KinchStalker's Puroresu Profile Index

[KinchStalker]

I have recently begun to post puroresu profiles on the underused Wrestlers & Other Personalities section of the Pro Wrestling Only database. I believe that this section of the board has massive potential as a component of my research efforts, as it provides a perfect space to collect information on various personnel without the burden of any narrative expectations that a puroresu history post might have.

This thread will contain an index of those I have made, as well as an extensive itinerary of possible future subjects. In addition to my general focus on mens’ puroresu in the Showa period, my emphasis for the foreseeable future will be lesser stars for whom information is scarce in English. All threads I create will be tagged with promotions in which each performer did major work, although obviously I can only do this in cases where I was the one who created the thread.

[NOTE: I believe that in cases where a gimmick was a relatively small portion of one’s career, that stage name should not be given precedence. If/when I write a Satoru Sayama profile, for example, I will post a link in a Tiger Mask thread to a Sayama profile which encompasses his Tiger Mask run. However, if I were to write a profile on Tiger Mask IV, I would either place him in that thread after placing redirects to Sayama, Misawa, and Kanemoto threads for TMs I-III, or give “Tiger Mask (IV)” its own thread.]

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All profiled persons will be sorted by all promotions for which they worked, in one or more of five categories.

Performers: Mostly wrestlers, but the verbiage is expanded to include managers as well. A wrestler will be sorted with a company if they were ever under contract to them, or if they did noted freelance work. (This is to accommodate cases like Goro Tsurumi, who stayed freelance in his near-decade of bookings for AJPW, or US-based Japanese wrestlers like Hiro Matsuda and post-JWA Umanosuke Ueda. Korean wrestlers will also be categorized in this way.)

Referees: Self-explanatory.

Announcers: The guy with the microphone.

Broadcasters: The people at the commentary table.

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel: The people behind the curtain. This category is deliberately flexible to accommodate important persons that did not perform themselves. Obvious candidates include Hisashi Shinma, Mitsuo Matsune, Motoko Baba, and Naoki Otsuka. I am conscious about the potential clutter that such a category could bring about, and am aware that it may not be totally justifiable under the Wrestlers & Other Personalities banner. It is true that this category could be expanded to include significant shareholders and benefactors such as:

1. Shinzaku Nitta: former patron of Rikidōzan, who provided early financial support to begin the JWA
2. Sadao Nagata: entertainment industry don who, decades after bringing the yakuza into the industry through talent management, provided the JWA with crucial support as a touring enterprise
3. Yoshio Kodama, Kazuo Taoka, and Hizayuki Machii: underworld figures with executive positions in the JWA’s shareholders association, who steered the promotion in accordance to their own interests (see: the aborted plan to have Oki inherit Rikidōzan’s stage name to tie into a South Korean expansion)

However, for everyone’s sake, I will stick to a conservative interpretation of the category, and I will exercise discretion in who I select to profile.

Finally, if I can gather enough information to justify it, I will write profiles for wrestlers in early non-JWA promotions, such as Toshio Yamaguchi’s mid-1950s All Japan Pro Wrestling Association.

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Complete

JWA (Japan Wrestling Association/Nippon Puroresu/"Japan Pro Wrestling")

Spoiler

Performers

1. Azumafuji
2. Great Kojika
3. Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi)
4. Kokichi Endo 
5. Mammoth Suzuki
6. Masio Koma
7. Masao Ito 
8. Mitsu Hirai
9. Mr. Chin
10. Motoshi Okuma
11. Mitsuo Hata (aka Rocky Hata)
12. Surugaumi 
13. Tadaharu Tanaka
14. Toyonobori

Referees

1. Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi)

Broadcasters

1. Kokichi Endo
2. Takashi Yamada

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Kokichi Endo
2. Toyonobori  

Other 1950s promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, Asia Pro Wrestling, etc.)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo]
2. Yuichi Deguchi (aka Mr. Chin) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo]

Tokyo Pro Wrestling

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Tadaharu Tanaka
2. Takeshi Ōiso
3. Toyonobori

IWE (International Wrestling Enterprise/Kokusai Puroresu)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Devil Murasaki
2. Mammoth Suzuki  
3. Mr. Chin
4. Atsushi Hongo (aka Munenori Higo)
5. Masahiko Takasugi
6. Nobuyoshi Sugawara (aka Apollo Sugawara)
7. Snake Amami
8. Tadaharu Tanaka
9. Takeshi Ōiso 
10. Tenshin Yonemura 
11. Toyonobori

Referees

1. Mammoth Suzuki

Broadcasters

1. Kosuke Takeuchi

NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling/Shin Nihon Puroresuringu)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Toyonobori

Broadcasters

1. Kokichi Endo

AJPW (All Japan Pro Wrestling/Zen Nihon Puroresu)

Spoiler

Performers

1. Apollo Sugawara
2. Great Kojika
3. Masahiko Takasugi (AKA Ultraseven)
4. Masao Ito
5. Masio Koma
6. Mitsu Hirai
7. Motoshi Okuma
8. Munenori Higo
9. Rocky Hata

Referees

1. Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi)

Broadcasters

1. Kosuke Takeuchi
2. Takao Kuramochi
3. Takashi Yamada

UWF "1.0" (Universal Wrestling Federation)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Masami Soranaka

MISCELLANEOUS

Spoiler

 

Major Journalists

1. Kosuke Takeuchi

 

[KinchStalker]

List of Future Candidates

JWA

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Akio Sato
2. Akihisa Takachiho (aka The Great Kabuki)
3. Antonio Inoki
4. Gantetsu Matsuoka
5. Giant Baba
6. Haruka Eigen 
7. Hiro Matsuda
8. Isao Yoshihara
9. Kantaro Hoshino
10. Katsuhisa Shibata
11. Katsuji Adachi (aka Mr. Hito)
12. Kazuo Sakurada
13. Kintaro Oki
14. Kotetsu Yamamoto
15. Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito)
16. Masanori Toguchi (aka Kim Duk)
17. Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura)
18. Masashi Ozawa (aka Killer Khan)
19. Masatake Kusatsu (aka Great Kusatsu)
20. Matty Suzuki
21. Michiaki Yoshimura
22. Mitsuo Momota
23. Motoyuki Kitazawa
24. Osamu Abe
25. Osamu Kido
26. Rashomon Tsunagoro
27. Rikidozan
28. Seiei Kimura (aka Kengo Kimura)
29. Seiji Sakaguchi
30. Takao Kaneko
31. Tokio Kido
32. Tomotsugu Kutsuwada (aka Samson Kutsuwada)
33. Tsuneharu Sugiyama (aka Thunder Sugiyama)
34. Umanosuke Ueda
35. Yonetaro Tanaka
36. Yoshinosato

Referees

1. Jerry Murdock
2. Oki Shikina
3. Yoshio Kyushuyama
4. Yusef Turk

Broadcasters

1. Hiroshi Ijuin
2. Hiroshi Tazuhama
3. Ichiro Shimizu
4. Kazuo Tokumitsu
5. Yoshinosato

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Hiroshi Iwata
2. Isao Yoshihara
3. Michiaki Yoshimura
4. Shigeo Kado
5. Yoshinosato

Other 1950s promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, Asia Pro Wrestling, etc.)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Hideyuki Nagasawa
2. Kiyotaba Otsubo
3. Masahiko Kimura
4. Michiaki Yoshimura
5. Takeo Toda
6. Toshio Yamaguchi
7. Umenosuke Kiyomigawa

 

Tokyo Pro Wrestling (1966-1967)

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Antonio Inoki
2. Isamu Teranishi
3. Katsuhisa Shibata
4. Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito)
5. Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura)
6. Masaru Eigen (aka Haruka Eigen)
7. Matty Suzuki
8. Motoyuki Kitazawa
9. Tsuyoshi Sendai 

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Hisashi Shinma

 IWE

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Animal Hamaguchi
2. Ashura Hara
3. Chati Yokouchi
4. Goro Tsurumi
5. Great Kusatsu
6. Hiro Matsuda
7. Jiro Inazuma (aka Gerry Morrow) ["exchange student"]
8. Hiromichi Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki)
9. Ichimasa Wakamatsu (aka Shogun "KY" Wakamatsu)
10. Isamu Teranishi
11. Katsuzo Oiyama
12. Kintaro Oki
13. Mach Hayato
14. Mighty Inoue
15. Rusher Kimura
16. Ryuma Go
17. Strong Kobayashi
18. Taro Kuroshio (aka Ted Herbert) ["exchange student"]
19. Tetsunosuke Daigo
20. Thunder Sugiyama
21. Umanosuke Ueda
22. Umenosuke Kiyomigawa
23. Yang Seung-Hi ["exchange student"]
24. Yasu Fujii

Referees

1. Mitsuo Endo
2. Osamu Abe
3. Takao Maemizo

Announcers

1. Kazutoshi Iibashi
2. Toshio Suzuki

Broadcasters

1. Kosuke Takeuchi
2. Tadao Monma

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Isao Yoshihara
2. Toshio Suzuki

NJPW

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Akira Katayama
2. Akira Maeda
3. Akira Nogami
4. Antonio Inoki
5. Don Arakawa
6. Donald Takeshi
7. El Samurai
8. George Takano
9. Gran Hamada
10. Hiroshi Hase
11. Hisakatsu Oya
12. Jushin Thunder Liger
13. Kantaro Hoshino
14. Katsuhisa Shibata
15. Kazuo Sakurada
16. Kazuo Yamazaki
17. Keiji Mutoh
18. Kengo Kimura
19. Kensuke Sasaki
20. Killer Khan
21. Kotetsu Yamamoto
22. Kuniaki Kobayashi
23. Masahiro Chono
24. Masanobu Kurisu
25. Naoki Sano
26. Nobuhiko Takada
27. Norio Honaga
28. Osamu Kido
29. Riki Choshu
30. Satoru Sayama
31. Shinichi Nakano
32. Shinji Sasazaki
33. Shinya Hashimoto
34. Shiro Koshinaka
35. Shoji Ito
36. Shoji Kai (aka Motoyuki Kitazawa)
37. Shunji Kosugi
38. Shunji Takano
39. Super Strong Machine
40. Takashi Iizuka
41. Tatsumi Fujinami
42. Tatsutoshi Goto
43. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Referees

1. Katsuhisa Shibata
2. Mr. Takahashi
3. Yonetaro Tanaka

Announcers

1. Kero Tanaka
2. Naoki Otsuka
3. Tetsuo Baisho

Broadcasters

1. Ichiro Furutachi
2. Keiichi Funabashi
3. Kotetsu Yamamoto
4. Yasuo Sakurai

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Hisashi Shinma
2. Naoki Otsuka
3. Tetsuo Baisho
4. Yusef Turk

AJPW

Spoiler

Wrestlers

1. Akio Sato
2. Akira Taue
3. Atsushi Onita
4. Genichiro Tenryu
5. Goro Tsurumi [freelance]
6. Giant Baba
7. Isamu Teranishi
8. Isao Takagi
9. Jumbo Tsuruta
10. Kenta Kobashi
11. Kim Duk/Tiger Toguchi
12. Kintaro Oki
13. Mighty Inoue
14. Mr. Hayashi
15. Mitsuharu Misawa
16. Mitsuo Momota
17. Munenori Higo
18. Naoki Takano
19. Ryuma Go
20. Samson Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki)
21. Shinichi Nakano
22. Tarzan Goto
23. Thunder Sugiyama
24. Toshiaki Kawada
25. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
26. Umanosuke Ueda
27. Yoshihiro Momota

Referees

1. Akihiko Fukuda
2. Kyohei Wada
3. Mr. Hayashi

Announcers

1. Ryu Nakata
2. Yoshihiro Momota

Broadcasters

1. Akira Fukuzawa
2. Fumio Matsunaga
3. Kenji Wakabayashi
4. Kosuke Takeuchi

Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel

1. Akio Sato
2. Mitsuo Matsune
3. Motoko Baba
4. Ryozo Yonezawa

MISCELLANEOUS

Spoiler

Major Journalists

1. Hiroshi Tazuhama: pioneering puroresu journalist, and codifier of the fictionalized approach that subsequent journalists would use to mythologize Japanese wrestlers
2. Shigeo Kado: early puroresu journalist turned JWA commissioner
3. Tarzan Yamamoto: the maverick editor of Weekly Pro Wrestling's prime period and an important creative consultant behind AJPW's resurgence in the late 80s and early 90s
4. Yoshihiro Inoue: editor of Osaka tabloid Weekly Fight Magazine, and originator of the katsuji puroresu style that changed puroresu journalism forever

Industry supporters

1. Ichiro Hatta: Japan's "father of amateur wrestling", who directly supported puroresu in order to promote his sport, and whose influence on wrestling and martial arts was massive

 

[KinchStalker]

Starting with June, I will update this thread with monthly lists of new additions (and potentially, major revisions) to the index.

UPDATES, JUNE 2022

New Profiles

1. Azumafuji (Wrestler, JWA)
2. Devil Murasaki (Wrestler, IWE)
3. Great Kojika (Wrestler/Promoter, JWA/AJPW/BJW)
4. Joe Higuchi (Wrestler/Referee, AJPWA/JWA/AJPW)
5. Kosuke Takeuchi (Commentator/Journalist, IWE/AJPW)
6. Mammoth Suzuki (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/Tokyo Pro (Toyonobori)/IWE)
7. Mr. Chin (Wrestler, AJPWA/JWA/IWE/FMW)
8. Mitsu Hirai (Wrestler, JWA/AJPW)
9. Munenori Higo (Wrestler, IWE/AJPW)
10. Snake Amami (Wrestler, IWE)
11. Surugaumi (Wrestler, JWA)
12. Tadaharu Tanaka (Wrestler, JWA/Tokyo Pro (Toyonobori)/IWE)
13. Takeshi Oiso (Wrestler/Promoter, IWE)
14. Tenshin Yonemura (Wrestler, IWE)

[SPS]

Apologies if I'm cluttering the thread, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the great content and information in your posts. I can only imagine how much time and work it takes to share all these translations and stories.

I've learned so much about things I knew bits and pieces of but not in any sort of detail, as well as about some people I've never heard of with these profiles.

I find myself revisiting these posts and reading them over and over and look forward to the updates when they come. 

Again a huge thank you for all your effort.