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Masao Inoue (wrestler)
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah as a freelancer. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1991, before jumping to Pro Wrestling Noah during a mass exodus in 2000. Inoue spent the next 12 years with Noah before returning to AJPW in 2012. Since then, he has competed regularly for both promotions as a freelancer. Career All Japan Pro Wrestling Masao Inoue spent the better part of his time with All Japan as an underling for Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue. He found little success until he started a regular tag team with Tamon Honda near the end of his All Japan stay. The tandem won the All Asia Tag Team Championship in 1999. In mid-2000 Masao Inoue left All Japan Pro Wrestling along with all but two All Japan native workers to join Mitsuharu Misawa's newly formed Pro Wrestling Noah. Inoue and Honda were still the All Asia Tag Team champions and as a result, the titles were vacated when they left. Return to All Japan (2012-P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Wrestling Noah
(stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the promotion to form Noah. Noah held its first shows in August 2000, and established the Global Honored Crown as the in-house governing body for its collection of championships. Throughout its -year history, Noah has had working relationships with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Ring of Honor (ROH), Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW). In January 2020, the company was purchased by CyberAgent, parent company of DDT Pro Wrestling, with DDT's executives taking over Noah's operations and Noah's content appearing on DDT's streaming service Wrestle Universe. History Noah under Misawa (2000–2009) In January 1999, AJPW found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jun Akiyama
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, co-head booker, and an in-ring performer. In AJPW, he is a former two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, while also being a six-time overall professional wrestling world champion. Akiyama is noted for his serious in-ring style and demeanor, innovating the '' Blue Thunder Driver'' and the wrist–clutch exploder suplex maneuvers. Considered an outstanding tag team wrestler, Akiyama is a three-time winner of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' Tag Team of the Year award. Personal life In junior high school, Akiyama participated in swimming and in senior high school he competed in freestyle amateur wrestling and judo. After high school, he attended Senshu University in Tokyo, where he joined an amateur wrestling team that produced ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenta Kobashi
is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Champion Carnival in 2000. Kobashi left All Japan in June 2000, taking part in a mass exodus led by Mitsuharu Misawa, which led to the formation of Pro Wrestling Noah. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Kobashi worked for Noah for thirteen years, and became the longest reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding the championship for 735 days between 2003 and 2005, a record that stands to this day. He was a four-time world champion. Kobashi spent many of the later years of his career sidelined due to various injuries. He underwent numerous surgeries on his arms and legs in the early-mid 2000s before retiring from in-ring action in May 2013. Kobashi continues to make sporadic appearances in bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Tag League
The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and none for any other kind of a draw or a loss. The team finishing atop the points standings are the winners. Matches in the Global Tag League have a 30-minute time limit, which is the same as matches for Noah's GHC Tag Team Championship. In the below results, signifies the GHC Tag Team Champions at the time of each tournament. List of winners 2008 The 2008 Global Tag League featured nine teams, and was held from March 29 to April 27. 2009 The 2009 Global Tag League featured eight teams, and was held from April 11 to May 6. 2010 The 2010 Global Tag League ran from January 9 through January 24. It was the first edition of the Global Tag League featuring a block system, with eight teams in two blocks of four. The top finishing teams ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshihiro Takayama
is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and later became a mainstay in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he arguably achieved his greatest success, holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and NWF Heavyweight Championship simultaneously in 2003. He is one of only four men to hold all three puroresu major heavyweight titles (New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship), the others being Kensuke Sasaki, Keiji Muto, and Satoshi Kojima. Takayama first became known for his toughness after he began competing in mixed martial arts, when he took part in one of the most infamous fights in MMA history at PRIDE 21 against Don Frye. Through his career Takayama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling (1996–2000) Kanemaru debuted in 1996 for All Japan Pro Wrestling, in the last years of owner Giant Baba's regime, which had isolated the promotion from outsider wrestlers at the expense of the younger, lighter-weight talent. His first high-profile match in 1997 saw him team with New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Koji Kanemoto (Tiger Mask III) to battle freelancer Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask, and his disciple, Michinoku Pro Wrestling's Yoshihiro Yamazaki (who would go on to become Tiger Mask IV), in a battle of Tiger Masks (as Mitsuharu Misawa, who once portrayed Tiger Mask II, was now a heavyweight and fully focused on the Triple Crown Heavyw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kentaro Shiga
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. He returned from a two-year hiatus due to injury in 2005. History All Japan Pro Wrestling (1994−2000) Shiga trained in the All Japan dojo and debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling in early 1994. For the first two years, Shiga spent most of the time in opening matches or low midcard matches as he paid his dues. On January 3, 1996, Shiga won his first honor when he won the yearly January 3 Korakuen Hall Jr. Heavyweight Battle Royal.http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/ Shortly after Shiga entered the 1996 Asunaro Cup Tournament where he finished in 6th place with 2 points. Following these events, Shiga returned to the midcard for another few years where he did not challenge for any titles. In 1998, Shiga teamed with Akira Taue in the 1998 Asunaro Cup tournament where they finished as the runners-up losing to Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori in the finals. Later in the year, Shiga joined Kenta Kobashi's stable: Burnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeshi Rikio
Takeshi Inoue (born December 20, 1972) known by his stage name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler. Sumo career He made his sumo debut in March 1988, after leaving junior high school. He joined at the same time as future ''yokozuna'' Takanohana and Wakanohana. He initially trained at the same stable as these two, Futagoyama-beya, but when former ''yokozuna'' Takanosato branched off to set up Naruto-beya in March 1989, Inoue was one of the young recruits to follow him to the new stable. He also changed his ''shikona'', or fighting name, from Futagozakura to Rikio. In July 1993 he was promoted to the second highest ''jūryō'' division, becoming the first wrestler from Naruto stable to reach elite ''sekitori'' status. He was demoted from that division after just one tournament, but returned to ''jūryō'' in May 1994 and was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in July 1996 after winning his s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naoki Sano
(born February 2, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist most notable for being the generational rival of legendary Japanese pro wrestler Jushin Liger. During the last years of his career he went by the name . Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1984–1990, 2020) Sano was a member of the 1984 NJPW Dojo class, and in his first few years wrestled in preliminary matches. In 1987, he went on an overseas excursion to Mexico, wrestling for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA). In August 1987, he won his first championship, the Distrito Federal Trios Championship with fellow NJPW wrestlers Hirokazu Hata and Yoshihiro Asai. Upon his return to the promotion in January 1989, he won the Young Tokyo Dome Cup on April 24, becoming the first NJPW wrestler to wrestle inside the Tokyo Dome, along with Hiro Saito. He went on to have numerous acclaimed matches against Jyushin Liger. Sano defeated Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavywe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuhei Taniguchi
is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur background Shuhei Taniguchi first started competitive wrestling when he was in high school. Like fellow Pro Wrestling Noah wrestlers Takashi Sugiura and Tamon Honda before him, Shuhei represented the Japanese armed forces in amateur wrestling. He greatly excelled in amateur wrestling, becoming highly decorated and making it all the way to the All Japan championships, the biggest stage for the sport, before deciding to turn pro. Pro Wrestling Noah Taniguchi joined the Pro Wrestling Noah dojo on May 5, 2005, and spent many months training. He finally debuted along with Atsushi Aoki, Ippei Ota, and Akihiko Ito on December 24, 2005, as part of Noah's annual Christmas Eve Noahful Gift in Differ show. Taniguchi's team for his match actually won, maki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GHC Heavyweight Championship
The is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the Pro Wrestling Noah brand division. It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alongside the KO-D Openweight Championship in DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title was also defended on Impact Wrestling which has a working relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on April 15, 2001 when Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Yoshihiro Takayama in a 16-man tournament final. Though its name implies a particular weight class, it has been periodically held by junior heavyweights, including Yoshinari Ogawa, Kenta, Naomichi Marufuji, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kenoh. There have been a total of 41 reigns shared between 22 different champions. The current champion is Kaito Kiyomiya, who is in his second reign. Tournament Noah held a 16-man tournament to crown the first champion, held over its month-long, 18-event Navigation for the Victory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts contests, the arena has gained additional fame as one of the world's most outstanding musical performance venues. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wrestling for a time, and it has hosted numerous other sporting events such as the 1967 Women's Volleyball World Championship. Most recently, the arena hosted the Olympic debut of karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ... in the 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as the judo competition at both the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics. A number of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
