Ex-AJPW Owner Motoko Baba Has Died
'Dragon Lady' was 78.
Motoko Baba, one of the most important - and divisive - women in the history of the wrestling industry, has died at the age of 78.
Mrs. Baba, the wife of legendary Japanese wrestler and promoter Shohei 'Giant' Baba, passed away on 14 April after suffering cirrhosis of the liver. Her funeral was held on Friday, before the family made news of her death public yesterday afternoon.
The husband and wife pair ran All Japan Pro Wrestling together from its founding in 1972 up until Baba's passing in 1999. Throughout the period, the promotion grew into the country's number one wrestling concern, nurturing stars such as Jumbo Tsuruta, Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue. At their mid-'90s peak, AJPW sold out shows in Tokyo on a staggering 200 consecutive occasions.
When Baba died from cancer in 1999, his wife took sole charge of the company. Headline talent Misawa assumed the role of company president and chief booker, but his ambition to expand the group soon caused a major rift between himself and the new chief. The dispute ended drastically for AJPW, as Misawa led a clutch of the company's top stars onto his ark, taking them with him as he sailed off for pastures new as the founder of Pro Wrestling NOAH.
In 2002, Motoko sold the company to a group spearheaded by Keiji Mutoh. Shorn of its top stars, it soon fell by the wayside in the Japanese wrestling landscape, ultimately displaced by a revitalised and resurgent New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Whilst at the helm of AJPW, Mrs. Baba had a fierce reputation amongst wrestlers, gaining the in locker-room sobriquet of 'Dragon Lady' due to her strict temperament. For the most part, it was purely business; acting as Baba's hatchet lady allowed the iconic figure to maintain his benevolent reputation within the business.
Though she was disliked by many professionally, few would dispute that she was one of - if not the most- influential woman in wrestling, and a decisive figure in AJPW's boom period.