Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Ring name(s)	Hiroyoshi Tenzan Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Billed height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Billed weight	115 kg (250 lb)[1]
Born	(1971-03-23) March 23, 1971 (age 41) Kyoto, Kyoto
Resides	Tokyo
Debut	January 11, 1991

Hiroyoshi Yamamoto (山本 広吉, Yamamoto Hiroyoshi^?, born March 23, 1971) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name Hiroyoshi Tenzan (天山 広吉, Tenzan Hiroyoshi^?). With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the Real World Tag League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the G1 Climax Tag League in NJPW becoming in the only tag team which has done it.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early years (1991–1994)[link]

Hiroyoshi Yamamoto first worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He debuted in January 1991, wrestling Osamu Matsuda. In 1993, after winning the Young Lions Cup, NJPW sent Yamamoto on a European excursion; one of his stops was in the Catch Wrestling Association in Germany, where in July 1993, he defeated Lance Storm to become the first CWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. A few weeks later, he lost the title to Storm. Three months later, he would regain and lost the title back to Storm.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1995–present)[link]

After spending nearly two years in Europe, Yamamoto would finally make his return to NJPW on January 4, 1995, at the Tokyo Dome, this time under a new name: Hiroyoshi Tenzan. A month later, he received his very first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort against Shinya Hashimoto. Tenzan then began teaming with Masahiro Chono as Team Wolf. In June 1995, Tenzan and Chono won the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a tournament, which they held for a month until the title was vacated due to Chono missing a match when his father died.

Tenzan had a brief tenure in World Championship Wrestling, most notably being defeated by "Macho Man" Randy Savage at Starrcade '95: World Cup of Wrestling; Tenzan would get a rematch with Savage at NJPW's Battle Formation show on April 29, 1996, and again he lost.

In July 1996, Tenzan and Chono won the IWGP Tag Team Title again, this time beating Kazuo Yamazaki and Takashi Iizuka. They held the titles for over 5 months before losing to Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura in January 1997. A few weeks later, Tenzan became a founding member of nWo Japan, as Chono joined the nWo in December 1996. For the rest of 1997, Tenzan and the rest of nWo Japan continued the nWo tradition of attacking their various enemies.

Tenzan got his third chance for the IWGP Tag Team Titles in July 1998, after Chono's former tag-team partner Keiji Mutoh was injured. Tenzan and Chono went on to win the tournament and the belts. A month later, they were defeated by Genichiro Tenryu and Shiro Koshinaka. Tenzan continued to feud with Tenryu and Koshinaka, eventually getting a new partner in Satoshi Kojima, thanks to Mutoh's leadership in nWo Japan. The two teams fought at the Tokyo Dome in January 1999, with Tenzan and Kojima coming through, defeating Koshinaka and Tenryu to get the IWGP Tag-Team belts. A few months later, Koshinaka retook the titles from Tenzan and Kojima, with his partner Kensuke Sasaki. For the next year, Tenzan continued to wrestle in NJPW, feuding with Koshinaka, Masahiro Chono, Manabu Nakanishi, and others. He defeated Wild Pegasus at the Tokyo Dome in January 2000.

In July 2000, Tenzan, still teamed with Kojima, got the IWGP Tag Team Titles for the 5th time, winning over Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Tenzan and Kojima feuded with Nakanishi and Nagata for the next few months, with Tenzan and Kojima coming out on top.

On February 24, 2002 Tenzan made a brief appearance at WWA The Revolution pay-per-view from Las Vegas, Nevada where he choked Disco Inferno. Scott Steiner then attacked Disco in the ring. Tenzan could be seen sitting right behind the announcer's table when Disco joined commentary. He can be seen leaving the arena following Steiner's attack on Disco.

Tenzan also won the IWGP Tag Team Titles in March 2002 with Masahiro Chono (their title reign lasting over one year; it also tied the team record for most championships won with Fujinami & Kimura), and again in December 2003 with Osamu Nishimura.

In November 2003, Tenzan finally won the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Yoshihiro Takayama. He proceeded to win it three other times (in February 2004 from Genichiro Tenryu,^[1] December 2004 from Kensuke Sasaki^[1] and May 2005 from Satoshi Kojima).

He lost the championship to Kojima in a cross-promotional champion vs. champion match. Kojima held the AJPW Triple Crown Championship. The match ended when Tenzan was unable to get up, Kojima thus winning by a knock out. Tenzan got heat with the management of NJPW due to this, because he gave NJPW's most prestigious championship's control to the rival company, AJPW. This supports the speculation that the match didn't end the way it was booked to, and that Tenzan was really unable to get up and finish the match. Tenzan defeated Kojima in a rematch three months later, bringing the championship back to NJPW.^[2] He lost the championship to Kazuyuki Fujita on July 18, 2005.

Tenzan competed in the 2005 G1 Tournament, and almost made it to the semi-finals. In October 2005, Tenzan and Chono reunited to win the IWGP Tag Team Title for a fifth time from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura.

On August 13, 2006 Tenzan defeated longtime rival Satoshi Kojima in the final of the 2006 G1 Climax, becoming only the second wrestler to go undefeated in a round robin style G-1. This would be his third G1 title.

After severing ties with his old mentor Masahiro Chono, Tenzan founded the heel unit GBH ("Great Bash Heel", affectionately referred to by fans as "Great Big Head"); it is composed of Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Shiro Koshinaka, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Tomoaki Honma. Recently, though, he has severed ties with GBH (Caused by Makabe first cutting ties with him, and the remaining members following him) and was feuding with GBH until October.

Since returning to New Japan in May 2009, he has split his time between reforming Ten-Koji and teaming with old GBH teammates Makabe and Honma against CHAOS. In August 2009 Tenzan was sidelined with an injury.

Fifteen months later on November 18, 2010, Tenzan returned to the ring, defeating Antonio Honda at New Japan's Never.4 event.^[3] On December 11 Tenzan wrestled his first main show for New Japan since his return, defeating Gedo in Osaka. After the match Tenzan was attacked by Takashi Iizuka, restarting the feud between the two.^[4] On January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Tenzan defeated Iizuka in a Deep Sleep to Lose match, a match that could only be won by choking the opponent unconscious.^[5][6] In August, Tenzan took part in the 2011 G1 Climax, where he managed to win four out of his nine matches, finishing in the middle of his block.^[7] Later in the year, Tenzan and Kojima reformed their Ten-Koji tag team, defeating CHAOS members Hideo Saito and Takashi Iizuka in their return match on December 4.^[8] On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Tenzan and Kojima defeated Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time together, Tenzan's ninth time individually.^[9] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Tenzan and Kojima lost the title to Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in their third defense.^[10]

Other media[link]

Tenzan appeared in the video for "Yonaoshi Good Vibration" by Japanese metal band Sex Machineguns.

He has appeared on the Japanese television show Sasuke.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Anaconda vice, sometimes while trapping the opponent's other arm in a crossed arm position – innovated^[1]
  • Diving headbutt
  • Moonsault^[1]
  • Original TTD – Original Tenzan Tombstone Driver (Cradle reverse piledriver)^[1]
  • TTD – Tenzan Tombstone Driver (Scoop slam piledriver)

• Signature moves
  • Anaconda Slam (Arm triangle choke side slam) – innovated
  • Belly to back suplex
  • Boston crab
  • Buffalo sleeper – innovated
  • Diving knee drop bulldog
  • Headbutt^[1]
  • Mongolian chop^[1]
  • Mountain Bomb – innovated
  • Spinning wheel kick

• With Masahiro Chono
  • Cho-Ten Torpedo (Double diving shoulder block)
  • CTC – Cho-Ten Crash (Running high knee lift / Back elbow strike combination)
  • Shining Assault (Shining Kenka Kick (Chono) / Lariat (Tenzan) combination)

• Managers
  • Sonny Onoo^[11]

• Entrance themes
  • "Red Hurricane"
  • "Outburst"
  • "Tenzan"
  • "nWo Tenzan"
  • "Tear It Up" by Jimmy Hart and H.Helm (WCW; used while a part of the New World Order; 1998)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• Real World Tag League (2006, 2008) – with Satoshi Kojima

• New Japan Pro Wrestling

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[2]
• IWGP Tag Team Championship (9 times) – with Masahiro Chono (5), Satoshi Kojima (3), Osamu Nishimura (1)^[1]
• G1 Climax (2003, 2004, 2006)
• G1 Climax Tag League (2001, 2008) – with Satoshi Kojima
• G1 Climax Tag League (2003) – with Osamu Nishimura
• Super Grade Tag League (1995) – with Masahiro Chono^[12]
• Young Lion Cup (1993)^[13]
• 10,000,000 Yin Tag Tournament (2004) – with Shinsuke Nakamura
• MVP Award (2003, 2004)^[14][15]
• Singles Best Bout (2003) vs. Jun Akiyama on August 17^[14]
• Singles Best Bout (2004) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 15^[15]
• Tag Team Best Bout (2000) with Satoshi Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata on October 9^[16]
• Tag Team Best Bout (2002) with Masahiro Chono vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Osamu Nishimura on June 5^[17]
• Tag Team Best Bout (2004) with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Masahiro Chono on October 24^[15]

• Catch Wrestling Association

• CWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• Tokyo Sports Grand Prix

• Fighting Spirit (2004) ^[18]
• Tag Team of the Year (1995)- with Masahiro Chono ^[19]
• Tag Team of the Year (1996)- with Masahiro Chono & Hiro Saito ^[19]
• Tag Team of the Year (2000)- with Satoshi Kojima ^[18]

• PREMIUM

• Yuke's Cup Tag Tournament (2008) – with Shinjiro Otani

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him #10 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005
• PWI ranked him #223 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003^[20]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

• Tag Team of the Year (2001) with Satoshi Kojima

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• New Japan Pro Wrestling profile
• Profile at puroresufan.com
• Profile at The Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster

Satoshi Kojima
Kojima in November 2011.
Ring name(s)	Satoshi Kojima The Great Koji The Great Kosuke Joe-Joe Lee Lion Satoshi
Billed height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Billed weight	112 kg (250 lb)[1]
Born	(1970-09-14) September 14, 1970 (age 41)[1] Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan[1]
Trained by	Animal Hamaguchi[1] Kensuke Sasaki Hiroshi Hase NJPW Dojo[1]
Debut	July 16, 1991[1]

Satoshi Kojima (小島 聡, Kojima Satoshi^?) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling.^[1] He is currently in his fourth reign as one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions. As a singles wrestler, he was the first wrestler to hold NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Championship simultaneously. As a team, he and Hiroyoshi Tenzan became the first team to won G1 Climax Tag League and World's Strongest Tag Team League on the same year.

Before Wrestling[link]

Like many Japanese wrestlers, Kojima has a background in Judo, but he chose not to continue the sport when he went to college. He got his start loading trucks for New Japan Pro Wrestling & after some months of persuasion finally convinced head trainer Animal Hamaguchi to accept him into the dojo.

Career[link]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1991–2002)[link]

Kojima entered the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in February 1991. He debuted as a wrestler on September 14 in a match against Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, who would later adopt the stage name of Hiroyoshi Tenzan. In 1994 he defeated Manabu Nakanishi in the Young Lions Cup finals, winning the tournament. In the end of that year he went to Europe, and returned to NJPW in January 1996. When he returned, he formed The Bull Powers with Nakanishi, who had returned from WCW. In May 1997 he defeated Riki Chōshū and Kensuke Sasaki with Nakanishi to become an IWGP Tag Team Champion for the first time. At the end of 1998 he joined nWo Japan, by Keiji Mutoh's leadership. Kojima and Tenzan (known together as Ten-Koji, a portmanteau of their last names) formed a tag team and ended up holding the IWGP Tag Team titles together twice.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2010)[link]

In January 2002, in opposition to Antonio Inoki focusing the IWGP title on unreliable shoot style wrestlers such as Kazuyuki Fujita and Tadao Yasuda, Kojima left NJPW with his mentor Keiji Mutoh, and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling where he was finally able to receive the push of a top star. He held both of the company's tag team titles, the AJPW Double Cup Tag Team Championship twice. On February 16, 2005, he won the Triple Crown, AJPW's unified heavyweight championship from Toshiaki Kawada. Only four days later he won NJPW's heavyweight championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, from his former tag team partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan in a cross-promotional double title match. On May 14, 2005, Tenzan won the IWGP title back, but not the Triple Crown.^[2]

Upon joining AJPW, Kojima began to use the Great Koji (copying The Great Muta) and Great Kosuke (copying The Great Sasuke) personas for special matches.

On July 3, 2006 Kojima lost the Triple Crown to Taiyō Kea. Three days later it was revealed that Kojima would return to New Japan to compete in the 2006 G-1 Climax, where he would go to lose in the finals against former tag team partner and rival Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

In October 2006 it was announced that TenKoji would reform for the upcoming World's Strongest Tag Team League tournament. On December 2, 2006 the reformed TenKoji won the Real World Tag League defeating Kohei Suwama and RO'Z in the finals when Kojima used a lariat on RO'Z. The duo next faced Masahiro Chono and Keiji Muto at NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome. They lost when Chono forced Tenzan to submit.

In July 2007, Kojima shocked the All-Japan Army when he betrayed them and joined the Voodoo Murders, where he was quickly made the group's co-leader along with TARU. Soon after joining, Kojima and TARU won the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championships from Toshiaki Kawada and Taiyō Kea. Kojima left the group in 2008 after returning from injury to side with his sworn friend Hiroyoshi Tenzan and to feud with the alliance of Great Bash Heel (Tenzan's former group) and the VooDoo Murders.

In 2008, Tenzan and Kojima became the first tag team to ever win G1 Climax Tag League and Real World Tag League in the same year. Later he started his 1st stable named F4 (Friend Fight Fan and Future) with young proteges YAMATO and KAI. A 4th member in ZODIAC joined later in 2009. On September 26, 2009 a few days after his 39th birthday Kojima lifted the All-Japan Triple Crown off of Yoshihiro Takayama, returning the titles to All-Japan and winning them for the 2nd time. He lost the title on March 21, 2010 to Ryota Hama.^[3]

Kojima's AJPW page was taken down soon before he agreed to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling's 20th annual G1 Climax. It's reported that he was plagued with an arm injury that required surgery and needed time off to heal. AJPW then refused to discuss resigning Kojima until he was healthy. It's been reported Kojima was not pleased with this and began entertaining other possibilities.

Return to New Japan (2010–present)[link]

Kojima returned to New Japan in August 2010 in order to take part in the 2010 G1 Climax tournament. His return match took place on August 6, 2010, when he teamed up with El Samurai in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Ryusuke Taguchi.^[4] In the round robin stage of the tournament Kojima won five out his seven matches and won his block to advance to the finals, where, on August 15, he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win G1 Climax.^[5] On October 11 Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time.^[6] On December 11 Kojima made his first successful defense of the title, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura.^[7] On December 14 Kojima announced that he was starting his own stable, tentatively named Kojima Office, and named Taichi, who had accompanied him to the ring for his Nakamura match, its first member.^[8] Kojima turned heel on December 23, when he hit his number one contender Hiroshi Tanahashi with a lariat after a match, where he and Kota Ibushi had defeated Tanahashi and Prince Devitt.^[9] On January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Kojima lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Tanahashi.^[10][11] On January 30 Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to earn a rematch with Tanahashi.^[12] Meanwhile, the newly renamed Kojima Army expanded to include TAKA Michinoku and NOSAWA Rongai, who in turn used his connections to get MVP to also join the group.^[13][14] Kojima received his rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on February 20, but was again defeated by Tanahashi.^[15] After Kojima was defeated by Togi Makabe on May 3, Taichi and TAKA Michinoku turned on him and named the returning Minoru Suzuki as their new leader, while Kojima himself formed a new partnership with Makabe and MVP, who left the stable after Suzuki took over.^[16][17][18] On July 18, Suzuki defeated Kojima in a singles match.^[19] The two had a rematch on August 1 during the first day of the 2011 G1 Climax, where Kojima managed to pick up the win.^[20] Kojima managed to win five more matches in the tournament, but a loss to former partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan on the final day eliminated him fron the running for a spot in the finals.^[21] After the tournament Kojima was sidelined indefinitely with an eye injury suffered during the match with Tenzan.^[22] On September 19, it was announced that Kojima had signed a contract with New Japan to become an official member of the promotion's roster. Kojima then announced that he would make his return on October 10 and challenged former partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan to be his opponent that day.^[23] Kojima would end up defeating Tenzan in his return match.^[24] In the 2011 G1 Climax Tag League, Kojima teamed with Togi Makabe as the "Beast Combination".^[25] After picking up three wins and one loss in their first four matches, Kojima and Makabe were defeated by the Billion Powers (Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi) on November 4, causing them to narrowly miss advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.^[26] Kojima and Tenzan faced each other yet again on November 12 in a match, which was won by Tenzan. Afterwards, the former tag team partners came together to fend off an attack from CHAOS.^[27] Ten-Koji wrestled their return match as a tag team on December 4, defeating CHAOS members Hideo Saito and Takashi Iizuka.^[28] On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Kojima and Tenzan defeated Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.^[29] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Kojima and Tenzan lost the title to Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in their third defense.^[30]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves^[31]
  • CCD – Cozy Crush Dynamite (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver)^[1]
  • Koji Cutter (Three-quarter facelock bulldog, sometimes from the top rope)^[1]
  • Lariat^[1]
  • Rydeen bomb – innovated

• Signature moves
  • Arm trap neckbreaker
  • Bakayaro Elbow (Diving elbow drop)^[1]
  • Brainbuster
  • Koji MAX (Modified seated armbar)
  • Lifting DDT
  • Moonsault – 1990s
  • Pumphandle sitout powerbomb
  • Rapid knife–edged chops to a cornered opponent
  • Roaring elbow
  • Running elbow smash
  • Senton
  • Sitout double underhook powerbomb
  • Sitout scoop slam piledriver
  • Slingshot crossbody

• Entrance themes
  • "Crush Dynamite" – NJP Unit (NJPW)
  • "Ride Hover" – NJP Unit / nWo (NJPW)
  • "Rush!!" – Production theme (NJPW / AJPW)
  • "Stylus" – Production theme (AJPW)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shiryu
  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Taiyō Kea (1), Kaz Hayashi (1), and TARU (1)
  • Champion's Carnival (2003)
  • World's Strongest Tag Team League – with Taiyō Kea (2002), Kaz Hayashi (2003), and Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2006, 2008)
  • January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal Winner (2003) ^[32]

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[2][6]
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3), and Manabu Nakanishi (1)
  • Super Grade Tag League/G1 Climax Tag League – with Keiji Mutoh (1998),^[33] and Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2001, 2008)
  • G1 Climax (2010)^[5]
  • Young Lion Cup (1994)^[34]
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2001)^[35]
  • Tag Team Best Bout (2000) with Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata on October 9^[36]

• Major League Wrestling
  • MLW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[37]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #3 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005

• Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
  • Fire Festival (2003)

• Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2010)^[38]
  • Most Valuable Player (2005)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Tag Team of the Year (2001) with Hiroyoshi Tenzan

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• New Japan Pro Wrestling profile
• Official blog

Kensuke Sasaki
Ring name(s)	Benkei Sasaki KENSKEE Kensuke Sasaki Kensuki Sasaki Masked Volcano Power Warrior
Billed height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Billed weight	115 kg (250 lb)[1]
Born	(1966-08-04) August 4, 1966 (age 45) Fukuoka, Fukuoka
Debut	February 16, 1986

Kensuke Sasaki (佐々木 健介, Sasaki Kensuke^?, born August 4, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for various promotions through his own agency, Diamond Ring. He is the first of two men ever to hold all 3 of puroresu's major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, and the GHC Heavyweight Championship), the other being Yoshihiro Takayama.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early years (1986–1988)[link]

Kensuke Sasaki debuted in Riki Chōshū's Japan Pro Wrestling (a satellite of All Japan Pro Wrestling) in February 1986. Sasaki follow Chōshū as he returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1987. During that time, he teamed up with the likes of Osamu Matsuda and Kenichi Oya.

International Excursion (1988–1990)[link]

In 1988, Sasaki embarked on an excursion to North America, where he first started wrestling in Puerto Rico in World Wrestling Council, where he held his very first championship, the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship, with Mr. Pogo twice between January 14, 1989 and April 1, 1989.

In January 1989, he started splitting his time wrestling in the WWC in Puerto Rico, with Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion in Canada, where he wrestled under the name Benkei Sasaki. He would also be trained in the Dungeon by Hart. During his time in Calgary, he won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in August 1989, with All Japan loyalist Sumo Hara (Tatsumi "Koki" Kitahara).

He would also wrestle for Otto Wanz's Catch Wrestling Association in tours of Austria and Germany.

In December 1989, Stampede Wrestling closed its doors, and Sasaki returned to Puerto Rico full-time in the WWC, until he was called back to New Japan.

New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (1990–2002)[link]

Sasaki returned to New Japan in March 1990, and formed a popular tag team with Hiroshi Hase. The pair would have two reigns as IWGP Tag Team Champions, and had memorable matches with the Steiner Brothers. Two more tag title reigns followed when in late 1992, Sasaki assumed the name "Power Warrior" and teamed with Road Warrior Hawk. As the Hell Raisers, they dominated the tag team scene in New Japan. On November 18, 1992, he also started wrestling periodically for World Championship Wrestling, and would wrestle there on and off until December 30, 1996.

In an incident in the New Japan Dojo in 1995, he was blamed for the death of a trainee, Hiromitsu Gompei. According to the book, Ring of Hell, he suplexed and worked over the trainee, who he thought was not making enough effort.^[2] No charges were ever brought against him, however several sources^[who?] have confirmed that Sasaki feels no remorse over the incident, regarding it as "just one of those things." Scott Norton and Bam Bam Bigelow confirmed the incident in their respective shoot interviews.^{[citation needed]}

Sasaki dropped the Power Warrior persona in 1995 (as he only revives the persona on special occasions, such as teaming with Hawk and Animal in six-man tag team matches) and began climbing the ranks in singles competition. He won his first major title, the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship on November 13, 1995, defeating Sting at a New Japan Pro Wrestling Event. This was the title's first title change outside of the United States. Sasaki lost it one month later to One Man Gang at Starrcade.

August 1997 skyrocketed Sasaki's rise to superstardom. On August 3, he won the G1 Climax tournament by defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the final. A week later, he captured the IWGP Tag Team titles with Kazuo Yamazaki. Finally at the end of the month, he captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating long reigning champion Shinya Hashimoto, winning three major honors in a one month span. Sasaki solidified his dominance in the heavyweight division by defeating both Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh in his first two title defenses, thus defeating The Three Musketeers in three straight title matches. In April 1998, he lost the title to Tatsumi Fujinami. In March 1999, he won another IWGP Tag Team Championship with Shiro Koshinaka.

Sasaki won his second IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Genichiro Tenryu while wrestling with a 39 °C (102.2 °F) fever.^[3] He won the G1 Climax for the second time in August 2000 with a victory over last year's winner Manabu Nakanishi in the final, now holding both of New Japan's two heavyweight singles crowns. On October 9, 2000, Sasaki surrendered the IWGP title after he lost to Toshiaki Kawada in a non-title match at an All Japan vs. New Japan event called Do Judge. In a tournament final, Sasaki regained the title, defeating Kawada, at the January 4, 2001, Tokyo Dome show. In March 2001, Sasaki lost the IWGP Heavyweight Title to Scott Norton and in late 2002 he resigned from the promotion after a falling out with company management.

Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (2003–2004)[link]

In the beginning of 2003, Sasaki joined his mentor, Riki Chōshū, in his new Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. He became the only WMG Heavyweight Champion; however, tensions between him and Chōshū over financial issues caused Sasaki to withdraw and the company to die a slow death.^[1]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2004–2005)[link]

When World Japan failed, Sasaki returned to New Japan in 2004, but this time as a "traitor heel."^[1] After heated feuds with Yuji Nagata and others, Sasaki enjoyed two more IWGP Heavyweight Title reigns and established himself as one of New Japan's most successful wrestlers ever. He played to the fans, and told them he would do anything to get back in their good graces. After receiving their forgiveness, he once again left the promotion, this time on good terms, however the behind-the-scenes animosity between Sasaki and Chōshū proved otherwise.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2005–2008)[link]

After leaving New Japan, Sasaki went over to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2005. Sasaki won that year's Champion's Carnival, and lost to Kenta Kobashi at Noah's Destiny 2005 show on July 18, 2005 in the Tokyo Dome in an incredible 22 minute classic.

Kensuke Sasaki and Road Warrior Animal teamed up on September 1 at the Differ Ariake and they defeated "brother" YASSHI and Shuji Kondo. Sasaki wore face paint as Power Warrior, the same name he used when teamed with Road Warrior Hawk in the 90's and both men were billed as the Hell Warriors. Animal was billed as Animal Warrior in a similar move to Hawk being billed as Hawk Warrior when he teamed with Sasaki. (Hawk, Animal, and Sasaki were billed as The Road Warriors in six-man tag team matches in 1996.)

On August 26, 2007, Sasaki defeated Minoru Suzuki to become the AJPW Triple Crown Champion. Sasaki made his first defense against Toshiaki Kawada on October 18, 2007, and would go on to team with Kawada after Nakajima suffered an injury on October 18 in the 2007 Real World Tag League. Sasaki and Kawada would lose a Finals Decision match against Satoshi Kojima and Suwama on December 9; both teams were tied, and opponents were needed for Keiji Muto and Joe Doering in the final of the League.

Sasaki successfully defended the Triple Crown Championship against Satoshi Kojima (on March 1, 2008). Sasaki participated in the 2008 Champion's Carnival over five straight shows in the Korakuen Hall from April 5 to April 9, scoring 4 points after 1 win (over Joe Doering), 1 loss (to Minoru Suzuki) and 2 draws (with Suwama and Osamu Nishimura). Sasaki lost the Triple Crown Championship to Carnival Winner Suwama on April 29, 2008.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2008–present)[link]

After losing the AJPW Triple Crown titles, he jumped to Pro Wrestling Noah and announced he would make it his full-time home promotion, while still operating the Kensuke Office. On September 6, 2008, he defeated Takeshi Morishima for the GHC Heavyweight Title, becoming the first person to hold the Heavyweight title in all three major Japanese promotions. On March 1, 2009, he lost the GHC Heavyweight title to Jun Akiyama. On September 21, 2009, he teamed with Morishima to win the GHC Tag Team titles from Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith. They lost the titles on December 6, 2009, to Takeshi Rikio and Muhammad Yone.

Sasaki teamed up with regular tag partner Takeshi Morishima to participate in the Global Tag League of 2010, which ran from January 9 to January 24. Sasaki and Morishima finished the league with a total of four points, losing out to A-Block winners Yoshihiro Takayama and Takuma Sano. Sasaki also participated in Pro-Wrestling NOAH's Global League Tournament of 2010 from March 28 to May 2. During the league, he defeated Jun Akiyama in a highly acclaimed contest. Sasaki finished with a total of seven points, losing out to eventual winner Yoshihiro Takayama.

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Between 2001 and 2003, Sasaki took a couple hiatuses from pro wrestling and focused on Mixed Martial Arts. He has two fights under his belt, winning both by submission in the first round beating Dan Chase in 2001 and future UFC fighter Christian Wellisch in 2003.^[4]

During this period, he would alter his look, cutting his signature mullet (he would occasionally dye his hair different colors), wearing ring gear bearing the word, "Volcano," and adapting moves he learned in MMA training to expand his pro wrestling moveset.^[1]

Diamond Ring[link]

Afterwards, he became a freelancer and established his own agency, Kensuke Office. The agency is run by Sasaki's wife (former Joshi wrestler), Akira Hokuto, and currently represents Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kento Miyahara, Takashi Yoshioka and Takashi Okita. Under the Kensuke Office agency, Sasaki and pupil Katsuhiko Nakajima toured other promotions, particularly All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah.

In September 2006, Kensuke Office was announced as a member of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance. Beginning in 2007, Kensuke Office has organised its own shows, and some of the talent featured on the shows include Minoru Suzuki, Jun Akiyama, Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kikutaro, Takeshi Morishima, KENTA and Catfish Man. In January 2012, Kensuke Office was renamed Diamond Ring. Currently, Diamond Ring serves as developmental territory of Pro Wrestling NOAH, featuring several of its superstars.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • King Buster (Release three-quarter nelson suplex)
  • Northern Lights Bomb^[1] – adopted from his wife, Akira Hokuto
  • Power Special / Strangle Hold Gamma (Step-over head-hold ambar)^[5]
  • Volcano Eruption (Kneeling half nelson driver) – Used on rare occasions

• Signature moves
  • Backhand chop
  • Boston crab
  • Standing inverted figure four leglock
  • Frankensteiner
  • Ipponzeoi (Rolling over the shoulder arm drag)^[5]
  • Lariat
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Dragon
    • German
    • Tiger
  • One-handed bulldog
  • Scoop powerslam
  • STK – Space Tornado Kensuke (Head vice STO)
  • Tornado Bomb (Leg trap one shoulder powerbomb)

• With Road Warrior Hawk or Road Warrior Animal
  • Doomsday Device

• Managers
  • Sonny Onoo^[6]
  • Akira Hokuto (real-life spouse)

• Entrance themes
  • "Hurricanes Bam" (1987–1988)
  • "Power" (1990–1995)
  • "Take The Dream" (1996–1997)
  • "Take The Dream - Senko" (1997–1998)
  • "Take The Dream - Infinity" (1998–2001)
  • "Take The Dream - The World" (2001–present)
  • "Hellraiser" by Ozzy Osbourne - as Power Warrior

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Katsuhiko Nakajima
  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Champion's Carnival (2005)
  • January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (2007) ^[7]
  • SAMURAI! TV Cup Triple Arrow Tournament (2007) - with Katsuhiko Nakajima & Seiya Sanada ^[8]

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • Suzuki Cup (2007) - with Ultimo Dragon and Marco Corleone ^[8]

• Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling
  • World Magma the Greatest Championship (1 time)
  • WJ Strongest Tournament (2003) ^[8]

• Hawai'i Championship Wrestling
  • HCW Kamehameha Heritage Championship (1 time)
  • HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kenjiro Katahira

• Michinoku Pro Wrestling
  • Tohoku Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Katsuhiko Nakajima

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Hiroshi Hase (2), Hawk Warrior (2), Riki Chōshū (1), Kazuo Yamazaki (1) and Shiro Koshinaka (1)
  • G1 Climax (1997,^[9] 2000)
  • Japan/U.S All Star Tournament (1996) ^[8]
  • G1 Climax Special Tag Team Tournament (1997) - with Kazuo Yamazaki ^[8]
  • SKY PerfecTV! Cup (2001) ^[10]
  • MVP Award (2000)^[11]
  • Singles Best Bout (2000) vs. Toshiaki Kawada on October 9^[11]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #23 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998^[12]
  • PWI ranked him #27 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years with Hiroshi Hase in 2003^[13]
  • PWI ranked him #103 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[14]

• Pro Wrestling Noah
  • GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Takeshi Morishima
  • One Night Six Man Tag Tournament (2012) – with Kento Miyahara and Takeshi Morishima

• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sumo Hara

• Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
  • Match of the Year (2000)- vs. Toshiaki Kawada on October 9^[15]
  • Match of the Year (2005)- vs. Kenta Kobashi on July 18^[15]
  • Outstanding Performance Prize (2008)^[15]
  • Wrestler of the Year (2004)^[15]

• Toryumon Mexico
  • UWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) - with Animal Warrior^[16]

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹

• World Wrestling Council
  • WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mr. Pogo

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Match of the Year (1991) with Hiroshi Hase vs. Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner at the WCW/New Japan Supershow

¹The championship was won in Tokyo, Japan as part of an interpromotional card between New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.

Personal life[link]

Kensuke Sasaki married Akira Hokuto on October 1, 1995, after proposing to her on their first date.^[17] Together, they have two sons: Kennosuke (born November 1998) and Shinnosuke (born March 2003).^[18]

Also, Kensuke has a strong bond with his protégé Katsuhiko Nakajima, whom he considers a member of the family.

MMA record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round, Time	Notes
Win	2-0	Christian Wellisch	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	X-1[disambiguation needed ]	2003-09-06	1 2:35
Win	1-0	Dan Chase	Submission (Armbar)	GC 5 - Rumble in the Rockies	2001-08-19	1 0:36

Notes[link]