Triple Crown Overview

Here is a link to a post over at Pro Wrestling Only.  If you aren't a member there, what the hell are you waiting for ... get on it.  The thread itself is really very informative about some of the history of the Triple Crown.

Here is kind of the import and informative bit from historian John Williams.

All Japan's "World Title" in the 80s was the NWA World Title. Same in the 70s. All Japan was a territory, just like Mid-Atlantic / JCP.  The US Title in JCP wasn't their "world title". It was the top title in the territory, and when the NWA Champ came through town, that took precedent.

Anyway...

The titles were basically this:

International Title = Rikidozan's Title

It was the top title in JWA. Rikidozan dominated it. He died and it lay dormant for a while.

When they brought it back, Baba got it which was a sign that he and not Toyonobori was the top dog in the promotion. Toyonobori got the picture and eventually left.

When Baba jumped from JWA to create his own promotion, it went to Oki. JWA died, and then it had an indifferent life in Japan.  Oki didn't defend the title in Japan between the close of JWA in 1973 and 1980, when he made a trio of defenses in IWE.  Instead, he jobbed in an NWF Title match to Inoki in 1974, and then jobbed his old Asian Title (another old Rikidozan title that had passed on to him) to Baba in 1977 in a PWF Title vs Asian Title match.

Baba bought it essentially for Jumbo to chase, then win.

United National Title = Inoki's Title

A secondary title to give to Inoki since he wasn't getting the Int'l Title around Baba's waist.

Inoki got fired from JWA, and it went to Sakaguchi as Baba's #2.  Sak jobbed this on the way out, and it ended up around Takachiho's waist as JWA died in one of the funnier historical footnotes of the era.

Baba in All Japan brought it back, and it was the secondary title of All Japan for Jumbo. Similar role as the belt played in JWA.

PWF Title = Baba's Title

This actually was a World Title when it was created as Baba didn't yet have the NWA deal, which was still with JWA.  When the JWA died, Baba got the NWA deal over Inoki, and Brisco came over on tour in early 1974.  NWA vs PWF Title match, DCOR, and Baba stopped calling the PWF Title a "world title".  Pretty safe to suspect that in January they knew the payoff to the deal was that Brisco would come back in December and do a title turn around with Baba. I get that Jack liked to pretend that the US NWA didn't know this was going on and that he (Brisco) got paid nicely by Baba to do this... but that's not credible. Baba was in the deal an NWA member. You don't fuck with the NWA Title with a real change in those days without the NWA signing off on it. Baba also grew to be one of the more powerful and respected NWA promoters... you don't do that if you're screwing with the title without agreement of the home office and money going that direction.

Anyway, the PWF Title was the #1 title in All Japan in that period.

Where it gets murky is that there was a transition period in All Japan where Jumbo was getting elevated to being the Ace.  There wasn't a moment where Jumbo wasn't the Ace one day, and the next day he was the Ace. I've gone over it in other threads, but it's a gradual thing with a series of events.

In turn, there isn't a clear moment where Baba says, "I'm not the Ace". It's the same gradual thing.  Baba kind of booked it nicely so that in the stretch where Jumbo was cementing himself as the Ace, Baba had passed the PWF Title over to Hansen.  Once Jumbo was more clearly the Ace, Baba took one last spin with the PWF Title before phasing himself more fully downward.

Timelining it...

The PWF Title was #1 from the time it was created until the Int'l was bought.  The PWF and Int'l were then roughly on par until the PWF went to Hansen and the Int'l went to Jumbo on the same series. People might not think that based on how the Int'l was elevated from later on, but it's really how it was placed.  The only time the belts were defended on the same card in that 1981-83 period, Baba-Race was above Brody-Dory.  Even as late as 1984, the major Sumo Hall card had Baba-Hansen at the top with the Martel-Jumbo AWA Title rematch in the semi, while the Martel-Jumbo Int'l Title match was six days earlier on a lesser card.

After that... the Int'l was #1, the PWF was #1-A, and the UN was the secondary title for Tenryu.  The PWF got a pretty respectable push in 1986 around Choshu: good buildings relative to the Int'l title, and a good match ups. It faded down the stretch of 1986, and was pretty pedestrian in Hansen's run the next year until they heated up Stan vs Tenryu which eventually lead to the PWF and UN getting unified.  Which across a year led to the Triple Crown.

Thanks John for the great info!!