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Giant Baba (Wrestling)

 Giant Baba (Wrestling)
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TVTItem
 Giant Baba (Wrestling)
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Giant Baba (Wrestling)
 Giant Baba (Wrestling)
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GiantBaba
 Giant Baba (Wrestling)
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Shohei Baba (January 23, 1938 – January 31, 1999), best known by his ring name Giant Baba, was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter. Baba is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota and Yoshihiro Momota, the sons of Rikidozan. Along with being the top star of All Japan its first decade of existence, Baba was the promotion's booker, promoter, head trainer and president from its inception until his death in 1999. Baba was also responsible for recruiting much of the talent for All Japan, and was the public face of the promotion for much of his lifetime. Considered one of the most beloved Japanese wrestlers ever, Baba was a national hero with a popularity in Japan comparable to Hulk Hogan in the United States.Among his many accomplishments, Baba was a record seven-time winner of All Japan's signature tournament, the Champion Carnival,note He won it every year from 1973 to 1982 except the 1976, 1979, and 1980 editions; the first two being won by Abdullah the Butcher and the latter by Jumbo Tsuruta. a four-time PWF World Heavyweight Champion, three-time NWA International Heavyweight Champion,note The two titles that, alongside the NWA United National Championship, were unified into AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. and a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion.note He is in fact the first Japanese wrestler to have won the title, although each of his reigns only lasted a week.
 Giant Baba (Wrestling)
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2023-08-22T10:30:11Z
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2023-08-22T10:30:11Z
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_1ba1b4b9
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The Giant
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_1ba1b4b9
comment
The Giant: Well, it's in his ring name for a reason. Baba was 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), with only a few wrestlers during his time, such as André the Giant, billed 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) being able to slightly surpass him in height. He's also one of the tallest Japenese men in recorded history, with only Yoshimitsu Matsuzaka (1930-1962, 7'9") and Yasutaka Okayama (1954-present, 7'8") being confirmed taller. note It should be said though, that Andre was probably closer to 6'10 in his later years due to his bad back. There's also the famous picture he had with Wilt Chamberlain◊ for Conan the Destroyer, where Andre appears to be a bit shorter than the 7'2 (2.18 m) Chamberlain. Vince McMahon Sr. apparently did everything in his power to ensure that nobody should be able to see the photo. He's also infamous for booking the biggest guys possible as a promoter. It took Antonio Inoki and Genichiro Tenryu's success with junior heavyweights to make Baba put more thought into their usage and the average size of Japanese wrestlers has gradually shrunken following his death. His funeral actually had to be delayed, since they couldn’t find a casket that could fit his body.
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Hidden Depths
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_2dc0d2bf
comment
Hidden Depths: He's mostly known as a tall man who slapped and kicked people, but Baba had extensive knowledge of joint locks and pinning combinations. It's just that the situation rarely called on him to use them.
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_326a44a1
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Create Your Own Villain
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_326a44a1
comment
Create Your Own Villain: It was rumored that the infamous one-night wrestler Raja Lion (who was billed as a Pakistani karate champion) was actually some tall guy Baba found working in a curry shop and brought in to have someone to compete against. This certainly would explain the subsequent match, in which his infamous total lack of skills, either at wrestling or karate (or any other kind of martial art for that matter) immortalized him on Botchamania.
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Gentle Giant
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_36c64123
comment
Gentle Giant: Baba, the legendary and beloved late owner of AJPW. As Mick Foley once stated, it looked like his moves couldn't break an egg, and the real person was said to be serious, but had nonetheless a gentle personality that extended to his in-ring persona.
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Trope Codifier
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_44bd31e2
comment
Trope Codifier: Of serious, sports-based, matches-as-storytelling booking with as many clean finishes as possible; the "Kings Road" style of professional wrestling. Baba obviously wasn't the first to bring this to professional wrestling, and he wasn't even the first of his decade, given the Universal Wrestling Federation, but he is believed to be the best at it as a booker.
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Big Good
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_4a852458
comment
Big Good: Baba increasingly became viewed as such for AJPW as his in-ring career wound down. It's been said that, despite pro wrestling being a notoriously cutthroat business, Baba's word could always be trusted. If you had a handshake with him, it meant that you had a done deal.
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_66755d29
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Author Avatar
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_66755d29
comment
Author Avatar: Along with being the top star of All Japan its first decade of existence and the public face of the promotion for much of his lifetime, Baba was the promotion's booker, promoter and president from its inception until his death.
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Signature Move
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_675056e4
comment
Signature Move: The Coconut Crush, a headlock transitioned into a facebreaker knee smash. Also, anyone with a passing familiarity with 70s Japanese professional wrestling knows well the "Baba chops".
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_7b80226d
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GoodCounterpart
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_7b80226d
comment
Good Counterpart: As the face of All Japan he was this to Antonio Inoki as the face of New Japan, deliberately by Inoki's design. Inoki was still a good guy, most of the time, but wanted everyone to know he was much meaner, more unscrupulous and willing to flaunt his money than Baba.
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_a43a691b
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Finishing Move
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_a43a691b
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Finishing Move: Jyurokumon Kick (Big boot), neckbreaker drop.
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Red Baron
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_ab2df806
comment
Red Baron: His appearances outside Japan had him called "The Giant of the East."
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Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_b121a71e
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Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: In 1987, Baba faced a fellow giant, Pakistani karateka Raja Lion, in a "different style fight." Baba won the fight by submission.
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Take That!
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_b53077b3
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Take That!: During his late career comedy match period, Baba decided to send up Inoki's famous "wrestler vs. martial artist" matches by billing himself against Pakistani "karate champion" Raja Lion.
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Ink-Suit Actor
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_b8dbbc07
comment
Ink-Suit Actor: Himself in his JWA days on the pages of Tiger Mask.
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27
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Berserk Button
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_bc74ef27
comment
Berserk Button: Submission finishes. He was known during AJPW's heyday for deeply detesting them, which often led to his wrestlers having to rely on other forms of grappling to win and get over.
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Game of Nerds
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_bf2ba07c
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Game of Nerds: Baba was known to recruit fairly heavily from baseball. The fact that Baba himself was a baseball player before becoming a pro wrestler likely has to do with this.
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In My Language, That Sounds Like...
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_d9723630
comment
In My Language, That Sounds Like...: There's a very good reason, at least in Spanish-speaking media, and even more so in Mexico, to address him to either with his real name (Shohei Baba) or using his wrestling persona (Giant Baba) in English exclusively: "Baba" either means Spit, or even worse, in certain contexts, Giant Dumbass. Just to take an idea how delicate this situation was in Real Life, this courtesy wasn't extended to another contemporary wrestler, André the Giant, since his wrestling name was literally translated as "Andre el Gigante" in Spanish-speaking media. note On the other hand, in Filipino, "Baba" means "chin", which is a fitting description given Baba's, uh... chin.
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 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_e5fbedc6
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Rivals Team Up
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_e5fbedc6
comment
Rivals Team Up: Baba and Inoki's one-night-only reunion as B-I Cannon in 1979. It took a lot of work from Tokyo Sports to even get them to appear on the same card thanks to years of bad blood, but they managed to keep it together for as long as it took for the match to finish up. Their partnership broke down nearly immediately after when Inoki insinuated they would have a match together post-match, when Baba had promised no such thing.
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Tag Team
 Giant Baba (Wrestling) / int_f5144b92
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Tag Team: BI Chou/BI Cannon with Antonio Inoki in JWA.
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