(born Yeo Geon-bu (여건부) on October 9, 1943 – November 25, 2010) was a Japanese born, Korean

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 ...

, manager, and promoter best known for his time in

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

. As a wrestler, he was half of The Yamaha Brothers team along with

Kotetsu Yamamoto , known by his ring name was a Japanese professional wrestler, referee, and color commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He was named "''Kotetsu''" ("Little Iron") by former Japanese pro wrestler Toyonobori after the famous knight, Aizu-No-K ...

. As a manager, he co-led the

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exer ...

stable

Makai Club Makai (born 27 August 1973, stylized as MAKAI) is a Japanese house DJ. He is well known for his collaborations with Japanese vocalists, such as "Garden of Love" with Thelma Aoyama, which topped the iTunes iTunes () is a software program ...

, with

Tadao Yasuda is a Japanese retired sumo wrestler (''rikishi''), professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in sumo from 1979 to 1992 under the ''shikona'' of Takanofuji Tadao, achieving the rank of ''komusubi'', and afterwards turned to prof ...

Career

Hoshino began his wrestling career after previously attempting a professional

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

career. He was trained by the father of

Puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's ac ...

: Rikidozan. Using the name Kantaro Hoshino, he wrestled his debut match on December 22, 1961, against Atsuhide Koma (Masio Koma, future NWA World Middleweight Champion). The godfather of the ring name is

Toyonobori , known in sumo and professional wrestling as or simply , was a sumo wrestler from Japan. After retiring as a rikishi from sumo, he became a professional wrestler. Career In professional wrestling On December 12, 1954, Toyonobori became a profe ...

. Over the next few years, Hoshino worked his way up the card and paid his dues. In 1967, he was sent on a learning visit to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

with fellow up and comer

, with the two forming the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

: The Yamaha Brothers with Hoshino using the name Great Yamaha. While in America, Hoshino enjoyed championship success. On August 3, 1967, the Yamaha Brothers won the

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ...

. They would hold the titles for a week before losing them on August 10 to Bad Boy Hines and Len Rossi. Nine days later, Hoshino won the

NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers, board-controlled by the National Wrestling Alliance since December 1949. It originally was used by various promotions across the Southea ...

, he would hold the title until August 31. By the end of the decade Hoshino returned to the JWA. In 1970, Hoshino teamed with

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homage ...

in the first NWA World Tag League tournament which they won defeating

Nick Bockwinkel Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel (December 6, 1934 – November 14, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the 1970s and 1980s. Bockwinkel ...

and John Quinn in the finals. Hoshino was also the first opponent of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Mil Máscaras Mil Máscaras (born Aarón Rodríguez Arellano, July 15, 1942) is a Mexican luchador (professional wrestler) and actor. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico – along with El Santo and Blue Demo ...

in Japan. Following the JWA closing in 1973, Hoshino jumped to

where he remained for the rest of his career. By the mid-1970s, he and Yamamoto reformed the Yamaha Brothers team, although going individually by their Japanese ring names instead of their American gimmicks. On January 21, 1979, The Yamaha Brothers entered the International Wrestling Enterprise and defeated

Animal Hamaguchi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . During his career he was recognized as a talented tag team wrestler despite his relatively small size for a heavyweight, and today he is recognized as a trainer in both ...

and Great Kusetsu to win the IWA World Tag Team Championship. They would hold the titles for a month before dropping them to Hamaguchi and Mighty Inoue on February 23. In 1980, Yamamoto retired from wrestling, ending the Yamaha Brothers. Hoshino spent the remainder of his in-ring career in the low to midcard, rarely competing for championships or tournaments, only winning the Six-Man Tag Team Cup League with Antonio Inoki and

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestle ...

on December 7, 1988, after the trio defeated

Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...

Masahiro Chono is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for ...

and

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the pr ...

to win the cup. Hoshino would only wrestle with fellow young talents in tag and singles action for the remainder of his career, most notably against Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Norio Honaga and

Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...

. After a few more years of wrestling, Hoshino retired on February 19, 1995, wrestling Osamu Kido to a 10-minute draw.

Retirement and death

After retiring Hoshino continued to work with New Japan as a promoter where he help promote New Japan shows in Kobe. In 2002, Hoshino returned to New Japan as a co-leader of the stable

. During his time in the Makai Club, Hoshino would earn some popularity with New Japan fans with his "BISSHIBISSHI" catchphrase. On May 1, 2003, Hoshino returned to the ring in a 9-man New Japan alumnus Battle Royal which he co-won with former partner: Kotetsu Yamamoto. After the Makai Club broke up in 2004, Hoshino would hold a ''President Hoshino 10,000,000 Yen Offer Tag Tournament'' which was won by

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...

and

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his fir ...

. On March 6, 2007, Hoshino would become one of the first inductees in the NJPW Greatest Wrestlers Hall of Fame. In late 2008, Hoshino returned to NJPW for one final program. On December 7, he helped No Limit (

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction. Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...

and Yujiro) defeat

Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. It was created in 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in E ...

and

Jado (born September 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of a tag team with his partner Gedo. Jado and Gedo's careers have largely para ...

to retain their

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Juni ...

, which led to his last match on December 22, 47 years to the day after he debuted, where he defeated Gedo in a street fight. On February 4, 2009, Hoshino suffered a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

and his health declined until his death on November 25, 2010, due to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

. He was 67 years old.

Championships and accomplishments

*International Wrestling Enterprise **IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 Time) - with

Japan Wrestling Association The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-s ...

**1st Annual Tag League (1970) - with

NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from the 1940s until 1981. The company was founded in the 1940s ...

NWA Southern Tag Team Championship The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship is any of a group of professional wrestling tag team championship titles in the National Wrestling Alliance. Specific titles include: * The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) * The NWA South ...

(1 Time) - with Kotetsu Yamamoto **

(1 Time) *

**NJPW Six Man Tag Team Cup League (1988) - with

and

** NJPW Greatest Wrestlers (Class of 2007) **New Japan Alumnus Battle Royal (2003) - with Kotetsu Yamamoto *

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' ma ...

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

(2010) **

Service Award A Service award was awarded by a country to a soldier or civilian for long service. It is comparable to a service medal but can be awarded to civilians as well as soldiers. Germany Kingdom of Bavaria * Königliches Ludwigsorden for 50 years' ser ...

(1995) ** Technique Award (1977)

References

External links

Profile at CagematchProfile at Puroresu Wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoshino, Kantaro 1943 births 2010 deaths Japanese male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling managers and valets Zainichi Korean people