is a former

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

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 ...

and mixed martial artist, who is known for his work 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 ...

(NJPW) and UWF International (UWFI).

Professional wrestling career

Union of Wrestling Forces International (1991–1996)

Kakihara actually joined UWF Newborn in 1989 and debuted a year later, but the promotion folded shortly after. He then joined its new incarnation, UWF-i, where he became an apprentice under Nobuhiko Takada. A promising rookie, he was booked accordingly and soon had wins over

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of ...

Gary Albright Gary Mitchell Albright (May 18, 1963 – January 7, 2000) was an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Japan, first with UWF International (UWFi), and later All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In AJPW, Albright was a two-time Worl ...

and

Dan Severn Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "The Beast", is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of mixed marti ...

. In 1995, during the interpromotional feud between UWF-i and

, Kakihara was one of the few who were given victories in his side, defeating Kensuke Sasaki, Shinjiro Otani and

Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professional ...

. Later, when UWF-i started another feud with Wrestle Association R, Kakihara teamed up with Takada and Yuhi Sano to win the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. He also had an appearance in one of the first events of

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 Gum ...

, beating

Satoshi Yoneyama , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in 2 ...

. In 1996, UWF-i folded as well. He spent some time in the next incarnation, Kingdom Pro Wrestling, but it was short-lived.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1998–2001)

Kakihara and his Kingdom partner Yoshihiro Takayama debuted in

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, ...

in 1998. They reunited with Gary Albright to form the second incarnation of the Triangle of Power

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, which would get into a feud with

The Holy Demon Army The Holy Demon Army (HDA) was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue. The HDA competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s and is considered the most successful and dominant team in the history of Al ...

, but they split up later when Takayama left to found No Fear with

Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...

and Satoru Asako. Kakihara then joined Mitsuharu Misawa and his Untouchables faction, where he teamed up with

Yoshinari Ogawa (born November 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" from the English-speaking Puroresu fanbase due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting his ...

. Out of kayfabe, Misawa wanted Kakihara to be pushed as the second member of the group, but Giant Baba opposed, feeling Kakihara was too undersized and hadn't paid his dues with the promotion yet.Quebrada News Archive – Pro-Wrestling – NOAH
/ref> In 2000, Misawa, Kakihara and a large group of wrestlers left to form

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...

, but he soon left the promotion because of a few personal problems with fellow wrestler

. In his first and only match for NOAH, a six-man tag team match involving him,

and Daisuke Ikeda against Omori, Takayama and Satoru Asako on the promotion's first show, Kakihara appeared wearing mixed martial arts gloves and got in a scuffle with Omori, beating him down with stiff strikes. Immediately after Kakihara left, claiming he was interested in competing for

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

like several of his fellow shoot-style wrestlers. However, he instead returned as a freelancer to AJPW, where the Noah exodus had left new chances. He joined another shoot-stylist, Mitsuya Nagai, and they won the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship against Yuji Nagata and

Shinya Makabe , better known by his ring name is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Heavyweight C ...

. Their reign would be short, as Masahito suffered a knee injury and was forced to vacate the titles again. He didn't return to AJPW when he recovered.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2001–2006)

In 2001, Kakihara debuted for

. Upon his arrival, he formed an occasional alliance with two other shoot-style users,

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 ...

and Minoru Tanaka. Tanaka and him competed for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Kakihara was defeated. He spent the rest of his tenure as a midcarder, until in 2003 Kakihara shockingly won the ''Best Of The Super Junior X''. However, his persistent injury impeded any lasting push he might have received. He seemed to recover his momentum at the ''Best Of The Super Junior XI'', but he was defeated at the very finals by

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

. Around this time, he also started competing in Kiyoshi Tamura's promotion U-style. He ended 2004 teaming with Takashi Iizuka to challenge two of Kakihara's former allies, Naruse and Nagai, for the very title Kakihara had gained in AJPW with the latter, the All Asia Tag Team Championship; however, Kakihara and Iizuka failed. Kakihara bounced around the roster for two more years, until in 2006 he announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to a spinal injury.

Championships and accomplishments

** All Asia Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Mitsuya Nagai *

**G1 Jr. 6 Man Tag Team Tournament (2001) - with Minoru Tanaka and

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 in ...

(

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) ** New Japan Rumble (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) * Wrestle Association "R" **

WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship The is a six-man tag team title contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Tenryu Project. The title was established in Wrestle Association R (WAR) in 1994. There have been a total of twenty reigns shared among sixteen team ...

( 1 time) - with Nobuhiko Takada and Yuhi Sano ** WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (1996) - with Nobuhiko Takada and Yuhi Sano

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Rocky Romero , Submission (kneebar) ,

Jungle Fight 3 The year 2004 is the second year in the history of Jungle Fight, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Brazil. In 2004 Jungle Fight held 2 events beginning with, ''Jungle Fight 2''. Events list Jungle Fight 2 Jungle Fight 2 was an event ...

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Manaos Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the st ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakihara, Masahito 1972 births Japanese male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people People from Ehime Prefecture Sportspeople from Ehime Prefecture People from Niihama, Ehime Japanese catch wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions Tenryu Project World 6-Man Tag Team Champions 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers