The AJPW Champion Carnival is a men's pro wrestling tournament held periodically by All Japan Pro Wrestling.
The competition was established on March 17, 1973, and the first edition was won by Giant Baba , while the last edition took place on May 18, 2025 and was won by Rei Saito.
The tournament is also known by the nickname Haru no Saiten (春の祭典, "Spring Festival").
Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, it has been held annually since 1973 and is the longest-running singles tournament in puroresu.
The initial tournament was held in a single-elimination format, but heading into the 1975 edition, the format changed with the four wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the single-elimination tournament were put into a round-robin tournament; a year later, the single-elimination portion of the tournament was eliminated and the Champion Carnival was changed to a pure round-robin tournament, a format it holds to this day.
The tournament ran annually until 1982, then was interrupted and resumed in 1991, with the winner getting the right to challenge for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (if not already the champion).
On this page, you can find the full list of all the AJPW Champion Carnival winners in history, along with dates, events, locations and statistics.
AJPW Champion Carnival: Info
- Promotion
All Japan Pro Wrestling - TerritoryWorld Tier 2
- DivisionPrimary
- GenderMale
- Tournament FormatRound Robin
- PrizeTitle Shot
- Date EstablishedMarch 17, 1973
AJPW Champion Carnival: List of Winners
N. Image Winner 45 Rei Saito 1
May 18, 2025 Yokohama, Japan | Champion Carnival 2025Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2025 (Night 1) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Jun Saito.44 Kento Miyahara 2
May 12, 2024 Yokohama, Japan | Champion Carnival 2024Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2024 (Night 1) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Yuma Anzai.43 Shotaro Ashino 1
May 7, 2023 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2023Successfully used the shot at Dynamite Series 2023 (Night 3) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata.42 Yuma Aoyagi 1
May 4, 2022 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2022Unsuccessfully used the shot at 50th Anniversary Tour Sapporo 2 Days (Night 2) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara.41 
Jake Lee 1
May 3, 2021 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2021Successfully used the shot at Champions Night against Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.40 Zeus 1
October 5, 2020 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2020Unsuccessfully used the shot at Raising An Army Memorial Series 2020 (Night 1) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Suwama.39 Kento Miyahara 1
April 29, 2019 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2019Miyahara was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.38 
Naomichi Marufuji 1
April 30, 2018 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2018Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2018 (Night 7) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara.37 Shuji Ishikawa 1
April 30, 2017 Fukuoka, Japan | Champion Carnival 2017Successfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2017 (Night 6) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara.36 Daisuke Sekimoto 1
April 24, 2016 Osaka, Japan | Champion Carnival 2016Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2016 (Night 4) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara.35 
Akebono 1
April 25, 2015 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2015Successfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2015 (Night 9) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki.34 
Takao Omori 1
April 27, 2014 Osaka, Japan | Champion Carnival 2014Successfully used the shot at Dynamite Series 2014 (Night 1) against Jun Akiyama for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.33 
Jun Akiyama 1
April 29, 2013 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2013Unsuccessfully used the shot at Pro-Wrestling Love In Ryogoku 2013 against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Suwama.32 
Taiyo Kea 2
May 7, 2012 Tokyo, Japan | 40th Anniversary Year Champion Carnival 2012Unsuccessfully used the shot at Summer Night Fever In Ryogoku against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Suwama.31 
Yuji Nagata 1
April 13, 2011 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2011Unsuccessfully used the shot at Pro-Wrestling Love In Ryogoku Vol. 12 against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama.30 
Minoru Suzuki 2
April 11, 2010 Tokyo, Japan | Gaora Special Champion Carnival 2010Successfully used the shot at Growin' Up 2010 (Night 9) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Ryota Hama.29 Minoru Suzuki 1
April 12, 2009 Tokyo, Japan | Gaora Special Champion Carnival 2009Unsuccessfully used the shot at Rise Up Tour 2009 (Night 9) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama.28 Suwama 1
April 9, 2008 Tokyo, Japan | Gaora Special Champion Carnival 2008Successfully used the shot at Growin' Up 2008 (Night 5) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki.27 
Keiji Muto / The Great Muta 3
March 30, 2007 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2007Successfully used the shot at Pro-Wrestling Love In Yokohama against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Minoru Suzuki.26 
Taiyo Kea 1
April 20, 2006 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2006Unsuccessfully used the shot at Crossover 2006 (Night 5) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima.25 
Kensuke Sasaki 1
April 20, 2005 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2005Kasaki didn't get the title shot.24 Keiji Muto / The Great Muta 2
April 20, 2004 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2004Muto didn't get the title shot.23 
Satoshi Kojima 1
March 28, 2003 Sapporo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2003Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 2003 (Night 11) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto.22 
Keiji Muto 1
April 10, 2002 Sapporo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2002Successfully used the shot at Grand Champion Carnival against Genichiro Tenryu for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.21 
Genichiro Tenryu 1
April 11, 2001 Sendai, Japan | Champion Carnival 2001Tenryu was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.20 
Kenta Kobashi 1
April 15, 2000 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 2000Kobashi was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.19 
Vader 1
April 16, 1999 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1999Vader was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.18 
Mitsuharu Misawa 2
April 18, 1998 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1998Musawa was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.17 
Toshiaki Kawada 2
April 19, 1997 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1997Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 1997 (Night 16) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa.16 
Akira Taue 1
April 20, 1996 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1996Successfully used the shot at Super Power Series 1996 (Night 6) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa.15 Mitsuharu Misawa 1
April 15, 1995 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1995Successfully used the shot at Super Power Series 1995 (Night 5) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen.14 Toshiaki Kawada 1
April 16, 1994 Tokyo, Japan | Champion Carnival 1994Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 1994 (Night 16) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa.13 
Stan Hansen 2
April 21, 1993 Yokohama, Japan | Champion Carnival 1993Unsuccessfully used the shot at Super Power Series 1993 (Night 7) against the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa.12 Stan Hansen 1
April 17, 1992 Nagoya, Japan | Champion Carnival 1992Hansen was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.11 
Jumbo Tsuruta 2
April 18, 1991 Nagoya, Japan | Champion Carnival 1991Tsuruta was already the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, so he didn't get the shot.10 
Giant Baba 7
April 16, 1982 Fukuoaka, Japan | Grand Champion Series9 Giant Baba 6
April 23, 1981 Osaka, Japan | 9th Champion Carnival8 
Jumbo Tsuruta 1
May 1, 1980 Fukuoka, Japan | 8th Champion Carnival7 
Abdullah the Butcher 2
April 6, 1979 Akita, Japan | 7th Champion Carnival6 Giant Baba 5
April 7, 1978 Sendai, Japan | 6th Champion Carnival5 Giant Baba 4
May 14, 1977 Tokyo, Japan | 5th Champion Carnival4 Abdullah the Butcher 1
March 8, 1976 Sapporo, Japan | 4th Champion Carnival3 Giant Baba 3
July 3, 1975 Wakayama, Japan | 3rd Champion Carnival2 Giant Baba 2
May 11, 1974 Maebashi, Japan | 2nd Champion Carnival1 Giant Baba 1
April 21, 1973 Fukui, Japan | 1st Champion Carnival
AJPW Champion Carnival: Names & Logo History
- AJPW Champion CarnivalMarch 17, 1973
AJPW Champion Carnival: Statistics & Records
Most Victories
| Rank | Wrestler | Wins | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giant Baba | 7 | 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982 |
| 2 | Keiji Muto / The Great Muta | 3 | 2002, 2004, 2007 |
| 3 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 2 | 1980, 1991 |
| 4 | Toshiaki Kawada | 2 | 1994, 1997 |
| 5 | Taiyo Kea | 2 | 2006, 2012 |
| 6 | Minoru Suzuki | 2 | 2009, 2010 |
| 7 | Mitsuharu Misawa | 2 | 1995, 1998 |
| 8 | Stan Hansen | 2 | 1992, 1993 |
| 9 | Kento Miyahara | 2 | 2019, 2024 |
| 10 | Abdullah the Butcher | 2 | 1976, 1979 |