In those early days, Japanese professional wrestlers came from out of the sumo or judo ranks; former sumotori usually used their shikona (Rikidōzan, Azumafuji, Toyonobori, etc.)

As a newly found hero to the war-weary Japanese masses, Rikidōzan expanded into several business ventures.

World Big League (ワールド大リーグ戦, wārudo dai rīgu-sen), later renamed to simply World League (ワールドリーグ戦, wārudo rīgu-sen) was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1959 till 1972.

Therefore, respectively, the G1 Climax for the NJPW and the Champion Carnival for the AJPW are considered the direct descendants of the original World League.

The following is a list of the winners of each edition:[4] NWA Tag League (NWAタッグ・リーグ戦, NWA taggu rīgu-sen), also called World Tag League, was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1970 till 1972.

[5] The following is a list of the winners of each edition:[6] In 2024, the revival of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling lead by Scott D'Amore established the PWA Champion's Grail, a new championship merging the lineage of Rikidozan and Toyonobori's 1962 Toyonaka trophy with the Wrestling Retribution Project trophy won by Kenny Omega in Hollywood in 2011.