up to Jumbo Tsuruta and stared right at him. Misawa, grabbing the microphone that was supposed to be Tsuruta's, mentioned that even though he still wasn't going to compete for the title, he warned Tsuruta to watch his back, because as soon as he gets a chance to fight for the title, he will use all the strength he can to have Tsuruta torn to pieces at his feet. Would that mean we have a main event for the next Excite Series? It is not yet known. But the war atmosphere between Tsuruta-Gun and Super Generation Army feels so strong, it could start to show for the rest of this tour. And Misawa, being the head of the new generation, will not give up until he wins the Triple Crown title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGN91 Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Dan you are doing a great job so far! Keep up the good work. AJPW in 1992 is in a really interesting spot so I'll follow with an excitement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 I first saw Johnny Smith in Stampede Wrestling and remember him from there, but when I saw him in his roster lineup picture above, I almost mistook him for Eddie Gilbert at first until I saw his name listed. I also first became aware of All Japan via the Apter mags and kept an eye on it to follow the American/other foreign stars competing in Japan, then continued following it for the quality of its wrestling. I'll be following this for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 I first saw Johnny Smith in Stampede Wrestling and remember him from there, but when I saw him in his roster lineup picture above, I almost mistook him for Eddie Gilbert at first until I saw his name listed. I also first became aware of All Japan via the Apter mags and kept an eye on it to follow the American/other foreign stars competing in Japan, then continued following it for the quality of its wrestling. I'll be following this for sure. Now that you mention it, they're pretty similar each other, is pretty uncanny lol Maybe I'll bring Eddie if WCW doesn't poach him in the first week. And for the other hand, I hope that my diary motivates you to seeing more of AJPW, is definetly worthy for the match quality alone. Dan you are doing a great job so far! Keep up the good work. AJPW in 1992 is in a really interesting spot so I'll follow with an excitement. Thank you, CGN! I really hope that I live up to your expectations during this diary, I'll make sure that it does make the experience as fun as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 Event History This is where I will keep track of all of the tours and their individual events so if you want to check out specific events or jump to full tours, you can do it! New Year Giant Series 1992 - Night 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 AJPW New Year Giant Series - Night 1 Tuesday, Week 1, January 1992 Attendance: 2000 fans SOLD OUT! 1. In a terrible match, The Renegade Warriors defeated Al Perez and Fire Cat in 15:19 when Mark Youngblood pinned Fire Cat with a Diving Tomahawk. (28) 2. In a decent match, but didn't have so much heat, Mitsuo Momota defeated Satoru Asako in 9:17 when Mitsuo Momota submitted Asako. (41) 3. In a decent match, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeated Isamu Teranishi in 5:58 when Tsuyoshi Kikuchi rolled up Teranishi and score the upset win. (51) 4. In a terrible match, Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura defeated Haruka Eigen and Motoshi Okuma in 9:18 when Baba pinned Haruka Eigen with an Elbow Drop. (37) 5. In a superb match, Johnny Ace & Stan Hansen defeated Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada in 13:59 when Stan Hansen pinned Akira Taue with a Western Lariat. (70) 6. In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd,Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi defeated Jumbo Tsuruta and Masanobu Fuchi in 28:51 when Misawa pinned Masanobu Fuchi with a Rolling Elbow. (69) Overall Rating: 66 Show Notes: - Haruka Eigen and Motoshi Okuma have awful chemistry, never going to book them together again. And the fact that Baba was the best wrestler in that match says a lot. - Misawa managed to win the first bout of the year against Tsuruta-gun, but failed to pin Jumbo Tsuruta. However, he was able to build up some momentum to get on the right track. Jumbo Tsuruta lost his momentum, I thought it wouldn't happen if it wasn't him taking the pin, a mistake on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siah463 Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 Good first tour show, can't wait to see how you bolster the notoriously weak AJPW junior division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 16, 2022 Author Share Posted April 16, 2022 Meet the World Tag Team Champions! In terms of matches and titles won over the course of just four years. The Miracle Violence Connection, consisting of Terry Gordy and 'Dr. Death' Steve Williams is one of the most dominant tag teams in the world today. Starting out as an intimidating group in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987, Gordy and Williams have managed to grab the attention of the audience due to their brutal and destructive fighting style, too much to be tolerated by the American public, so it was only a matter of time before a promotion in Japan came calling for them and All Japan was the first to call because of their enormous potential. And little by little they climbed up the long ladder of the tag team scene. They finally won their first title in March 1990, when they defeated the fearsome tag team of Genichiro Tenryu and Stan Hansen. The American duo proved they had the guts to compete against the tough opponents All Japan had to offer, and continued their quest to win more, until they finally established themselves as major players when they became the first tag team to win the Real World Tag League tournament twice in a row. In their first final by beating the duo of Dan Spivey and Stan Hansen, to the second final, beating the duo of Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada. After an incredible campaign in December and being the reigning tag team champions, a great year is expected for them, and the duo of Gordy and Williams seem to be stronger at every conceivable occasion and seem unwilling to stop at any time. What could the future hold for them after their successful run with All Japan? Only time will tell, but for now, the present is stronger for these two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooverDan Posted April 20, 2022 Author Share Posted April 20, 2022 Sorry for not updating the diary for days. I've been going through a horrible fever the last few days and could barely stay conscious. I have finally managed to recover, so now I can resume my journaling activities. Thank you very much for your understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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