In the late 1980s, when the International Olympic Committee changed its ruling on pro wrestlers eligibility for the Olympics, Choshu toyed with the idea of going back, feeling the depth in the super heavyweight division in Japan wasn’t that great. But he would have been in his late 30s, and he was really far too big of a star to try shoot competition given how Japanese pro wrestling fans thought of his signing was a major media deal, bringing in a former Olympian and multiple time collegiate champion. At the time it was hidden that he actually represented South Korea in the Olympics, and almost everyone thought he had represented Japan, which in Japanese culture being on the Olympic team is a huge deal. His being half-Korean was hidden, with the feeling that would hurt him getting over as a babyface. Throughout the heyday of his career, few knew he was in the Olympics for South Korea or he was half-Korean. It was never pushed in the media, but reporters were aware of it, and if it was brought up, it was long after he had already established himself as a legend to where it no longer mattered.
There was a famous story of him being sent to Florida to train under Karl Gotch. Yoshida had problems with Gotch’s training methods for wrestling, and fresh out of winning the national tournaments, it led to them going at it. Yoshida was 21, and Gotch was 49. Yoshida took him down multiple times before Gotch hooked him with a submission and made him cry in front of everyone, to humiliate him.
He made his pro wrestling debut, beating El Greco, on August 8, 1974, and then was sent to Germany to compete in the tournaments, and worked as a prelim wrestler in 1975 for Championship Wrestling from Florida. He started as a tag team partner of area legend Hiro Matsuda, and then the two split up and he lost to Matsuda in a series of matches. He often wrestled Bob Backlund, Danny Hodge or Mike Graham, always losing, or Mack Quarry (George McCreary), who he’d split matches with, as Eddie Graham liked the idea of undercard matches based on amateur wrestling with legit guys.
He returned to Japan in 1977, where he took the name Riki Choshu, and held the NWA/NWF North American tag team titles (equivalent to today’s IWGP tag team titles, being New Japan’s tag team title and also a championship recognized and defended in California) with Seiji Sakaguchi from 1979 to 1981. He was clearly the junior member of the team.
He was near the top, yet far from the top at the same time. The big three were Inoki, Fujinami and Sakaguchi, and he was behind legend Shozo Kobayashi as well, for the fifth spot. It was a line that looked like it wouldn’t get shorter for some time.
On the big Sumo Hall shows in 1980, for example, he & Sakaguchi retained their titles over Super Destroyer (Don Jardine) & Iron Sheik on April 3; On June 5, he and Kobayashi beat Hulk Hogan & Badnews Allan Coage; on June 17, he and Kengo Kimura beat Badnews & Bret Hart; on November 3 he went to a double count out with Paul Orndorff. In 1981, he still never got near a main event. On April 1, 1982, Choshu & Fujinami lost a tag match to the legendary Texas Outlaws team of dikk Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes, and Choshu went to Mexico.
While in Mexico, Choshu was a headliner, and traded the UWA heavyweight title in matches with Canek, winning and losing on major cards at El Toreo in Naucalpan on July 21 and September 26. The idea was that in Mexico, he had proven himself to be a superstar, but in Japan he was still mid-card. The storyline is that even though he had won the UWA title, considered one of the major world titles in the sport at a time when that meant a lot, he was not picked to be a Japanese representative in the tournament to crown the IWGP heavyweight champion, which at first was meant to be the greatest wrestlers from all over the world the way it was pushed. New Japan created a fictitious tournament starting in 1981, heating up in 1982, with all the top wrestlers from all over the world, where the regional winners would come to Japan in 1983 to determine the world’s best wrestler.
When Choshu wasn’t selected for the tournament, he turned on Fujinami in October. At the time, New Japan was huge on national television, often drawing better than a 20 rating.
Their first singles match for Fujinami’s WWF International title was a double count out on November 4. They wrestled regularly over the next year before sellout houses at the major arenas around the country. Most of the matches were double count outs or DQ’s, until Choshu beat Fujinami via count out and again via pin. Eventually Fujinami ended the feud winning back his title.
The Choshu turn was very noteworthy historically. Choshu was considered a heel for breaking with tradition. There had been Japanese heels before, but they were usually non-regulars like Masa Saito, Umanosuke Ueda or Matsuda, or at that time, the IWE heel group led by Rusher Kimura in New Japan which were guys who hated New Japan, blaming them for putting their company out of business.
On the flip side, the younger fans loved Choshu, for a variety of different reasons. Some saw him as rebellious against a culture that rewarded seniority and tradition and held back younger people with a different vision. Some loved him and his group, which included Saito, and eventually Animal Hamaguchi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Killer Khan, Kuniaki Kobayashi and Isamu Teranishi, for working a faster and more exciting style with repeated big moves, really the forerunner to what would become the modern U.S. and even Japanese style. New Japan was so loaded with talent that it was hard to pinpoint any one thing for the success. That 82-83 period before the collapse was huge on television and bigger on house shows, with legitimate sellouts of 70 percent of the events. Inoki, Choshu, Fujinami and Satoru Sayama as Tiger Mask were the keys. Then Inoki had to take time off in 1983, and the sellouts kept coming. All of a sudden there was the realization that contrary to existing belief, the company didn’t collapse without Inoki.
This was the period where Fujinami vs. Choshu, battling over the WWF International heavyweight title, became one of the biggest feuds in Japanese history, with Choshu winning and losing the title. The success at the gate and of television ratings was such that even today, 36 years ago, the two played upon it to both team with each other or wrestle against each other on indies, making it among the most enduring rivalries in history. In the 90s, it was an easy program that, based on the legend of the original feud, could still headline the Tokyo Dome.
In late 1984, Choshu and his army left New Japan for All Japan. Giant Baba spent huge money to change the balance of power. Decades later Choshu joked that he left because Inoki told him to. All Japan had big years in 1985 and 1986 with Choshu’s rivalry with Genichiro Tenryu, and to a lesser extent Jumbo Tsuruta, as the focal point.
But many blamed this period for hurting the business. It was also a part of the change of Japanese culture. Unlike in the U.S., where people get a job and routinely switch jobs and companies throughout their life, the Japanese mentality was always company before individual. The idea is, after college, you join a company, devote your life to the company, and unless you screw up badly, you will always have a job and they will take care of you in later life. Americans were thought of differently. It was okay for Stan Hansen, or Bruiser Brody, or Abdullah the Butcher to switch sides because they were foreigners who were in it for the money. The idea that a number of Japanese stars, who were paid well and headliners, would switch sides for more money was thought of badly within the culture.
While business was good, even great, there was an erosion of mainstream interest and some blamed it on the jump of Choshu’s Army. More likely, it was just wrestling taking a lower place in culture, as Inoki was past 40 and while a legend, not seen as the same Inoki of old, and Baba moved himself to the midcard. As big as Fujinami, Tsuruta, Tenryu and Choshu were, they were not the mainstream stars Baba and Inoki were.
Choshu, the guy who deserted New Japan, eventually became the guy pretty much in charge as booker. His run was noteworthy with things like the creation of the G-1 tournament in 1991, and Choshu putting over Bam Bam Bigelow, Hashimoto and Chono, all in major upsets and booking Muto over Chono in the finals instead of the established stars. That first tournament kicked off The Three Musketeers and the sold out Dome era of the company.
Choshu would have to be considered in the second group behind Rikidozan, Inoki and Baba, as the top stars in Japanese history. That order is much harder, but Choshu, Tenryu, Tsuruta, Fujinami, Sayama, Atsushi Onita and Akira Maeda would probably be the next group, ahead of Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Chono, Hashimoto, Muto and the modern stars of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada.
That will change when he wins the G1
at HHH pinning Corbin.
Yuji has tapped the young gawd out in 4 straight tag matches matches but today Takuya was the one getting the submission W over the champ. I really hope they get a nice attendance and atmosphere in Osaka because that match could be out of this world with proper heat.
