Ganbaru : How All Japan Pro Wrestling Survived the Year 2000 Roster Split

by Jonathan Foye, Fumi Saito (Foreword)

In the year 2000, Mitsuharu Misawa left All Japan Pro Wrestling. He took all but two of the company’s contracted wrestlers with him.

To keep the company alive, company owner Motoko Baba made two phone calls. One was to a man who had walked out on the company a decade ago. The other was to an age-old rival.

Ganbaru lifts the curtain on the unique world of puroresu, or Japanese Pro Wrestling. It is the personal tale of a fallout between a popular leader and a pioneering businesswoman. It explores the unique relationship between All Japan Pro Wrestling’s owner Motoko Baba and company president Mitsuharu Misawa, and how everything changed after the death of Shohei ‘Giant’ Baba.

The book covers how All Japan Pro Wrestling managed to survive the loss of all but two members of its roster and all but six of its staff after Misawa led a shocking mass walkout. It is a look at the rise, fall, and rise again of a professional wrestling dynasty.

Ganbaru explores how All Japan managed this crisis and rebuilt, despite predictions the company would fold. As well as looking at the event from a crisis communications perspective, the book explores the human drama at the core of the split.

Veteran wrestling journalist Fumi Saito provided a lengthy interview and the book’s foreword. As someone who was backstage during the events described, Saito offers the perspective of an insider. As he writes, “This is a book about sport, entertainment, culture, and humanity.”

145 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2022

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really engaging telling of an important part of pro wrestling history. It is obvious the author has a passion for the topic and has researched the time in detail. There is minor factual mistakes and the book could possibly go into more detail on some more of the specifics in what was happening in each company after the split as it seems to focus more on the bigger picture. But overall a good read and great to read something in English about AJPW/Noah for a change. I look forward to his book on the AJPW Mutoh years (a topic I'm much less familiar with).

[Slothstradamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book for the mythical “casual fan” to gain foundational knowledge of how one of the biggest and most critically acclaimed pro-wrestling promotions of the 1990’s found itself on death’s door at the turn of the century.

I wouldn’t say this book is really for a “hardcore Puroresu” fan because they likely know the story already but if you are one who does not know the story of how Pro-Wrestling NOAH was formed but is interested then this is a brisk read that covers all the main points of contention.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting information that is presented in a captivating fashion. Good narrative and an important story in Pro Wrestling history. Only critique is that the author could use an editor to fix some mistakes

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight on a niche topic

I was surprised to see a book be released about the split in 2000, especially one that’s been done in English. It’s very well researched and cited many points throughout the book for accuracy purposes. Jon Foye did a fantastic job.

[Sarah Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting insight into a fascinating series of events. Loved reading the anecdotes and details that went behind some fascinating decisions.

[Ta0paipai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great information, but poorly written.

[John Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry and reads more like an expanded Wikipedia entry than a deeper dive. It’s not entirely meritless but English-speaking puro fans are not going to be find much here they don’t already know.

[Duan Greally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packs as much of a punch as any book I've read on Wrestling. Learned a lot from its 150 or so short pages.