KinchStalker Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 (edited) 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.] --- 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: Shinzaku Nitta: former patron of Rikidōzan, who provided early financial support to begin the JWA 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 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. ----------- Complete JWA (Japan Wrestling Association/Nippon Puroresu/"Japan Pro Wrestling") Performers Azumafuji Great Kojika Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) Kokichi Endo Mammoth Suzuki Masatake Kusatsu (aka Great Kusatsu) Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura) Masio Koma Masao Ito Mitsu Hirai Mr. Chin Motoshi Okuma Mitsuo Hata (aka Rocky Hata) Surugaumi Tadaharu Tanaka Toyonobori Tsuneharu Sugiyama (aka Thunder Sugiyama) Referees Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) Broadcasters Kokichi Endo Takashi Yamada Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Kokichi Endo Toyonobori --------- 1950s Regional Promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, Asia Pro Wrestling, etc.) Wrestlers Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Yuichi Deguchi (aka Mr. Chin) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] --------- Tokyo Pro Wrestling Wrestlers Isamu Teranishi Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura) Tadaharu Tanaka Takeshi Ōiso Tsuyoshi Sendai (aka Tetsunosuke Daigo) Toyonobori ---------- IWE (International Wrestling Enterprise/Kokusai Puroresu) Wrestlers Animal Hamaguchi Atsushi Hongo (aka Munenori Higo) Devil Murasaki Goro Tsurumi Great Kusatsu Isamu Teranishi Katsuzo Ōiyama Mammoth Suzuki Masahiko Takasugi Mighty Inoue Mr. Chin Nobuyoshi Sugawara (aka Apollo Sugawara) Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Snake Amami Strong Kobayashi Tadaharu Tanaka Takeshi Ōiso Tenshin Yonemura Tetsunosuke Daigo Thunder Sugiyama Toyonobori Referees Mammoth Suzuki Broadcasters Kosuke Takeuchi Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel 1. Great Kusatsu ---------- NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling/Shin Nihon Puroresuringu) Wrestlers Animal Hamaguchi Isamu Teranishi Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Strong Kobayashi Toyonobori Broadcasters Kokichi Endo ---------- AJPW (All Japan Pro Wrestling/Zen Nihon Puroresu) Performers Apollo Sugawara Goro Tsurumi [freelance] Great Kojika Isamu Teranishi Masahiko Takasugi (AKA Ultraseven) Masao Ito Masio Koma Mighty Inoue Mitsu Hirai Motoshi Okuma Munenori Higo Rocky Hata Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Thunder Sugiyama Referees Joe Higuchi Mighty Inoue Broadcasters Kosuke Takeuchi Takao Kuramochi Takashi Yamada ---------- UWF "1.0" (Universal Wrestling Federation) Wrestlers Masami Soranaka Ryuma Go ---------- MISCELLANEOUS Major Journalists Kosuke Takeuchi Edited September 7 by KinchStalker added Rusher Kimura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted May 19 Author Report Share Posted May 19 List of Future Candidates JWA Spoiler Wrestlers Akio Sato Akihisa Takachiho (aka The Great Kabuki) Antonio Inoki Gantetsu Matsuoka Giant Baba Haruka Eigen Hiro Matsuda Isao Yoshihara Kantaro Hoshino Katsuhisa Shibata Katsuji Adachi (aka Mr. Hito) Kazuo Sakurada Kintaro Oki Kotetsu Yamamoto Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito) Masanori Toguchi (aka Kim Duk) Masashi Ozawa (aka Killer Khan) Matty Suzuki Michiaki Yoshimura Mitsuo Momota Motoyuki Kitazawa Osamu Abe Osamu Kido Rashomon Tsunagoro Rikidozan Seiei Kimura (aka Kengo Kimura) Seiji Sakaguchi Takao Kaneko Tokio Kido Tomotsugu Kutsuwada (aka Samson Kutsuwada) Umanosuke Ueda Yonetaro Tanaka Yoshinosato Referees Jerry Murdock Oki Shikina Yoshio Kyushuyama Yusef Turk Broadcasters Hiroshi Ijuin Hiroshi Tazuhama Ichiro Shimizu Kazuo Tokumitsu Yoshinosato Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hiroshi Iwata Isao Yoshihara Michiaki Yoshimura Shigeo Kado Yoshinosato Other 1950s promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, Asia Pro Wrestling, etc.) Spoiler Wrestlers Hideyuki Nagasawa Kiyotaba Otsubo Masahiko Kimura Michiaki Yoshimura Takeo Toda Toshio Yamaguchi Umenosuke Kiyomigawa Tokyo Pro Wrestling (1966-1967) Spoiler Wrestlers Antonio Inoki Katsuhisa Shibata Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito) Masaru Eigen (aka Haruka Eigen) Motoyuki Kitazawa Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hisashi Shinma IWE Spoiler Wrestlers Asataro Sano Ashura Hara Chati Yokouchi [freelance] Daigoro Ohgiyama Hideyuki Nagasawa Hiro Matsuda Hiromichi Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki) Jiro Inazuma (aka Gerry Morrow) ["exchange student"] Ichimasa Wakamatsu (aka Shogun "KY" Wakamatsu) Kim Duk [freelance] Kintaro Oki Mach Hayato Matty Suzuki Mr. Hito [freelance] Mr. Seki (aka Mr. Pogo) [freelance] Taro Kuroshio (aka Ted Herbert) ["exchange student"] Umanosuke Ueda [freelance] Umenosuke Kiyomigawa [freelance] Yang Seung-Hi ["exchange student"] Yasu Fujii Referees Mitsuo Endo Osamu Abe Takao Maemizo Announcers Kazutoshi Iibashi Toshio Suzuki Broadcasters Kosuke Takeuchi Tadao Monma Takashi Kikuchi Yoshinosato Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Isao Yoshihara Toshio Suzuki NJPW Spoiler Wrestlers Akira Katayama Akira Maeda Akira Nogami Antonio Inoki Don Arakawa Donald Takeshi El Samurai George Takano Gran Hamada Hiroshi Hase Hisakatsu Oya Jushin Thunder Liger Kantaro Hoshino Katsuhisa Shibata Kazuo Sakurada Kazuo Yamazaki Keiji Mutoh Kengo Kimura Kensuke Sasaki Killer Khan Kotetsu Yamamoto Kuniaki Kobayashi Masahiro Chono Masanobu Kurisu Naoki Sano Nobuhiko Takada Norio Honaga Osamu Kido Riki Choshu Satoru Sayama Shinichi Nakano Shinji Sasazaki Shinya Hashimoto Shiro Koshinaka Shoji Ito Shoji Kai (aka Motoyuki Kitazawa) Shunji Kosugi Shunji Takano Super Strong Machine Takashi Iizuka Tatsumi Fujinami Tatsutoshi Goto Yoshiaki Fujiwara Referees Katsuhisa Shibata Kotetsu Yamamoto Mr. Takahashi Yonetaro Tanaka Announcers Kero Tanaka Naoki Otsuka Tetsuo Baisho Broadcasters Ichiro Furutachi Keiichi Funabashi Kotetsu Yamamoto Yasuo Sakurai Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hisashi Shinma Naoki Otsuka Tetsuo Baisho Yusef Turk AJPW Spoiler Wrestlers Akio Sato Akira Taue Atsushi Onita Genichiro Tenryu Giant Baba Isao Takagi Jumbo Tsuruta Kenta Kobashi Kim Duk/Tiger Toguchi Kintaro Oki Mr. Hayashi Mitsuharu Misawa Mitsuo Momota Munenori Higo Naoki Takano Samson Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki) Shinichi Nakano Tarzan Goto Toshiaki Kawada Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Umanosuke Ueda Yoshihiro Momota Referees Akihiko Fukuda Kyohei Wada Mr. Hayashi Announcers Gunji Hara Ryu Nakata Yoshihiro Momota Broadcasters Akira Fukuzawa Fumio Matsunaga Kenji Wakabayashi Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Akio Sato Mitsuo Matsune Motoko Baba Ryozo Yonezawa MISCELLANEOUS Spoiler Major Journalists Hiroshi Tazuhama: pioneering puroresu journalist, and codifier of the fictionalized approach that subsequent journalists would use to mythologize Japanese wrestlers Shigeo Kado: early puroresu journalist turned JWA commissioner 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 Yoshihiro Inoue: editor of Osaka tabloid Weekly Fight Magazine, and originator of the katsuji puroresu style that changed puroresu journalism forever Industry supporters 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted July 2 Author Report Share Posted July 2 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 Azumafuji (Wrestler, JWA) Devil Murasaki (Wrestler, IWE) Great Kojika (Wrestler/Promoter, JWA/AJPW/BJW) Joe Higuchi (Wrestler/Referee, AJPWA/JWA/AJPW) Kosuke Takeuchi (Commentator/Journalist, IWE/AJPW) Mammoth Suzuki (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/Tokyo Pro (Toyonobori)/IWE) Mr. Chin (Wrestler, AJPWA/JWA/IWE/FMW) Mitsu Hirai (Wrestler, JWA/AJPW) Munenori Higo (Wrestler, IWE/AJPW) Snake Amami (Wrestler, IWE) Surugaumi (Wrestler, JWA) Tadaharu Tanaka (Wrestler, JWA/Tokyo Pro (Toyonobori)/IWE) Takeshi Oiso (Wrestler/Promoter, IWE) Tenshin Yonemura (Wrestler, IWE) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPS Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted August 2 Author Report Share Posted August 2 UPDATES, JULY 2022 I spent this month writing profiles for the International Wrestling Enterprise. I made progress on a Rusher Kimura profile that I intend to be the most detailed that I have yet written (as a warmup for the heavy hitters), but it might not be done until fall, as I am waiting to receive and transcribe a resource that I want to cite in it. New Profiles Animal Hamaguchi (Wrestler/Trainer, IWE/NJPW/Japan Pro) Goro Tsurumi (Wrestler/Promoter, IWE/AJPW/SWS/NOW/Kokusai Pro Wrestling Promotion) Great Kusatsu (Wrestler/Executive/Booker (show), JWA/IWE) Isamu Teranishi (Wrestler, Tokyo Pro/IWE/NJPW/Japan Pro/AJPW) Katsuzo Oiyama (Wrestler, IWE) Mighty Inoue (Wrestler/Referee/Broadcaster, IWE/AJPW/NOAH) Ryuma Go (Wrestler/Promoter/Trainer, IWE/NJPW/UWF/AJPW/Pioneer Senshi/Oriental Pro/Samurai Pro Wrestling) Strong Kobayashi (Wrestler, IWE/NJPW) Tetsunosuke Daigo (Wrestler/Booker (talent)/Trainer, Tokyo Pro/IWE) Thunder Sugiyama (Wrestler, JWA/IWE/AJPW) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted September 7 Author Report Share Posted September 7 UPDATES, AUGUST 2022 I began my first Deluxe Profile for Rusher Kimura. I have released three of the four parts I plan to write for him. Part Four will be worked on in September, although I intend to shift my focus back to transcribing resources for personal research rather than writing these profiles, at least for the time being. New Profiles Rusher Kimura (Wrestler, JWA/Tokyo Pro/IWE/NJPW/AJPW/NOAH) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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