Acronym MPW
M-Pro Style Lucha libre Founder(s) The Great Sasuke | Founded 1993 Headquarters Morioka, Iwate, Japan Owner(s) Jinsei Shinzaki | |
Michinoku Pro Wrestling (also known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Lucha libre professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke in 1993. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather in Morioka, Iwate. Since, the promotion is primarily focused on the Lucha libre style of wrestling, many of their wrestlers don masks and special motifs as they compete in the ring. However, Michinoku Pro has accepted wrestlers from various styles (such as shoot style and strong style) and backgrounds over the years. In 2003, Sasuke left the running of the promotion to Jinsei Shinzaki.
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History
Michinonoku Pro Wrestling (Michinoku Pro or M-Pro) was founded on October 1, 1992 by The Great Sasuke as a community-based promotion for the greater Tohoku, North Eastern, region of Japan. Their first ever pre-show was held on November 27, 1992 in Takizawa City. Though due to disputes with the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), the promotion was put on the back-burner for the next several months. Gran Hamada joined M-Pro, and their first ever show was held on Match 16, 1993 in Yahaba, Iwate.
The stable Kaientai Deluxe (海援隊Deluxe) formed in 1996. Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, TAKA Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki, Hanzo Nakajima worked as young protagonists looking to make a break in business. This group competed against The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin. After a couple of years, TAKA and the rest of KAIENTAI moved to the USA to compete.
In 1997, Michinoku Pro Wrestling entered into a working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation, with M-Pro founder The Great Sasuke wrestling in two matches for the promotion. The WWF would also send talent to Japan, such as The Undertaker, who would wrestle against M-Pro mainstay Jinsei Shinzaki. During this period, the WWF was planning on holding a tournament to crown the first holder of the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Although Great Sasuke was heavily pushed to be the winner of the tournament, he would later brag to the Japanese media how he would only defend the title in Japan when he wins the championship and would refuse to drop the title on WWF television. When the WWF heard Sasuke's comments, he was removed from the tournament, fired, and the MPW/WWF working agreement was terminated. Michinoku Pro Wrestling alumnus TAKA Michinoku would end up winning the title.
By 1998 the promotion had gone on a temporary hiatus after Sasuke suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Delfin took charge of the promotion for the time being, but on January 17, 1999 he announced that he would be withdrawing the promotion and many of the wrestlers and backstage personal would be joining him. This was in part due to differences in regards to the direction of the promotion. Delfin was joined by Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa, Masaru Seno, Hayato Kigawa, and referee Yukinori Matsui. Delfin formed Osaka Pro Wrestling. TAKA Michinoku and Dick Togo later returned after their stint in the USA and competed from time to time. In 2003, Sasuke ran for public office, and Jinsei Shinzaki took over as the president of the promotion. The 10th year anniversary of the promotion was held on November 2, 2003 at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan.
In July 2004, the promotion underwent a revival as Ultimo Dragon disbanded his then Toryumon X promotion and sent his talent to join the promotion, which was then dubbed Shinsei Michinoku Pro-Wrestling. Bear Fukuda, Ken45°, Murcielago, and Manabu Murakami were the firsts to join the promotion. Then in October, Taro Nohashi, Dynamite Tohoku, and Shu and Kei Sato joined the promotion. Then at the end of that year SUGI, Rasse, Kagetora, and Manabu Murakami made their debuts.
On December 13, 2013 Kenoh left the promotion and vacated the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship due to signing with Pro Wrestling Noah. In 2014, Michinoku Pro reactivated the Okinawa Wrestling Championship which was won by Eisa8.