Super World of Sports
Encyclopedia
Super World of Sports, more commonly known as SWS, was a Japanese professional wrestling
promotion from 1990 to 1992. Its motto was "STRAIGHT AND STRONG".
, one of the top stars of All Japan Pro Wrestling
, left the company to become a spokesmodel for Megane Super, at the time one of the best-known makers of eyeglasses in Japan. But the company instead used him as the launching pad for a new pro-wrestling circuit, which Megane Super executive Hachiro Tanaka named Super World of Sports.
With his backing, Megane Super began throwing money offers around to build up their roster. Yoshiaki Yatsu
, Ashura Hara, Shunji Takano, The Great Kabuki, Hiromichi Fuyuki
, Tatsumi "Koki" Kitahara, Masao Orihara, Isao Takagi
(the future Arashi), and referee Hiroyuki Unno joined in from All-Japan. But SWS would attract New Japan Pro Wrestling
talent as well, including George Takano
(the former Cobra), Naoki Sano
, Hisakatsu Oya
, Akira Katayama, former superstar yokozuna (grand champion in sumo
wrestling) Koji Kitao
, and Stampede Wrestling powerhouse Dino Ventura (605 lb bench press) who had extraordinary MMA and technical wrestling skills. Because of this, fans, wrestlers, and administrators of other Japanese promotions criticized SWS as being a "money puroresu" because of the way wrestlers flocked to it. The feeling was compounded when in October, SWS signed a working relationship contract with Vince McMahon
's World Wrestling Federation
, for interpromotional purposes.
, one on April 1, 1991, and the other on December 12 (The April show saw a near-shoot
between former sumos Kitao and Earthquake
). SWS also had a small agreement with two smaller Japanese federations, Gran Hamada
's Universal Lucha Libre
and Yoshiaki Fujiwara
's Fujiwara Gumi (shoot-style wrestling), which provided alternative matches and opponents to the cards.
Unfortunately, SWS's peak coincided with the general Japanese economic downturn
of the early 1990s. As Megane Super began withdrawing its support, the company began running less cards, and in May 1992 Yatsu withdrew. On June 19 1992, SWS held its final card at Nagasaki International Gym. The promotion's talent split into the following federations: Yatsu's SPWF; Tenryu's new promotion, WAR
, including Hara, Fuyuki, Kitahara; NOW, including Kendo Nagasaki, and PWC, including the Takano brothers and Takagi.
Professional wrestling in Japan
Puroresu is the popular term for the predominant style or genre of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "professional wrestling" , which is shortened to puroresu . The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu...
promotion from 1990 to 1992. Its motto was "STRAIGHT AND STRONG".
Formation
In April 1990, Genichiro TenryuGenichiro Tenryu
Genichiro Tenryu , real name Genichiro Shimada , is a Japanese professional wrestler. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling...
, one of the top stars of All Japan Pro Wrestling
All Japan Pro Wrestling
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1972. All Japan Pro Wrestling still remains one of the most popular puroresu promotions still in operation.-The Giant Baba Era :...
, left the company to become a spokesmodel for Megane Super, at the time one of the best-known makers of eyeglasses in Japan. But the company instead used him as the launching pad for a new pro-wrestling circuit, which Megane Super executive Hachiro Tanaka named Super World of Sports.
With his backing, Megane Super began throwing money offers around to build up their roster. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Yoshiaki Yatsu
Yoshiaki Yatsu is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist.-1976 Summer Olympics:...
, Ashura Hara, Shunji Takano, The Great Kabuki, Hiromichi Fuyuki
Hiromichi Fuyuki
was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Association R and other Japanese and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s as the leader of 6-man tag team Fuyuki-Gun with Gedo and Jado.He is best known,...
, Tatsumi "Koki" Kitahara, Masao Orihara, Isao Takagi
Isao Takagi
Isao Takagi , who goes by the stage name Arashi, is a Japanese professional wrestler from Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, who works for Dradition. He has previously worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling.-Career:...
(the future Arashi), and referee Hiroyuki Unno joined in from All-Japan. But SWS would attract New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
talent as well, including George Takano
George Takano
George Takano is a professional wrestler who hailed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona...
(the former Cobra), Naoki Sano
Naoki Sano
is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He currently goes by the name Takuma Sano.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :...
, Hisakatsu Oya
Hisakatsu Oya
Kenichi Oya is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hisakatsu Oya. Although he started out for New Japan Pro Wrestling, he is well-known for his stint in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling....
, Akira Katayama, former superstar yokozuna (grand champion in sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestling) Koji Kitao
Koji Kitao
Kōji Kitao is a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler, born in Mie, Japan. He was sumo's 60th Yokozuna, and the only yokozuna in sumo history not to win a top division tournament championship...
, and Stampede Wrestling powerhouse Dino Ventura (605 lb bench press) who had extraordinary MMA and technical wrestling skills. Because of this, fans, wrestlers, and administrators of other Japanese promotions criticized SWS as being a "money puroresu" because of the way wrestlers flocked to it. The feeling was compounded when in October, SWS signed a working relationship contract with Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
's World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, for interpromotional purposes.
Working relationship with the WWF
The SWS/WWF co-promotion produced several cards, including two shows at the Tokyo DomeTokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...
, one on April 1, 1991, and the other on December 12 (The April show saw a near-shoot
Shoot (professional wrestling)
A shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. Contrary to popular belief, the name does not originate from "shooting in" for a takedown, as in amateur wrestling - rather it is a carny term shortened from...
between former sumos Kitao and Earthquake
John Tenta
John Anthony Tenta was a Canadian professional wrestler known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake and later Golga, and in World Championship Wrestling as Avalanche and The Shark.-Early life:John Tenta was born in Surrey, British Columbia...
). SWS also had a small agreement with two smaller Japanese federations, Gran Hamada
Gran Hamada
, better known by his ring name , is Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro, and All Japan Pro Wrestling, and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre...
's Universal Lucha Libre
Universal Lucha Libre
Universal Lucha Libre was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1990 to 1995...
and Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
is a Japanese actor, and professional wrestler who has worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, and UWF.-New Japan Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Federation :...
's Fujiwara Gumi (shoot-style wrestling), which provided alternative matches and opponents to the cards.
Unfortunately, SWS's peak coincided with the general Japanese economic downturn
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...
of the early 1990s. As Megane Super began withdrawing its support, the company began running less cards, and in May 1992 Yatsu withdrew. On June 19 1992, SWS held its final card at Nagasaki International Gym. The promotion's talent split into the following federations: Yatsu's SPWF; Tenryu's new promotion, WAR
WAR (wrestling promotion)
Wrestle and Romance, and later Wrestle Association R, was a professional wrestling promotion founded and run by Genichiro Tenryu as the successor to Super World of Sports, and which lasted from 1992 to 2000. The promotion had very few regular contracted workers, instead most of the workers were...
, including Hara, Fuyuki, Kitahara; NOW, including Kendo Nagasaki, and PWC, including the Takano brothers and Takagi.
SWS Junior Heavyweight Championship
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naoki Sano Naoki Sano is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He currently goes by the name Takuma Sano.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :... |
1 | December 12, 1991 | Tokyo, Japan Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
Won a tournament to become the SWS/Japanese representative and then defeated WWF representative Rick Martel Rick Martel Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel... to become the first champion. |
| Title retired | June 19, 1992 | Title retired when SWS closed. | ||
SWS Tag Team Championship
| Wrestlers: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Haku Uliuli Fifita Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita is a retired professional wrestler and actor, known for his appearances in both World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation... and Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist.-1976 Summer Olympics:... |
1 | February 14, 1992 | Kyoto, Japan Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:... |
Defeated Ashura Hara and Genichiro Tenryu Genichiro Tenryu Genichiro Tenryu , real name Genichiro Shimada , is a Japanese professional wrestler. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling... in a tournament final to become the first champions. |
| George George Takano George Takano is a professional wrestler who hailed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona... and Shunji Takano |
1 | April 16, 1992 | Minamiashigara, Japan Minamiashigara, Kanagawa is a city located in the far southwestern corner of Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 44,190 and population density of 574 persons per km²... |
|
| The Natural Disasters The Natural Disasters The Natural Disasters were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Earthquake and Typhoon who competed in the World Wrestling Federation between 1991 and 1993... (Earthquake John Tenta John Anthony Tenta was a Canadian professional wrestler known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake and later Golga, and in World Championship Wrestling as Avalanche and The Shark.-Early life:John Tenta was born in Surrey, British Columbia... and Typhoon Fred Ottman Fred Ottman is a retired American professional wrestler best known as Tugboat or Typhoon and teaming with John "Earthquake" Tenta as The Natural Disasters in the World Wrestling Federation. Ottman is also well-known for his infamous "Shockmaster" gimmick in World Championship Wrestling... ) |
1 | April 17, 1992 | Yokohama, Japan Yokohama is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu... |
|
| King Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu | 2 | April 18, 1992 | Tokyo, Japan Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
|
| Title retired | June 19, 1992 | Title retired when SWS closed. | ||