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'{{Unreferenced|date=January 2009}} {{Infobox Wrestler |name=Shohei Baba |image= |names='''Giant Baba'''<br>Shohei Baba<br>Big Baba<br>Baba [[Andre the Giant|The Giant]]<br>Great Baba<br>Ishope Baba<br>Babyface Baba<br>Giant Zebra |height={{height|m=2.08}}<!-- In Japan they measure height in meters so that should be first --> |weight={{convert|150|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<!--In Japan they measure weight in kilograms so that should be first --> |birth_date={{Birth date|1938|1|23|mf=y}} |birth_place=[[Sanjo, Niigata|Sanjo]], [[Niigata Prefecture|Niigata]], [[Japan]] |death_date={{death date and age|1999|1|31|1938|1|23|mf=y}} |death_place= |debut=September 30, 1960 |trainer=[[Rikidōzan]]<br />Great Togo<br />Fred Atkins |}} '''Shohei Baba''' (''Baba Shōhei'', January 23, 1938&ndash;January 31, 1999) was a [[professional wrestler]] and co-founder of [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]]. He was also known as '''Giant Baba'''. Baba, along with [[Antonio Inoki]], became one of the most famous Japanese wrestlers of his era, with a popularity in Japan comparable to [[Hulk Hogan]]'s in the United States of America. He was also a [[List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions|3 time]] [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship|NWA Champion]]. ==Professional baseball career== Before entering professional wrestling he had been a professional [[baseball]] [[pitcher]] for the [[Yomiuri Giants]], and was signed at the age of 17. Baba, who was issued jersey number 59, was a member of the organization for at least five years. It appears however, he spent most of his time in the minor leagues. He appeared in only three games with the Giants, and recorded a record of 0-1. It was around this time when national wrestling hero and owner of the [[Japanese Wrestling Association]] Mitsuhiro Momota Sr. - better known as [[Rikidōzan]] - began to feel the time was right for him to start grooming a successor in order to keep business strong. Truthfully, Baba was only 6 feet 7 inches. He weighed in at 275 pounds. ==Professional wrestling career== ===Japan Wrestling Association (1960-1972)=== In April 1960 Baba began training in Rikidōzan's dojo along with fellow student [[Kanji Inoki]]. The two trained together under Rikidōzan and made their debuts on September 30, 1960 at the old Daito Ku Gymnasium in Tokyo where Baba beat Yonetaro Tanaka and Inoki, renamed Antonio, lost to fellow Rikidōzan student [[Kintaro Ohki]]. The period 1967-71 is best remembered by Japanese wrestling fans for the Baba and Inoki tag team that first won the NWA International Tag Team Titles on October 31, 1967 beating [[Bill Watts]] and [[Tarzan Tyler]], and would go on to hold the belts four times, a record that Baba would break later with another partner, [[Jumbo Tsuruta]]. Baba had wrestled for Vince McMahon in the United States in the early 1960's, unsuccessfully challenging NWA champion Buddy Rogers for the world title, and returning to face Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF title in 1963 in Madison Square Garden. Bruno retained defeating Baba. ===All Japan Pro Wrestling (1972-1999)=== ====Main Event Superstar (1972-1984)==== In October 1972, with JWA on the decline and several months after Inoki had formed [[New Japan Pro Wrestling]], Baba formed his own promotion, [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]], with the backing of [[Nippon TV]]. All Japan eventually took over the JWA's spot in the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] after its collapse, and under Baba's strong business acumen, the rest of the NWA's talent enjoyed an amazing run in Japan. Baba became the first Japanese wrestler to ever hold the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]], defeating [[Jack Brisco]] in a 2 out of 3 falls match on December 2, 1974 in Kagoshima, Japan. He would hold the championship on two more occasions, but his reigns were short and limited to Japanese territory. Baba was additionally the first former NWA World Champion to be defeated by [[Ric Flair]], as Flair was becoming a top contender to the title. ====Phasing out (1984-1993)==== By 1984, Baba began phasing himself out to give rise to the next generation of wrestlers, led by Tsuruta and [[Genichiro Tenryu]]. He voluntarily became a "curtain jerker", as he moved slowly and won only against mid-card talent. Under his leadership, All Japan Pro Wrestling became arguably the number one wrestling company in the world during the 1990s from a match quality standpoint. Following the formation of the quickly doomed SWS (Super World of Sports), established talent such as Tenryu, Hara and Great Kabuki left All Japan and Baba was forced to push younger talent, such as [[Toshiaki Kawada]], [[Kenta Kobashi]], [[Akira Taue]] and [[Tsuyoshi Kikuchi]] up the card to replace them. The biggest move Baba made at this time was taking the mask off Tiger Mask II and giving [[Mitsuharu Misawa]] the push as the biggest new singles star by pinning Jumbo Tsuruta in one of the most emotional matches in company history on June 8, 1990 at [[Budokan Hall]]. The show was close to a sellout and Misawa was immediately catapulted to main event status because of his victory over the legend Jumbo. Budokan Hall became a hotbed for pro wrestling with a string of sellouts in the building lasting for several years, which validated Baba's insistence on clean finishes in matches (not a Baba invention, but rather a reaction to the popularity of [[shootwrestling]] at the time; before that, major matches often ended with double count-out finishes). With the Triple Crown Championship as the focal point, All Japan sold out more than 250 consecutive shows in Tokyo throughout the early the mid 1990s, routinely drawing houses in the $1,000,000 range eight times a year at Budokan Hall. At the peak of the company, tickets for the next Budokan show would be sold at the live event and completely sell out that night. Baba finally agreed to run the Tokyo Dome and despite it being a few years since the company peaked they still drew 58,300 paid fans. ====Final years and death (1993-1999)==== Baba's last "comeback" was during the [[World's Strongest Tag League]] in 1993, when he teamed with old rival [[Stan Hansen]] in hopes of winning the [[AJPW Double Cup Tag Team Championship|Double Cup]]. The duo made it to the finals, but were defeated by Mitsuharu Misawa and [[Kenta Kobashi]]. His final match occurred in 1998, prior to being confined to a hospital bed, where he teamed with NJPW's [[Masa Saito]], Mitsuharu Misawa and ECW's [[Tracey Smothers]] to take on [[Akira Taue]], WCW's [[Psicosis]], [[Hiroshi Hase]], and a wrestler billed as [[El Santo]] II, who turned out to be long-time Baba friend and kayfabe rival [[Erik Watts]] wearing the legendary El Santo mask. Baba pinned Watts after a [[tomahawk chop]] from the second rope. On January 22, 1999, Baba saw his last wrestling match, as Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Championship. Nine days later, Baba died of cancer. ==After death== Another Japanese pro-wrestler, Hiroshi Nagao from [[Hustle (professional wrestling)|HUSTLE]], takes his ring name ("Giant Vabo") from Giant Baba (and Volleyball, his weapon). He once used Baba's theme music and ring attire for a "Legends Tag Match" (His opponent, "Koinoki", imitated legendary Japanese pro-wrestler [[Antonio Inoki]]). ==In wrestling== *'''Finishing moves''' **''Coconut Crush'' ([[Professional wrestling throws#Facebreaker knee smash|Side headlock facebreaker knee smash]]) **[[Professional wrestling attacks#Lariat takedown|Running neckbreaker]] *'''Signature moves''' **[[Professional wrestling attacks#Big boot|Big boot]] **[[DDT (professional wrestling)|DDT]] **[[Dropkick]] **[[Professional wrestling attacks#Overhead chop|Overhead chop]] **[[Professional wrestling throws#Russian legsweep|Russian legsweep]] *'''[[Nickname]]s''' **"The Giant of the East" ==Championships and accomplishments== *'''[[All Japan Pro Wrestling]]''' **[[AJPW All Asia Heavyweight Championship]] ([[AJPW All Asia Heavyweight Championship#Title history|1 time]]) **[[NWA International Tag Team Championship]] ([[NWA International Tag Team Championship#Title history|6 times]]) - with [[Jumbo Tsuruta]] **[[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] ([[List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions|3 times]]) **[[PWF World Heavyweight Championship]] ([[PWF World Heavyweight Championship#Title history|4 times]]) **[[Champion's Carnival]] ([[Champion's Carnival#1973|1973]], [[Champion's Carnival#1974|1974]], [[Champion's Carnival#1975|1975]], [[Champion's Carnival#1977|1977]], [[Champion's Carnival#1978|1978]], [[Champion's Carnival#1981|1981]], [[Champion's Carnival#1982|1982]]) **[[World's Strongest Tag Team League]] ([[World's Strongest Tag Team League#1978|1978]], [[World's Strongest Tag Team League#1980|1980]]) &ndash; with Jumbo Tsuruta *'''[[Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance|Japan Wrestling Association]]''' **[[NWA International Heavyweight Championship]] ([[NWA International Heavyweight Championship#Title history|3 times]]) **[[NWA International Tag Team Championship]] ([[NWA International Tag Team Championship#Title history|6 times]]) - with Michiaki Yoshimura (1), [[Antonio Inoki]] (4), and Seiji Sakaguchi (1) **[[World Big League]] (6 times) *'''[[National Wrestling Alliance|NWA Detroit]]''' **[[NWA Detroit World Tag Team Championship|NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)]] ([[NWA Detroit World Tag Team Championship#Title history|1 time]]) - with Jumbo Tsuruta *'''[[Pro Wrestling Illustrated]]''' **PWI ranked him #'''10''' of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years - with Jumbo Tsuruta in 2003. *'''[[Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum]]''' **[[Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum#International|Class of 2008]] *'''[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards]]''' **[[Dave Meltzer#Rating system|5 Star Match]] (1994) <small>with [[Mitsuharu Misawa]] and [[Kenta Kobashi]] vs. [[Masanobu Fuchi]], [[Akira Taue]], and [[Toshiaki Kawada]] on February 13</small> **[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Best Booker|Best Booker]] (1989-1991) **[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Promoter of the Year|Promoter of the Year]] (1990-1994) **[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Worst Tag Team|Worst Tag Team]] (1990, 1991) <small>with [[André the Giant]]</small> **[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame]] ([[Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame#1996 inductees|Class of 1996]]) ==External links== *[http://www.puroresu.com/wrestlers/baba/ Puroresu.com: Giant Baba] *[http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/feb3_baba.html Obit from SLAM! Wrestling] *{{Cite web|url=http://www.pwhf.org/halloffamers/bios/baba.asp|title=Giant Baba|last=Pantozzi|first=John|publisher=[[Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame]]|accessdate=2008-03-18}} *[http://wiki.puroresu.com/Giant_Baba PuroresuWiki profile] {{NWA World Heavyweight Championship}} {{AJPW}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Baba, Shohei}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling]] [[Category:Japanese professional wrestlers]] [[Category:Professional wrestling executives]] [[Category:People from Niigata Prefecture]] [[Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports]] [[Category:Japanese baseball players]] [[Category:Yomiuri Giants players]] [[Category:Professional wrestling trainers]] [[de:Shohei Baba]] [[fr:Shōhei Baba]] [[it:Shohei Baba]] [[ja:ジャイアント馬場]] [[pt:Shohei Baba]] [[zh:巨人馬場]]'