- Pioneer Senshi
Pioneer Senshi (Japanese for "Pioneer Soldier" or "Pioneer Warrior") was the first-ever independent promotion in
Japanese wrestling history. It was established onNovember 11 ,1988 by formerAJPW wrestlersRyuma Go ,Apollo Sugawara andMasahiko Takasugi .Pioneer Senshi's debut show took place on
April 30 ,1989 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, in front of 1,600 fans. Due to its limited roster, the promotion would enlist the services of establishedNJPW wrestlers such asTatsumi Fujinami ,Jushin "Thunder" Liger ,Riki Chōshū andKensuke Sasaki , as well asAtsushi Onita . Also,Akitoshi Saito and Kintaro Kanemura made their pro wrestling debuts against one another in Pioneer Senshi, onDecember 20 ,1990 .However, the promotion folded a short time afterwards due to lack of funds as well as steep competition by the upstart
FMW . Go, Sugawara and Takasugi migrated toSuper World of Sports , and most of the roster found work in various other independent promotions such as W*ING.Go and Takasugi would go on to establish
Oriental Pro Wrestling onJuly 26 ,1992 , but the promotion would only survive 4 months before closing its doors.References
* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%91%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AA%E3%83%8B%E3%82%A2%E6%88%A6%E5%BF%97 Japanese Wikipedia: Pioneer Senshi]
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