Michinoku Pro Wrestling

Michinoku Pro Wrestling
Acronym MPW
M-Pro
Founded 1993
Style Lucha libre
Headquarters Morioka, Iwate, Japan
Founder(s) The Great Sasuke
Owner(s) Jinsei Shinzaki

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (also known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Lucha libre professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke in 1993. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather in Morioka, Iwate. Since, the promotion is primarily focused on the Lucha libre style of wrestling, many of their wrestlers dawn masks and special motifs as they compete in the ring. However, Michinoku Pro has accepted wrestlers from various styles (such as shoot style and strong style) and backgrounds over the years. In 2003, Sasuke left the running of the promotion to Jinsei Shinzaki.

History

Michinonoku Pro Wrestling (Michinoku Pro or M-Pro) was founded on October 1, 1992 by The Great Sasuke as a community-based promotion for the greater Tohoku, North Eastern, region of Japan. Their first ever pre-show was held on November 27, 1992 in Takizawa City. Though due to disputes with the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), the promotion was put on the back-burner for the next several months. Gran Hamada joined M-Pro, and their first ever show was held on Match 16, 1993 in Yahaba, Iwate.

The stable Kaientai Deluxe (海援隊Deluxe) formed in 1996. Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, TAKA Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki, Hanzo Nakajima worked as young protagonists looking to make a break in business. This group competed against The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin. After a couple of years, TAKA and the rest of KAIENTAI moved to the USA to compete.

In 1997, Michinoku Pro Wrestling entered into a working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation, with M-Pro founder The Great Sasuke wrestling in two matches for the promotion. The WWF would also send talent to Japan, such as The Undertaker, who would wrestle against M-Pro mainstay Jinsei Shinzaki.[1] During this period, the WWF was planning on holding a tournament to crown the first holder of the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Although Great Sasuke was heavily pushed to be the winner of the tournament, he would later brag to the Japanese media how he would only defend the title in Japan when he wins the championship and would refuse to drop the title on WWF television.[2] When the WWF heard Sasuke's comments, he was removed from the tournament, fired, and the MPW/WWF working agreement was terminated.[3] Michinoku Pro Wrestling alumnus TAKA Michinoku would end up winning the title.

By 1998 the promotion had gone on a temporary hiatus after Sasuke suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Delfin took charge of the promotion for the time being, but on January 17, 1999 he announced that he would be withdrawing the promotion and many of the wrestlers and backstage personal would be joining him. This was in part due to differences in regards to the direction of the promotion. Delfin was joined by Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa, Masaru Seno, Hayato Kigawa, and referee Yukinori Matsui. Delfin formed Osaka Pro Wrestling. TAKA Michinoku and Dick Togo later returned after their stint in the USA and competed from time to time. In 2003, Sasuke ran for public office, and Jinsei Shinzaki took over as the president of the promotion. The 10th year anniversary of the promotion was held on November 2, 2003 at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan.

In July 2004, the promotion underwent a revival as Ultimo Dragon disbanded his then Toryumon X promotion and sent his talent to join the promotion, which was then dubbed Shinsei Michinoku Pro-Wrestling. Bear Fukuda, Ken45°, Murcielago, and Manabu Murakami were the firsts to join the promotion. Then in October, Taro Nohashi, Dynamite Tohoku, and Shu and Kei Sato joined the promotion. Then at the end of that year SUGI, Rasse, Kagetora, and Manabu Murakami made their debuts.

On December 13, 2013 Kenoh left the promotion and vacated the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship due to signing with Pro Wrestling Noah. In 2014, Michinoku Pro reactivated the Okinawa Wrestling Championship which was won by Eisa8.

Current roster

Bad Boy

Mu no Taiyo

Championships and tournaments

Current

Championship Current champion(s) Date won Days held
Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship Manjimaru November 3, 2015 409
Okinawa Wrestling Championship Eisa8 July 6, 2014 894
Tohoku Tag Team Championship Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita January 30, 2015 686
UWA World Tag Team Championship Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita June 10, 2016 189

Tournaments

Tournament Latest winner(s) Date won
Iron Man Tournament Fujita "Jr." Hayato August 29, 2009
Fukumen World League Carístico September 19, 2016
Futaritabi Tag Team League Brahman Kei and Brahman Shu October 13, 2014

Former

Championship Last champion(s) Date won
UWA World Welterweight Championship Vacated 2004
UWF Super Welterweight Championship Vacated January 4, 2000
British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship Vacated December 7, 2003
UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship Diluvio Negro II February 25, 2007
Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship Makoto Oishi September 14, 2008

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ roadwarriormatt (July 22, 2007). Michinoku Pro: Undertaker vs. Hakushi. YouTube. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  2. ↑ Taylor C. Mitchell (Apr 16, 2014). "The Most Incredible Single Night of Wrestling, Ever.". Voices of Wrestling. Retrieved June 24, 2016. Until Great Sasuke allegedly told Japanese reporters that he was going to win the WWE Light Heavyweight Championship and refuse to defend it in the USA and threatened to only defend it in Japan. The WWE immediately fired The Great Sasuke and moved on to put their new championship around the waist of the young Taka Michinoku. One would have to speculate that this hurt WWE's new relationship with Michinoku Pro
  3. ↑ Taylor C. Mitchell (Apr 16, 2014). "The Most Incredible Single Night of Wrestling, Ever.". Voices of Wrestling. Retrieved June 24, 2016. Until Great Sasuke allegedly told Japanese reporters that he was going to win the WWE Light Heavyweight Championship and refuse to defend it in the USA and threatened to only defend it in Japan. The WWE immediately fired The Great Sasuke and moved on to put their new championship around the waist of the young Taka Michinoku. One would have to speculate that this hurt WWE's new relationship with Michinoku Pro
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