Tokimitsu Ishizawa (''Ishizawa Tokimitsu'', born August 5, 1968), better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin (ケンドー・カシン, ''Kendō Kashin''), is a Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He is perhaps best known for his time in

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 share ...

(NJPW), where he was a two time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a one time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and the winner of the 1999

Best of the Super Juniors The Best of the Super Juniors (often abbreviated BOSJ) is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), typically in May or June. Originally known as Top of the Super Juniors, the first tournament was held ...

. He is also known for his forays into

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

, most notably for Pride Fighting Championship (Pride), where he defeated Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter Ryan Gracie at PRIDE 15. He currently wrestles for Pro Wrestling Noah.

Career

Ishizawa was an outstanding

Amateur wrestler Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

from

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

before being scouted and initiated into the

(NJPW) promotion on September 21, 1992, wrestling against Tiger Mask. During the NJPW vs. UWFi feud, he was taught the shoot style by Kazuo Yamazaki. After defeating Yuji Nagata to win the 1996 Young Lion Cup, he left on a learning excursion to Austria's CWA promotion, where he disguised himself under a mask and called himself Kendo Kashin. He returned to New Japan as Kashin in May 1997 at the

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Dome, facing his mentor, Kazuo Yamazaki. Kashin quickly rose up the ranks of the Junior Heavyweight division, utilizing a cross armbreaker and other armbar techniques to quickly submit opponents. After defeating Koji Kanemoto to win the 1999 Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, he defeated Kanemoto again in August of that year to capture the

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may ...

for the first time. In August 2000 Ishizawa ventured into the

world and fought under his real name and without the mask in PRIDE 10. He lost his match with Ryan Gracie by TKO in little more than two minutes. Continuing to suffer many losses, Kashin took several months off from New Japan to train. In July 2001 Ishizawa challenged Ryan for a rematch at PRIDE 15. This time he TKO'd Ryan in under 5 minutes. That same month he returned to New Japan as Kendo Kashin and won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title for the second time by defeating

Masayuki Naruse (born March 15, 1973) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, competing in the light heavyweight division who fought most of his career in Fighting Network RINGS (RINGS). As a professional wrestler, he notably competed in ...

. In January 2002, while he was still champion, he followed fellow New Japan stars

Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

and

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wre ...

to rival promotion

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 Bab ...

. In All Japan, Kashin quickly established himself as the Junior ace, submitting Masanobu Fuchi to win the vacant World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He also won the World Tag Team Championship with Yuji Nagata. In 2004 Kashin split from All Japan to become a freelancer, taking one of the two World Tag Team Championship belts with him, with Nagata taking the other. The championship was later declared vacant by AJPW six months later. In 2005 he returned to New Japan as a regular for a few months, working through the Inoki Office agency. The agency and New Japan's association ended in late 2005. On April 2, 2005, Kashin competed under a mask as Dragon Soldier B in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

's ''Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament''. After a long hiatus from wrestling, Kashin returned on December 20, 2007, at the Inoki Genome Federation's show in Tokyo and faced off against

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Actio ...

for IGF's version of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Kendo returned to the ring for IGF in 2012. In March 2014, Kashin returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling, announcing his participation in the 2014 Champion Carnival. Kashin faced 2 Cold Scorpio for the WPW title in a losing effort at Cheltenham Town Hall on February 18, 2018, at SuperClash. On 14 August 2019, it was announced that Kashin has joined the WWE Performance Centre as a coach. He was released on April 15, 2020. On July 19, 2020, Kashin returned to the ring in Japan and appeared for Pro Wrestling Noah for their 'In the Spotlight' series.

Championships and accomplishments

** World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Yuji Nagata **January 3 Korakuen Hall Junior Heavyweight Battle Royal (2003) * Catch Wrestling Association ** CWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) * Dramatic Dream Team ** DDT Extreme Championship ( 1 time) *European Wrestling Promotion **EWP Intercontinental Championship (1 time) **EWP Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Toru Yano *

(

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. Outsid ...

) **

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team 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 August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Jun ...

( 1 time) - with

Dr. Wagner, Jr. Juan Manuel González Barrón (born August 12, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (Spanish for "professional wrestler") who is best known under the ring name Dr. Wagner Jr., having used that name since 1987. He is the son of Manuel González River ...

(

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

) **

Young Lion Cup __NOTOC__ The is an infrequent professional wrestling tournament promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a means of showcasing the younger talent on their roster. The tournament is the successor to the Karl Gotch Cup that NJPW promoted in t ...

(

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

) *''

Nikkan Sports is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946. It has a circulation of 1,661,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of the ''Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is als ...

'' **Technique Award (1999) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

**PWI ranked him #22 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2002 **PWI ranked him #351 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003 *

** Best of the American Super Juniors (2005)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 1–5–1 , Katsuyori Shibata , TKO (punches) , Dream 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:52 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–4–1 , Taiei Kin , KO (head kick) , K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:48 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–3–1 , Carlos Newton , TKO (punches) , Hero's 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:22 ,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2–1 , Yoshihiro Akiyama , Submission (ezekiel choke) , Hero's 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:41 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 1–1–1 , Shingo Koyasu , Draw , Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:00 , Saitama, Japan , K-1 vs. Pride rules , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Ryan Gracie , TKO (injury) , Pride 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:51 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Ryan Gracie , KO (punches) , Pride 10 - Return of the Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:16 , Saitama, Japan ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kashin, Kendo 1968 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Japanese male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Masked wrestlers Sportspeople from Aomori Prefecture IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW) World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) DDT Extreme Champions