Hello everyone. I’d like to invite you to join me in remembering Giant Baba, one of the true greats of the professional wrestling world. On January 31, 1999 the world lost a giant in the wrestling community. Called “The Japanese Hulk Hogan” and “The Japanese Vince McMahon,” Shohei Baba, known to wrestling fans as Giant Baba, passed away from liver failure from complications of colon cancer in Tokyo, Japan eight days after he turned 61 years old.
Baba had apparently known about having cancer for about a year prior to his death, but kept it secret from even his family so he wouldn’t cause them to worry.
After he passed, his funeral was delayed because they couldn’t find a casket large enough to fit him, and a memorial service was held publicly on April 17, 1999 at Nippon Budokan. Over 28,000 people attended, including the entire All Japan Pro Wrestling roster.
Starting early
Shohei Baba was born January 23, 1938 in Sanjo, Niigata, Japan.
He spent most of his youth playing in the minor league baseball system for the Yomiuri Giants. It was here that Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) owner and Founder, Mitsuhiro Momota (Rikidozan) discovered him. By 1960, Shohei was training in Momota’s dojo. It took six more months before he debuted in the professional wrestling world, but he did so against his friend and training partner, Kanji Inoko, who would later be called Antonio Inoki. Baba won.
Baba made a big enough name for himself that he was able to challenge Buddy Rogers for the NWA Heavyweight Championship, and Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, losing both contests, but the impact he made ignited a career that saw him and Inoki capture various titles over the next few years.
Friends turned rivals, time moves on
As the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance declined in popularity, Baba and Inoki separated and began their own promotions. Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling and Inkoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling. Thanks to the support of Nippon TV, All Japan Pro Wrestling became the NWA’s official Japanese promotion, causing an enormous increase in the NWA’s business in Japan.
Although afflicted with gigantism, it didn’t affect his athleticism as he excelled at any sport he tried and often resulted in being teamed with or against fellow giant, Andre the Giant.
While Baba was every bit as popular as Hulk Hogan in the 1980s, he wanted to turn his focus to the next generation of professional wrestlers, shifting from being “The Japanese Hulk Hogan” to “The Japanese Vince McMahon.
Utilizing everything he’s learned through his career, his All Japan promotion reached new heights of popularity, critical praise, and financial acclaim as they sold out shows in Tokyo regularly. Their run of selling out over 250 shows in a row is as impressive a feat as any we’ve seen, including drawing 58,000 fans to an event in the Tokyo Dome in 1998 when the company was declining from its previous heights.
A man of honor, he was known for keeping his word on handshake deals instead of contract signings. This added to his reputation as he became known as the most honest promotor in professional wrestling.
Some of the accolades he earned involve numerous awards from Tokyo Sports — Match of the Year four consecutive, Wrestler of the Year twice, and Tag Team of the Year three times.
As if that wasn’t enough, he added five award from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for being the best promoter and three for being the best booker.
He also was part of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1996, and inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008, posthumously.
His work ethic was second to none, and it helped him become an undeniable, virtually unstoppable force when he put his mind to something. Between his skill and mindset, he became one of the greatest wrestlers and promoters professional wrestling has ever seen. While I only included some of his achievements, I hope I’ve whet your appetite enough to delve more into what this legend gave us.
We are blessed to have giants of the body, mind, and heart changing and altering the world and sports we love into something that can be appreciated by everyone for years to come, and I want to thank you for joining me in this endeavor today.
See you tomorrow for another This Day in Wrestling History.
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