Interesting Facts about Toshiaki Kawada

Interesting Facts about Toshiaki Kawada
December 23, 2023
By Ryan Porzl

In the 1990s, All Japan Pro Wrestling was arguably the hottest and best promotion in the world, at least from a match quality standpoint. During this period, the promotion was represented by four wrestlers called "The Four Pillars of Heaven" or "The Four Heavenly Kings" which consisted by Mitsuharu Misawa, Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, and the man we'll be talking about Toshiaki Kawada. A long time mainstay for All Japan, his career was born and bred there and during his prime was among the best. He was easily one of the best wrestlers in the world, his tag teams with Misawa and Taue (especially Taue) were among the best tag teams of the decade and all time, and he was partially responsible for some of both the greatest singles and tag team matches of all time. With Kawada recently turning 60 years old, it's time I take a look at some interesting facts regarding the man nicknamed "Dangerous K".

Note: I don't own the pictures, I found them on Google. Credit to their owners as I apologize for not knowing who owns what.

Is A Six Time World Champion- We start with the usual which is the most prestigious trophies in his collection. Anybody that knows Kawada knows he was among the best wrestlers in the world so it's no surprise he is a multi-time world champion. During the majority of his career, Kawada mostly competed in AJPW and became a five time Triple Crown Champion while later becoming the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion. Kawada first held the Triple Crown by defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on October 22, 1994 and held the titles until losing it to Stan Hansen on March 4, 1995. He then held it for the second time by defeating Mitsuharu Misawa on May 1, 1998 and lost it to Kenta Kobashi on June 12, 1998. His third reign saw him defeat Mitsuharu Misawa on January 22, 1999 but was then forced to vacate on January 29, 1999 after Kawada broke his arm during his title win. His fourth reign would see him defeat Keiji Mutoh on February 24, 2002 but was forced to vacate on March 28, 2002 after suffering a knee injury. His fifth reign would see him win the vacant title in a tournament final against Shinjiro Otani in September 6, 2003 and held it until losing it to Satoshi Kojima on February 16, 2005. Kawada then won the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship from Masato Tanaka on October 24, 2009 and held it until he lost to Kohei Sato on April 11, 2010.

Is A Record Setting Nine Time AJPW World Tag Team Champion- One of wrestling's most prestigious tag team titles are AJPW's World Tag Team Championship. Formed in 1988 as a unification of the NWA International Tag Team Championship and the PWF Tag Team Championship with Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu being the inaugural champions. Kawada would make his own mark on the titles as from 1991-2007, Kawada would hold the gold on nine occasions, a record that still stands to this day. Kawada first won the titles with Misawa by defeating Steve Williams and Terry Gordy on July 24, 1991 and held them until they were vacant on December 6, 1991 so the winners of the Real World Tag League could claim them. Kawada and Misawa regained the titles by winning the 1992 RWTL on December 4, 1992 and held them before losing them to Williams and Gordy on January 30, 1993. Kawada then won them teaming with Akira Taue by defeating Williams and Gordy on May 20, 1993 and held them until losing them to Stan Hansen and Ted Dibiase on September 3, 1993. Kawada and Taue then won them from Misawa and Kenta Kobashi on June 9, 1995 and held them until losing them to Hansen and Gary Albright on January 24, 1996. Kawada and Taue then regained them from Hansen and Albright on February 20, 1996 and held them before losing them to Misawa and Jun Akiyama on May 24, 1996. Kawada and Taue then regained the gold from Williams and Johnny Ace on January 17, 1997 and held them until losing them to Kobashi and Ace on May 27, 1997. Kawada and Taue then won them from Kobashi and Ace on January 25, 1998 and held them until losing them to Kobashi and Akiyama on January 7, 1999. Kawada and Taue then won the titles by winning a tournament against Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama on June 9, 2000 and held them until they were vacant on June 16, 2000 after Taue left AJPW to follow Misawa out to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kawada then won his record ninth and last tag title with Taiyo Kea by winning the vacant titles in a match against Suwama and RO'Z on February 17, 2007 and held them until losing them to Satoshi Kojima and TARU on August 26, 2007.

Was A National Wrestling Champion. Defeated Jushin Thunder Liger In The Finals- It's no surprise but many wrestling legends have competed in amateur wrestling winning their share of honors like Brock Lesnar winning the 2000 NCAA Competitions while guys like Kurt Angle and Jumbo Tsuruta made it to the Olympics with Angle winning a gold medal. Kawada would be one of many who competed in amateur wrestling and fared very well as he became a national champion around 1981/1982 during his senior year. His opponent would actually also reach legendary status as a professional wrestler as the opponent's name was Keiichi Yamaha, who is best known by his ring name Jushin Thunder Liger.

Originally Wanted To Train In The New Japan Dojo- Obviously whenever you think of All Japan Pro Wrestling, Toshiaki Kawada is a name that pops up quickly. Whenever you think of Kawada's big moments and matches, 99% of them were in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Kawada and All Japan go hand and hand. Because of that, it probably would shock many that it almost didn't happen. During his childhood and teenage years, Kawada was a wrestling fan growing up but he was more into New Japan Pro Wrestling. At the end of his junior high school years, Kawada even completed an introductory test to the New Japan Dojo but this would be cancelled when Kawada was encouraged by his mother to finish high school first. Kawada would do that and still had plans to attend the New Japan Dojo but during his high school years, Kawada met Mitsuharu Misawa the first time and the two became friends with Misawa becoming sort of a mentor as he was a year older. After Misawa entered and graduated from the All Japan Dojo in 1981, he recommended Kawada attend All Japan's Dojo instead and a reason being a more family atmosphere. Kawada accepted and the rest is history.

Was The First Of The Four Pillars To Win The Champion Carnival- One of All Japan Pro Wrestling's honors is the yearly Champion Carnival tournament. The tournament began in 1973 and ran yearly till 1982 before being deactivated for the remainder of the 80s until it was brought back in 1991 and has run yearly ever since. To no surprise, the tournament has been won by some of All Japan's greatest talent as well as top talent that were freelancers or competing from other organizations. To no surprise Kawada would be among them. The Carnival plays an interesting part in Kawada's career as a theme for his career was always chasing Misawa and sometimes being one step behind. However, when it came to the Champion Carnival, Kawada was the one in the driver's seat with Misawa playing catch up. Kawada would first win the Carnival during the 1994 edition where he scored 19 points during the round robin portion which saw him tie with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams which saw the two meet in the finals with Kawada winning in 25:40 due to a powerbomb. With the win, Kawada became the first of The Four Pillars to win the tournament. As mentioned, it be the one thing Misawa had to play catch up on and sure enough, he won his first tournament the following year. Meanwhile, Akira Taue would win in 1996 while Kenta Kobashi won in 2000. Kawada would also become the first of The Pillars to win the Carnival two times when he won again in 1997. The 1997 edition saw Kawada tie with Misawa and Kobashi with 19 points which resulted in a mini round robin between the three. Misawa and Kobashi would wrestle first and score one point after the two went to a 30 minute draw. Kawada then faced a tired Misawa and scored his first singles win over his rival in 6:09 scoring two points. Finally, Kawada would face Kobashi and defeat him with a gameigiri in 21:27 to score another two points and win the tournament. Ironically, after this win, Misawa would once again play catch up by winning his second Carnival the following year.

Was The Only One Of The Four Pillars To Main Event A New Japan 1/4 Tokyo Dome- Since 1992, the biggest show in New Japan Pro Wrestling's calendar, if not in all of Japanese wrestling, has been New Japan's yearly 1/4 Tokyo Dome events. Over the last 30 years, the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show has been the Japanese equivalent of Wrestlemania in North America and there's a strong argument that the Tokyo Dome shows are second only to Wrestlemania in terms of biggest shows of the year. During his history, many legendary wrestlers have competed there and many legendary matches and moments have occurred. Kawada would be one of those legends who not only competed but made his mark. At New Japan's October 2000 Dome show, Kawada defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki in a non title match. Despite this, Sasaki immediately vacated the title as he was ashamed to losing to an outsider. The title would be put on the line in the yearly January 4th Tokyo Dome show in 2001 called Wrestling World 2001. Kawada would enter the tournament where he got a bye into the semifinals. In the semifinals, Kawada defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 10:45. In the finals, he rematched Sasaki who beat Kawada in 10:30 to win the vacant championship. Despite the loss, Kawada became the first and ultimately the only Four Pillar of Heaven to main event a January 4th Tokyo Dome show and he became the only one of the four to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. 

The ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Is The Only Non All Japan Title Of His Career- Toshiaki Kawada is a wrestler you immediately think of when thinking of All Japan. He trained in their dojo and turned pro there in 1982, he had some of the greatest moments, title reigns, and matches in the history of the promotion. He also worked there for 23 years as a contracted talent and continued to appear for the rest of his career. Because of that, it's probably no surprise that almost every championship Kawada has held during his career were pretty much All Japan titles. In fact, during Kawada's legendary career, he held eighteen titles but only one was not an All Japan title which was the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship. Kawada would win the belt on October 24, 2009 and would make three successful defenses against KAMIKAZE, Daisuke Sekimoto, and Ryoji Sai before losing the title to Kohei Sato on April 11, 2010. The ZERO1 Championship reign would be also his last championship reign of his career before going into unofficial retirement in 2010.

The Only Four Pillar To Participate In A G1 Climax- I brought up in past interesting facts regarding the G1 but in case you haven't read those and aren't familiar, the G1 Climax is New Japan's main singles tournament that debuted in 1991 and is now the biggest tournament in all of professional wrestling with many legends participating and winning. Kawada would be among the participants as he competed in both the 2005 and 2008 editions. In fact, Dangerous K would be the only member of the Four Pillars to enter the prestigious tournament. In 2005, Kawada would compete in Block A where he placed second behind eventual winner Masahiro Chono with both scoring 10 points which earned Kawada a spot in the semifinals where he lost to Kazuyuki Fujita. Three years later, Kawada would enter the 2008 tournament where he didn't fare as well but he still placed 3rd in Block B with 7 points.

Keiji "The Great Muta" Mutoh (left), Shinya Hashimoto (middle), and Masahiro Chono (right)

The Only Four Pillar To Wrestle All Three Musketeers In Singles Matches- Another accomplishment only Kawada got to achieve that his fellow Pillars couldn't. As mentioned above, in the 1990s, All Japan's top stars that dominated the promotion in Misawa, Taue, Kobashi, and Kawada were called "The Four Pillars of Heaven". Their counterpart New Japan Pro Wrestling had something similar as their top stars in Keiji "The Great Muta" Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, and Masahiro Chono were known as "The Three Musketeers" after the three formed a bond during their learning excursions in 1988. Matches between the two groups would've been massive dream matches and while there would be tag matches here and there, most of them didn't happen. In the end, Kawada would be the only one to face all three members in one-on-one dream matches. Kawada met Mutoh first and would face him two times over the years. Their first encounter would be on April 14, 2001 when they met in the main event of the last show of the Champion Carnival 2001 tour. Kawada would come up short as he fell to Mutoh and his shining wizard in 24:20. The two rematched less than a year later on February 24, 2002 where Kawada avenged his loss by pinning Mutoh with a powerbomb in 27:37 to win the Triple Crown Championship for the fourth time. Kawada then met Hashimoto second when he defended the Triple Crown Championship against him on February 22, 2004 in another dream match. Kawada ended up retaining by TKO in 19:57. Lastly, Kawada met Chono during New Japan's 2005 G1 Climax tournament with their match taken place on August 10, 2005 with Chono scoring the win in 12:14 with a shining yakuza kick. As mentioned, this made Kawada the only Pillar to face all Musketeers in singles matches. Misawa faced all three but Chono was the only one he faced in singles while he only faced Mutoh and Hashimoto in tag matches. Kobashi only faced Chono one-on-one while never sharing a ring with either Mutoh or Hashimoto. Taue didn't face any of the Musketeers in a singles match though he did face Chono in a tag match.

Ties With Kento Miyahara For Most Successful Title Defenses In A Single Triple Crown Title Reign- Since 1989, All Japan's main championship has been the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship which was a unification of the NWA International Championship, the NWA United National Championship, and the PWF Championship. Many legends have held it with many having periods of holding it with an iron grip. Kawada would make history with the belt and has his moment of dominance, specifically, his fifth and final reign. Holding the championship for an impressive 529 days during his fifth reign, Dangerous K would make a record ten successful title defenses fending off challenges from Don Frye, Genichiro Tenryu, Shinya Hashimoto, Mick Foley, Jamal (Umaga), Takao Omori, Osamu Nishimura, Taiyo Kea, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Kensuke Sasaki. When his reign ended, Kawada broke the record for most successful Triple Crown title defenses at 10. As of 2023, Kawada ties the record with Kento Miyahara who also made 10 successful title defenses during his fourth reign.

Headlined The Tokyo Dome With The Main Three Promotions- In Japan, there are many legendary venues that have played host to some of the greatest events and matches in venues like Korakuen Hall, Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall), and Nippon Budokan. However, of all the venues, perhaps the big one in Japanese wrestling is the Tokyo Dome. Since it's opening in 1989, The Tokyo Dome has played host to almost every major Japanese organization with even the WWE making trips there in the early 90s. The building is best known in wrestling circles for playing host to New Japan's yearly January 4th Tokyo Dome shows. Among the promotions that have run there are the big three in New Japan, All Japan, and NOAH. Some wrestlers have impressively headlined at least one Dome show for all three promotions like Mitsuharu Misawa and Keiji Mutoh. Another would be Kawada as he went on to headline five Tokyo Dome show between the three promotions. Kawada would headline two All Japan Tokyo Dome shows as he main evented their 25th Anniversary - Showdown At The Egg show on May 1, 1998 where he defeated Misawa to win the Triple Crown in what is considered the biggest win and moment of his career. He then main evented their third Dome show King's Road New Century 2001 Giant Baba 3rd Anniversary Memorial on January 28, 2001 teaming with Kensuke Sasaki to defeat Genichiro Tenryu and Hiroshi Hase. Kawada would also main event two New Japan Dome shows with the first being their DO JUDGE!! event on October 9, 2000 when he defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki in a non title match. He then main evented Wrestling World 2001 on January 4, 2001 losing to Sasaki for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship which I've mentioned above. His last Dome main event would be for NOAH's Destiny 2005 show on July 18, 2005 where he faced Misawa in their final encounter but ending up losing.