Kuniaki Kobayashi (小林邦昭) (born January 11, 1956) is a retired

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Junior Heavyweight

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 ...

most notable for being the generational rival of the famous

Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...

character in Japanese pro wrestling. He wrestled numerous acclaimed matches against the first two Tiger Masks:

Satoru Sayama (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestling, Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask (professional wrestling), Tige ...

and

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 ...

Career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1973–1980)

Kuniaki Kobayashi debuted 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 shares ...

in February 1973, against Masanobu Kurisu, at the young age of 17. Kobayashi stayed on the undercard, until he was sent abroad to

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 ...

in 1980.

North American Excursion (1980–1982)

Upon entering North America in 1980, Kobayashi's first stop was in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, where he made his mark by trying to unmask the other luchadores, specially The Villanos. He also would wrestle against

Los Misioneros de la Muerte Los Misioneros de la Muerte (Spanish for the Missionaries of Death') was a Mexican ''Lucha libre'', or professional wrestling Trio that has been credited with making the two out of three falls six-man tag team match the most common match form in ...

putting their hair on the line. On June 6, 1981, in their first hair vs. hair encounter, Kobayashi's team, consisted of him,

Gran Hamada , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro ...

and

Enrique Vera Enrique Daniel Vera Torres, nicknamed ''Rambert'' (born 10 March 1979, in Asunción), is a retired Paraguayan football midfielder who last played for América de Quito. Vera has been primarily based since LDU Quito since 2006, winning the 20 ...

defeated the Misioneros. Two months later, Kobayashi teamed with Saito against Coloso Colossetti and César Valentino with their hairs on the line, with Kobayashi's team once again being victorious. One year later, on June 13, 1982, Kobayashi, Saito and Takano against the Misioneros, and this time, Kobayashi's team lost the match, and got their heads shaved. After his feud with the Misioneros ended, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, in

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' ...

, where he wrestled under the name Kid Koby, winning the

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 ...

from Timothy Flowers on July 18, 1982. He held the championship for 1 month, before losing it to Black Gordman.

Return To NJPW (1982–1984)

Upon returning to New Japan in October 1982, Kobayashi was involved in a feud with

. Because of his anti-heroic actions, he became regarded as the "Tiger Hunter." He also allied with

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 wrestle ...

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 multip ...

, and

Killer Khan Krugman, Michael. ''André the Giant: A Legendary Life'', p.48. (born March 6, 1947) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Popularly known as Killer Khan, he was billed from Mongolia and had numerous high-profile matches with André the G ...

to form Ishin Gundan. As an Ishin Gundan member, he mostly teamed with Isamu Teranishi in tag team action, facing New Japan's loyalists in numerous encounters, most notably

Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...

Kengo Kimura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known under the ring name and for his many years working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan. Professional wrestling career Japan Wrestling Association (1972–1973) Kimura made his pr ...

Kantaro Hoshino (born Yeo Geon-bu (여건부) on October 9, 1943 – November 25, 2010) was a Japanese born, Korean professional wrestler, manager, and promoter best known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. As a wrestler, he was half of The Yamaha Brother ...

and a young

Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada ( ja, 高田伸彦, ring name: ) (born April 12, 1962) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, retired professional wrestler, actor, and writer. He competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UW ...

. In September 1984, Ishin Gundan left NJPW to form Japan Pro Wrestling (JPW).

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1984–1987)

Japan Pro Wrestling had a working agreement with

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, ...

. While there, Kobayashi feuded with Tiger Mask II, and he held the

NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, St ...

by defeating

Dynamite Kid Thomas Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), ...

on June 13, 1985 and the World Junior Heavyweight Championship after defeating

Hiro Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by the shortened name of . He was the first AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career A former judoka, Hiro debuted in 1978 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In May ...

on November 23, 1986, and also feuded with All Japan's loyalists, such as

Norio Honaga (born August 11, 1955) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and referee. Career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1980–1984) Norio Honaga debuted for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on April 25, 1980, against Hiro Saito. In November 1982, after over ...

Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...

Takashi Ishikawa is a former professional wrestler and sumo wrestler from Fujishima, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Sumo wrestling career He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched to sumo an ...

and Mighty Inoue. After two years, Ishin Gundan left All Japan in March 1987 to return to New Japan.

Return to NJPW (1987–2000, 2017)

Upon returning to New Japan in 1987, Kobayashi won the vacated

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 ho ...

on August 20, by defeating Nobuhiko Takada in a tournament final, successfully defending it against the likes of

Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...

Keiichi Yamada , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

and Takada. He held the title until December 27, losing it to the debuting

Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Prior to his appointment in the Cabinet, he also ser ...

. In 1988, he had numerous encounters with Shiro Koshinaka over the IWGP Junior Junior Championship, but he came up short on retrieving what was once his. In spite of rivaling with the champion, he and Koshinaka started to team up in tag team and six-man matches. In April 1989, he served as the first opponent of Jyushin Liger (Keiichi Yamada's first match under the Liger persona), in a losing effort at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. In 1990, he moved up to the heavyweight division, and joined the New Japan Sekigun against the Blond Outlaws. In 1992, he and Shiro Koshinaka formed the Heisei Ishingun, while feuding with two karatecas in Masashi Aoyagi and

Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi i ...

. Between 1992 and 1993, Kobayashi had two surgeries to combat

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...

, but still wrestled a lot of matches, including one-offs with

WAR War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

against the likes of

Ashura Hara (January 8, 1947April 28, 2015) was a Japanese rugby player and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . Rugby career Susumu Hara began his rugby career in high school, playing for the Agricultural High School in the Isahaya regi ...

Hiromichi Fuyuki (May 11, 1960 – March 19, 2003) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter better known by his ring name best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), ...

and Genichiro Tenryu. In 1999, he had surgery to combat

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, leaving him with a large scar under his chest. This and the treatments to combat the cancer forced him to bring an end to his in-ring career. In April 2000, Kobayashi wrestled his final match as an active wrestler, losing to Jyushin Thunder Liger. After the bout, he received flowers from

and a message from

, as both Tiger Masks sent their farewell sayings to their biggest rival. After his retirement, he served as color commentator and trainer at the NJPW Dojo. He made sporadic appearances, however, one being in May 2003, in a New Japan Alumnus battle royal, won by Kantaro Hoshino and

Kotetsu Yamamoto , known by his ring name was a Japanese professional wrestler, referee, and color commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He was named "''Kotetsu''" ("Little Iron") by former Japanese pro wrestler Toyonobori after the famous knight, Aizu-No-K ...

. Another appearance of his occurred on was on March 6, 2007, when he served as special guest referee for an eight-man tag team match between El Texano Jr., Minoru,

and

Wataru Inoue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Inoue made his debut on New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1999. He aligned himself with New Japan Junior Seikigun, a face ...

against

El Samurai Satyam Kumar (born 06 August 1997), known professionally as Technical Satyam, is an Indian YouTube personality based in the UAE. Chaudhary is notable for producing YouTube videos concerning graphics and technology in English and Hindi. In 202 ...

, Jushin Thunder Liger,

Koji Kanemoto (born Kim Il-Sung (김일성); October 31, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wres ...

and Negro Casas, in which after the match, Kobayashi attacked Liger and delivered his signature

Fisherman Suplex A suplex is an Offense (sports), offensive move used in Wrestling, sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and Bridge (grappling), bridging or rolling to slam them ...

. On January 4, 2017, Kobayashi made a special appearance for NJPW, taking part in the

New Japan Rumble In professional wrestling, a battle royal (sometimes battle royale; plural battles royal or battle royals) is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner. Typical battles royal begin w ...

on the pre-show of

Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2017, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 26th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show, which is NJPW's ...

. He was eliminated from the match by

Retirement

Upon his retirement, Kobayashi has remained involved in puroresu, currently as caretaker of the

NJPW Dojo (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 o ...

. He occasionally wrestles in legends matches, including a series of matches in 2011 against Sayama and a team with him in 2013 against

Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...

(who led the AJPW junior heavyweight division in 1983, before Kobayashi showed up). He would also do color commentary for NJPW shows.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) :* World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

( 1 time) :* Greatest Wrestlers (Class of 2009) *

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 ...

( 1 time) *

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 Publish ...

:*PWI ranked him #256 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the

PWI Years ''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 ...

in 2003. *

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

:* Effort Award (1978) :*

Service Award A Service award was awarded by a country to a soldier or civilian for long service. It is comparable to a service medal but can be awarded to civilians as well as soldiers. Germany Kingdom of Bavaria * Königliches Ludwigsorden for 50 years' ser ...

(2000) *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll between ...

:* Match of the Year (1985) vs. Tiger Mask II on June 12

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0-1 ,

, KO (high kick) , Shooto: Vale Tudo Perception , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:05 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Kuniaki 1956 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Nagano Prefecture Stampede Wrestling alumni IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW) NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champions NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions