Friday, March 29, 2024
Toshiaki Kawada

Toshiaki Kawada

Born:
12/08/1963
,
Shimotsuga District, Tochigi, Japan
Birthname:
Toshiaki Kawada
Height & Weight:
6'0"
,
231 Ib

Titles Won:

  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
  • AJPW World Tag Team Championship (9 times) – with Akira Taue (6), Mitsuharu Misawa (2) and Taiyō Kea (1)
  • AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Samson Fuyuki

His matches against Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama, and Kenta Kobashi in the 1990s are argued by many fans and experts in the industry as some of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time. He is widely known for his extremely stiff wrestling style, martial arts strikes and has the distinction of having competed in 19 matches that were given a 5-Star Rating by Wrestling Observer Newsletter writer Dave Meltzer.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

5 Star Match (1988) with Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy on December 16

5 Star Match (1989) with Genichiro Tenryu and Samson Fuyuki vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Yoshiaki Yatsu and Masanobu Fuchi on January 28

5 Star Match (1990) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi on October 19

5 Star Match (1991) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masanobu Fuchi on April 20

5 Star Match (1992) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi on May 22

5 Star Match (1993) vs. Kenta Kobashi on April 13

5 Star Match (1993) with Akira Taue and Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Jun Akiyama on July 2

5 Star Match (1993) with Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa on December 3

5 Star Match (1994) with Masanobu Fuchi and Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Giant Baba on February 13

5 Star Match (1994) with Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa on May 21

5 Star Match (1994) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa on June 3

5 Star Match (1995) vs. Kenta Kobashi on January 19

5 Star Match (1995) with Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa on January 24

5 Star Match (1995) with Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa on June 9

5 Star Match (1995) with Akira Taue and Tamon Honda vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Satoru Asako on June 30

5 Star Match (1996) with Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa on May 23

5 Star Match (1996) with Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa on December 6

5 Star Match (1997) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa on June 6

5 Star Match (1997) with Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama on December 5

Tag Team of the Year (1991) with Mitsuharu Misawa

Wrestler of the Year (1994)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1997)

Other Notable Achievements

AJPW Champion Carnival (1994, 1997)

AJPW World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (1992) – with Mitsuharu Misawa

AJPW World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (1996, 1997) – with Akira Taue

AJPW Asunaro Cup (1989)

AJPW Autumn Festival Tag Team Tournament (2004) – with Taichi Ishikari

HUSTLE GP Tournament (2008)

Pro Wrestling Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship