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Takashi Iizuka
, better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion. Debuting in 1986 under his real name, Iizuka formed the tag team J-J-Jacks with fellow dojo trainee Akira Nogami in 1992. After changing his ring name to in 1995, he became a mainstay of the New Japan seikigun, and was a frequent tag team partner for Yuji Nagata during the early 2000s. In 2008, Iizuka underwent a drastic change to his look, character and wrestling style, turning heel, shaving his head bald, growing a sinister beard, and adapting a hardcore wrestling style. He was also given the gimmick of an uncontrollable madman, and nicknamed "The Great Traitor" for his betrayal of the New Japan roster. Iizuka competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling over four separate decades before reti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Takami Ohbari has served as the president of the promotion since October 2020. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan. It was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance at various points in its history. NJPW has had agreements with various MMA and professional wrestling promotions around the world, including WWE, World Championship Wrestling, American Wrestling Association, World Class Championship Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, WAR, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, UWFi, Ring of Honor, Pride Fighting Championships, and All Elite Wrestling. NJ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sambo (martial Art)
, aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , olympic = No, but IOC recognized , website = , module=, ancestor arts=Catch Wrestling, Judo, Kickboxing, Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Boxing Sambo (russian: са́мбо, ) is a Russian martial art with Soviet origins, an internationally practiced combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling. Etymology It originated in the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. The word ''sambo'' is an acronym of (russian: самозащита без оружия), which literally translates to 'self-defence without weapons'. Origins Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet NKVD ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch Wrestling Association
The Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) was a professional wrestling organization based in Austria and Germany that was founded in 1973. It was run by Otto Wanz. The CWA featured a traditional brand of mat wrestling mixed with various “Strong Man” competitions. The company was engaged in talent-share agreements with other wrestling promotions, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the American Wrestling Association. These agreements expanded the opportunities given to many European wrestlers. CWA's biggest card was the Euro Catch Festival, which was held twice a year (it was held in Graz, Austria in the summer, while in the winter, it was held in Bremen, Germany). Matches were fought using European rules, including dividing matches into three-minute rounds and having the possibility of a victory by knockout. The CWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized as the legitimate European World Championship as counterpart to the AWA, NWA and WWF titles in North America, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and state. A landlocked country, Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of and has a population of 9 million. Austria emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium. Originally a margraviate of Bavaria, it developed into a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1156 and was later made an archduchy in 1453. In the 16th century, Vienna began serving as the empire's administrative capital and Austria thus became the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy. After the dissolution of the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents of Earth#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masa Saito
was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or , who wrestled for 33 years around the world. He had success as a singles wrestler, winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990, and as a tag team wrestler with multiple partners in various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories. Saito joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1981, where he teamed with Mr. Fuji to hold the World Tag Team Championship twice and would claim the nickname "Chopstick Charlie". In Japan, he wrestled for both top leagues, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He wrestled Antonio Inoki across Ganryujima island for over two hours. Saito was imprisoned for two years in the mid-1980s for physically assaulting police officers in Waukesha, Wisconsin, following an accusation of vandalism against his friend Ken Patera. Amateur wrestling career Saito competed in freestyle wrestling for Japan in the 1964 Summer Olympics, placing seventh. Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shinya Hashimoto
was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the promotion in the 1990s. He is one of three wrestlers (the others being Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima) that have held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and is an overall five-time world champion. Professional wrestling career Early years (1984–1988) Hashimoto grew up in Toki City in Gifu and began training in judo and karate in his late teens. His training helped him in his transition to professional wrestling, as he joined the NJPW Dojo in April 1984. He made his debut for NJPW in September 1984 at the age of 19, wrestling against Tatsutoshi Goto. Hashimoto worked on becoming a skilled wrestler over the next few years, traveling whenever necess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Takano
, born June 23, 1958, is an American-Japanese retired professional wrestler better known under the ring name . He was also billed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona. He worked for various Japanese and American wrestling promotions from the late 1970s to early 1990s. He is the older brother of Shunji Takano. Early life Takano was born on June 23, 1958. His father was an African American Marine who belonged to the Iwakuni base, and has also become a promising boxer. However, his father returned to the United States and left his wife, a Japanese woman, and children in Japan. Takano grew up at home with his mother and brother, and he was a mixed-blooded child. He was introduced at the age of 15 to the grand sumo room of sumo wrestling, and set foot for the first time in a dojo in March 1974, but in January 1976 the place becomes out of numbering and goes out of business. Professional wrestling career Takano debuted in 1977 and worked for Stampede W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junji Hirata
(born December 20, 1956) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a trainer for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, known primarily by his ring name . Career Hirata applied and was approved to the New Japan dojo on May 13, 1978, and made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on August 26, against Yoshiaki Fujiwara. In November 1982, he left on an overseas training expedition to Mexico, and later Canada, where in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling he would create the famous Super Strong Machine persona, as well as use a First Nations gimmick as Sonny Two Rivers (billed as the son of Billy Two Rivers, an actual First Nations chief). In April 1986, he left NJPW with Riki Choshu for rival wrestling promotion, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In June 1987, he returned to NJPW and would soon capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship on three separate occasions with George Takano, Hiro Saito, and Shinya Hashimoto as his tag team partners. In the fall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riki Choshu
, better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers for his work in the 1980s and 1990s and is known as the first wrestler to popularize the Sasori-Gatame, better known in English as the ''Scorpion Deathlock'' or ''Sharpshooter''. After leaving NJPW in 2002, he formed Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ), but eventually returned to New Japan in October 2005 as a site foreman, booker and part-time wrestler. Choshu once again left NJPW in 2010 and primarily worked in Tatsumi Fujinami’s Dradition, as well as his own self-produced Power Hall events as a freelancer. Choshu was a second generation Zainichi Korean until his naturalization in 2016. Early life Choshu was born Kwak Gwang-ung (), the youngest of four children in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture to a Japanese mother an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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