(born August 24, 1968) is a Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

signed to

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

, where he is a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Hardcore Champion. He currently works for WWE as a Japanese-language

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

commentator.

Professional wrestling career

Early years (1990–1998)

Funaki started as a

shoot style Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

wrestler in

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wr ...

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group (''Purofesshonaru-resuringu Fujiwara-Gumi'', プロフェッショナルレスリング藤原組) was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and moved to its successor promotion,

Battlarts , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gu ...

. He later found the lucha libre style more to his liking, so he moved to

The Great Sasuke , born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly ...

's promotion,

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...

. In that promotion, he joined with

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for t ...

Dick Togo , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Togo is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Bullet Club stable, and its sub-group House of Torture. Togo has spent the majority of ...

Men's Teioh (born December 16, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Men's Teioh (also written MEN's Teioh). The English translation of his ring name, Terry Boy, is a homage to American professional wrestler Terry Funk. ...

and Shiryu in the

Kai En Tai Kai En Tai (also spelled Kaientai) was a professional wrestling stable made up of Japanese wrestlers Shiryu, Dick Togo and Men’s Teioh, later joined by Sho Funaki and Taka Michinoku. The group was managed by Yamaguchi-San when they were in ...

stable. Funaki also wrestled in the

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

(UWA) where he won the

UWA World Middleweight Championship The UWA World Middleweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial de Peso Medio UWA'' in Spanish) is a professional wrestling championship originally created and sanctioned by the Mexican lucha libre promotion Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) fro ...

from

El Pantera ''El Pantera'' (English: ''The Panther'') is a Mexican television series that aired on Canal 5 from May 14, 2007 to November 26, 2009. It is based on a comic book of the same name. It narrates the life of Gervasio, a young man who fights crime ...

on March 19, 1997, in Japan.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

Kai En Tai (1998–2001)

In March 1998, Funaki, along with Teioh and Togo, joined the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

. Initially, they feuded with Taka Michinoku and defeated him and his partner John Bradshaw in a 3-on-2

handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at Over the Edge: In Your House. They lost to Michinoku and

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related T-sh ...

King of the Ring King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotion ...

in a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

. Michinoku eventually turned villainous and joined the group. At

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...

, Kai En Tai lost to Oddities members

Kurrgan Robert Maillet (born October 26, 1969) is a Canadian actor and retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his time in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 1999, where he performed under the ring name ...

Giant Silva Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1962) is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. He stands ...

and Golga in a handicap match. Over time, the stable turned into a tag team, as in 1999, Teioh and Togo (and manager Yamaguchi-san) were given their releases. Michinoku and Funaki were often used for comedic purposes, often having their pre-match promos dubbed—while Michinoku would "deliver" the majority of dialogue for the duo, Funaki would "respond" strongly with a simple "INDEED". At

WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 (sequentially known as WrestleMania 16) was the 16th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 2, 2000, at the Arrowh ...

, Funaki participated in a 15-minute hardcore battle royal for the

WWF Hardcore Championship The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was imp ...

. Funaki pinned Viscera after a diving shoulder block from Bradshaw but he was later pinned by Rodney.

Hardcore Holly Robert William Howard (born January 29, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former auto racer and wrestling trainer/ host, better known by the ring name Hardcore Holly or Bob Holly. He is best known for his 16-year career wit ...

ultimately won the match and became the official champion. At

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...

, Funaki once again participated in a hardcore battle royal which was won by the defending champion Steve Blackman. In 2001, Kai En Tai started participating in non-televised matches before pay-per-view events such as the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named afte ...

and Judgment Day.

''SmackDown!s No. 1 Announcer (2001–2003)

Michinoku left the WWF in the fall of 2001, resulting in Funaki moving to singles competition. At

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the se ...

, Funaki participated in an Immunity Battle Royal which was won by

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

. In 2002, Funaki moved to the SmackDown!

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

after WWF roster was split into two brands. He turned

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

and found himself as a lower card wrestler and adopted the gimmick of "SmackDown!'s number one announcer", performing backstage interviews between matches, while competing in the cruiserweight division. As part of SmackDown! brand, Funaki wrestled for most of the time on ''

Velocity Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity i ...

''. At Rebellion, Funaki defeated

Crash Holly Michael John Lockwood (August 25, 1971 – November 6, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment from 1999 to 2003 under the ring names ...

. At Vengeance, Funaki participated in the APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl which was won by Bradshaw.

Cruiserweight Champion (2004–2005)

On the March 4, 2004 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Funaki lost to Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a non-title match. On the March 11 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Funaki participated in an 8-man cruiserweight tag team match teaming with fellow cruiserweights

Rey Mysterio Jr. Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest profe ...

Último Dragón (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the " A ...

and

Billy Kidman Peter Alan Gruner Jr. (born May 11, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He is currently employed by WWE as a producer. As a wrestler, Kidman is best known for his work with World Champi ...

against Tajiri, Akio,

Sakoda Sakoda (written: 迫田) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * James Sakoda (1916–2005), psychologist and pioneer in computational modeling * Louie Sakoda (born 1986), American football player * Ryan Sakoda (born 1 ...

and

Jamie Noble James Gibson (born December 23, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Jamie Noble. He is currently signed to WWE as a producer. In addition to his appearances with WWE, Noble is known for his appeara ...

. At

WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brands divisions – Raw an ...

, Funaki participated in a Cruiserweight Open for the Cruiserweight Championship but was pinned by Jamie Noble. On the December 9 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Funaki won a cruiserweight over the top rope number one contender's battle royal which included Chavo Guerrero,

Paul London Paul Michael London (born April 16, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is best known for his time with WWE. After being trained at the Texas Wrestling Academy, London began competing for Ring of Hon ...

, Billy Kidman, Akio,

Shannon Moore Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. H ...

and Nunzio. At

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

, Funaki defeated

Spike Dudley Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing as Spike Dudley in the 1990s with E ...

to win the Cruiserweight Championship. Funaki successfully defended the title against Spike Dudley, Akio and Nunzio. His last successful title defense was against Chavo Guerrero on the February 10, 2005 episode of ''SmackDown!'', notably held in Funaki's birth country, Japan.

Cruiserweight Division (2005–2008)

Sho Funaki in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Funaki lost the championship to Chavo Guerrero in a six-man Cruiserweight Open match at No Way Out. At

, he lost to Jamie Noble in a match on ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

''. During an interview with then Cruiserweight Champion

Kid Kash David Tyler Cash (born July 31, 1969) better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop A ...

on an episode of '' SmackDown!'', Funaki was assaulted by Kash, who gave him a

brainbuster A brainbuster is a professional wrestling professional wrestling throws, throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a Professional wrestling holds#Front facelock, front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were e ...

onto the interview platform. At the

, Funaki faced Kid Kash in a match for the title, when he was entered into a Cruiserweight Open along with four other Cruiserweight champions, including the champion Kash. Funaki was pinned in this one fall match by then

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

superstar

Gregory Helms Gregory Shane Helms (born July 12, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE under a legends contract, as a wrestler and as a backstage producer. In WWE, Helms has wrestled as The Hurricane, Gregory Helms, and Hu ...

, who won the match and title. At No Way Out, Funaki participated in a Nine Man Cruiserweight Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship but Helms retained the title. Since that time Funaki, would regularly team with

Scotty 2 Hotty Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...

during episodes of ''Velocity'' and ''SmackDown!''. During one such ''Velocity'' taping, however, Funaki suffered a Concussion#Grades, 2nd Grade concussion, where he was unconscious for just under two minutes. Funaki would resume wrestling later that year, forming a tag team of sorts with Scotty 2 Hotty, which was mainly used to put over debuting wrestlers or tag teams. Funaki made a one-off appearance at the Puroresu King Indy Summit, on December 31, 2006, reuniting with Kai En Tai, Kai En Tai DX in what was being billed as a Kai En Tai DX Revival Ten-Man Tag Match; Funaki reteamed with Taka Michinoku, Kaz Hayashi, Dick Togo and Men's Teioh to face five other wrestlers. Funaki returned to WWE television on February 16, 2007, on ''SmackDown!'' in a brawl that involved the other ''SmackDown!'' cruiserweights and the then-Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms. At No Way Out (2007), No Way Out, Funaki participated in a Cruiserweight Open match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship but was pinned by the champion Helms. On May 18 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Funaki was made short work of by recently returned superstar Mark Henry. On the June 29 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Funaki got a shot at the Cruiserweight title against Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero and Jamie Noble, but came up short. At The Great American Bash (2007), The Great American Bash, he participated in a match for the Cruiserweight Championship which Hornswoggle won. On the December 14 episode of ''SmackDown!'', he wrestled in a Squash (professional wrestling), squash match against Adam Copeland, Edge. He also made a televised appearance on January 4, 2008, episode of ''SmackDown!'' where he lost to Chavo Guerrero in a Professional wrestling match types#Beat the Clock challenge, Beat the Clock match. He suffered a defeat to The Great Khali on April 21, 2008, in Khali's first Smackdown match. Funaki Legit (professional wrestling), legitimately broke his nose at a joint SmackDown/ECW taping in Houston, Houston, Texas during a List of professional wrestling terms#D, dark match against Vladimir Kozlov.

Kung Fu Naki (2008–2010)

On October 10, 2008, Funaki revealed his full name to be "Kung Fu Naki" during a backstage segment with Ron Killings, R-Truth. This was used as the basis for a gimmick change for Funaki; he then came to the ring dressed in a keikogi, gi and tweaked his moveset to incorporate theatrical martial arts moves. His first match as Kung Fu Naki saw him scoring a pinfall win over Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Shelton Benjamin in a tag team match with R-Truth. Kung Fu Naki then defeated MVP in a singles match on the November 14, 2008 episode of ''SmackDown'' when The Great Khali interfered and distracted MVP. His first loss in the character was against WWE World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Champion Edge (wrestler), Edge on the December 5, 2008 episode of ''SmackDown''. He was inexplicably absent from WWE action until WrestleMania XXVI, where he took part in the 26 Man Battle Royal match, which was won by Yoshi Tatsu. On April 22, 2010, WWE released Funaki, ending his 12-year stint with the company.

Independent circuit (2010–2014)

After his WWE release, Pro Wrestling Zero1 announced they had signed Funaki to return to Japan and team with his former student Ikuto Hidaka. On December 4, 2010, San Antonio, Texas–based Branded Outlaw Wrestling (BOW) announced that it had reached a working agreement with Funaki to host his new professional wrestling school, named the Funaki Dojo. The school's first class started on January 15, 2011. On December 6, 2013, at TNA One Night Only: World Cup of Wrestling, as a part of Team International, Funaki and Petey Williams lost to Team Aces & Eights' Drew Hankinson, DOC and Mike Knox, Knux.

Return to WWE

Sporadic appearances (2011–2016)

Funaki cameoed for WWE as a special guest referee during their house shows in Japan in 2011 and 2013. Funaki made a special appearance in a video as a translator for Kenta Kobayashi, Kenta's first WWE interview with Renee Young. In September, Funaki returned to WWE's developmental program NXT (WWE brand), NXT to feud with The Ascension (professional wrestling), The Ascension alongside Kenta, who was now going by the name Hideo Itami.

Japanese commentator (2016–present)

Funaki would appear in the WWE Network show, ''The Edge and Christian Show'', introducing the hosts, with his voice dubbed over by Howard Finkel in the first season and Luke Gallows in the second season. On April 1, 2016, at NXT Takeover: Dallas, Funaki appeared in a backstage segment with Shinsuke Nakamura. Funaki would later appear at ringside sitting next to Kota Ibushi. Since WrestleMania 32, Funaki has been one-half of the Japanese commentary team for all WWE pay-per-view events., while also continuing his duties as an interpreter for Japanese wrestlers in backstage interviews. In an exclusive interview for WWE's YouTube channel after the final match of the WWE Mae Young Classic on September 12, 2017, Funaki served as Kairi Sane's interpreter.

Funaki Dojo

Funaki opened his training facility, Funaki Dojo in San Antonio, Texas in June 2012.

Personal life

Along with Japanese and English, Funaki is fluent in French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. He was a regular on WWE's short-lived Spanish-language show ''Los Super Astros'', which was televised on Univision. On August 30, 2007, Funaki, along with nine other superstars, were named in ''Sports Illustrated'' as recipients of illegal steroids not in compliance with the WWE Talent Wellness Program. Funaki was said to have received Growth hormone, somatropin in March 2006.

Championships and accomplishments

*Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi **Challenge Cup Tournament (1994) *Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI ranked him #103 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500, PWI 500 in 2001 *Texas Wrestling Academy, Texas Wrestling Alliance **TWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

(UWA World Middleweight Championship#Title history, 1 time) *WWE, World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment **WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991–2007), WWE Cruiserweight Championship (List of WWE Cruiserweight Champions (1991–2007), 1 time) **

(List of WWE Hardcore Champions, 1 time)

References

External links

FUNAKI Dojo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funaki, Shoichi 1968 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestling announcers Sportspeople from San Antonio Sportspeople from Tokyo WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Champions UWA World Middleweight Champions