, known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He co-founded the promotion

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, ...

(BJW). Kojika is the oldest active Japanese wrestler as well as the one with the longest career, having debuted in 1963. He is also the oldest active wrestler in the world.

Career

Early career (1963–1967)

Kojika made his debut on October 13, 1963 for

Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-s ...

(JWA) against Kakutaro Koma (future NWA World Middleweight Champion Mashio Koma). In 1967, he left Japan to wrestle in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

North America (1967-1970)

In 1967, Kojika made his debut in North America for

NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from the 1940s until 1981. The company was founded in the 1940s by ...

in Tennessee. He teamed with Motoshi Okuma and they also worked for

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

. They disbanded in 1968 and Kojika went to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. In 1969, Kojika went to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and won the

NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship The NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling singles title defended in Johnny Doyle's NWA Los Angeles NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promoti ...

by defeating

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

on November 19. A month later he dropped the title back to Martin. On August 26, 1970, he defeated Les Roberts for the TV title and held it until losing to The Great Goliath on September 16. After the loss, Kojika went back to Japan.

Return to Japan and folding of JWA (1970–1973)

After a few years in the United States, Kojika returned to Japan and stayed with Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance until the company folded on April 14, 1973.

Return to North America (1973–1974, 1980)

In 1973, Kojika returned to the United States to wrestle in Texas as Kung Fu Lee. He would feud with

Dory Funk Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter ...

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

, Ricky Romero and Akio Sato. He left Texas in 1974. In 1980, he went to Hawaii to work for

NWA Polynesian 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout H ...

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1973–1986)

After the folding of JWA, Kojika went to Giant Baba's

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

(AJPW) where he reunited with Motoshi Okuma. From 1976 to 1981, he and Okuma won the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

three times. They were together until 1986 when Kojika retired from wrestling.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (1995–2002)

Kojika returned to wrestling in 1995, co-founding

(BJW) with Kazuo Sakurada where it was a style based on deathmatches and

King's Road style is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's act ...

. He started wrestling again in 1996. He retired for the second time in 2002. He continued co-promoting Big Japan.

Second return to wrestling (2006–present)

In 2006, Kojika return to wrestling for the second time. He still wrestles for Big Japan and numerous Japanese promotions at 80 years old.

Return to All Japan Pro Wrestling (2019)

Kojika returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2019 after having last worked for them in 1986.

Championships and accomplishments

( 4 times) – with Motoshi Okuma (3) and Gantetsu Matsuoka (1) *

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. The title was created on August 4, 2012. As the name suggests, the title is usuall ...

( 1 time) – with Masato Inaba and Kankuro Hoshino *

DDT Pro-Wrestling 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 bo ...

Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Championship The was a six-person tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dramatic Dream Team, today known as DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title, established in 2003, was named after the Jiyūgaoka neighborhood in Meguro. It has since bee ...

( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and

Riho is a Japanese professional wrestler and idol currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of nine. S ...

:* Sea Of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and Riho :*

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various pr ...

( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and Riho *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title was in use from 1969, when it replaced Amarillo's version of the ...

( 1 time) *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...

( 1 times) :*

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with Don Carson (1) and

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (September 18, 1930 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on September 18, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario ...

(1) *Niigata Pro Wrestling :*Niigata Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) – with Shigeno Shima (2)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojika, Great 1942 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers People from Hakodate Sportspeople from Hokkaido 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people Big Japan Pro Wrestling 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions UWA World Trios Champions Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Champions Sea of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Champions Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions