Jumbo Tsuruta
While continuing to be the promotion's top star, Baba also put a focus on using foreign wrestlers, inviting the likes of Dory Funk, Bruiser Brody, Abdullah The Butcher and Stan Hansen to compete for All Japan from the very beginning. Baba also focused heavily on training the next generation of wrestlers, particularly Jumbo Tsuruta, who was his first student after forming AJPW, and Atsushi Onita, with whom Baba formed an almost parent-like bond.