Giant Baba facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Giant Baba ジャイアント馬場
Baba (left) in 1964.
Birth name	Shohei Baba (馬場 正平, Baba Shōhei)
Born	(1938-01-23)January 23, 1938 Sanjo, Niigata, Japan
Died	January 31, 1999(1999-01-31) (aged 61) Shinjuku, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Cause of death	Colon cancer
Spouse(s)	Motoko Kawai ​ (m. 1971)​
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Baba the Giant Giant Baba Shohei Baba Shohei Big Baba
Billed height	208 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Billed weight	140.5 kg (310 lb)
Trained by	Fred Atkins Kazuo Okamura Rikidōzan
Debut	September 30, 1960

Shohei Baba (馬場 正平, Baba Shōhei, January 23, 1938 – January 31, 1999), known by his ring name Giant Baba (ジャイアント馬場, Jaianto Baba), was a famous Japanese professional wrestler. He was also a promoter and a professional baseball player.

Giant Baba is best known for helping to start All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He founded this company in 1972 with the sons of his teacher, Rikidōzan. For the first 10 years, Baba was the top star of All Japan. He also managed the company, trained new wrestlers, and was its president until he passed away in 1999. He was also in charge of finding new talent for All Japan.

Many people loved Giant Baba in Japan. He was a national hero, much like Hulk Hogan was in the United States. In a 2006 survey called The 2006 Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan, people voted him the 92nd greatest person in Japanese history. Baba won many wrestling titles. He won the Champion Carnival seven times, which is a record. He was also a PWF World Heavyweight Champion four times and a NWA World Heavyweight Champion three times.

Becoming a Giant: Early Life

Shohei Baba was born on January 23, 1938, in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He was the youngest child of Kazuo and Mitsu Baba. When he was young, Baba was one of the smallest kids in his class. But around fifth grade, he started growing very fast. By the time he was in ninth grade, he was already 175 cm (about 5 feet 9 inches) tall!

Doctors soon realized he had gigantism, a condition that causes extreme growth. Even with his rapid growth, Baba was excellent at baseball. He became the best player on his local team. When he went to high school, he had to stop playing baseball for a short time. This was because he kept growing (he was 190 cm or 6 feet 3 inches at age 16) and couldn't find cleats (special baseball shoes) that fit him.

The school ordered custom cleats for him, and he rejoined the baseball team. Baba was amazing, once getting 18 strikeouts in a practice game. Newspapers started writing about "Sanjo High School's giant pitcher." This caught the eye of scouts from Nippon Professional Baseball. In 1954, Baba met with a scout from the Yomiuri Giants. He was invited to leave high school and join the team. Baba accepted and started playing for the Giants in January 1955.

From Pitcher to Pro Wrestler

Playing for the Yomiuri Giants (1955–1959)

Baba during his rookie year with the Yomiuri Giants

Giant Baba joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1955. He didn't play in his first year but debuted in 1956. He did very well, winning 12 games and losing only 1 in his first year. In 1957, he won 13 games and lost 2. In both years, Baba won the award for the best pitcher in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

However, Baba started having problems with his eyesight in 1957. Doctors found he had a brain tumor. He had surgery on December 23, 1957. The doctors warned him he might lose his eyesight, but the operation was successful. He recovered quickly and returned to the team. Baba played for two more seasons, winning the best pitcher award again in 1959. He left the Giants in 1959 after five seasons.

A Short Time with the Taiyo Whales (1960)

After leaving the Giants, Baba tried out for the Taiyo Whales team in 1960. He was hired and moved to Kawasaki. But just days after moving, Baba had an accident. He fell in his bathroom and crashed into a glass shower door. This caused a cut that needed 17 stitches in his left elbow. He lost feeling in his hand for a while. Even though the injury wasn't too serious, Baba decided to retire from baseball soon after. He moved back to Niigata.

Giant Baba's Wrestling Journey

Starting in Japan (1960–1972)

Baba training in 1962

Baba first met Rikidōzan, a famous wrestler, while he was playing baseball. Rikidōzan told him he would be a great professional wrestler. With his baseball career over, Baba decided to try wrestling. In April 1960, Baba began training at the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) gym. He trained alongside Kanji "Antonio" Inoki.

Baba and Inoki both had their first wrestling matches on September 30, 1960. Baba won his first match against Yonetaro Tanaka. In 1961, Rikidōzan arranged for Baba to wrestle and live in the United States for a few months. Baba became popular in America. He was known as "'Big' Shohei Baba" on the west coast and as the "villain" "Baba the Giant" in New York. He wrestled famous stars like The Destroyer, Buddy Rogers, and Bruno Sammartino. He even challenged Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in Madison Square Garden in 1964.

While Baba was in America, his trainer Rikidōzan passed away. The JWA wrestling company started to have problems. Baba returned to Japan full-time in 1966. He formed a popular tag team called "B-I Cannon" with Inoki. They won the NWA International Tag Team Championship in 1968 and held the titles four times. Baba also won the NWA International Heavyweight Championship three times. He won the World Big League tournament a record six times.

As the JWA continued to struggle in the 1970s, Baba and Inoki decided to go their separate ways. Inoki left the JWA in late 1971, and Baba decided not to renew his contract in 1972. The JWA closed down the next year.

Building All Japan Pro Wrestling (1972–1999)

After leaving JWA, Baba and Inoki started their own wrestling companies. Rikidōzan's two sons joined Baba to help him create All Japan Pro Wrestling. AJPW started in October 1972 with support from Nippon Television.

AJPW created the PWF Heavyweight Championship, and Giant Baba became its first big star. Baba won the championship in 1973 and held it for 1920 days (over five years!). He successfully defended his title 38 times before losing it in 1978. Baba also won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship from Jack Brisco in 1974. He held it for a week before losing it back to Brisco. Baba won the NWA title again in 1979 and defended it 13 times before losing it in 1982. Overall, Baba held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship four times for a total of 3,847 days, which is more than ten years! His time with this title made him even more famous in Japan.

Between 1960 and 1984, Baba wrestled 3000 matches in a row without missing any. He only stopped this streak after a minor neck injury.

While still a top wrestler, Baba also focused on bringing foreign wrestlers to All Japan. Wrestlers like Dory Funk, Bruiser Brody, Abdullah The Butcher, and Stan Hansen came to compete. Baba also spent a lot of time training new wrestlers. His first student at AJPW was Jumbo Tsuruta. He also had a very close bond with Atsushi Onita, whom he treated like his own son.

After losing the PWF Heavyweight Championship for the last time in 1985, Baba stepped back from wrestling in the main events. He focused on running the company and wrestling in smaller matches. He helped make Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta the new top stars. Baba kept All Japan running eight tours a year across the country. He remained very popular with fans, often teaming with younger wrestlers and veterans in the opening matches until late 1998.

Under Baba's leadership, All Japan Pro Wrestling became incredibly popular in the 1990s. This was thanks to his planning and the amazing performances of wrestlers he trained, like Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue, and Kenta Kobashi. These four were called the "Four Pillars of Heaven." With the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship as the main prize, All Japan sold out over 250 shows in Tokyo in the early to mid-1990s. They often made over $1,000,000 eight times a year at Budokan Hall. Tickets for the next Budokan show would often sell out the same night they went on sale.

In 1998, Baba finally agreed to hold a show at the Tokyo Dome on May 1. Even though the company's biggest peak was a few years earlier, they still had 58,300 fans attend. Baba was known as an honest promoter. He preferred handshake agreements over written contracts because he always kept his word about match results and payments. Many people in wrestling saw him as the most honest promoter.

Throughout 1998, Baba's health was getting worse. But he still worked a full schedule, traveling and wrestling in most shows. He was losing a lot of weight and looked much paler and weaker. His last match was on December 5, 1998, in Tokyo. He teamed with Rusher Kimura and Mitsuo Momota against three other wrestlers. This brought his total career matches to 5769.

Private Life

Not much is known about Baba's life outside of wrestling. He was a quiet and private person. He didn't drink or party with other wrestlers after shows. Foreign wrestlers respected Baba greatly. He always made sure they traveled first class, stayed in the best hotels, and paid for all their food and drinks. Baba was a heavy smoker who liked cigars, but he quit after a friend got sick.

On September 16, 1971, he married Motoko Kawai in Hawaii. Baba loved Hawaii and visited often. Their wedding was kept private for almost ten years before they announced it. They had a public ceremony in 1983. Baba and his wife did not have children because they were worried a child might also have gigantism. Instead, they became very close with Baba's student Atsushi Onita. Baba thought of Onita like his own child, and he and Motoko even thought about adopting him. Onita has said, "I learned the most important things as a human being from Mr. Baba."

Motoko passed away on April 14, 2018, at 78 years old.

Passing Away

In January 1999, Baba was taken to a hospital. He watched his last wrestling match on January 22, where Toshiaki Kawada won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Nine days later, on January 31, 1999, Giant Baba passed away. He died from complications of colon cancer at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital. He was 61 years old. His wife, older sister, niece, and two close wrestling staff members were with him.

Baba had known about his cancer for at least a year but kept it a secret. He didn't want to worry anyone. Even his three closest employees didn't know until after he died.

Baba's funeral was delayed because they couldn't find a casket big enough for him. A public memorial service was held on April 17, 1999, at the Nippon Budokan. Over 28,000 people attended, including all the wrestlers from All Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as Baba's family. His body was later cremated. His tomb is in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture.

Championships and Accomplishments

Baba as PWF World Heavyweight Champion, 1982

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • All Asia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jumbo Tsuruta
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • PWF World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • Champion Carnival (1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982)
  • World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1978, 1980) – with Jumbo Tsuruta
• International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2021
• Japan Wrestling Association
  • All Asia Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Toyonobori
  • NWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Michiaki Yoshimura (1), Antonio Inoki (4), and Seiji Sakaguchi (1)
  • World Big League (6 times)
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA Hall of Fame (class of 2014)
• Nippon Professional Baseball
  • Best Pitcher (1956, 1957, 1959)
• NWA Detroit
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) – with Jumbo Tsuruta
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 26 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
  • Ranked No. 10 of the top 100 tag teams of the PWI Years with Jumbo Tsuruta in 2003
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2008
• The Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan
  • Ranked the 92nd greatest person from history by the people of Japan
• Tokyo Sports
  • 30th Anniversary Special Achievement Award (1990)
  • Best Tag Team Award (1978, 1980, 1982) with Jumbo Tsuruta
  • Lifetime Achievement Award (1999)
  • Match of the Year (1979) with Antonio Inoki vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Tiger Jeet Singh on August 26, 1979
  • Match of the Year (1980) with Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. on December 11, 1980
  • Match of the Year (1981) vs. Verne Gagne on January 18, 1981
  • Match of the Year (1982) vs. Stan Hansen on February 4, 1982
  • Outstanding Performance Award (1974, 1980)
  • Popularity Award (1976, 1988)
  • Special Award for breaking 5000 Matches (1993)
  • Special Grand Prize (1983)
  • Wrestler of the Year (1975, 1979)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Booker (1989–1991)
  • Promoter of the Year (1990–1994)
  • Worst Tag Team (1990, 1991) with André the Giant
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

See also

In Spanish: Giant Baba para niños