Interesting Facts about Giant Baba

Interesting Facts about Giant Baba
February 7, 2024

By Ryan Porzl

The professional wrestling world is filled with wrestlers and legends that can be considered "larger than life". Some wrestlers were even known not only universally in the wrestling industry but also in pop culture and mainstream. One man who checks those boxes is Shohei "Giant" Baba. Baba is one of wrestling's biggest names and one of the few to enjoy massive success as both a wrestler and promoter as the owner of All Japan Pro Wrestling. During his near 40 year career, Baba became the third biggest name in all of Japanese wrestling behind only his mentor Rikidozan and fellow Rikidozan trainee Antonio Inoki. By the time of his passing in 1999, he was a pop culture icon in all of Japan to the point where not only did the business mourn him but so did the entirety of the country. With Baba's 86th birthday having come on January 23rd and the 25th anniversary of his passing on January 31st, I'll take a look at one of wrestling's biggest names both figuratively and literally.

Note: I don't own any of the pictures as I found them on Google. Credit to their owners and I apologize for not knowing their names.

Was a Three Time World Champion- You could make an argument that Baba is a seven time champion as he held the Pacific Wrestling Federation World Championship four times but that title was mostly around as a regional belt after All Japan joined the National Wrestling Alliance. Nevertheless, Baba is like most all time greats and has had his share of world championships to his trophy case. From 1974-1980, Baba would go on to become a three time world champion when he captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times during that six year period. Unfortunately, due to Baba's commitments to All Japan, his reigns never lasted long usually winning and losing the belt during the same tour. Baba first became champion on December 2, 1974 when he defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Baba would hold the belt for only one week before losing it back to Brisco on December 9th. Five years later, on October 31, 1979, Baba would regain the belt when he defeated NWA's then kingpin Harley Race for the gold. Once again, Baba held the title for a week when he lost it back to Race. One year later, Baba became champion for a third and final time when he defeated Race to win the gold on September 4, 1980. Baba's third reign would be even shorter as he held it for only five days before losing it back to Race on September 9th. At 19 days, Baba has one of the shortest combine days as NWA World Champion and the only wrestler to have held the belt more than once that had it for less than 100 days.

Was an Aspiring Baseball Player- As I've pointed out in past articles, many wrestlers are usually talented athletes who aspired to enter another sport before finding their way to the squared circle. Baba would be no different as he originally played baseball. Baba first played baseball during his elementary school years and exceeded well during his school days to the point where he was recruited by the Yomiuri Giants (The New York Yankees of Japan) and played with them for five seasons during 1955-1959 during which time he won the Nippon Professional Baseball leagues Best Pitcher award in 1956, 1957, and 1959. After being released, Baba signed with the Taiyo Whales but it would be here where he fell in his shower and the glass door which saw him suffer an injury to his arm which saw him briefly losing feeling in his hand. Despite recovering, Baba would give up baseball and retired. As luck would have it, Baba had plenty of options. Along with agents wanting to hire him to be a TV personality due to his size, Baba would also meet Rikidozan, the father of Japanese Wrestling and a national hero during his baseball career. Rikidozan was impressed with Baba's size and suggested he try wrestling out. When Baba ended his baseball career, he took Rikidozan on his offer and the rest is history.

Was a Record Six Time World Big League Tournament Winner- In Japanese wrestling, tournaments are usually a yearly tradition in many of the big league and major indie promotions. The most famous tournaments include New Japan's G1 Climax, All Japan's Champion Carnival, and NOAH's Global League/N-1. Most of the time, these tournaments would also be held in a round robin format. However, before those tournaments or the promotions were even created, the main Japanese promotion was Rikidozan's JWA or Japan Pro-Wrestling Alliance which had their yearly round robin tournament called the World Big League. The only catch with the World Big League tournament was they were held at a time when Japanese wrestling usually had a format of "Japan vs. The World" so Japanese wrestler usually never faced each other during the round robin. To no surprise, Rikidozan would dominate the World Big League during his lifetime as he won it during the first five years of 1959-1963. After Rikidozan's death on December 15, 1963 due to peritonitis brought on by a stab wound, his old tag partner Toyonobori would win the next two tournaments in 1964 and 1965. By 1966, the tournament would then be dominated by Baba who won the next three in a row in 1966, 1967, and 1968. After Antonio Inoki broke the streak by winning in 1969, Baba would go on to win the final three tournaments from 1970-1972 resulting in him breaking his mentor's record and winning a record six World Big Leagues. Baba's tournament wins would also be more impressive as after winning his first two tournaments, Rikidozan's last three saw him seeded to the finals while Baba competed in the round robin portion of all six of his victories.

Was The First Japanese Wrestler To Win The NWA World Championship- From it's creation in 1948 until the WWF's national expansion in 1984, the NWA World Championship was the biggest prize to be won. As is been well documented, many all time greats held the gold during it's glory days from Lou Thesz to Buddy Rogers to Gene Kiniski to both Funk Brothers to Harley Race to Dusty Rhodes to Ric Flair. Among those legends, Baba would be among them as previously mentioned, he held the NWA World Championship on three different occasions between 1974-1980. However, despite never being a dominant world champion, Baba would make history as his first title win marked the first time a Japanese wrestler held the championship. Baba would set the stage of what was to come as many other Japanese legends including Tatsumi Fujinami, Masahiro Chono, Keiji "The Great Muta" Mutoh, Naoya Ogawa, Shinya Hashimoto, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan would all eventually follow in Baba's footsteps. While they all had more success with the title over him, Baba was the first to do it which means a lot and to his credit, his title reigns were during the golden age of the NWA and not the later years when it lost some of it's prestige.

WWA Champion Freddie Blassie

NWA World Champion Lou Thesz

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino

Challenged For Three Different World Titles In One Month- The 1960s would be an interesting time in wrestling. Beginning in 1948, the NWA umbrella covered most of wrestling and recognized one world champion. However, by the early 60s, many promotions began breaking away from the NWA and went on their own. Among them included the Northeast World Wide Wrestling Federation, Minnesota's American Wrestling Association, and California's Worldwide Wrestling Associates with each having their own world champion. As this was going on, Baba made his way to the States for seasoning and quickly became a popular attraction throughout the country. So much so, he became a top attraction in multiple promotions and possibly became the first to challenge for three different world championships. In February 1964, Baba would challenge for the NWA, WWWF, and WWA World Titles. On February 8th and 15th, Baba would challenge Lou Thesz for the NWA World Championship in two two out of three falls matches where he lost both. On February 17th, Baba then challenged Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden for the WWWF World Championship coming up short again. Finally on February 28th, Baba then challenged Freddie Blassie for the WWA Championship in a two out of three falls match which went to a draw at one win apiece. Though he didn't win any of the world titles, Baba still showed what a star he was by challenging for three different world titles in one month. 

Main Evented The First Wrestling Show in The Nippon Budokan- Professional wrestling is known for hosting shows in some of the most famous arenas and stadiums in the world for a century. In Japan, many buildings are known for hosting their share of wrestling shows. Usually, the one many immediately think of is The Tokyo Dome. However, a close second in terms of famous wrestling venues in the Land of the Rising Sun has to be The Nippon Budokan. Opened in 1964, the Budokan originally played host to judo competitions in the 1964 Olympic games. Originally known for that plus martial art competitions, the building has become legendary in many genres. Martial Arts is one and another is music with many legendary acts performing there and doing live recordings under the "Live At Budokan" label. Another genre was professional wrestling as it would only take two years after the building opened that wrestling would be held there and Baba played a big part. On December 3, 1966, the Japan Pro-Wrestling Alliance ran the first wrestling show at the Budokan and appropriately enough, Baba would be in the main event defending the NWA International Heavyweight Championship in a two out of three falls match against fellow legend and Von Erich family patriarch Fritz Von Erich. The match would see Baba retain two to one. In retrospect, Baba main eventing the Budokan would be appropriate as the building eventually became synonymous with his promotion All Japan as Baba would run the first All Japan Budokan in December 1975. Despite only running the building a few times between 1975 and 1985, the building would host more All Japan events beginning in 1986 and by the 90s golden age, became the home of All Japan where they would run it as much as eight times a year. During the 90s, almost every memorable match, moment, tournament final, and title change took place at the Nippon Budokan.

Held The Record For Most NWA International Tag Team Championships- Throughout the history of tag team wrestling, tag team championships have become a common title competed for in just about every major promotion. One such title would be the NWA International Tag Team Titles. Originally recognized in 1962, the inaugural champions were one of wrestling's most successful and greatest teams The Fabulous Kangaroos. After the first few years of being mostly appearing in American wrestling, the titles transitioned to Japan in 1966 after Baba and his first partner Michiaki Yoshimura. After that, they were a top prize for both the JWA and later All Japan before being unified into All Japan's PWF Tag Belts which created All Japan's World Tag Team Titles. Baba would make a mark on the belts by becoming their most dominant holder by holding them a record twelve times between 1967-1984. As mentioned, Baba would first hold the belts with Yoshimura in 1966. He then held the gold four times with Antonio Inoki in the legendary B-I Cannon team from 1967-1971. After Inoki's firing, Baba won them for the sixth time with new partner Seiji Sakaguchi before leaving the JWA. After JWA shut down, the belts returned to the States and then to All Japan where Baba won them six more times in another legendary tag team with his eventual successor Jumbo Tsuruta between 1975-1984. In all, Baba not only was a record twelve time champion but he held the record for most combined days with both of his famous teams with Tsuruta (3,127 which is the longest) and Inoki (1,444 which is the second longest) as well as the most combined days individually at 5,017 days.

Holds Several Records Regarding The NWA International Heavyweight Championship- One of Japan's most prestigious belts from 1957-1989 was the NWA International Heavyweight Title. Originally awarded to Lou Thesz, the belt would first be dominated by Rikidozan upon winning it in 1958 and would hold it for the last five years of his life. Baba then would dominate it from the mid 1960s to his departure from the JWA in 1972. After Baba's run, Rikidozan pupil Kintaro Oki held it until vacating it in 1981 as which point it became a top belt for All Japan before becoming part of their Triple Crown in 1989. Baba would make his mark with this trophy as well as he would hold several records and honors during the belt's 32 year history. Upon winning it in 1965, Baba became the youngest NWA International Champion at 27 years old as well as the heaviest at 330 pounds. By the time the belt was unified, Baba would also tie for most reigns at three alongside Dory Funk Jr., Bruiser Brody, and Jumbo Tsuruta.

Went 24 Years Before Missing a Match- In the past, wrestlers have sometimes been compared to other sports athletes. Perhaps the most notable being Hulk Hogan compared to Babe Ruth or "The Babe Ruth of Professional Wrestling". When it comes to Baba, he too has a comparison as he has been compared to legends like Lou Gehrig or Cal Ripken Jr. Both were legends in their field like Baba was to wrestling but among their achievements, one of their highlights most remembered is their attendance record. From 1925-1939, Gehrig would play 2,130 consecutive baseball games before benching himself and never playing again due to ALS which later claimed his life. At the time, the record was thought unbreakable and was for 56 years until Ripken broke it in 1995 and from 1982-1998, would play 2,632 games. Baba would do in wrestling what they did in baseball and command an incredible attendance and consecutive streak. Baba would debut in the ring on September 30, 1960 and proceeded to go an impressive 24 years without missing a single match. His streak would end on April 25, 1984 when he suffered a neck injury during a tag match teaming with Dory Funk Jr. against Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen which put him out of action for a month. Overall, Baba competed in 3,711 consecutive matches which is likely a record and one that will never be broken. Even after his streak ended, Baba continued to hardly miss time in the ring as he then went another six years before suffering another major injury in November 1990 which put him out for several months. He then missed some time in 1992 and his last misses would be less than two months before his death on December 2 and December 3, 1998 due to his declining health from cancer which would claim his life on January 31, 1999.