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Kensho Obayashi
is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler better known by his ring name . He is currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a former four-time World Tag Team Champion with Bodyguard. Obayashi began his career in Osaka Pro Wrestling (OPW), where he is a former Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion and three-time Osaka Tag Team Champion, winning the championship once with Gaina and twice with longtime rival and partner The Bodyguard. Outside of OPW, he is a former NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion, NWA United National Heavyweight Champion and winner of the 2012 Furinkazan Tournament with James Raideen in the Zero1 promotion, and a former Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Obayashi is of Korean descent. His Korean name is Kim Bon-u (金 繁優, 김본우), but he used the '' tsūmei'' until he legally changed his name to Kensho Obayashi when he was naturalized in 2011. Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikuno-ku, Osaka
image:Ikunoku Area.jpg, 250px, A typical residential area of Ikuno-ku is one of 24 wards of Japan, wards of Osaka, Japan. The area of Ikuno-ku is well known for the large number of Koreans,Ryall, Julian.Big trouble in Little Korea: spiral of race hate grips Tokyo" (print title: "Big trouble in Little Korea") ''South China Morning Post''. Wednesday 3 July 2013. Retrieved on 5 July 2013. "Shin-Okubo began attracting the Korean community about 30 years ago, says Shin Sang-yoon, a director of the chamber of commerce, simply because it was then one of the cheapest areas of Tokyo. It is a similar story in the Tsuruhashi area of Osaka,[...]" particularly Korean Japanese citizens (Koreans in Japan, Zainichi Korean) living there, as well as for its large number of yakiniku (Korean-style barbecue) restaurants. Many families from Korea have lived in the Tsuruhashi district for three generations or more. Ikuno-ku is located in the southeastern part of Osaka City and is adjacent to Higashiō ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Wrestling Zero1
(stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. It was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2001 until late 2004 and briefly reaffiliated in 2011. History The promotion was founded by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) stars Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani. In 2000, Hashimoto proposed an independent promotion within NJPW called New Japan Pro-Wrestling Zero, but the idea was shot down. When Hashimoto was fired by NJPW in November 2000, he registered the Pro Wrestling Zero-One name. Zero1 has had working agreements with Pro Wrestling Noah, All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Riki Pro, Hustle, Big Mouth Loud, King's Road and Dragondoor (now El Dorado Wrestling) which enabled Zero1 wrestlers to challenge for and hold the other promotions' titles. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bodyguard (wrestler)
is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler better known by his ring name . He is currently a freelancer, working most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a four-time World Tag Team Champion with longtime partner Zeus as " The Big Guns". Kurakawa is also a former two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion with Zeus, and a former IWF Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Osaka Pro Wrestling (2009-2014) The Bodyguard made his first appearance in Osaka Pro Wrestling in the fall of 2008, assisting Tigers Mask in completing his heel turn. Originally called Kurofuku, his strength was evident from the start and immediately started to cause trouble by helping Tigers win matches. Soon, he began a long-running feud started with Zeus, which eventually led to him being outed as former professional bodybuilder, Noboru Kurakawa, the winner of two Musclemania Japan competitions in 2002 and 2007. To build heat for their feud, Kurakawa (now known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Sapp
Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined fight record of 24–39–1, mostly fighting in Japan. He is well known in Japan, where he has appeared in numerous commercials, television programs, and various other media, and has released a music CD, ''Sapp Time''. He is known there as a ''gaijin tarento'' (foreign-born talent). He is currently working sporadically for various MMA promotions in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Sapp played college football as a guard for the Washington Huskies with whom he won the Morris Trophy. He was drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears with whom he played for one season seeing no game action before playing with the Minnesota Vikings for another two seasons, only playing in one game. He later began a career in professio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWGP tournament. It was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on March 4, 2021 to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The championship was represented by four different belts from 1987 to 2021. The fourth and last generation belt was introduced in March 2008. The title formed what was unofficially called the along with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the NEVER Openweight Championship. Title history An early version of this championship was introduced in 1983 for the winner ( Hulk Hogan) of the IWGP League 1983. Since then, the championship was defended annually against the winner of the IWGP League of the year. A new IWGP Heavyweight Championship arrived only in 1987, replacing the old version. The 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hustle (professional Wrestling)
was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion managed by Nobuhiko Takada. Hustle can be described as an industry experiment to market the sports entertainment style of professional wrestling in Japan. History Booked primarily by Nobuhiko Takada and Yuji Shimada, the promotion’s basic premise pits the babyface, or good guy, Hustle faction whose goal is to “defend the industry”, against Generalissimo Takada’s heel, or bad guy, Monster Faction, whose mission is to destroy the sport. Unlike the traditional puroresu, the company emphasizes melodrama and caricatures over realism and athleticism. The group once maintained a close affiliation with mixed martial arts promoters PRIDE Fighting Championships when both were owned by Dream Stage Entertainment, or DSE. Fans in the U.S. considered HUSTLE to be an answer to Takada's original wrestling style, the serious shoot style, having lost its popularity in Japan as a result of the UWFi vs. New Japan Pro-Wrestling feud and the rise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toshiaki Kawada
(born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In All Japan, he was a 5 time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a 9 time World Tag Team Champion, three time winner of the Real World Tag League and a two time winner of the Champion Carnival. He was also recognised as the ace of the promotion from 2000–2005. Widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, his matches against Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama, and Kenta Kobashi in the 1990s are argued by many fans and experts in the industry as some of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time. He is known for his extremely stiff wrestling style and martial arts strikes, which earned him the nickname "Dangerous K". He also has the distinction of having competed in 17 matches that were given a 5-Star Rating and one match which received a 6-Star rating by Dave Meltz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atsushi Kotoge
(born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his time in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he was part of the tag team with Daisuke Harada. Kotoge and Harada are former three-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions and have also worked together for various other promotions across Japan and for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–based Chikara in the United States. Professional wrestling career Osaka Pro Wrestling (2005–2012) Kotoge made his debut for Osaka Pro Wrestling on April 29, 2005, at the promotion's sixth anniversary show, facing Kabuto Beetle in a losing effort. After a rocky first year, which saw Kotoge feuding with La Uchida, without much success, the summer of 2006 saw him starting a new feud with Daisuke Harada, during which he also be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tadasuke
, known mononymously as is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is best known for his work in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he is a former one-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion, three-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions and a one-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Champion, while also being the winner of the 2012 Osaka Tag Festival. He has also made appearances in the United States for the Chikara promotion, where he is a former holder of the Young Lions Cup. Professional wrestling career Toryumon Japan (2004) Tadasuke started training in the Toryumon Japan Dojo alongside BxB Hulk, Shingo Takagi, Yūki Ōno & Akira Tozawa as part of the 15th class. Unfortunately though, after the dissolution of Toryumon Japan into Dragon Gate there was a reduced number of trainees in the new dojo, and Tadasuke didn't make it in. Osaka Pro Wrestling (2007–2014) Tadasuke made his professional wrestling debut on April 29, 2007, losing to Tsub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daisuke Harada
(born November 13, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He’s a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Harada is also known for his time in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he was a two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion and a two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion as part of the tag team with Atsushi Kotoge. Harada and Kotoge also worked together for various other promotions across Japan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–based Chikara in the United States & currently in Noah, where they are 4-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Nicknamed ‘Young Master’, Harada is also the only two-time winner of Noah’s Global Junior Heavyweight League (winning in 2015 & 2020), and is ranked second for all-time defences of the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, with 16. Early life Harada reportedly first got interested in professional wrestling through the video game ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Delfin
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently runs Kaisen Puroresu and is also working as a wrestler there. He is better known by his stage name . Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1989, 1994) Hiroto Wakita joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling's dojo. He was affiliated with the Takeshi Puroresu Gundan, a Japanese take on the "Rock 'n Wrestling" concept espoused by the WWF at the time in the United States, using comedian and director Takeshi Kitano as the manager of Riki Choshu and others who had returned from All Japan Pro Wrestling. As fans were not receptive to the angle, Kitano and New Japan parted ways, which left Wakita and his fellow dojo students, the future Jado and Gedo, without a home. The three men began training almost on their own, with Wally Yamaguchi as their trainer. In 1994 he competed in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament organised by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He finished second by losing to Jyushin Thunder Liger in the finals. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alien Registration In Japan
was a system used to record information regarding aliens resident in Japan. It was handled at the municipal level, parallel to (but separately from) the koseki (family register) and juminhyo (resident register) systems used to record information regarding Japanese nationals. Foreigners staying in Japan for more than 90 days (excluding military personnel under a status of forces agreement and diplomatic personnel) were required to register within 90 days of landing in Japan. The applicant was required to provide a completed application form, passport (for applicants 16 years old or older) and two identification photos. The system was voluntary for shorter-term visitors. Alien registration was a prerequisite to many activities in Japan, such as purchasing a mobile phone, opening a bank account or obtaining a driver's license. As described below, the alien registration system was replaced with a foreign residents' registration system on July 9, 2012. The new system of foreign reside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
