Pro Wrestling Zero1

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Pro Wrestling Zero1
FoundedJanuary 25, 2001
StyleStrong style
HeadquartersJapan
Founder(s)Shinya Hashimoto
Owner(s)iFD
Daiko Holdings Group
SisterPro-Wrestling SUN (2006-2009)
FormerlyPro Wrestling Zero-One (2001-2004)
Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (2004-2008)
WebsiteOfficial website

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (プロレスリングゼロ1, Puroresuringuzerowan) (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. It was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2001 until late 2004 and briefly reaffiliated in 2011.

History[]

The promotion was founded by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) stars Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani. In 2000, Hashimoto proposed an independent promotion within NJPW called New Japan Pro-Wrestling Zero, but the idea was shot down. When Hashimoto was fired by NJPW in November 2000, he registered the Pro Wrestling Zero-One name.

Zero1 has had working agreements with Pro Wrestling Noah, All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Riki Pro, Hustle, Big Mouth Loud, King's Road and Dragondoor (now El Dorado Wrestling) which enabled Zero1 wrestlers to challenge for and hold the other promotions' titles.

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. A new parent company "First On Stage" was formed consisting of President , 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.

Among the major changes to the federation's structure was joining the AWA Superstars of Wrestling (now Wrestling Superstars Live) as the only Japanese member. At the same time, the company's National Wrestling Alliance affiliation was given to rival promotion NJPW.

On September 12, 2006, Zero1-Max joined 12 other pro wrestling companies and joined the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA), a professional wrestling alliance that fosters an environment of cooperation rather than competition. The alliance also occasionally puts on "Super Shows" where all the promotions 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.

In 2008, the promotion shortened the name to Pro Wrestling Zero1. In 2011, the promotion returned to the NWA as their Japanese territory. In March 2011, NWA presented Zero1 with the NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship in celebration of the promotion's 10th anniversary. In July, Daisuke Sekimoto won the Fire Festival to become the first champion. Zero1 soon left the NWA, renaming their NWA-branded championships to "New Wrestling Alliance" championships.

In 2012, an Australian division of Zero1 known as Zero1 Pro Wrestling Australia opened in Adelaide taking over what was known as NWA Pro Wrestling. At the beginning of 2014 the relationship ended and the promotion is now known as Wrestle Rampage.[1] Zero1 Hong Kong branch opened in June 2012 after Jason New returned to Hong Kong from Zero1 earlier that year. Pro Wrestling Zero1 Mexico opened its branch in September 2012 after International Pro Wrestling Alliance united with Zero1 Japan. In 2013, Yoshiyuki Nakamura opened a new division of Zero1 in Belarus.[2][3]

On December 17, 2013, Zero1 announced a corporate restructuring taking place at the start of the new year.[4]

On September 16, 2016, Dream On Stage was announced as Zero1's new parent company. Also announced was a partnership between Zero1 and Akebono's Ōdō company.[5] On May 22, 2017, Pro Wrestling Zero1 partnered with the United Wrestling Network to become the group's official Japanese affiliate.[6] On July 3, 2018, it was announced that the promotion be undergoing a management change, with Yoshitaka Ono stepping down as the CEO, Katsumi Sasazaki would become the Representative Director and President of the promotion, Shinjiro Otani would be taking over as the Chairman of the Board and Masato Tanaka and Kohei Sato would split the Vice-President role of the promotion.[7]

On February 1, 2020, Kazuhiro Iwamoto announced that the ownership of the promotion would be transferred from the previous management company Deam on Stage to iFD, with Iwamoto establishing a plan to reform from scratch, which would include holding a show in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on April 13, 2021 as part of the promotion's 20th anniversary, with goal of holding a show in the Roygoku Kokugikan annually, while also providing the wrestlers with fixed contracts, which also include social security.

During the COVID-19 hiatus, the promotion had financial problems. Iwamoto left his job as President. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Ikuto Hidaka and Kohei Sato also left the promotion.[8]

In July 2020, it was announced that the company was acquired by Daiko Holdings Group.[9]

Personnel[]

See also: Pro Wrestling Zero1 roster

Championships[]

As of September 21, 2021.

Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days held Notes
World Heavyweight Championship Takashi Sugiura 1 August 15, 2021 37+ Defeated Masato Tanaka at Kawasaki Go!.
United National Heavyweight Championship Chris Vice 2 January 18, 2020 612+ Defeated Towa Iwasaki at Skill Up To The Future ~ Towards A Dream.
World Junior Heavyweight Championship Fuminori Abe 1 September 9, 2021 12+ Defeated Shoki Kitamura in the final of the 2021 Tenkaichi Junior Tournament.
International Junior Heavyweight Championship 1
Intercontinental Tag Team Championship Shinjiro Otani and Yumehito Imanari 1
(1 / 1) 		December 25, 2020 270+ Defeated Kubota Brothers (Hide Kubota and Yasu Kubota) at ZERO1 2020 Final Show ~ Christmas Night to win the vacant titles.
International Lightweight Tag Team Championship Sugi and Raicho 1
(7 / 1) 		October 4, 2020 352+ Defeated Billy Ken Kid and Hub at Zero1 20th Autumn Flame Festival.
Zero1 USA World Heavyweight Championship Jake Dirden 1 January 25, 2020 605+ Defeated Jake Parnell at ZERO1 USA New Year's Retribution 2020.
Zero1 USA World Junior Heavyweight Championship Jake Lander 1 May 25, 2019 850+
Zero1 USA World Tag Team Championship Them (Cardini and Shank Barzini) 1/1 January 25, 2020 605+ Defeated Gnarls Garvin and Jake Lander at ZERO1 USA New Year's Retribution 2020..
Zero1 USA World Women's Championship Rahne Victoria 2 July 28, 2019 786+
Blast King Championship Taru August 5, 2018 1143+ Defeated Yuko Miyamoto at Super Fireworks.[10][11]
Blast Queen Championship Hiroyo Matsumoto 1 February 24, 2020 575+ Teamed up with Aja Kong to defeat Saori Anou and Mayumi Ozaki in a Super Plasma Blast Deathmatch at Zero1 Super Fireworks.[12]
Blast King Tag Team Championship Revengers
(Masato Tanaka and Hide Kubota) 		August 18, 2019 765+ Defeated Taru and Chris Vice at Zero1/Super Fireworks Current Blast Festival 2019 in Kawasaki.[13]

No longer promoted / Inactive[]

Championship Last champion(s) Date won Ref
NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship Akebono May 16, 2012 [14][15]
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship The Shiek II April 23, 2011
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship Craig Classic November 6, 2010
NWA World Super Heavyweight Championship/Zero-One O-300 Super Heavyweight Championship Matt Ghaffari July 6, 2003 [16][17]
AWA World Heavyweight Championship Masato Tanaka October 26, 2007
AWA World United States Championship Ricky Landell June 13, 2007
WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship NOIZ April 6, 2008
Zero-One Tenka-ichi (World's Best) Junior Heavyweight Championship Yoshihito Sasaki May 29, 2005 [18]
Zero-One United States Heavyweight Championship Mr. Wrestling III November 9, 2008
Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1 Heavyweight Championship Steve Corino January 31, 2010 [19][20]

Tournaments[]

Main article:

Zero1 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 ""

Tournament Latest winner(s) Date won
Fire Festival Yuji Hino July 28, 2019
Furinkazan Yuji Hino and Yuji Okabayashi November 17, 2019
Shoki Kitamura August 2, 2020

Affiliates[]

Promotion name Location Partnered on Ref.
Zero1 USA Midwestern United States April 29, 2011 [21]
Zero1 Hong Kong/Hong Kong Pro-Wrestling Federation Hong Kong 2012 [22]
Zero1 New Belarus Pro Wrestling Belarus 2013 [23]
Zero1 Pro Wrestling Australia/Wrestle Rampage Australia July 24, 2014 [24][25]
Zero1 Ireland/Fight Factory Pro Wrestling Ireland August 14, 2014 [26][27]
Zero1 Scotland/Scottish Wrestling Alliance Scotland August 14, 2014 [28]
Zero1 Spain/Super Wrestling Alliance Spain July 24, 2014 [29][30]
Marvelous Japan 2015
Zero1 USA Northeast Northeastern United States 2019 [31]
Zero1 Mexico Mexico Unknown [32]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Wrestle Rampage begins now". January 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Pro-Wrestling Zero1 (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  3. ^ Philip Kreikenbohm. "Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1)".
  4. ^ ゼロワン来年から新団体名に変更. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  5. ^ 新体制のゼロワンが「王道」と業務提携. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  6. ^ "Pro Wrestling ZERO1 Joins the United Wrestling Network". May 22, 2017.
  7. ^ http://puroresuspirit.net/2018/07/news-listings-for-july-3-2018/
  8. ^ "La empresa japonesa Pro Wrestling ZERO1 atraviesa por problemas económicos". 2 July 2020.
  9. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  10. ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". www.wrestlingdata.com.
  11. ^ "Blast King Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  12. ^ Pro Wrestling Zero1 (February 24, 2020). 超花火超花火プロレス旗揚げ記念大会. z-1.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  13. ^ Zero1/Super Fireworks Current Blast Festival 2019 in Kawasaki Cagematch.net Retrieved August 18, 2019
  14. ^ "NWA Premium Heavyweight Title (ZERO1)". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  15. ^ "NWA World Premium Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  16. ^ "NWA Super Heavyweight Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  17. ^ "ZERO-ONE O-300 Super Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  18. ^ "ZERO-ONE Tenka-ichi Junior Heavyweight Title".
  19. ^ "WORLD-1 Heavyweight Title".
  20. ^ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=5&nr=74
  21. ^ "Zero1 USA". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  22. ^ "Pro Wrestling Zero1 Hong Kong". cagematch.net.
  23. ^ "Pro Wrestling Zero1 New Belarus Pro Wrestling". cagematch.net.
  24. ^ "NWA/ZERO1 Pro Wrestling Australia". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  25. ^ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=8&nr=691
  26. ^ "Fight Factory Pro Wrestling / NWA Ireland / Zero1 Ireland". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  27. ^ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=8&nr=144
  28. ^ "Scottish Wrestling Alliance". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  29. ^ "Super Wrestling Alliance (Spain)". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  30. ^ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=8&nr=284
  31. ^ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=8&nr=2647
  32. ^ "Zero1 abre su filial Zero1-Mexico". Planeta Wrestling (in Spanish).

External links[]

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