( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired

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 ...

, better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

. He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in

Apache Army was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 2004 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016. History Following the closure of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in 2002, Hiromichi Fuyuki formed his own promotion, which ran under the names F ...

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 Nagasak ...

(BJW),

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

(ECW),

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...

(FMW), International Wrestling Association (IWA) and

Wrestling International New Generations Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches. History After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibar ...

(W*ING). After beginning his career in the Japanese

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

in 1990, Kanemura joined W*ING in 1991 where he got his first mainstream exposure in professional wrestling and became skilled in deathmatch wrestling style as he participated in many notable deathmatches in the promotion, becoming one of the top stars of W*ING and became a one-time Caribbean Heavyweight Champion, one-time Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Tag Team Champion. He then worked briefly for IWA Japan after W*ING folded in 1994 before ultimately joining FMW. He made a name for himself in FMW by rising from a mid-carder to one of FMW's top main eventers as a member of

W*ING Alliance The W*ING Alliance was a Japanese professional wrestling group that existed in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) between 1994 and 1997. The group consisted of wrestlers from the W*ING promotion, which ended in March 1994 due to FMW hiring the ...

and

Team No Respect Team No Respect was a professional wrestling faction in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), which existed in the company between 1998 and 2000. The ideology of the group was that they disrespected all the wrestlers in FMW as well as the compan ...

. He was the first title holder of the Independent Heavyweight Championship and the Hardcore Championship. He became a three-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in FMW, winning the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship

once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

, the Independent Heavyweight Championship

and the WEW World Heavyweight Championship

. After FMW folded down, Kanemura became a freelancer in the independent circuit and founded his own promotion, Apache Army, an offshoot of FMW, which ended with Kanemura's retirement in 2016. Other major titles won by Kanemura were the

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship The is a title contested for in the Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. As its name suggests, it is exclusively defended in deathmatches. It was first created in 1998 when The Great Pogo defeated Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a tournament fi ...

and the

KO-D Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world openweight championship and the top singles accomplishment in the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand division. It is one of CyberFight's top major world title ...

Professional wrestling career

Pioneer Senshi (1990–1991)

Yukihiro Kanemura made his debut in December 1990 for Pioneer Senshi, against

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 ...

, who also debuted. Within months, Pioneer Senshi folded.

Wrestling International New Generations (1991–1994)

Kanemura made his debut for

(W*ING) on August 7, 1991 as a fan favorite

underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

by teaming with Ryo Miyake against

The Headhunters The Headhunters are an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music. History (and name) Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with a st ...

in a losing effort. Although he started in the undercard, he worked his way up the ladder in W*ING and quickly became one of the top stars of the company due to his willingness to take damage in deathmatches. On May 5, 1992, he defeated The Grappler in

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 2. ...

to lay claim to a version of the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship, whose championship belt was owned by Grappler (that title win, however, is not recognized as part of the official title history for the

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

, which was held at that point by C.W. Bergstrom and would be until

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. T ...

folded in July 1992 after Don Owen's retirement; however, W*ING recognized Kanemura as their Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion until the promotion's closure). On June 4, Kanemura teamed with Mitsuteru Tukoda against The Headhunters in a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, which Kanemura lost after suffering an injury which put him out of action for two months. Kanemura returned to W*ING at ''One Night One Soul'' on August 2, where he teamed with Tokuda to defeat Super Invader and The Masked Inferno in a hair vs. mask barbed wire barricade match when Kanemura pinned Masked Inferno, forcing Inferno to take off his mask and begin competing as Rochester Roadblock. As a result, Kanemura began feuding with Roadblock and the two wrestled each other to a double disqualification on August 14. After coming up short in a title shot on September 27, Kanemura finally defeated Miguel Perez, Jr. on December 18 to win the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship. On March 1, 1993, Kanemura wrestled Kevin Sullivan at a television taping for

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...

(SMW) in 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 ...

, which Kanemura won by disqualification after Sullivan bladed Kanemura's arm with a spike; the incident was censored on national television in America. The injury required Kanemura to get fifty-eight stitches. On April 3, he teamed up with

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga is a Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for his deathmatch wrestling style, having competed in memorable deathmatches in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and Wrestling International New Generati ...

to win the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...

, defeating

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...

and

Leatherface Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murderer ...

. However, Matsunaga vacated the title only six days later to wrestle Leatherface. Kanemura continued his feud with Kevin Sullivan to avenge the attack in SMW and the two battled each other to no contest at ''Dog in the Box'' on May 27. The two had another rematch at ''Hollywood Nightmare'', which again ended in a no contest. Kanemura became W*ING's top fan favorite after Mitsuhiro Matsunaga left the company to join

(FMW). On September 26, Kanemura lost the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship to

Jado (born September 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of a tag team with his partner Gedo. Jado and Gedo's careers have largely para ...

. On October 19, Kanemura and Shoji Nakamaki lost to

and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boole ...

Gedo in a

falls count anywhere match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. At ''Odawara Brazing Night'', Kanemura and Nakamaki lost to Jado and Gedo in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Scramble Fire Deathmatch, when Jado executed a

Powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a sta ...

on Kanemura into the fire with

Hido was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known under the ring name or simply . He is best known for his time with hardcore wrestling federations Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-MS), Frontier Ma ...

's help, burning 75 percent of his skin tissue off his back and shoulder. As a result, Jado and Gedo were awarded the win by forfeit and Kanemura was taken to hospital on a stretcher. Kanemura returned to W*ING on November 20 to show his burns to the crowd and Gedo and Hido tried to confront him until he chased them away with his umbrella. He made his in-ring return to W*ING on February 15 by defeating Hido in a Loser Leaves W*ING Street Fight, forcing Hido to leave W*ING. On March 13, Kanemura headlined the show by teaming with Shoji Nakamaki against

Kendo Nagasaki Kendo Nagasaki is a professional wrestling stage name, used as a gimmick of that of a Japanese Samurai warrior with a mysterious past and even supernatural powers of hypnosis. The name derives from the modern martial art of Japanese fencing ( K ...

and Nobutaka Araya in a Ring Filled with Cream tornado tag team match, which Kanemura's team lost. This would turn out to be W*ING's last show as the promotion closed due to financial loss on March 21.

International Wrestling Association of Japan (1994)

After W*ING folded, Kanemura joined the upstart

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 ...

(IWA), defeating The Winger in IWA Japan's debut show on May 21, 1994. While there, he feuded with Shoji Nakamaki in a series of chain matches, until a dispute with bookers caused Kanemura to quit on August 31, 1994.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

W*ING Alliance (1994–1997)

Kanemura signed with FMW for a deal of a monthly salary of $10,000. He debuted in FMW on September 7, 1994 as a

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

by attacking

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 ...

and joining

Mr. Pogo was a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his work under the ring name . He helped popularize hardcore wrestling in the 1990s with "death matches" in promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING and Big Japan Pro Wrestlin ...

's group.

would join Kanemura after a falling out with Onita, which was the genesis of the

. The aim of the group was to end FMW as they held Onita and FMW responsible for ending W*ING. On September 25, Kanemura made his in-ring debut for FMW by teaming with Matsunaga against

Hisakatsu Oya Kenichi Oya (大矢健一) (born July 2, 1964) is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hisakatsu Oya (大矢剛功). Although he started out for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he is well known for his stint in Fro ...

and

Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...

in an exploding barbed wire dynamite pool

elimination match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder ma ...

, which ended in a no contest after Oya turned on Goto to join W*ING Alliance. W*ING and FMW battled each other in many matches between late 1994 and early 1995 and W*ING established itself as the top villainous

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

. On March 7, 1995, Kanemura won his first

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

in FMW as he and Mr. Pogo defeated Atsushi Onita and

Mr. Gannosuke is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under the ring name . Honda was quickly pushed as "Mr. Gannosuke" due to his resemblance to the actor Ashiya Gannosuke and he beg ...

to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Hisakatsu Oya and

Ricky Fuji Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

at the 6th Anniversary Show after a miscommunication took place between Kanemura and Pogo. This led Pogo to blow fire on Kanemura after the match to turn on W*ING and join Lethal Weapon. On May 17, Kanemura changed his

to W*ING Kanemura as a homage to W*ING during his first match against

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ext ...

, which Kanemura won. The following month, Kanemura took on Mr. Pogo in a Street Fight on June 25 to avenge the betrayal at 6th Anniversary Show, which he lost. In July, Kanemura participated in the Young Spirit Tournament, a tournament featuring the new generation of young wrestlers of FMW after the departure of Atsushi Onita. He made to the finals of the tournament, where he lost to Masato Tanaka on July 30, but reaching in the finals earned both men place in the Grand Slam Tournament for the vacant Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship. Kanemura was eliminated from the tournament and scored only two points as his only win in the tournament came against Masato Tanaka on September 5. W*ING briefly turned fan favorites by siding with FMW after Mitsuhiro Matsunaga showed respect to

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

after Hayabusa defeated Matsunaga in a match. On October 28, Kanemura and Tanaka lost to Hayabusa and Matsunaga in a match and all four men formed an alliance to fight Lethal Weapon. Super Leather and

took exception to it and joined Lethal Weapon. However, it turned out to be a swerve as Matsunaga turned on Hayabusa during a match against Mr. Pogo and Super Leather of Lethal Weapon and then Super Leather and Hido turned on Lethal Weapon and W*ING Alliance reunited as a group and became a serious threat to FMW and Lethal Weapon. At Year End Spectacular, the W*ING Alliance squared off against each other as the team of Super Leather, W*ING Kanemura and Hido lost to Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Jason the Terrible and

Hideki Hosaka (August 5, 1971 – August 2, 2021) was a Japanese professional wrestler, who is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Zero-One. Career Early career (1991–1993) An amateur wrest ...

in a W*ING Caribbean Barbed Wire Double Hell Glass Deathmatch. On February 23, W*ING alliance lost to the FMW team of

Koji Nakagawa is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) between 1992 and 2002. He is perhaps best known for his “Hitman” character, heavily inspired by Canadian professional wrestler Br ...

, Masato Tanaka and

Tetsuhiro Kuroda is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently competing as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. He is best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily competed from 1993 until the promotion's cl ...

in the first-ever

WarGames match WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of either four, five, or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not ...

in FMW, which ended FMW's feud with W*ING as

Víctor Quiñones Víctor Quiñones Hernández (June 30, 1959 – April 2, 2006) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestling Promoter (entertainment), promoter, manager, and the founder and owner of International Wrestling Association of Japan, International Wrestli ...

returned to FMW and introduced Puerto Rican Army to attack FMW and W*ING. As a result, W*ING reverted to fan favorites. At 7th Anniversary Show, Kanemura replaced Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and challenged Cactus Jack for the IWA King of the Deathmatch Championship in a Caribbean Barbed Wire Barricade Spider Net Glass Deathmatch, which Kanemura ended up losing. The match raised Kanemura's stock and enabled him to shine as W*ING's standout performer as Mitsuhiro Matsunaga would leave FMW after the event and Kanemura became the main focus of the group and began rising in popularity in FMW. Kanemura participated in a tournament for the new Independent Heavyweight Championship, defeating Koji Nakagawa in the quarter-final and Super Leather in the semi-final, a Caribbean Barbed Wire Deathmatch to advance to the final round to determine the first champion at Summer Spectacular, where he defeated Masato Tanaka to win the tournament and become the inaugural Independent Heavyweight Champion. On September 1, the FMW team of Koji Nakagawa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda took on Kanemura, Hido and Hideki Hosaka in a no rope barbed wire double hell deathmatch, during which Kanemura injured his ear after Nakagawa threw him into the exploding barbed wire. Kanemura returned to FMW on October 12 by teaming with Jason the Terrible to defeat Hisakatsu Oya and

The Gladiator ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. After the match, Kanemura was attacked by Gladiator, setting up a title unification match between the two at Year End Spectacular, where Gladiator's Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship would also be on the line. After successfully defending the Independent Heavyweight Championship against Hisakatsu Oya in his first title defense on October 26, Kanemura lost the title to Gladiator in the title unification match at Year End Spectacular. This led to the unification of the Independent Heavyweight Championship and the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship which would be collectively defended as the FMW Double Championship. In 1997, W*ING Alliance joined forces with the returning Atsushi Onita to feud with Funk Masters of Wrestling. On April 25, Kanemura and Hido defeated

to end their year-long reign to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. At 8th Anniversary Show, the team of Onita, Masato Tanaka and W*ING Kanemura defeated the team of Cactus Jack, The Gladiator and

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 – a ...

in a Texas Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch when Kanemura pinned Gladiator. On May 25, Kanemura earned the right to face Onita in the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

of Fall Spectacular, after Onita, Kanemura and Hido defeated Koji Nakagawa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda when Onita pinned Tanaka. However, Tanaka begged Onita and Kanemura to give him one more chance and the request was accepted with Kanemura defeating Tanaka in a No Rope Barbed Wire Deathmatch at Shiodome Legend to earn the right to face Onita in the main event of Fall Spectacular. On August 21, Kanemura and Hido lost the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship to Mr. Gannosuke and Hisakatsu Oya. Shortly after the title loss, Kanemura fractured his foot but still competed in his scheduled match against Atsushi Onita in a No Ropes Exploding Barbed Wire Steel Cage Time Bomb Deathmatch at Fall Spectacular, which stipulated that if Onita lost, he would be forced to

retire Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

and if Kanemura lost then W*ING Alliance would be forced to disband. Kanemura lost the match due to his fractured foot, resulting in him being forced to disband W*ING Alliance.

ZEN and Team No Respect (1997–2000)

Atsushi Onita grew upset at Yukihiro Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka and Hido being worried due to the end of W*ING Alliance and no group would accept them in FMW. This led Onita to denounce himself as a FMW wrestler and take the former W*ING Alliance members and FMW's young rising star Tetsuhiro Kuroda under his wing to form a new nWo-themed group named

ZEN Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

at a press conference on September 30, 1997. The group emerged as the top villainous faction in FMW. On October 14, Kanemura reverted to using his previous ring name Yukihiro Kanemura as he and Hideki Hosaka defeated Super Leather and

. On October 19, Onita and Kanemura defeated Funk Masters of Wrestling's

and

to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. The impact of ZEN's dominance led Oya, Gannosuke and The Gladiator to end Funk Masters of Wrestling and jump ship to ZEN. The following month, Onita and Kanemura vacated the tag team titles due to Onita's inactivity. On November 28, Kanemura teamed with Mr. Gannosuke to defeat

and

for the vacant Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. Gannosuke and Kanemura had a great chemistry and they became

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

with the fans due to their villainous antics and surpassed their leader Atsushi Onita to get

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 ...

from the audience. Friction arose between ZEN when Onita booked himself against Masato Tanaka in the main event of the first show of the ''

Super Extreme Wrestling War Super Extreme Wrestling War was a series of professional wrestling events produced by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1997. These events marked the first time that FMW began a partnership with American counterpart Extreme Championship Wres ...

'' on December 19, while Gannosuke and Kanemura felt that their defense of the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship against Hayabusa and

Jinsei Shinzaki Kensuke Shinzaki (新崎健介 ''Shinzaki Kensuke'', born December 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki (新崎人生 ''Shinzaki Jinsei''). He is curr ...

deserved to be the main event match. Gannosuke and Kanemura retained the titles against Hayabusa and Shinzaki and confronted Onita on his ego and selfishness. On December 22, Gannosuke, Kanemura and Onita lost to Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki and Masato Tanaka in a Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Ladder WarGames match and Gannosuke and Kanemura turned on Onita by attacking him after the match until

made the save for Onita. The duo, along with

left ZEN. On January 7, 1998, the trio took on Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in the main event of the first ZEN-promoted show. Kanemura's team lost but attacked their opponents after the match and were joined by

Fuyuki-Gun Fuyuki-gun (English: Fuyuki Army) was the name of Japanese professional wrestling stables led by Hiromichi Fuyuki in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and Wrestle Association R (WAR) during the 1990s. Fuyuki-gun was originally founded by Fuyu ...

in the assault, leading to the two groups merging to form a new alliance called

, with Mr. Gannosuke as the leader. On January 16, Gannosuke, Kanemura and

defeated Hayabusa, Hisakatsu Oya and Masato Tanaka to win the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda on February 13. The following month, Kanemura participated in a tournament to determine the #1 contender for Mr. Gannosuke's Double Championship, defeating Koji Nakagawa in the quarter-final before losing to The Gladiator in the semi-final. Kanemura would wrestle the departing Jinsei Shinzaki in Shinzaki's last FMW match at the company's first

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

9th Anniversary Show, which Kanemura lost. After the event,

Kodo 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), W ...

took over as the leader of Team No Respect due to Mr. Gannosuke being injured. On May 5, Fuyuki, Kanemura and Hido defeated Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship after Nakagawa apparently suffered a shoulder injury, forcing ZEN to disband as a result of the pre-match stipulation. Later that month, Fuyuki and Kanemura formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

called The New Footloose, a spin-off of Fuyuki's old tag team with

Toshiaki Kawada (born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In All Japan, he was a 5 time Triple Crown Heavyweight ...

called

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

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). On May 27, New Footloose defeated Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. In June, TNR vacated the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, only to regain it as Fuyuki, Kanemura and new member Koji Nakagawa defeated Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka and Hisakatsu Oya to win the title. On June 26, Kanemura unsuccessfully challenged Hayabusa for the Double Championship. TNR grew in power and began influencing FMW and feuded with Atsushi Onita's

and Hayabusa's Team Phoenix throughout the year. On October 26, New Footloose lost the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship to Hayabusa and

Daisuke Ikeda is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah an ...

. On November 20, FMW President

Shoichi Arai Shoichi Arai (荒井昌一 ''Arai Shōichi'') (December 19, 1965 – May 16, 2002) was a Japanese professional wrestling promoter. Arai ran Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling from 1995 until its closure in 2002. Career Arai started with FMW as a ...

stripped TNR of the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship and awarded the titles to the departing Atsushi Onita as a reward for founding FMW and making it a successful promotion. In December, Kanemura participated in an Over the Top Tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Double Championship. He defeated Hideki Hosaka in the opening round before losing to eventual winner Mr. Gannosuke in the quarter-final round. In early 1999, Kanemura teamed with Hido to participate in a tournament for the vacant Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship and they were eliminated from the tournament losing all of the matches. On May 18, Kodo Fuyuki separated the Double Championship into Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and the Independent Heavyweight Championship and awarded the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship to Kanemura. Kanemura would then team with Mr. Gannosuke and Jado to participate in a tournament for the newly created

WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship The WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and later in World Entertainment Wrestling. It was active from July 1999 until February 2002 as a substitute for the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team C ...

, where they lost to Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in the semi-final on

July 31 Events Pre-1600 *30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. * 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...

. Kanemura lost the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship to Hayabusa at the Hayabusa Graduation Ceremony pay-per-view on August 23. Two days later, Kanemura unsuccessfully challenged Masato Tanaka for the Independent Heavyweight Championship at Last Match, which would turn out to be the last match of the title as it would be retired after the event. On September 20, Kanemura changed his ring name to Kintaro Kanemura, a name given to him by

Shark Tsuchiya Eriko Tsuchiya (土屋恵理子, born February 19, 1970) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Shark Tsuchiya (シャーク土屋). She spent most of her career working for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Pr ...

based on Korean wrestler

Kintaro Ohki Kim Il (Korean: 김일; Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) ref ...

and was awarded the new Hardcore Championship by Kodo Fuyuki. He successfully defended the title against

's (ECW)

Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner (April 11, 1972 – April 12, 2016), better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, was an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the late 199 ...

at 10th Anniversary Show. Later at the event, Kodo Fuyuki lost a loser leaves FMW match to Masato Tanaka and Mr. Gannosuke left TNR to form a tag team with H, which left Kanemura as the leader of Team No Respect and the group turned fan favorites. On December 11, Kanemura successfully defended the Hardcore Championship against Mahoney's tag team partner

Axl Rotten Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten. He had a short stint with Worl ...

. The following night, TNR defeated ECW's Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten,

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican ''luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances f ...

and

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the ...

. In 2000, Kanemura began an

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray (geometry), rays, called the ''Side (plane geometry), sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the ''vertex (geometry), vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two ...

with

's (BJW)

Ryuji Yamakawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . He is best known for his time with Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he spent the majority of his career between 1995 and 2012 as a deathmatch wrestler. He was one of ...

, resulting in an interpromotional feud between BJW and FMW. On February 23, Kanemura lost the Hardcore Championship to Yamakawa at a BJW event. Kanemura then wrestled for ECW, where he lost to Balls Mahoney at

Living Dangerously In professional wrestling, Living Dangerously was a pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and me ...

. At

FMW 11th Anniversary Show FMW 11th Anniversary Show: Backdraft was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). The event took place on May 5, 2000 at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. The event commemorated the ...

, Kanemura defeated Ryuji Yamakawa to win his second Hardcore Championship.

Championship reigns (2000–2002)

On June 16, Kanemura disbanded Team No Respect to join Kodo Fuyuki's Shin Fuyuki-Gun, thus turning into a villain and teamed with

and Yoshinori Sasaki to defeat

and Flying Kid Ichihara. He would be involved in a comedy feud with Hisakatsu Oya, which culminated in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

between the two on July 23, which Oya won. Kanemura successfully defended the Hardcore Championship against Mike Samples on July 28. He then began a violent feud with Masato Tanaka, which culminated in a match between the two for Kanemura's Hardcore Championship at Deep Throat, which Kanemura won to retain the title. In 2001, Shin Fuyuki-Gun disbanded after Tetsuhiro Kuroda turned on Kodo Fuyuki to form Team Kuroda. After a successful title defense against Azusa Kudo on February 11, Kanemura teamed with Ryuji Yamakawa on February 23 to defeat GOEMON and Onryo to win the Hardcore Tag Team Championship. Kanemura and Yamakawa successfully defended the title against Azusa Kudo and

Mammoth Sasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler and retired sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently working for Pro Wrestling Freedoms under the ring name , where he is a former King of Freedom Tag Team Champion, becoming the longest reigning cham ...

on March 5. On March 13, Kanemura lost to Tetsuhiro Kuroda in a #1 contender's match for the WEW World Heavyweight Championship. On March 18, Yamakawa suffered a severe brain injury in a match against The Wifebeater, which put him out of action and Kanemura continued to compete in singles competition. Kanemura

drop Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to: * Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid ** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes * Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume * Falling (physics), allowi ...

ped the Hardcore Championship to Mammoth Sasaki on April 1. At 12th Anniversary Show, Kanemura defeated Sasaki to regain the title winning it for a third time. Kanemura successfully defended the title against

Jun Kasai (born September 9, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, primarily competing for Pro Wrestling Freedoms. Dubbed the for his violent and often self-harmful style of hardcore wrestling, Kasai is considered a breakthrough talent in Japanese w ...

on May 22 and then retired the title afterwards. On June 8, Kanemura affiliated with Kodo Fuyuki, who owned 48% of the company's shares and wanted to sale it to Stuart Levy's

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

. Kanemura would then feud with Hayabusa and Shoichi Arai's FMW team. On July 30, Kanemura, Mr. Gannosuke and Kodo Fuyuki defeated the team of Flying Kid Ichihara, Hisakatsu Oya and

to win the

. On August 3, Kanemura pinned Hayabusa in a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

to earn a title shot at Hayabusa's WEW World Heavyweight Championship on August 11, where he defeated Hayabusa to win the title with help from Mammoth Sasaki. Kanemura lost the title back to Hayabusa in a rematch on September 5, but the FMW President Senmu Yoshida overturned the decision on September 9 by showing a video in which Hayabusa used a low blow on Kanemura to win the title and returned the title to Kanemura. Later at the event, the team of Kintaro Kanemura, Kodo Fuyuki and Mr. Gannosuke lost the WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Hayabusa, GOEMON and Tetsuhiro Kuroda. On November 23, Kanemura successfully defended the WEW World Heavyweight Championship against

The Great Sasuke , born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly l ...

. Later that night, Kanemura turned fan favorite by siding with Mr. Gannosuke, Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Mammoth Sasaki to feud with Kodo Fuyuki, who had turned on FMW to ally with

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was his ...

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 ...

alliance. On December 2, Kanemura teamed with the returning

to defend the

WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship The FMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship was a tag team hardcore wrestling championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling from April 2000 until FMW closed in February 2002. The title was picked up by Big Japan Pro Wrestling that same ...

at a BJW event against

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

and

Men's Teioh (born December 16, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Men's Teioh (also written MEN's Teioh). The English translation of his ring name, Terry Boy, is a homage to American professional wrestler Terry Funk. ...

in a title vs. title match with Sekimoto and Teioh's

BJW Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team championship (professional wrestling), title defended in the Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship has been ...

also being defended. Kanemura and Yamakawa lost the match and the titles. On December 9, FMW's team of Kuroda, Gannosuke, Kanemura and Sasaki defeated WAR's team of Fuyuki, Tenryu,

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

and

Koki Kitahara (born March 9, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name . Career Kitahara trained in soccer and karate during high school, particularly the latter due to his penchant for street fighting. After graduating a ...

. On December 23, Kanemura teamed with Sasaki and participated in a tournament for the vacant

WEW World Tag Team Championship The WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) World Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and World Entertainment Wrestling and currently con ...

, defeating

and Horace Boulder in the quarter-final and

and

Crazy Boy Crazy Boy (born March 30, 1978) is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known in Lucha Libre. He works for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) in Mexico. Crazy Boy is the first cousin of Super Crazy. A masked wrestler, Crazy Boy's real name i ...

in the semi-final before losing to Mr. Gannosuke and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in the final. On January 6, 2002, Kanemura lost the WEW World Heavyweight Championship to Kodo Fuyuki. The following month, on February 4, the team of Kanemura, GOEMON and Mammoth Sasaki defeated

Vic Grimes Victor Grimes (born January 3, 1963) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Grimes began his wre ...

, Paul LeDuc and

Mitsunobu Kikuzawa (born November 17, 1976), better known as his wrestling persona and formerly , is a freelance Japanese professional wrestler. Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylized ...

. This would turn out to be FMW's last show as the promotion closed on February 15 due to bankruptcy.

Freelance (2002–2004)

After FMW's demise, Kanemura joined Kodo Fuyuki's World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), which lasted until 2004. Kanemura's home promotion was WEW but he became a freelancer and wrestled on many

independent promotions In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wres ...

in Japan. Kanemura had begun wrestling for several promotions in 2000 to make more money while also competing for FMW. Kanemura had begun making appearances for

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 bo ...

(DDT) in 2001 and began feuding with DDT's top star

Sanshiro Takagi , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Takagi's gimmick is that he is Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is known in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and around the micro-indy scene for his hilarious promos and natural charism ...

in 2002. On April 18, Kanemura teamed with Super Uchu Power,

Chocoball Mukai is a Japanese pornographic actor and a former professional wrestler better known as . Beginning his career in 1990s, Mukai became one of the more well known JAV stars in all of Japan, and holds the record for being the highest paid AV actor e ...

and Futoshi Miwa to take on Takagi, Takashi Sasaki and Tanomusako Toba in a

handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

with Power's

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight in its DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand. Open to anyone, regardless of gender or DDT employment status, the championship is defended " 24/7", as i ...

on the line. Takagi won the title and then Kanemura used the title's 24/7 rules and immediately defeated Takagi to win the title. The following week, on April 25, Kanemura teamed with Super Uchu Power to defend the title against Takagi and Takashi Sasaki in a match, during which Takagi pinned Kanemura to win the title. On May 16, Kanemura defeated GENTARO and Takashi Sasaki in a

three-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to become the #1 contender for the

. At ''Max Bump'', Kanemura defeated champion Sanshiro Takagi to win the KO-D Openweight Championship, also winning Takagi's Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship for the second time in the process. Kanemura lost the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship six days later to Chocoball Mukai. Kanemura would then team with Futoshi Miwa to participate in the 2002 KO-D Tag League, in which the two managed to score eight points. Kanemura lost the KO-D Openweight Championship back to Sanshiro Takagi on September 7. Kanemura would frequently make appearances in

Pro Wrestling Zero-One (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 Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrest ...

as part of a working partnership between WEW and Zero-One, participating in Zero-One's

Fire Festival is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tournament held by Pro Wrestling Zero1 to determine the top wrestler in the promotion, typically contested in late July/early August. Within the English-speaking professional wrestling world, th ...

, where he won only one match in his block against

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for the ...

. Kanemura defeated Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the reinstated WEW World Heavyweight Championship on a WEW television show which aired on September 3. On March 3, 2003, the team of Kanemura and Kuroda defeated Gentaro and Takashi Sasaki to win the

. Later that month, Kanemura defeated

Shadow WX is a professional wrestler best known for his time in Big Japan Pro Wrestling under the ring name Shadow WX. He debuted in 1995 in IWA Japan and moved to Big Japan in 1996, where he became a protege of Mr. Pogo and won the BJW Deathmatch Heavyw ...

in a Lighttubes and Glass Deathmatch to win the vacant

on March 30 during the ''Harder than Hardcore IV'' tour. He successfully defended the title against

Abdullah Kobayashi , is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by his ring name after Abdullah the Butcher, who was one of his trainers. Professional wrestling career He began his career in 1995 as one of the main wrestlers in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in ...

in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Deathmatch on June 1, before

ping the title to

Ryuji Ito (born April 8, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently competing in Big Japan Pro Wrestling in the Deathmatch division. He is well known for his death match style of wrestling. Career Big Japan Pro Wrestling (1999–present) It ...

in a

on August 24. Kanemura continued to compete as WEW's top wrestler until the promotion closed in 2003 due to the death of its owner Kodo Fuyuki and the promotion was changed into Fuyuki Army. Kanemura would then also begin making appearances for

's Wrestlings Marvelous Future (WMF) promotion, where he debuted at ''Marvelous Days 3rd'' event on July 25 as the tag team partner of Mammoth Sasaki and Tetsuhiro Kuroda against Mr. Gannosuke, Mr. Iwaonosuke and Mr. Rocknosuke, which Kanemura's team won. On August 25, Kanemura defeated Mr. Gannosuke in a match and after the match, Kanemura formed a

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 ...

with several former FMW wrestlers called Apache Army. The stable would include Gannosuke, Taka Michinoku, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, GOEMON, GENTARO,

, Go Ito and Takashi Sasaki. On October 2, the team of 2 Tuff Tony, Kintaro Kanemura and

Mad Man Pondo Kevin Canady (born June 24, 1969) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Mad Man Pondo. Best known for his hardcore wrestling style, Canady has wrestled for various wrestling promotions, including Independent Wrestling ...

defeated Gosaku Goshogawara, Taka Michinoku and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the

. A week later, Kanemura and Kuroda 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 founder ...

by defeating

Hirotaka Yokoi (born June 8, 1978) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2007, Yokoi fought for PRIDE, Shooto, RINGS, and DEEP, while in professional wrestling he wrestled mainly for P ...

and

Kohei Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted with Pro Wrestling Zero1. Sato is also a former mixed martial artist. Career A former judoka and amateur wrestler, Sato made his transition to mixed martial arts after meeting Kazunari Murakami a ...

. On December 5, Kanemura was scheduled to team with Mr. Gannosuke and Tetsuhiro Kuroda against

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the N ...

, Masato Tanaka and

Tatsuhito Takaiwa (born Go Yong-Il (Hangul: 고 용일), July 5, 1972) is a Zainichi-Korean professional wrestler. Takaiwa is one of the more well-traveled junior heavyweights in Japan, having wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Pro Wrestling Zero1, ...

but was pulled out of the show due to a

lymph Lymph (from Latin, , meaning "water") is the fluid that flows through the lymphatic system, a system composed of lymph vessels (channels) and intervening lymph nodes whose function, like the venous system, is to return fluid from the tissues to ...

infection and was replaced by Mammoth Sasaki. The injury forced Kanemura to vacate the All Asia Tag Team Championship on December 10.

Apache Pro-Wrestling Army (2004–2016)

Kanemura returned to the ring in early 2004 and WEW's successor Fuyuki Army ended on May 5. The Apache Army stable competed as freelancers in the Japanese

. On July 4, Kanemura promoted his own show ''Kintaro Kanemura Festival'', where he and Hido defeated the team of

and Ryuji Ito in a hardcore rules match. On August 19, Kanemura and Hido defeated

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...

and

Kendo Kashin 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. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan Pr ...

to win the WMG Tag Team Championship at a

Riki Pro Fighting of World Japan Pro-Wrestling, frequently shortened to World Japan or WJ was a professional wrestling promotion formed in Japan in 2002 by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling employees Riki Choshu and Katsuji Nagashima, who also served as chairm ...

show. On August 28, Kanemura started a promotion

Apache Pro-Wrestling Army was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 2004 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016. History Following the closure of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in 2002, Hiromichi Fuyuki formed his own promotion, which ran under the names F ...

, which grew out of their stable. Things were going well for Kanemura until February 2008, when a sexual harassment scandal cost him several bookings from other promotions. On November 15, 2015, Kanemura announced that he plans on retiring from the ring sometime next year. Kanemura's retirement match took place on December 27, 2016, and saw him, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda lose to

and

Yuji Hino , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed by Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). One of the most well-travelled heavyweights in Japan, Hino was trained by Taka Michinoku and made his debut for his Kaientai ...

in a six-man tag team match with Sekimoto pinning Kanemura to end his career.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) *

(

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 ...

) **

( 1 time) *

Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling Fighting of World Japan Pro-Wrestling, frequently shortened to World Japan or WJ was a professional wrestling promotion formed in Japan in 2002 by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling employees Riki Choshu and Katsuji Nagashima, who also served as chairm ...

**WMG Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Badboy Hido was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known under the ring name or simply . He is best known for his time with hardcore wrestling federations Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-MS), Frontier Ma ...

* Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling / World Entertainment Wrestling /

FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship The FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship was a premiere championship in the wrestling promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, ...

( 1 time) **

FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship The FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship was a tag team hardcore wrestling championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, b ...

( 4 times) – with

(1),

(1), and

(1) **

FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship The FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). It was one of the top two titles in the company, along with the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavywe ...

( 1 time) ** FMW/WEW Hardcore Championship ( 3 times) **

FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship The FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. It was initially active from May 1996 until May 1999. The title was abandoned by Shoichi Arai on November 20, 1998 and presented to the d ...

( 4 times) – with Mr. Gannosuke and

(1), Kodo Fuyuki and

(1), Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa (1), and Raijin Yaguchi and

Tomohiko Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler and former judoka and mixed martial artist, best known for his time with Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), where he competed as a mainstay from 2000 to 2006. After working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent c ...

(1) **

( 1 time) – with Kodo Fuyuki and Mr. Gannosuke (1) **

( 1 time) – with

WEW Heavyweight Championship The WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship, most recently contested in Apache Army. It was originally created for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling as the WEW Single Championship. The ...

( 6 times) **

WEW Tag Team Championship The WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) World Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and World Entertainment Wrestling and currently con ...

(

) – with

** FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1996) *

** W*ING Caribbean Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** W*ING Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

W*ING World Tag Team Championship The W*ING World Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship contested in both Wrestling International New Generations Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in death ...

( 1 time) – with

*Other **

Koichiro Kimura was a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, also known under the ring name . Kimura was known for his work in promotions like Dramatic Dream Team, W*ING, Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, among ...

Memorial Time Difference Battle Royal (2014)

References

External links

Kintaro Kanemura Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanemura, Kouhiro 1970 births Japanese male professional wrestlers South Korean male professional wrestlers Zainichi Korean people Living people People from Tsu, Mie All Asia Tag Team Champions Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers KO-D Openweight Champions FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champions FMW Independent Heavyweight Champions WEW Hardcore Tag Team Champions WEW 6-Man Tag Team Champions WEW Heavyweight Champions WEW World Tag Team Champions BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champions