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Yuichi Watanabe
Yuichi Watanabe is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He competed in Shooto's Lightweight division and was the inaugural Shooto Lightweight Champion defeating Kazuhiro Kusayanagi. As a pro wrestler he competes for Real Japan Pro Wrestling under the name Super Rider. He has also wrestled for notable promotions such as W*ING, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, IWA Japan, Battlarts, Dramatic Dream Team, Pro Wrestling KAGEKI, Pro Wrestling ZERO-1 and Diamond Ring. Background and career Watanabe trained under Satoru Sayama in Shooto and was also one of his first trainees at his Seikendo school. He also learned shootboxing under Caesar Takeshi, was an amateur wrestling champion in high school, was the captain of his high school club wrestling club with Mitsuharu Misawa as his vice-captain and Toshiaki Kawada as his junior, competed in the 1984 All Japan Student Wrestling Championships representing Nihon University losing to future Olympic medalist Kosei Akaishi in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fukuoka, Japan
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamoto Prefecture to the south, and Ōita Prefecture to the southeast. Fukuoka is the capital and largest city of Fukuoka Prefecture, and the largest city on Kyūshū, with other major cities including Kitakyushu, Kurume, and Ōmuta. Fukuoka Prefecture is located at the northernmost point of Kyūshū on the Kanmon Straits, connecting the Tsushima Strait and Seto Inland Sea across from Yamaguchi Prefecture on the island of Honshu, and extends south towards the Ariake Sea. History Fukuoka Prefecture includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen. Shrines and temples Kōra taisha, Sumiyoshi-jinja, and Hakozaki-gū are the chief Shinto shrines (''ichinomiya'') in the prefecture. Geography Fukuoka Prefecture faces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuhiro Kusayanagi
Kazuhiro Kusayanagi (born April 4, 1967) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed in the Middleweight and Welterweight divisions. Career After a 6–9–1 career in Shooto and Lumax Cup, Kusayanagi volunteered for representing his promotion in Vale Tudo Japan in 1994. He was paired against David Levicki, a wing chun specialist that outweighed him by 90 lb. Kusayanagi charged at him with a takedown, but Levicki blocked it with help of his size and immediately started hitting the back of his head, which was legal under the rules. After dropping Kusayanagi to the ground, Levicki hit him with more punches until knocking him out. It would be Kusayanagi's only match at VTJ. Personal life In 2019, Kusayanagi was arrested under suspicion of paying for sex with a 14-year old child in September 2018. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 9–17–3 , Yuki Sasaki , TKO (punches) , Shooto - Las Grandes Viajes 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsuharu Misawa
was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue, who came to be nicknamed AJPW's " Four Pillars of Heaven", and whose matches developed the '' ōdō'' (, "King's Road") style of puroresu and received significant critical acclaim. Despite never working in the United States during the 1990s, Misawa had significant stylistic influence upon American independent wrestling, through the popularity of his work among tape-traders in the country. Misawa is regarded by some as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. However, the physical demands and consequences of the style in which he worked and the circumstances of his death have made his legacy, or at least that of ''ōdō'', somewhat problematic. Debuting in 1981, Misawa became the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesar Takeshi
(born August 17, 1955), better known by his ring name , is a Japanese actor, retired kickboxer and the founder of shoot boxing.http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/2649221/ Career Murata started competing in kickboxing at age of 16, being trained in the Nishio Gym. He adopted the name of Takeshi Caesar and won the Asia Pacific Kickboxing Federation Welterweight Championship, making a name for himself. In 1984, he became interested in professional wrestling and was introduced to Satoru Sayama, who trained him in shoot-style at his Super Tiger Gym. Caesar then was contacted by Karl Gotch and Akira Maeda and was part of the Universal Wrestling Federation. After the fall of UWF, his experiences with its wrestling style induced him to creating a similarly mixed style of kickboxing, which he called shootboxing. His company had his first event in 1985, and had working agreements with Newborn UWF and later with Fighting Network RINGS and Pancrase. Championships and accomplis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seikendo
(born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger. He is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously. Sayama has the distinction of being a competitor (along with "Dynamite Kid" Thomas Billington) in the first 5 Star Rating awarded for a Match by Dave Meltzer, for their NJPW Sumo Hall Show 1983 match. This is thought of very highly in the industry. He is also recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world. Sayama also pioneered mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its kind, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satoru Sayama
(born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger. He is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously. Sayama has the distinction of being a competitor (along with "Dynamite Kid" Thomas Billington) in the first 5 Star Rating awarded for a Match by Dave Meltzer, for their NJPW Sumo Hall Show 1983 match. This is thought of very highly in the industry. He is also recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world. Sayama also pioneered mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond Ring (professional Wrestling)
Diamond Ring was an independent Japanese professional wrestling promotion that, until 2012, was known as Kensuke Office. The promotion was founded and owned by puroresu legend Kensuke Sasaki, who has owned and operated it since its creation in 2005. In February 2014 the promotion ran its last card, after which Sasaki announced his retirement. History As Kensuke Office After Kensuke Sasaki became a freelancer he established his own promotion named Kensuke Office, and the promotion was run by Sasaki's wife (former joshi wrestler), Akira Hokuto, and represented Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kento Miyahara, Takashi Yoshioka and Takashi Okita, under the name Kensuke Office, Sasaki and pupil Katsuhiko Nakajima toured other promotions, particularly All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, and they also opened a training school. In September 2006, Kensuke Office was announced as a member of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance and they held their first show on February 11 and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Wrestling ZERO-1
(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' title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dramatic Dream Team
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bought and managed by Shoichi Ichimiya until December 2005, when Sanshiro Takagi took over as the new president. In 2017, DDT was sold to CyberAgent. Takagi retained his position, while Takahiro Yamauchi took over as the new DDT director. DDT became one of the top promotions in Japanese independent wrestling by creating a unique sports entertainment style, often parodying WWE, with a Japanese puroresu flair to the matches. DDT has had agreements with various MMA and professional wrestling promotions around the world. DDT's biggest event is Peter Pan, held each year since 2009. The cards' matches tend to be a mixture of Japanese lucharesu (a mix of lucha libre and traditional puroresu), worked shoot-style, hardcore brawling and comedy mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battlarts
, more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gumi promotion, who had abandoned the promotion in favor of Battlarts. They ran shows in the Tokyo area regularly from 1998 to 2002. Even though Battlarts' style was based on shoot wrestling, the promotion often cooperated with other federations and styles, including RINGS, Kingdom, Michinoku Pro and Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The biggest co-promotion occurred on October 17, 1999 when Battlarts and The Great Sasuke's Michinoku Pro Wrestling presented "Michinoku Pro vs. Battlarts", which was headlined by a tag match pitting the owners of both promotions (Great Sasuke and Ishikawa) against Jinsei Shinzaki and Alexander Otsuka. The promotion ceased running regular shows and events in 2001 due to "management aggravation". Battlarts eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Wrestling Association Of Japan
The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2014. It was formed by Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the W*ING promotion, which was folding at the time as a rival to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), the pioneer of deathmatch wrestling in Japan and the only deathmatch promotion in Japan at the time. Most of the wrestlers jumped ship to Quiñones' new IWA Japan group. He found a sponsor in Tatsukuni "Kinroku" Asano, a business man who owned several restaurants in Tokyo and had bought and run several wrestling shows prior to IWA Japan. Opening stage They had their first show in Yokosuka, Kanagawa on May 21, 1994 which was taped for television. The early shows often featured many ex- W*ING wrestlers like Yukihiro Kanemura, Shoji Nakamaki, Nobutaka Araya and The Headhunters. They also had fans to fill out questionnaires about the shows and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
