Giant Baba

Shohei Baba (馬場 正平), best known by his ring name Giant Baba (ジャイアント馬場), was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player.

Shohei Baba was born on January 23, 1938, in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, the last son of Kazuo and Mitsu Baba.

For most of his early childhood, Baba was one of the smallest children in his class, however, around the fifth grade, he began to grow at a rapid rate, and by the time he was in the ninth grade he was already 175 cm tall.

It soon became apparent he was suffering from gigantism.

Nevertheless, Baba excelled at baseball, becoming the top player at his local club.

After graduating from elementary school, Baba enrolled in the department of mechanical engineering at Sanjo Business High School.

Baba was forced to give up baseball when he joined high school as he was continuing to grow at an incredible rate (190 cm at the age of 16) and no cleats could be sourced in his size.

He soon joined the art club instead, but this didn't last long as the school ordered custom cleats and Baba was invited to join the baseball team.

Baba continued to impress, recording 18 strikeouts during a practice game, which led to tabloids reporting on "Sanjo High School's giant pitcher" and Baba garnering the attention of Nippon Professional Baseball scouts.

In 1954, Baba met with Hidetoshi Genkawa of the Yomiuri Giants who invited Baba to drop out of high school and join the team full time.

Baba accepted and began pitching for the Giants in January 1955 at #59.

Although Baba joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1955, he did not play in the league at all in his first year with the team by recommendation of director Shigeru Mizuhara.

Baba was relegated to the second team for his first year, but eventually debuted in 1956 and performed well, earning 12 wins and 1 loss in his rookie year and 13 wins and 2 losses in 1957.

Both years, Baba won the Nippon Professional Baseball league's best pitcher award.

Despite his success, Baba began suffering eyesight problems in 1957 and was forced to take time off for surgery when it was discovered he had developed a brain tumour.

Baba underwent craniotomy at the University of Tokyo Hospital on December 23, 1957.

The success rate of the technology at that time was very low, and the doctor warned Baba he was likely to lose his eyesight completely, however, the operation was successful, and Baba was discharged after a week.

He returned to the camp with a bandage on his head in January 1958.

Baba played for two more seasons, winning best pitcher for a third time in 1959.

However, after Hideo Fujimoto, a coach who formed a bond with Baba and regularly advocated for him to start, left the team, Baba was released from the Giants in 1959 after five seasons.

Fujimoto would leave for the Taiyo Whales, and invited Baba to a training camp in an attempt to get him signed in 1960.

Baba was invited for a tryout by Goro Taniguchi and eventually hired, requiring him to move to Kawasaki, however, just days after moving, Baba fell in the bathroom of his new apartment and crashed directly into the glass door of the shower, which required 17 stitches in his left elbow and led to Baba losing feeling in his hand for a while.

Despite the injury not being serious, Baba retired from baseball shortly after and moved back to Niigata.

Baba first met Rikidōzan while he was playing baseball, who told him he would do well as a professional wrestler.

With his baseball career over, Baba decided to pursue professional wrestling.

Meeting with Rikidōzan again in April 1960, Baba began training in the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) dojo along with Kanji "Antonio" Inoki, a Japanese emigrant whom Rikidōzan met during a trip to Brazil.

Baba and Inoki debuted on the same show on September 30, 1960, with Baba beating Yonetaro Tanaka in his first match.

In 1961, Rikidōzan arranged for Baba to wrestle and live in the United States for a few months.

Baba became a popular villain in America, wrestling on the west coast as the fan favourite "'Big' Shohei Baba", and as the villainous "Baba the Giant" in New York.

He wrestled the likes of The Destroyer and Buddy Rogers numerous times, as well as Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in Madison Square Garden in February 1964.

While Baba was in America, his trainer Rikidōzan died, and the JWA began to struggle, and Baba returned to Japan full time in 1966.

He formed a popular tag team known as "B-I Cannon" with Inoki, and the two won the NWA International Tag Team Championship from Tarzan Tyler and Bill Watts in 1968, going on to hold the titles four times in total.

Baba also held the NWA International Heavyweight Championship on three occasions, and won the World Big League a record six times.

As the JWA continued to struggle going into the 1970s, Baba and Inoki agreed to go their own separate ways.

He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota and Yoshihiro Momota, the sons of his mentor Rikidōzan.

For the first 10 years of its existence, Baba was the top star of All-Japan, while also serving as the booker, promoter, head trainer and president of the promotion from its inception in 1972 till his death in 1999.

Baba was also responsible for recruiting much of the talent for All Japan, and was the public face of the promotion for much of his lifetime.

Considered one of the most beloved Japanese wrestlers ever, Baba was a national hero with a level of popularity in Japan comparable to that of Hulk Hogan in the United States.

The 2006 Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan survey ranked Baba the 93rd greatest person in the history of Japan, as voted for by the general public.

Among his many accomplishments, Baba was a record seven-time winner of the Champion Carnival, a four-time PWF World Heavyweight Champion, three time NWA International Heavyweight Champion and a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion.