Maunakea Mossman (born November 18, 1975) is an American retired
professional wrestler, best known under his
ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...
. Best known for his work in
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
(AJPW), he is the only wrestler in AJPW's history to have held the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the
World Tag Team Championship
In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...
and the
World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Born in
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, Kea trained with and debuted for AJPW as a
junior heavyweight in 1994, and won the
World Junior Heavyweight Championship once in 1997, vacating the championship upon his graduation to heavyweight the following year. Following the
2000 exodus, Kea remained with the promotion and was pushed as one of its top gaijin throughout the 2000s, winning the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship once, the
Champion Carnival twice (in
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
and
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
), the
World's Strongest Tag Determination League three times (in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
,
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
and
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
), as well as being a
7 time and longest-reigning
World Tag Team Champion, a record he shares with partner
Minoru Suzuki.
Professional wrestling career
All Japan Pro Wrestling
Junior Heavyweight Champion and Mossman Trial Series (1994–1998)
Mossman was a Hawaiian state
amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic Games, Olympic, Collegiate wrestling, collegiate, Scholastic wrestling, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, fr ...
champion, and after he graduated high school, was persuaded by his uncle
King Curtis Iaukea to write an athletic resume, which Iaukea gave to Lord James Blears, who then gave it to
Giant Baba. Mossman met with Baba, his wife and referee Kyohei Wada during a trip to Hawaii, where Baba offered Mossman a job as a trainee with
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
. Mossman began training 4 days later, and debuted in November 1994 as a junior heavyweight under his real name. Mossman was pushed as a babyface almost immediately, and defeated
Yoshinari Ogawa to win the
World Junior Heavyweight Championship in August 1997. He vacated the title in 1998, after graduating to the heavyweight division. Upon his graduation, he took part in a series of 7 matches designed to test his mettle as a heavyweight competitor, dubbed the ''Mossman Trial Series''. Mossman won three of the matches, defeating
Johnny Smith,
Wolf Hawkfield and Giant Kimala, but lost to
Toshiaki Kawada,
Akira Taue,
Kenta Kobashi and
Mitsuharu Misawa.
Tag title reigns (1999–2006)
On October 25, 1999, Mossman and Johnny Smith unsuccessfully challenged for the vacant
All Asia Tag Team Championship, losing to
Masao Inoue and
Tamon Honda. Following Baba's death in 1999, Mitsuharu Misawa became the new head
booker of AJPW and chose to postpone Mossman's push. In 2000, Misawa and all but two native talent left All Japan in a mass exodus to form
Pro Wrestling Noah. Mossman was one of the few who chose to remain in All Japan Pro Wrestling, aiding in the rebuilding process along with
Toshiaki Kawada,
Masanobu Fuchi,
Hiroshi Hase,
Stan Hansen, the returning
Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya and
Shigeo Okumura. In an effort to make him more marketable to Japanese fans, Mossman stopped using his real name and was given the semi-Japanese ring name (from ''taiyo'', sun, and the
Hawaiian word ''kea'', white – also derived from the last three letters of his first name). Kea was pushed as a strong loyalist and won the
World Tag Team Championship
In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...
with
Johnny Smith in January 2001. In April, Kea took part in the 2001 Champion Carnival, finishing with 15 points and advancing to the final where he lost to Genichiro Tenryu.
In 2001, Kea also began appearing in
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
where he became a member of
Keiji Mutoh's
BATT stable, and by October 2001, he would form a successful tag team with Mutoh as they made history twice in one week by winning both the World Tag Team Championship and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
's
IWGP Tag Team Championship, which made them the first team to not only win both titles, but also the first to hold them simultaneously. The team also would win the 2001
World's Strongest Tag Determination League. In 2002, Kea briefly competed for
Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...
(MLW), where he appeared at the company's
inaugural event Genesis, where he competed in the tournament to crown the first
MLW World Heavyweight Champion, where he defeated
The Wall in the quarter-finals, wrestled
Vampiro to a draw in the semi-finals and lost in the final to
Shane Douglas in a 3-Way Dance (which also featured Vampiro). Kea would compete for MLW again on September 26 at
Reload, where he defeated
Sabu to become the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, but Kea never returned to the promotion to claim the opportunity.
In 2003, Kea joined
Taka Michinoku's
RO&D stable as second-in-command, and won the World Tag Team Championship for a fourth time with
Jamal
Jamaal ( ''/'') is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "beauty."[Jamaal]
at BehindTheName.com It is popular in th ...
in 2005. On April 20, 2006, Kea won AJPW's
Champion Carnival, defeating
Minoru Suzuki in the semi-finals
and
Suwama in the finals.
Championship pursuit (2006–2010)
On July 3, 2006, he won the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career after defeating
Satoshi Kojima
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former two-time MLW World Heavyweight Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Champion and former one half of the MLW W ...
. He made one successful defence, defeating Toshiaki Kawada on August 27. He lost the championship to Minoru Suzuki on September 3 after two months. He participated in the 2006 World's Strongest Tag Determination League with Taka Michinoku as his partner, finishing fourth in their block with two wins and 5 points.
On January 4, 2007, Kea challenged
Hiroshi Tanahashi for the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...
at NJPW's
Wrestle Kingdom, losing after falling to Tanahashi's
High Fly Flow. On February 17, Kea and Toshiaki Kawada defeated Suwama and
RO'Z to claim the vacant World Tag Team Championship. From March 26 to March 30, Kea competed in the 2007 Champion Carnival, finishing with 1 win and 4 points. In August 2007, Kea and Kawada lost the championships to the
Voodoo Murders (Satoshi Kojima and
TARU).
In 2008, Kea and Minoru Suzuki formed the Gurentai stable along with
Tokyo Gurentai's Mazada,
Nosawa Rongai, and Takemura. He and Suzuki defeated
Joe Doering and
Keiji Mutoh to win the World Tag Team Championship on June 28 during the ''Crossover'' tour.
On August 31, Kea wrestled Suwama to a time limit draw for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
In early 2009, Kea and Suzuki successfully defended the titles against Suwama and
Shuji Kondo
is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played Rugby union, rugby. After starting his career in Dragon Gate (wrestling), Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where h ...
. The two proceeded to team mostly with
Yoshihiro Takayama, before Kea injured his knee, taking him out of action for 5 months. Kea returned during the ''Taiwan Cup'', where he was eliminated in the first round by
Masayuki Kono. After over a year as champions, Kea and Suzuki lost the titles to
Masakatsu Funaki and Keiji Mutoh on January 3, 2010.
Partisan Forces (2010–2011)
Later in 2010, Kea formed a tag team with
Akebono known as Partisan Forces. The duo defeated
Suwama and
Ryota Hama to win the vacant World Tag Team Championship on July 4. On January 10, 2011, Kea unsuccessfully challenged Suwama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On February 6, Kea and Akebono lost the championships to the Voodoo Murders (Joe Doering and Kono). In November, Kea travelled to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he unsuccessfully challenged
Jun Akiyama for the
GHC Heavyweight Championship.
Final years (2012–2013)
On May 7, 2012, Kea won his second Champion Carnival, defeating Suwama in the final. In July, he unsuccessfully challenged
Jun Akiyama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
On November 30, 2012, Kea announced that he was putting his wrestling career on hold to attend business school in his native Hawaii. His farewell match, a ten-man tag team match, took place on January 3, 2013, where he, Keiji Mutoh,
Masakatsu Funaki, Masanobu Fuchi and Taka Michinoku defeated
Hiroshi Yamato,
Manabu Soya, Ryota Hama, Suwama and
Takao Omori
is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler, working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Championship ( ...
. Kea announced his return to All Japan in a press conference on June 11, 2013. Kea wrestled his return match on June 30, where he and Takao Omori defeated
Joe Doering and
Yasufumi Nakanoue.
Freelancer (2014–present)
On March 2, 2014, Kea made a surprise jump to Keiji Mutoh's AJPW splinter promotion
Wrestle-1
was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed b ...
at
Kaisen: Outbreak. For the next few months, Kea, billed as a freelancer, worked only sporadic Wrestle-1 events, spending most of his time in Hawaii. Kea returned to AJPW on January 31, 2015, to take part in Giant Baba's memorial event. Kea returned to All Japan once again in October 2017, teaming with
Masanobu Fuchi and
Manabu Soya to defeat Fuminori Abe,
Yoshihiro Tajiri and
Yohei Nakajima.
Championships and accomplishments
*
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
:*
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (
1 time)
:*
World Junior Heavyweight Championship (
1 time)
:*
World Tag Team Championship
In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...
(
7 times) – with
Johnny Smith (1),
Keiji Mutoh (1),
Satoshi Kojima
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former two-time MLW World Heavyweight Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Champion and former one half of the MLW W ...
(1),
Jamal
Jamaal ( ''/'') is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "beauty."[Jamaal]
at BehindTheName.com It is popular in th ...
(1),
Toshiaki Kawada (1),
Minoru Suzuki (1) and
Akebono (1)
:*
Champion Carnival (
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
,
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
)
:*
World's Strongest Tag Determination League (
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
) – with Keiji Mutoh
:*World's Strongest Tag Determination League (
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
) – with Satoshi Kojima
:*World's Strongest Tag Determination League (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
) – with Jamal
:*January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (2013)
:*January 3rd Korakuen Hall Junior Heavyweight Battle Royal (1997, 1998)
*Hawai'i Championship Wrestling
:*HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jamal
*
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
:*
IWGP Tag Team Championship (
1 time) – with Keiji Mutoh
*''
Nikkan Sports
is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background ...
''
**Fighting Spirit Award (2001)
*
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
**PWI ranked him #11 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006
**PWI ranked him #416 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003
*
Tokyo Sports
is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960.
See also
* Tokyo Sports Film Award
* Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards
References
External links
* http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp Official website
1960 establishments in Japan
Da ...
**
Best Tag Team Award (2008)-
with Minoru Suzuki
References
External links
AJPW profileWrestle-1 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taiyo, Kea
1975 births
Living people
20th-century male professional wrestlers
20th-century American professional wrestlers
21st-century male professional wrestlers
21st-century American professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from Hawaii
Native Hawaiian professional wrestlers
American expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
American professional wrestling trainers
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW)
World Tag Team Champions (AJPW)
Triple Crown Heavyweight Champions
Champion Carnival winners
World's Strongest Tag Determination League winners