All Japan Pro Wrestling / History History . The promotion was founded by Shohei " Giant " Baba and the " Momota brothers " , sons of Rikidozan . Baba , a former pro baseball pitcher , joined the JWA in 1960 . In October , 1972 , he left the JWA and formed his own group , All Japan . His group continues to promote today , with a television show on Nippon Television until 2000 . Their first card was on October 21 , 1972 at Machida City Gym in Tokyo , Japan . Baba established the Pacific Wrestling Federation ( PWF ) as the governing body for all future titles in All Japan . In the beginning the PWF recognized a world heavyweight championship and several " regional championships " given as billing to foreign stars depending from which region they came from , but after All Japan joined the NWA , the PWF world title was downgraded to a regional championship . The PWF " President " ( similar to a commissioner in a U . S . promotion , with the added task of " presenting " the belts to the winners in title bouts ) from the start until 2000 was Lord James Blears and after that Stan Hansen . As a loyal member of the NWA , All Japan enjoyed the ability to bring in foreigners , from the NWA World Heavyweight Champion on down , on frequent trips . When the NWA collapsed in the late 1980s , however , Baba distanced himself from other promoters at home and abroad , and began an exclusive system of promoting talent ( both Japanese and foreign ) who competed only for his promotion . With the unification of the titles in All Japan into the Triple Crown and the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship , as well as the promotion of talent such as Jumbo Tsuruta , Genichiro Tenryu , Mitsuharu Misawa , Toshiaki Kawada and Kenta Kobashi , the promotion was able to carve a loyal fanbase that stuck with it during the 1990s . Interpromotional matches were rare ; wrestlers who arrived from other promotions , such as Hiroshi Hase , Shigeo Okumura and Yoshihiro Takayama were not given pushes . Baba died in January 1999 , leaving the promotion in the hands of top star Misawa . Misawa , disheartened with Motoko Baba ' s proposed direction for the company , left the group on May 28 , 2000 to form a new group , Pro Wrestling NOAH . Misawa took many top wrestlers from the All Japan group . Motoko Baba inherited control of the company as a result , and she responded by bringing Genichiro Tenryu back into the company , 10 years after he and others quit under similar circumstances to Misawa to form SWS , although back then the roster had not been as decimated as it was in 2000 . In addition , Stan Hansen , one of All Japan ' s top draws and their greatest gaijin wrestler of all - time , was forced to retire due to lumbago , taking another top - tier talent away . His last match was a tournament semifinal match for the vacant Triple Crown against Tenryu . Mrs . Baba appointed him Commissioner of All Japan ' s Pacific Wrestling Federation title governing body . In 2002 , at the end of a year long cross promotional " angle " with New Japan Pro Wrestling , three of New Japan ' s top stars , Keiji Mutoh , Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin ( Kashin has since returned to New Japan ) , defected to All Japan . Mutoh was rewarded by Mrs . Baba with the job of company President , and eventually all the Baba family stock was transferred to Mutoh .