The Most Obscure and Forgotten Champions in All Japan Pro Wrestling History

The Most Obscure and Forgotten Champions in All Japan Pro Wrestling History
November 13, 2022

By Ryan Porzl

Anybody who's been following this far knows what's next. As we continue to look back as All Japan champions, we'll now take a look at the champions you probably never heard of. Again, not every champ can be a legend and some are forgotten outside of history books and title histories on wikipedia. This article will cover those champions.

Note: I don't own any pictures as I got them off Google and Puroresusystems.com. Credit to All Japan and Puroresusystems.com

Albright (left) with Steve Williams (right)

Gary Albright

Title(s) Held: World Tag Team Championship (2x)

Albright is one of those who I questioned putting on this list given he did very well in Japan but he fits the bill to American fans and he passed away 20+ years ago so he might have been forgotten to Japanese fans. Albright is an interesting guy as despite being American and a member of the Anoa'i Samoan Wrestling Family via marriage (his father-in-law was Afa the Wild Samoan), he has almost no history with American wrestling as he only did here and there stuff. A very successful amateur wrestler, Albright turned pro in 1988 and found his first break in Canada for the famous Calgary based Stampede Wrestling where he competed as "Volkan Singh" and formed a tag team with Mike Shaw (Bastion Booger and Norman the Lunatic) who became "Makhan Singh" with the two forming Karachi Vice with Gama Singh. Albright would capture the Stampede International Tag Team Championship from the British Bulldogs before the promotion shut down in late 1989. After spending two years working around the world, Albright got his big break with UWF-i where he competed as a top star from 1991-1995 and challenged both Nobuhiko Takada and Vader (then Super Vader) for the promotion's world championship. By 1995, Albright then jumped to All Japan where he was pushed early getting matches with Toshiaki Kawada and a Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship shot against Mitsuharu Misawa but would excel in the tag team division. Originally, Albright would form a team with top gaijin Stan Hansen and it would be here where Albright would first taste All Japan gold while, ironically, being Hansen's last. On January 24, 1996 during All Japan's New Year Giant Series 1996 tour, Albright and Hansen would challenge The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue) for the World Tag Team Championship and went on to win the gold. Albright and Hansen would hold the belts for 27 days and made no successful title defenses before losing them back to Kawada and Taue on February 20, 1996 during All Japan's Excite Series 1996 tour.

After the title loss, Albright and Hansen went their own ways and Albright would be directionless for the next year before forming a new team with another gaijin legend in Steve Williams with the two aligning with Jim Steele (then The Lacrosse) to form the Triangle of Power and it would be there where Albright returned to championship success. On July 25, 1997 during All Japan's Summer Action Series 1997 tour, Albright and Williams challenged Johnny Ace and Kenta Kobashi for the World Tag Team Championship and went on to win the belts. Albright and Williams held the gold for 71 days and made one successful title defense against Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama on August 26th during All Japan's Summer Action Series II 1997 tour before losing them back to Ace and Kobashi on October 4, 1997 during All Japan's October Giant Series 1997 tour. After losing the titles for the final time, Albright continued teaming with Williams until the latter's departure for his ill-fated WWF run in the summer of 1998. Albright continued working for All Japan for the remainder of his life but largely had a yo-yo type run afterwards going up and down the cards. While on break from All Japan, Albright would work an indie show for father-in-law Afa on January 7, 2000 where during a match, he suffered a heart attack and passed away at the age of 36.

Yoji Anjo

Title(s) Held: World Tag Team Championship

Another guy I questioned putting on here because he was known for an embarrassing incident which I'll bring up but why not. Anjo was a practitioner of judo, muay thai, and sumo before entering the wrestling business in 1985, Outside of working for New Japan during from 1985-1988, he mostly spent his time in shoot-style wrestling promotions during the first decade of his career such as the Japanese UWF, Newborn UWF, and UWF-i. His biggest claim to fame would occur in December 1994 when he and a Japanese press flew to California to confront legendary martial artist Rickson Gracie at his dojo and challenged him to a fight only to get completely humiliated and choked out. Towards the end of the UWF-i in 1996, Anjo spent time in WAR holding their Six Man Tag Team Championship and then went to a promotion named Kingdom. He would also dabble in Mixed Martial Arts competing for promotions like the UFC and PRIDE but found no success. In 2001, following the NOAH exodus, Anjo was brought into All Japan by the returning Genichiro Tenryu with the two forming a team and it didn't take long for them to win a championship. On July 14, 2001, Anjo and Tenryu took on Taiyo Kea and Johnny Smith for the World Tag Team Championship in Anjo's debut match and wound up defeating the champs for the belts. Anjo and Tenryu would reign for 100 days and made two successful defenses. The first would be on September 8th during All Japan's Summer Action Series II 2001 tour against Keiji "The Great Muta" Mutoh and Taiyo Kea and the second would be on October 8th during All Japan's October Giant Series 2001 tour when they teamed with All Asia Tag Team Champions Arashi and Masahito Kakihara against George Hines and Johnny Smith and Nobutaka Araya and Toshiaki Kawada before losing the belts to Mutoh and Kea on October 22nd during the same tour. After losing the titles, Anjo and Tenryu broke up and Anjo moved down the cards until leaving All Japan in 2003. Anjo would then compete for World Japan from 2003-2004 until finishing his career in HUSTLE as he wrestled there from 2004-2009 and then had his retirement match in 2015.

Joe Malenko

Title(s) Held: World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2x)

Now, most modern day fans are familiar with Dean Malenko and many long time fans are familiar with his father and fellow legend Boris Malenko but how many were aware there was another Malenko? Joe is the oldest son of Boris and the older brother of Dean. Malenko was trained by his father and Karl Gotch and turned pro in 1977. He spent many years as a journeyman before making his way to All Japan in 1988. Though he mostly spent his time as a tag team wrestler with Dean, Malenko would compete in the junior division and won the gold on two occasions. His first would be on January 20, 1989 during All Japan's New Year Giant Series 1989 tour when he defeated Masanobu Fuchi. Malenko would hold the belt for 5 days and made no successful title defenses before losing the belt to Mighty Inoue on January 25, 1989 during the same tour.

Despite the short reign, Malenko wasn't down for long and would get back on his horse. On July 1, 1989 during All Japan's Summer Action Series 1989 tour, Malenko would challenge Mitsuo Momota for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship and emerged as a two time World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Malenko would hold the championship for 111 days and made two successful defenses. His first would be on July 11th during the same tour against brother Dean Malenko and his second would be on July 28th during the same tour against Masanobu Fuchi before losing the championship to Fuchi on October 20, 1989 during All Japan's October Giant Series 1989 tour. After losing the championship, Malenko remained a regular for All Japan until leaving in early 1992. From there, he and Dean jumped to New Japan where he competed until 1996 while making special appearances for WCW, ECW, and UWF-i. By the late 90s, Malenko retired outside of sporadic appearances including an appearances for WCW in 1998 confronting Chris Jericho during his feud with Dean Malenko and became a pharmacist. In 2010, he returned to All Japan to compete in the World's Strongest Tag League, teaming with Osamu Nishimura before largely retiring for good. 

Smith (right) with Taiyo Kea (left)

Johnny Smith

Title(s) Held: World Tag Team Championship, All Asia Tag Team Championship (2x)

Smith is another who was around during All Japan's golden age and had success but likely still fell under the radar as he never had a consistent push and largely would spend years directionless between pushes. A British wrestler, Smith was trained by his uncle Ted Betley (the same man who ironically trained Smith's future partner the Dynamite Kid) and turned pro in 1985. After competing in his native England as "John Savage", he got his first break upon joining Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in 1986 where he was given the name of "Johnny Smith" with the story being he was the fictional brother of wrestling legend Davey Boy Smith. Smith competed in Stampede during the late 1980s and enjoyed success winning the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship on four occasions while eventually forming a tag team with Dynamite Kid called the British Bruisers. Towards the end of his Stampede run, he began touring for New Japan Pro Wrestling before eventually jumping to All Japan by 1989. After Davey Boy Smith left All Japan in late 1990 to return to the WWF, Smith reunited with Dynamite in the British Bruisers and it would be here where he won his first All Japan title. On April 6, 1991 during All Japan's Champion Carnival 1991 tour, Smith and Dynamite took on Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship and emerged victorious. Smith and Dynamite would hold the belts for 14 days and made no successful defenses before losing the belts to the Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas and Phil "Dan Kroffat" LaFon) on April 20, 1991 during All Japan's Fan Appreciation Day.

After losing the belts and Dynamite's retirement in late 1991, Smith went to the undercard for several years with little direction though he did make appearances for ECW in America and for Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling in Canada where he became a two time champion. By 1998, Smith once again returned to championship status winning a familiar title with a new partner. On January 9, 1998 during All Japan's New Year Giant Series 1998 tour, Smith teamed with Wolf Hawkfield to take on Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori for the All Asia Tag Team Championship and went on to score the win and end Akiyama and Omori's record three year reign. Smith and Hawkfield would hold the belts for 270 days and made three successful defenses. Their first would be on May 31st during All Japan's Super Power Series 1998 tour against Omori and Tamon Honda, the second would be on July 19th during All Japan's Summer Action Series 1998 tour against The Headhunters (Headhunter A and Headhunter B), and their third defense would be on September 5th during All Japan's Summer Action Series II 1998 tour against Giant Kimala and Jun Izumida before losing the championships on October 6, 1998 during All Japan's October Giant Series 1998 tour to Izumida and Honda.

Once again, following the title loss, Smith went back to the wilderness though he did get a small push from late 1999/early 2000 as a partner of Vader. Smith's next push came after the NOAH exodus in the summer of 2000. Like most of the gaijin, Smith remained with All Japan and with a small roster, saw his stock rise as he formed a tag team with rising up and comer Taiyo Kea which saw Smith gain a more prestigious title. On January 14, 2001, Smith and Kea would take on Toshiaki Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi for the vacant World Tag Team Championship and would see Smith and a partner score another upset to win the gold. Smith and Kea would reign as champs for 191 days and made three successful defenses. The first would be on February 24th during All Japan's Excite Series 2001 tour against Steve Williams and Mike Rotundo, their second would be on April 14th during All Japan's Champion Carnival One Night Special against Genichiro Tenryu and Kim Duk, and their third defense would be on June 8th during All Japan's Super Power Series 2001 tour against Manabu Nakanishi and Yutaka Yoshie before losing the gold on July 14, 2001 during All Japan's Summer Action Series 2001 tour to Tenryu and Yoji Anjo. After losing the belts, Smith and Kea broke up and Smith again returned to the midcard with little direction. He continued working for All Japan under retiring in April 2003 following a hospitalization. He later became a police officer in Canada. 

Shinichi Nakano

Title(s) Held: World Junior Heavyweight Championship, All Asia Tag Team Championship (2x)

Nakano was someone who's All Japan run was sandwiched by exoduses and someone who, despite winning his share of titles, wasn't known for holding them for long.. Trained in the New Japan dojo and turned pro in 1980 for New Japan. After spending four years largely paying his dues, Nakano followed Riki Choshu to All Japan in 1984 and began competing for the next few years. Originally, Nakano's run wasn't anything special but he eventually began to move up the cards in 1988 and tasted his first gold. On September 9, 1988 during All Japan's Summer Action Series II tour, Nakano teamed with Shunji Nakano to challenge Footloose (Samson Fuyuki and Toshiaki Kawada) for the All Asia Tag Team Championship and went on to score the win. Nakano and Takano would only hold the belts for 6 days and made no successful defenses before losing them back to Fuyuki and Kawada on September 15, 1988 during the same tour.

Less than a year later, Nakano would return to champion status and win his only All Japan's singles title. On April 15, 1989 during All Japan's Champion Carnival 1989 tour, Nakano challenged Masanobu Fuchi for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship and ended up victorious. Again, Nakano wouldn't hold it for long as he held it for 4 days and made no successful defenses before losing it to Mitsuo Momota on April 20, 1989 during the same tour.

A year later, Nakano returned to the tag team ranks and formed a team with future legend Akira Taue which would see him win his last All Japan championship. On June 5, 1990 during All Japan's Super Power Series 1990 tour, Nakano and Taue took on Davey Boy Smith and Johnny Smith for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship and walked out with the belts. Nakano and Taue would hold them for about a month before vacating them in July 1990 when Nakano left the promotion. After leaving All Japan, Nakano followed Genichiro Tenryu to Super World of Sports where he competed until the promotion went under in 1992. Afterwards, he largely became a journeyman for a few years while making a return to New Japan. By the late 1990s, he began competing in Tenryu's new promotion WAR and the Wrestling Yume Factory until slowing down in 1998 while making here and there appearances for New Japan until retiring in 2001. Since his retirement, Nakano has come out of it to return to All Japan where he did one off matches in 2016 and 2021.

Izumida (behind) with Tamon Honda (front)

Jun Izumida

Title(s) Held: All Asia Tag Team Championship

Izumida was apart of All Japan's golden age and NOAH's peak in popularity but largely never went very far and still flew under the radar. A former sumo wrestler, Izumida joined All Japan and graduated from their dojo in 1992. As is usually the case, he spent his first few years largely paying his dues and having little opportunity. After getting sporadic opportunities from 1995-1997, Izumida took the next step in 1998 when he won the yearly January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal and then formed a tag team with Tamon Honda which would be the team that led him to a championship. On October 6, 1998 during All Japan's October Giant Series 1998 tour, Izumida and Honda would challenge Johnny Smith and Wolf Hawkfield for the All Asia Tag Team Championship and went on to defeat them to win the gold. Izumida and Honda would hold the belts for 130 days and made one successful tile defense which was on January 16th during All Japan's New Year Giant Series 1999 tour against Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki before losing the belts to Hayabusa and Shinzaki on February 13, 1999 at All Japan's Fan Appreciation Day. After losing the belts, Izumida continued working in All Japan but found no more success before taking part in the NOAH exodus in July 2000. Izumida would then work for NOAH during their first decade but was largely used as an undercard wrestler who had no real direction. By 2010, he left NOAH and became a freelancer where he bounced between promotions like Kensuke Office, NOAH, Dragon Gate, and even returned to All Japan for shows before having his last match in March 2012. He passed away on January 25, 2017 due to a heart attack at the age of 51.

Masahito Kakihara

Title(s) Held: All Asia Tag Team Championship

Kakihara has had an interesting career as he's been just about everywhere and achieved his share of success but still flies under the radar. Kakihara not only fits this list but outside of maybe Milano Collection AT, is easily the most forgotten Best of the Super Junior Winner in history. An apprentice of Nobuhiko Takada, Kakihara started out in shoot style wrestling promotions upon his debut in 1990, first for Newborn UWF and then UWF-i where he would fare fairly well for some one of his experience. Towards the end of UWF-i, he made appearances for WAR and won their six man tag team championship. After UWF-i went down, he briefly worked in Kingdom before joining All Japan in 1998. After being passed over as Mitsuharu Misawa's new partner by Giant Baba, Kakihara wouldn't get much of a push though he did become a member of Misawa's Untouchables stable. In 2000, Kakihara, like almost everyone, followed Misawa to Pro Wrestling NOAH but he quickly left after their debut show after reported issues with Takao Omori and he returned to All Japan as a freelancer where he teamed with Mitsuya Nagai and this team would get Kakihara an All Japan championship. On June 8, 2001 during All Japan's Super Power Series 2001 tour, Kakihara and Nagai would team up against New Japan's Yuji Nagata and Shinya Makabe (the future Togi Makabe) to crown new All Asia Tag Team Champions as the belts had been vacant since the NOAH exodus nearly a year before and Kakihara and Nagai would walk away champions. Kakihara and Nagai would reign as champs for around two months and made no successful defenses before vacating the titles in August 2001 due to Kakihara suffering a knee injury. Upon recovery, Kakihara left All Japan and jumped to New Japan. While he would enjoy some success including the 2001 G1 6 Man Tag Team Tournament with Minoru Tanaka and Masayuki Naruse and the 2003 Best of the Super Juniors, injuries would damage his career and he wasn't able to go too far before retiring in 2006 due to spinal issues. In 2018, Kakihara would return to the ring where he won the 2018 New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome.

SUSHI

Title(s) Held: GAORA TV Championship (2x)

Again, SUSHI is another I considered not putting on here cause I figured people may remember him but he hasn't done much in recent years and his American appearances were long ago. Turning pro in 1998 under the name "Akira Raijin", SUSHI started in the indie circuit before joining All Japan in 2004. After spending years paying his dues, he eventually left to join Impact Wrestling in 2008 where he competed till 2011 under the name of "Kiyoshi" and later was one of several to portray the masked Suicide character. Upon returning to All Japan in 2012, he began competing under the masked gimmick "SUSHI" and after remaining with All Japan in 2013 following the WRESTLE-1 exodus, he finally made it to championship status. In late 2013, SUSHI would enter a tournament for the vacant GAORA TV Championship and went on to defeat Hikaru Sato in the semifinals. On November 24, 2013 during All Japan's Royal Road Renaissance 2013 tour, he won the tournament and the vacant championship after defeating Keisuke Ishii. SUSHI would hold the championship for 174 days and made one successful defense when he defeated Soma Takao on January 3, 2014 during All Japan's New Year Wars 2014 tour before losing the championship to Kotaro Suzuki on May 17, 2014 during All Japan's Super Power Series 2014 tour.

A little over a year later, SUSHI would become a champion by recapturing the GAORA TV Championship. On June 4, 2015 during All Japan's Dynamite Series 2015 tour, SUSHI would face KENSO for the championship and walked away a two time champion. SUSHI would hold the belt for 72 days but made no successful defenses before being forced to vacate the championship on August 15, 2015 due to injury. After recovering, SUSHI continued working for All Japan until leaving in early 2017. Since his departure, he's become a freelancer competing in many promotions including All Japan and still competes as of 2022.

Hitotaka Yokoi

Title(s) Held: All Asia Tag Team Championship

Yokoi is one of those wrestlers/MMA fighter types who were common in the early 2000s. A judoka, Yokoi originally started in MMA in 2000 and worked the top Japanese promotions including Shooto, Fighting Network RINGS, and PRIDE Fighting Championships where from 2000-2003, racked up a 10-0 record. During his MMA run, Yokoi started wrestling for Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE in 2002 and formed the tag team "Rowdy" with Kohei Sato. By 2003, Yokoi and Sato began making appearances for All Japan and it would be here where Yokoi won his one and only wrestling championship. In July 2003, Yokoi and Sato entered the All Asia Tag League for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship and on July 19, 2003 during All Japan's Summer Action Series 2003 tour, Yokoi and Sato would win the vacant gold by defeating Turmeric Storm (Kazushi Miyamoto and Tomoaki Honma). Yokoi and Sato would hold the belts for 83 days and made three successful defenses. Their first would be on August 10th during ZERO-ONE's 01 World in Nagoya against Kintaro Kanemura and Tetsuhiro Kuroda, the second would be on August 31st during ZERO-ONE's Summer Festival 2003 tour against King Adamo and King Joe (Samoa Joe), and their third defense would be on September 6th during All Japan's Summer Action Series II tour against Nobukazu Hirai and Shigeo Okumura before losing the belts to Kintaro Kanemura and Tetsuhiro Kuroda on October 10, 2003 during ZERO-ONE's Evolution 2003 tour. After losing the championships, Yokoi resumed fighting from 2004-2007, mostly for PRIDE but went 1-5 including losses to MMA legends Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Heath Herring, Mario Sperry, and Rampage Jackson. By 2007, Yokoi would retire from both wrestling and MMA. In 2022, he made a return to wrestling by making a few returns to ZERO1 and for the BURST promotion where he's even reunited with Sato.

Tamura (bottom) with Takao Omori (top)

Kazuhiro Tamura

Title(s) Held: GAORA TV Championship

Tamura is one of the more recent obscure champions. Trained by Minoru Tanaka and Takao Omori, Tamura turned pro in 2003 and from 2004-2012, would make his home in the Style-E promotion where he held their Openweight Championship on three occasions. After Style-E shut down in 2012, Tamura formed HEAT UP which he continues to work as a writing and held multiple championships. In 2016, he made his way to All Japan where he reunited with Omori and it be here where he won an All Japan title. On June 9, 2016 during All Japan's Charity Pro-Wrestling Isesaki 69, Tamura would challenge Yohei Nakajima for the GAORA TV Championship and went on to claim the belt. Tamura would hold the championship for 6 days and made no successful defenses before losing it back to Nakajima on June 15, 2016 during All Japan's Dynamite Series 2016 tour. After losing the championship, Tamura had continued to pop up in All Japan over the years but has mostly focused on HEAT UP and working the independent circuit where he's won his share of championships. He continues to compete to this day.