Pro Wrestling ZERO1 Pro Wrestling ZERO1 - MAX , formerly known as Pro Wrestling ZERO - ONE , is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001 . It was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance until late 2004 . The promotion ' s name seems to refer to the year it was created . Backstory . In 2000 , Shinya Hashimoto proposed an independent promotion within New Japan Pro Wrestling called New Japan Pro Wrestling ZERO ; the idea was shot down , and when Hashimoto was fired by NJPW in November 2000 , he registered the Pro Wrestling ZERO - ONE name . History . The promotion was founded by former New Japan Pro Wrestling stars Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Ohtani . Over the years , they attracted talent from both New Japan and the independents , such as Tatsuhito Takaiwa , Masato Tanaka , Takao Omori , Ikuto Hidaka , and former RINGS fighter Wataru Sakata . In the past ZERO1 - MAX has had working agreements with Pro Wrestling NOAH , All Japan Pro Wrestling , New Japan Pro Wrestling , RIKIPRO , HUSTLE , Big Mouth Loud , KING ' S ROAD and Dragondoor ( now El Dorado Wrestling ) which enabled ZERO1 - MAX wrestlers to challenge for and hold the other promotions ' titles . Hashimoto won the Triple Crown heavyweight title , Takaiwa held NOAH ' s GHC junior heavyweight title , and ZERO1 - MAX top Junior tag team of Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita placed 2nd in the 2005 " Differ Cup " tag tournament run by NOAH and won the NOAH GHC Junior tag team champions in March 2006 . ZERO1 - MAX ' s structure was , until recently , very much like Genichiro Tenryu ' s old WAR promotion : the focus on the top star ( in this case , Hashimoto ) , with other talent ranking below him . This is no longer the case however as Shinjiro Otani runs the promotion much different than Hashimoto . On November 30 , 2004 Hashimoto gave up ownership of the promotion , telling the press that due to financial problems he had decided to step away from the company . Hashimoto had been very injured physically that whole past year and needed surgery , but looked to be heading back to New Japan Pro Wrestling after recovering . The promotion continued without any delays , stoppages or cancellations . A new parent company " First On Stage " was formed consisting of President Yoshiyuki Nakamura , Ring Announcer Oki Okidata , Shinjiro Otani and a company named Baltic Curry . The promotion was renamed Pro Wrestling ZERO1 - MAX with Otani and Nakamura taking over the general operations . Several notable foreign wrestlers also work , or have worked for the promotion . For example : Low Ki , A . J . Styles , Samoa Joe , Steve Corino , Spanky , Paul London , Alex Shelley , Sonjay Dutt , Mike Knox , Sylvester Terkay , Super Crazy , Matt Striker , C . W . Anderson , Colt Cabana , CM Punk , Tom Howard , Ryan Sakoda and Aaron Aguilera . Among the major changes to the federation ' s structure was the revival of the old AWA World Heavyweight Championship and joining the American Wrestling Association as the only Japanese member . At the same time the owner of the company ' s NWA promoting license , New Japan Pro Wrestling , took the license back for their own use . On July 11 , 2005 former owner and top star , Shinya Hashimoto , died suddenly of a brain aneurysm at the age of 40 . ZERO1 - MAX holds a Heavyweight tournament every Summer in the last week of July called the " Fire Festival " ( Himatsuri ) where the winner holds the " Fire Sword " ( a katana ) for a whole year until the next summer ' s tournament . They also hold a Yasukuni Shrine show every April and a yearly Junior Tournament called the " Tenka - Ichi Jr tournament . " On September 12 , 2006 , ZERO1 - MAX joined 12 other pro wrestling companies and joined the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance ( GPWA ) , an alliance that will keep the various promotions involved from stepping on each other toes and instead fostering an environment of cooperation rather than competition . The new alliance will also occasionally put on " Super Shows " where all the promotions will send fighters to compete representing their own companies under the GPWA banner . Pro Wrestling NOAH ' s CEO Mitsuharu Misawa was inaugurated as the first Chairman of the new alliance , with ZERO1 - MAX ' s Yoshiyuki Nakamura announced as the company ' s President . Championships . Zero1 also hold several annual tournaments :