[6] Other notable winners include Abdullah the Butcher, Jumbo Tsuruta, Keiji Mutoh, Mitsuharu Misawa, Stan Hansen, Toshiaki Kawada and Kento Miyahara.

The initial tournament was held in a single-elimination format and was intended for AJPW's heavyweight wrestlers such as Hiro Matsuda, Samson Kutsuwada and Thunder Sugiyama.

For the tournament, Baba also recruited several foreign wrestlers, such as Baron Scicluna, The Destroyer, King Curtis Iaukea and Mark Lewin.

[4][5] A year later, AJPW presented the second Champion Carnival, which most notably introduced former Olympian Jumbo Tsuruta, who eventually went on to become one of the promotion's top names.

[5] In early 1980s, AJPW loaded the Champion Carnival with some of the top foreign wrestlers in the world, including Billy Robinson, Bruiser Brody, Dick Slater, Jack Brisco, Stan Hansen, Ted DiBiase and Terry Funk.

As the new booker, Misawa made a controversial decision to leave Stan Hansen out of the tournament, while giving Vader the win in the final over Kenta Kobashi.

[11] Struggling to cope with the loss of the majority of its roster, AJPW eventually hired NJPW wrestler Keiji Mutoh to lead the promotion.

It took place from April 5 to May 3, featuring fourteen wrestlers in a unique single-elimination format with repechage and a final round-robin league.

The tournament was won by Abdullah the Butcher, who defeated Jumbo Tsuruta in the second of two playoff matches after both men tied atop the standings.

The 1991 Champion Carnival took place from March 23 to April 18, featuring fourteen wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format.

Jumbo Tsuruta, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, defeated Stan Hansen in the final.

The 1992 Champion Carnival took place from March 20 to April 17, featuring twenty wrestlers participating in a two-block round-robin format.

Stan Hansen, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, defeated Mitsuharu Misawa in the final.

[19] The 1993 Champion Carnival took place from March 25 to April 21, featuring thirteen wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format.

The 1994 Champion Carnival took place from March 19 to April 16, featuring twelve wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format.

The 1995 Champion Carnival took place from March 21 to April 15, featuring eleven wrestlers participating in a single-block round-robin format.

There were originally twelve wrestlers scheduled for the tournament, but that number dropped to eleven on March 22 when Steve Williams was suspended from AJPW for one year after being found in possession of painkillers at the airport and returned to the United States.

Akira Taue, one-half of the reigning AJPW World Tag Team Champions, won the tournament, after having fallen to Mitsuharu Misawa in the 1995 final.

Due to a three-way tie for first place between Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa, a one-night round-robin playoff was contested among them with the winner claiming the tournament.

The 1998 Champion Carnival was held from March 21 to April 18, featuring thirteen wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final.

The 1999 Champion Carnival was held from March 24 to April 16, featuring ten wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final.

The 2001 Champion Carnival was held from March 23 to April 11, featuring ten wrestlers in a single-block round-robin format, with the top two finishers wrestling in the final.

Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, George Hines, Johnny Smith, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya received byes to the quarterfinals, leaving Yoji Anjo, Gigantes, The Gladiator and Big John Tenta to fight in the first round.

Shinya Hashimoto, reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, did not participate, citing prior commitments to his Pro Wrestling Zero1 promotion.

Jun Akiyama, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, did not participate due to commitments with Pro Wrestling Noah.

On April 25, Go Shiozaki also withdrew from the tournament due to a broken thumb, and forfeited his final match against Jun Akiyama.

[30] Kento Miyahara, reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, won the tournament in his sixth consecutive appearance.

The 2020 Champion Carnival was a ten-man, two-block round-robin tournament that took place from September 12 until October 5, postponed from its original dates of April as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were twelve participants including Big Japan Pro-Wrestling's Takuya Nomura and Gleat's T-Hawk competing in this year's tournament as special guests.

Hideki Suzuki, Ren Ayabe, Hartley Jackson, Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lord Crewe made their tournament debuts.