Tag: Akebono

April 15, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE WrestleMania 40 review, AEW airs CM Punk/Jack Perry All In footage

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

In the 150 years of this industry all over the world, there has never been a show, and a main event, that garnered the level of interest as Cody Rhodes’ two-year storyline of chasing Roman Reigns for the Universal title, which climaxed at the 4/7 WrestleMania day two.

People may attribute other matches as having more historical importance, and you can only look at them years later with any perspective. WWE creates its own history and they can create the long-term aura and significance of the match to whatever historical level they desire. They made the call to go one more year rather than pay it off last year, to a lot of criticism.

The reality is the plan was always to pay the story off and it was just a question of when. In hindsight, they ended up lucking into something that made it bigger, which was the plans that changed when Dwayne Johnson came back to not pay it off on this show. But based on public reaction, they changed plans and they lucked into something far bigger than it would have been. It was the classic case of teasing you with something, having it taken away once and seemingly twice, so it becomes even bigger when you get it.

Other stories this week include:

  • AEW’s decision to air the CM Punk/Jack Perry fight footage from All In
  • The death of Akebono
  • WWE NXT Stand & Deliver recapped
  • The latest in NJPW and lots more.

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.

Wrestling Observer Radio: CM Punk vs. Jack Perry footage, Dynamite, death of Akebono, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the AEW airing of the CM Punk vs. Jack Perry footage, tons of thoughts on the angle and the show itself, the death of Akebono, huge ratings for WWE, NXT, Rampage and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: AEW airs the CM Punk/Jack Perry altercation

22:05: Akebono passes away

35:16: Osamu Nishimura battling cancer for a second time

36:44: Ratings

44:33: AEW Dynamite recap

1:06:57: WWE NXT notes

1:18:39: AEW Rampage spoilers

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Former sumo wrestler and AJPW star Akebono passes away at 54 years old

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Akebono, known for his accomplishments both in sumo wrestling and later professional wrestling, has passed away.

Japanese media announced on Wednesday that Akebono had died of heart failure at 54 years old. He had been ill since 2017 when he was hospitalized following a DDT tour. After his release, he was confined to a wheelchair while continuing to suffer from heart complications.

Akebono was born Chadwick Haheo Rowan and was of Hawaiian descent. He joined sumo wrestling in 1988 and became the first non-Japanese sumo to reach the rank of yokozuna, which is the highest rank of sumo possible. He retired from sumo in 2001 and started pro wrestling in 2005 when he defeated The Big Show in a sumo match at WrestleMania 21.

Following his WrestleMania match, Akebono joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he would remain off and on through 2015. He would become a two-time Triple Crown Champion and won the Champion Carnival tournament in 2015. After becoming a freelancer, he founded the Odo promotion, where he served as president until his hospitalization.

January 12, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Massive rating for K1 New Year’s show

Posted on by F4W Staff

“Unbelievable” was the word used by K-1 promoter Sadaharu Tanigawa when word got out that the peak rating for the Bob Sapp vs. Akebono match on 12/31 was a 43.0, and that the short match beat out the Red & White music festival.

It was only a four minute period when the K-1 show main event (which did a 42.5 overall for the match from 11 p.m. to 11:03 p.m.) beat what has been a Japanese tradition on New Year’s Eve, in its 54th year as one of the highest rated shows every year (which did a 35.2 rating head-to-head). It was a major headline throughout the Japanese media on 1/5 when Video Research reported the breakdown of the numbers in the most competitive television night in the history of this industry.

The Sapp vs. Akebono match, which drew nearly 54 million viewers, broke the record set in the 2002 K-1 Grand Prix of a 33.4 peak rating for the Ernesto Hoost vs. Jerome LeBanner championship match.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

November 17, 2003 Observer Newsletter: Bob Sapp vs. Akebono, death of Crash Holly

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

What will likely turn out to be the most heavily publicized non-boxing combat sports match of all-time will headline the biggest one-night promotional war in history.

The 11/6 announcement by K-1 of a New Year’s Eve match pitting Bob Sapp against legendary sumo Akebono (Chad Rowan) was the biggest press conference in company history. More than 17 television stations and 300 reporters attended the press conference where promoter Sadaharu Tanigawa announced the ultimate checkmate in a brewing New Year’s Eve war. The news was so big in Japan that three of Japan’s six networks (TBS, NTV and TV-Asahi) broke into regular programming to telecast the press conference live. It was carried in major newspapers throughout the U.S. and was the topic of conversation on numerous sports talk shows (many of which reported, including the London Times, Los Angeles Times and New York Post that Akebono’s opponent would be Mike Tyson; and the Los Angeles Times reported that K-1 was “so brutal that it is illegal just about everywhere”). 

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.