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Hisashi Shinma

Japanese businessperson (1935–2025)

Summary

Japanese businessperson (1935–2025)

Field	Value
name	Hisashi Shinma
image	Hisashi Shinma in 2017 (cropped).jpg
caption	Shinma in 2017
birth_date
birth_place	Tokyo, Japan
death_date
death_place	Tokyo, Japan
education	Chuo University
occupation	{{plainlist

Executive Chairman of New Japan Pro Wrestling
Businessman, Booker

Hisashi Shinma was a Japanese professional wrestling booker and professional wrestling promoter. Shinma is noted for having been an on-screen authority for the World Wrestling Federation, from 1978 to 1984, billed as the President of the promotion. He was succeeded by Jack Tunney.

Career

Shinma was chairman and one of the bookers for New Japan Pro-Wrestling at the time and negotiated a talent-sharing arrangement with the World Wrestling Federation within the junior heavyweight division, which ultimately launched Tatsumi Fujinami as an international superstar and an eventual successor to Antonio Inoki.

Shinma's most famous moment as WWF President occurred on December 6, 1979, after Bob Backlund regained the WWF title from Antonio Inoki at the end of his Japan tour. Shinma overruled the decision due to interference from Tiger Jeet Singh. Inoki refused to accept the belt, but Backlund regained the vacant title after returning to the United States. Backlund's title loss to Inoki is still not officially acknowledged by WWE and largely unknown to American audiences until Pro Wrestling Illustrated recognized Inoki's reign in the late-1990s.

Shinma's other accomplishments included fitting Satoru Sayama with the Tiger Mask gimmick, discovering Akira Maeda, advocated the concept of the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) in NJPW and forming the Universal Wrestling Federation in Japan after leaving New Japan. Shinma remained in UWF until disagreements arose with Sayama over the match content.

His son Hisatsune Shinma was also a promoter, and co-founded Universal Lucha Libre with Gran Hamada, one of the original UWF members, but with the promotion focusing on the lucha libre style brought from Mexico.

In his later years, Shinma was active as the chairman of Real Japan Pro Wrestling. When RJPW evolved into Strong Style Pro Wrestling, he became their representative director. He retired in October 2024.

Death

In March 2025, Shinma was admitted to a Tokyo hospital for COVID-19. Although he recovered and was discharged, he developed pneumonia and died at his home on April 21, 2025, at the age of 90.

Championships and accomplishments

Tokyo Sports
- Lifetime Achievement Award (1983)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
WWE
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019)

References

(2009). "WWE Encyclopedia". [[Dorling Kindersley.
Slagle, Steve. "Professional Wrestling Online Museum - Ring Chronicle Hall of Fame Inductee - Antonio Inoki".
"Online World of Wrestling: Akira Maeda".
"The Internet Wrestling Encyclopedia: Directory of Wrestling Promotions".
[https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/341848 〝過激な仕掛け人〟新間寿さん死去 90歳猪木 vs アリ実現、WWE殿堂入りなど数々の功績] {{in lang. ja

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1935-births 2025-deaths professional-wrestling-authority-figures wwe-hall-of-fame-legacy-inductees

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