KinchStalker Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 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.] TOTAL PROFILES BY AUTHOR KinchStalker: 61 Noah's Savior: 8 --- EXPLANATION OF CATEGORIES Spoiler 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. This category can also extend to television executives such as Takehira Nagasawa, who was never an employee of New Japan Pro-Wrestling but was nevertheless important to its story. 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 somewhat conservative interpretation of the category, and I will exercise discretion in who I select to profile. ----------- DANSHI PURORESU Japan Wrestling Association (日本プロレス) Spoiler Performers Azumafuji Donald Takeshi Fujitayama Gantetsu Matsuoka Great Kojika Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) Haruka Eigen Hideyuki Nagasawa Junzo Yoshinosato Katsuhisa Shibata Kiyotaka Otsubo Kokichi Endo Mammoth Suzuki Masatake Kusatsu (aka Great Kusatsu) Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura) Masashi Ozawa Masio Koma Masao Ito Michiaki Yoshimura Mitsu Hirai Mr. Chin Motoshi Okuma Motoyuki Kitazawa Mitsuo Hata (aka Rocky Hata) Osamu Abe Rashomon Tsunegoro Surugaumi Tadaharu Tanaka Takao Kaneko Tamio Takeshita Toyonobori Tsuneharu Sugiyama (aka Thunder Sugiyama) Umanosuke Ueda Ushinosuke Hayashi (aka Mr. Hayashi) Yusuf Turk Referees Hideyuki Nagasawa Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) Toshio Komatsu Yusuf Turk Announcers Fujitayama Toshio Komatsu Broadcasters Kokichi Endo Takashi Yamada Michiaki Yoshimura Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hideyuki Nagasawa Junzo Yoshinosato Kiyotaka Otsubo Kokichi Endo Michiaki Yoshimura Toshio Komatsu Toyonobori 1950s Regional Promotions (All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, Asia Pro Wrestling, etc.) Spoiler Wrestlers Hideyuki Nagasawa [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Kanji Higuchi (aka Joe Higuchi) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Kiyotaka Otsubo [Asia Pro Wrestling] Michiaki Yoshimura [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Toshio Yamaguchi [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Umeyuki Kiyomigawa [AJPW Association, Kokusai Puroresu (Kimura)] Yuichi Deguchi (aka Mr. Chin) [AJPW Association/Yamaguchi Dojo] Tokyo Pro Wrestling (東京プロレス) Spoiler Wrestlers Haruka Eigen (as Masaru Eigen) Isamu Teranishi Iwao Takeshita Katsuhisa Shibata Sankichi Takasakiyama (aka Motoyuki Kitazawa) Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura) Tadaharu Tanaka Takeshi Ōiso Tsuyoshi Sendai (aka Tetsunosuke Daigo) Toyonobori Referees Osamu Abe Announcers Toshio Komatsu International Wrestling Enterprise/Kokusai Puroresu (国際プロレス) Spoiler Wrestlers Animal Hamaguchi Asataro Sano Atsushi Hongo (aka Munenori Higo) Daigoro Ogiyama Devil Murasaki Goro Tsurumi Great Kusatsu Hideyuki Nagasawa Ichimasa Wakamatsu 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 Tamio Takeshita Tenshin Yonemura Tetsunosuke Daigo Thunder Sugiyama Toyonobori Umanosuke Ueda Umeyuki Kiyomigawa Referees Mammoth Suzuki Osamu Abe Takao Kaneko Takao Maemizo Tamio Takeshita Umeyuki Kiyomigawa Announcers Tamio Takeshita Broadcasters Junzo Yoshinosato Kosuke Takeuchi Umeyuki Kiyomigawa Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Great Kusatsu Hideyuki Nagasawa Tamio Takeshita New Japan Pro-Wrestling (新日本プロレス) Spoiler Performers Animal Hamaguchi Donald Takeshi Haruka Eigen Isamu Teranishi Katsuhisa Shibata Shoji Kai (aka Motoyuki Kitazawa) Killer Khan Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Shogun KY Wakamatsu Strong Kobayashi Toyonobori Umanosuke Ueda Referees Katsuhisa Shibata Umeyuki Kiyomigawa (one-off) Yusuf Turk Broadcasters Kokichi Endo All Japan Pro Wrestling (全日本プロレス) [also includes Japan Pro Wrestling (ジャパンプロレス) (1984-1987)] Spoiler Performers Apollo Sugawara Gantetsu Matsuoka Goro Tsurumi [freelance] Great Kojika Haruka Eigen Isamu Teranishi Killer Khan Masahiko Takasugi (AKA Ultraseven) Masao Ito Masio Koma Mighty Inoue Mr. Hayashi Mitsu Hirai Motoshi Okuma Munenori Higo Rocky Hata Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Thunder Sugiyama Umanosuke Ueda Referees Joe Higuchi Mighty Inoue Mr. Hayashi Broadcasters Kosuke Takeuchi Takao Kuramochi Takashi Yamada Universal Wrestling Federation (ユニバーサル・レスリング・フェデレーション) [1984-1985] Spoiler Performers Masami Soranaka Rusher Kimura Ryuma Go Referees Motoyuki Kitazawa JOSHI PURORESU All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling [全日本女子プロレス] (profiles by Noah's Savior unless otherwise noted) Spoiler Performers Haruko Ogawa Jenne Yukari Kyoko Okada Maki Ueda Oscar Ichijou Peggy Kuroda Yukari Lynch Referees Umeyuki Kiyomigawa (profile by KinchStalker) Executives Hitoshi Yoshida Toshio Komatsu (profile by KinchStalker) Umeyuki Kiyomigawa (profile by KinchStalker) MISCELLANEOUS Spoiler Major Journalists Kosuke Takeuchi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted May 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 List of Future Candidates (MENS) JWA = 41 Spoiler Wrestlers Akio Sato Akihisa Takachiho (aka The Great Kabuki) Antonio Inoki Giant Baba Hiro Matsuda Isao Yoshiwara Iwakichi Hirano Kantaro Hoshino Katsuji Adachi (aka Mr. Hito) Kazuo Sakurada Kintaro Oki Kotetsu Yamamoto Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito) Masanori Toguchi (aka Kim Duk) Masaaki Takemura Matimichi Daidozan Matty Suzuki Mitsuo Momota Osamu Kido Rikidozan Seiei Kimura (aka Kengo Kimura) Seishiro Yoshidagawa Seiji Sakaguchi Tamanokawa Tokio Kido Tomio Miyajima Tomotsugu Kutsuwada (aka Samson Kutsuwada) Toshikazu Higa Yonetaro Tanaka Referees Yoshio Kyushuyama Jerry Murdock Oki Shikina Yonetaro Tanaka Announcers Naoyoshi Akutsu Mr. Sakai (given name unknown) Nagaaki Sarashina Broadcasters Hiroshi Ijuin Ichiro Shimizu Hiroshi Tazuhama Kazuo Tokumitsu Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hiroshi Iwata Shigeo Kado Isao Yoshiwara Other 1950s promotions = 5 Spoiler Wrestlers Genji Umeda Masahiko Kimura Matimichi Daidozan Shiro Tsugikage Takeo Toda Tokyo Pro Wrestling =3 Spoiler Wrestlers Antonio Inoki Masanori Saito (aka Masa Saito) Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Hisashi Shinma IWE = 21 Spoiler Wrestlers Ashura Hara Chati Yokouchi [freelance] Hiro Matsuda Yasu Fujii Hiromichi Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki) Jiro Inazuma (aka Gerry Morrow) ["exchange student"] 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"] Yang Seung-Hi ["exchange student"] Referees Mitsuo Endo Announcers Kazutoshi Iibashi Toshio Suzuki Broadcasters Tadao Monma Takashi Kikuchi Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Isao Yoshiwara Toshio Suzuki NJPW = 49 Spoiler Wrestlers Akira Katayama Akira Maeda Akira Nogami Antonio Inoki Don Arakawa El Samurai George Takano Gran Hamada Hiroshi Hase Hisakatsu Oya Jushin Thunder Liger Kantaro Hoshino Kazuo Sakurada Kazuo Yamazaki Keiji Mutoh Kengo Kimura Kensuke Sasaki Kotetsu Yamamoto Kuniaki Kobayashi Masaharu Ito Masahiro Chono Masanobu Kurisu Naoki Sano Nobuhiko Takada Norio Honaga Osamu Kido Riki Choshu Satoru Sayama Shinichi Nakano Shinji Sasazaki Shinya Hashimoto Shiro Koshinaka Shunji Kosugi Shunji Takano Super Strong Machine Takashi Iizuka Tatsumi Fujinami Tatsutoshi Goto Yoshiaki Fujiwara Referees 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 Fumihiko Uwai Hisashi Shinma Naoki Otsuka Tetsuo Baisho AJPW = 31 Spoiler Wrestlers Akio Sato Akira Taue Anton Geesink Atsushi Onita Genichiro Tenryu Giant Baba Hiroshi Wajima Isao Takagi Jumbo Tsuruta Kenta Kobashi Kim Duk/Tiger Toguchi Kintaro Oki Mitsuharu Misawa Mitsuo Momota Naoki Takano Samson Fuyuki (aka Kodo Fuyuki) Shinichi Nakano Shiro Koshinaka Tarzan Goto Toshiaki Kawada Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Yoshihiro Momota Referees Akihiko Fukuda Kyohei Wada Announcers Gunji Hara Ryu Nakata Yoshihiro Momota Broadcasters Giant Baba Akira Fukuzawa Fumio Matsunaga Kenji Wakabayashi Executives and Miscellaneous Personnel Giant Baba Motoko Baba Kazuo Iiyama (Tokyo Sports reporter turned planning department head) Mitsuo Matsune Akio Sato 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. Crucial to the myth of shoot-style, 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, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 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, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 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, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2022 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, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2022 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...
KinchStalker Posted March 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 UPDATES, FEBRUARY 2023 Generally, I have only made minor adjustments and additions to profiles in the six months since I posted my last proper update. The exception was a major expansion of Mammoth Suzuki's profile. But it was only in February that I added any new profiles. Also, this month saw the debut of joshi profiles, courtesy of the Sensational, Intelligent @Noah's_Savior! New Profiles Donald Takeshi (Wrestler, JWA/NJPW) Haruka Eigen (Wrestler/Executive, Tokyo Pro/JWA/NJPW/JPW/AJPW/NOAH) Haruko Ogawa (Wrestler, AJW) Hitoshi Yoshida (Executive, AJW) Junzo Yoshinosato (Wrestler/Broadcaster/Executive, JWA/IWE) Katsuhisa Shibata (Wrestler/Referee, Tokyo Pro/JWA/NJPW) Kyoko Okada (Wrestler, AJW) Maki Ueda (Wrestler, AJW) Motoyuki Kitazawa (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/Tokyo Pro/NJPW/UWF) Oscar Ichijou (Wrestler, AJW) Peggy Kuroda (Wrestler, AJW) Yusuf Turk (Wrestler/Referee/Executive, AJPWA/JWA/NJPW) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted October 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2023 UPDATES, SEPTEMBER 2023 Many of the profiles I wrote this month were smaller ones, but I also produced my first Deluxe Profile since Rusher Kimura. Asataro Sano (Wrestler, IWE) Daigoro Ogiyama (Wrestler, IWE) Fujitayama (Wrestler, JWA) Gantetsu Matsuoka (Wrestler, JWA/AJPW) Mr. Hayashi (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/AJPW/JWP) Osamu Abe (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/Tokyo Pro/IWE) Shogun KY Wakamatsu (Wrestler/Manager, IWE/NJPW/SWS/PWC) Takao Kaneko (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/IWE) Takao Maemizo (Referee, IWE) Tamio Takeshita (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/IWE) Umanosuke Ueda (Wrestler, JWA/IWE/NJPW/AJPW/NOW/IWA Japan) [DELUXE PROFILE #2] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted January 1 Author Report Share Posted January 1 UPDATES, DECEMBER 2023 My last profile of the year was the longest I have yet written: a 16,000-word behemoth on puroresu's first great worker. Michiaki Yoshimura (Wrestler/Executive/Booker, AJPWA/JWA) [DELUXE PROFILE #3] ------ For 2024, I plan to write a profile for the recently departed Killer Khan, with his autobiography as a primary source. I also have the autobiography of the Great Kabuki and would like to give him similar treatment. Another profile I have planned is for Umeyuki Kiyomigawa. Excluding Rikidozan, who I am far from ready to write a profile for, and Masahiko Kimura, who I am arguably unqualified to write about, Kiyomigawa is the most notable figure of early mens' puroresu that I have not yet written about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinchStalker Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 UPDATES, APRIL-MAY 2023 I outdid myself again with my fourth Deluxe Profile: 19,000 words about the late Killer Khan. Killer Khan (Wrestler, JWA/NJPW/AJPW[Japan Pro]) [DELUXE PROFILE #4] Tamio Takeshita (Wrestler/Referee, JWA/IWE) [REWRITE] Umeyuki Kiyomigawa (Wrestler/Trainer/Referee/Commentator, AJPWA/Kimura's Kokusai/IWE/AJW) Yukari Lynch (Wrestler, AJW) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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