Yoshinari Ogawa

Yoshinari Ogawa (小川良成; Ogawa Yoshinari) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting his opponents into quick pins.

Career

Yoshinari Ogawa debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1985, working on the undercard, until joining Genichiro Tenryu's group Revolution, which helped him elevated higher in the card. He remained in the group until it disbanded in 1990, upon Tenryu's abrupt departure from AJPW.

After Tenryu left, Ogawa became one of the top stars in AJPW's junior heavyweight division in the 1990s, winning the junior heavyweight championship three times. He also reigned as tag team champion with his mentor, Mitsuharu Misawa. Ogawa left AJPW for Misawa's newly started Pro Wrestling Noah in 2000, where he continued his tag team with Misawa. On April 4, 2002 he scored a huge upset, beating Jun Akiyama very quickly to become the GHC Heavyweight Champion.

Mitsuharu Misawa

Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu, June 18, 1962 – June 13, 2009) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He made his professional debut on August 21, 1981 for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). From 1984 until 1990, Misawa wrestled as the second generation Tiger Mask, as AJPW had purchased the rights of the Tiger Mask gimmick from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Following the death of AJPW head booker Giant Baba in 1999, Misawa inherited the position of AJPW president. After being removed as president by a board of executives, Misawa left AJPW in May 2000 to form Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). In 2006, Misawa founded and served as the chairman of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA).

Misawa was an eight time world champion in Japanese promotions, having won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship five times and the GHC Heavyweight Championship three times, additionally being the inaugural holder of the latter championship. His impact was also recognized by critics, as he was also named Wrestler of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter on three occasions.

Genichiro Tenryu

Genichiro Shimada (嶋田 源一郎, Shimada Gen'ichirō, born February 2, 1950), better known as Genichiro Tenryu (天龍 源一郎, Tenryū Gen'ichirō) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. 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 shikona.

Sumo wrestling career

As a sumo wrestler, Tenryu was ranked as a sekitori for 27 tournaments, 16 of them in the top makuuchi division. His highest rank was maegashira 1. Upon the death of his stablemaster at Nishonoseki stable he wanted to join former stablemate Daikirin's newly established Oshiogawa stable, which had just broken off from Nishonoseki, but the JSA insisted he stay at Nishonoseki whose new stablemaster, Kongō, he did not get along with. He finished one more tournament, and even though his career still showed promise, he decided to leave the sumo world at the young age of 26 in September 1976.

Professional wrestling career

Scouted by Giant Baba, the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) owner, Tenryu was sent to Amarillo, Texas to be trained by Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk, and debuted in Texas in 1976, against Ted DiBiase. After returning to Japan, he stayed in the undercard until about 1982 when he began to get a slight push in that year's Champion Carnival tournament. In 1983, following a brief stint in Jim Crockett Promotions, his push began in earnest when Jumbo Tsuruta pursued the NWA International heavyweight title, now the main title in the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

Jun Akiyama

Jun Akiyama (秋山 準, Akiyama Jun, born October 9, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the president, representative director, co-head booker, and former two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. Akiyama is known for his serious style and outstanding, time-tested work as a tag team wrestler, as well as his innovation of the Blue Thunder Driver and the wrist–clutch exploder suplex.

Before wrestling

In junior high school, Akiyama practiced swimming and in senior high school he did freestyle amateur wrestling and judo. After high school he went to Senshu University in Tokyo. There he joined an amateur wrestling team that produced other professional wrestlers Riki Choshu, Hiroshi Hase and Manabu Nakanishi.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–2000)

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling (colloquially abbreviated to pro wrestling or wrestling) is an athletic form of entertainment based on a fictionalized, highly exaggerated portrayal of a combat sport. Taking the form of live events held by touring promotions, it portrays a unique style of combat based on a combination of adopted styles, which include classical wrestling, catch wrestling and various forms of martial arts, as well as an innovative style based on grappling (holds/throws), striking, and aerialism. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used.

The content including match outcomes is choreographed and the combative actions and reactions are executed in special manners designed to both protect from, yet simulate pain. These facts were once kept highly secret but are now openly declared as the truth. By and large, the true nature of the content is ignored by the performing promotion in official media in order to sustain and promote the willing suspension of disbelief for the audience by maintaining an aura of verisimilitude. Fan communications by individual wrestlers and promotions through outside media (i.e. interviews) will often directly acknowledge the fictional nature of the spectacle.