NWF AND JOHNNY POWERS

Now, the name of NWF may not have any meaning for almost people, but a part of Japanese remember the name with their dear memories. Because when Antonio Inoki established NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING, he joined hands with NWF, and somehow he could step forward as a great wrestler.

NWF was only a local organization which was made by Pedro Martinez and Johnny Powers against NWA, but it recognized the world champion. That was good fortune for Inoki. He could not invite American wrestlers, and he could not do a title match. NWF gave Inoki both of them at a time.

Inoki defeated Powers and got NWF World Championship, but they say Powers sold the belt to Inoki. In fact, the best days of Powers may have been in the middle of 60's. At any rate, Johnny was the only famous wrestler in early days of NEW JAPAN, and a series of fights between Inoki and Powers was the only good card.

After all, Johnny Powers was taken his all titles, NWF by Inoki, North American Tag by Inoki and Sakaguchi, and North American single (What's that ?) by Sakaguchi. After that, Powers could not fight on rings of USA, because he had sided with notorious Pedro and had resisted NWA. That is a common opinion, but when he sold the championship to Inoki, he might lose his passion for pro-wrestling.