All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Triple Crown: The Greatest Pro Wrestling Belt

The Triple Crown is the top championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It’s the unification of three different belts: the NWA United National Championship, the PWF Heavyweight Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. And each one of these of course has its own individual lineage and history of course. The International Heavyweight goes all the way back to Lou Thez and Rikidozan, the father of Japanese pro wrestling. The unification happened in 1989 when Jumbo Tsuruta, who was then NWA Internal Champion, beat Stan Hansen who was the PWF and united national champion. From then on it became one championship that was represented by all three belts, making for an incredibly unique look. In 2013 the original three belts were retired and a new single belt was brought in to represent the triple crown. Apparently the original belts were given to AJPW founder Giant Baba’s widow Motoko Baba. #wrestling #prowrestling #japan