Champion Carnival
From 1959 to 1972, the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), run by Rikidōzan, held a tournament called World League (also known as the "World Big League"), which featured both Japanese and foreign professional wrestlers. Rikidōzan himself dominated the annual tournament early on, however, after his death in 1963, the tournament was won six times by Giant Baba and once by Antonio Inoki. JWA folded shortly after both Baba and Inoki left the promotion to create All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), respectively. Both men took the concept of World League with them to their new promotions, with Baba creating the "Champion Carnival" in 1973 and Inoki creating the World League in 1974, later renaming it G1 Climax.
Super J-Cup (1995)
The concept of featuring the world's best junior heavyweights was conceived by Jushin Thunder Liger, leading to New Japan Pro-Wrestling producing the Super J-Cup in 1994 and bringing the best junior heavyweight wrestlers from various Japanese promotions as well as from United States, Canada and Mexico as well. The event held at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan was a huge success as the Sumo Hall was sold out with a crowd of 11,500. The event was a critical and commercial success and received favourable reviews from all the critics. The event also allowed many participants including Jushin Thunder Liger, The Great Sasuke, Gedo Wild Pegasus to make a name for themselves and showcase their talents on a national level. Dave Meltzer of "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" rated the tournament final between Pegasus and Sasuke, a five-star match. Although initially conceived as a one-time only event, the success of the 1994 Super J-Cup led NJPW to collaborate with Wrestle Association R to hold the event again and bring in some new junior heavyweights while also bringing some of the previous year's participants. WAR hosted the event at the previous year's venue Sumo Hall and Último Dragón produced the event while also participating in it.