10 Most Prestigious Wrestling Tournaments Of All Time

4. The Champion's Carnival (AJPW)

This tournament is here because of Giant Baba€™s excellent booking. He was one of the first promoters to use the round-robin style of tournament, and through it he managed to tell some of the greatest stories in all of wrestling. By using the points-based round-robin format, wrestlers could face off on more than one occasion, and in the event of an upset victory, there€™d be a rematch somewhere down the road, instead of future match-ups having to take place outside of the tournament. Furthermore, his use of the points system led to some very dramatic matches, since multiple wrestlers had either very close or identical scores leading into the final matches. This formula led to a lot of excitement and fan interest in the Champion€™s Carnival. There€™s a reason All Japan was being praised so much in the 1990s as the best wrestling promotion in the world: Baba booked so many dramatic, unpredictable, and masterful stories in his wrestlers€™ matches that it was impossible not to feel excited watching these stories unfold. The tournament was always protected, and it was presented as a highly prestigious affair that was just as valuable, if not more so, than winning the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship itself. The only reason it€™s not higher on this list is because the tournament€™s booking and prestige lost significance after the NOAH exodus in 2000. It hasn€™t been the same since.