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BattlARTS
, more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts (also stylized as BattlARTS) was a professional wrestling promotion founded in 1996 by Yuki Ishikawa following the mass exodus he led from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) amidst the financial struggle that ultimately led the company to fold. The initial promotion's roster was composed of the entire PWFG roster that did not depart for Pancrase, thus making Battlarts a direct successor to PWFG. The promotion ceased operations in 2011, but was succeeded in 2023 by the independent Kakuto Tanteidan project led by Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura. History Original Battlarts (1996–2011) The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gumi promotion, who had abandoned the promotion in favor of Battlarts. They ran shows in the Tokyo area regularly from 1998 to 2002. Even though Battlarts' style was based on shoot wrestling, the promotion often cooperated with oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Otsuka
, better known by his ring name Alexander Otsuka and Otoko Sakari, is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Having competed for multiple pro wrestling organizations in his career, most recently with Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation, he is known for his work in the promotion Battlarts. Otsuka made the move from a successful professional wrestling career to mixed martial arts competition in 1995. He earned a notable victory over Vale Tudo pioneer Marco Ruas in 1998. Though Otsuka finished his career in 2006 with a 4–13 record, he mostly faced very high-ranked opponents, including all-time greats Renzo Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Igor Vovchanchyn, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, and Anderson Silva, all of whom defeated him. Otsuka was famous for his toughness in the ring. Professional wrestling career A former amateur wrestler since high school, Otsuka was contacted by Yoshiaki Fujiwara to train in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. Takashi debuted in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daisuke Ikeda
is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah and Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW). Professional wrestling career Ikeda was trained by Yoshiaki Fujiwara and joined Fujiwara's promotion Fujiwara Gumi in 1993. In 1994, representing Fujiwara Gumi, he fought for Fighting Network RINGS in his only mixed martial arts fight against Tsuyoshi Kosaka in a losing effort. In 1995 he moved to BattlARTS. As one of the few heavyweights competing in a promotion made up mostly of junior heavyweights (compare Jinsei Shinzaki in Michinoku Pro Wrestling), he often had to look out of the promotion for challenges, including Shinzaki and FMW talent such as Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Hiromichi Fuyuki. In 1997 he started making appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling, and finally in early 2000 he joi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki after the collapse of the second incarnation of the UWF. The company had the financial backing of eyeglass brand Meganesuper Co., Ltd executive Hachiro Tanaka who was also funding Super World Sports (SWS). Its motto was " ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE". Although the company was considered the smallest of the three UWF offshoots, it had a strong roster which included former UWF wrestlers Yusuke Fuke, Bart Vale and future MMA star Ken Shamrock. One of its most successful shows took place at the Tokyo Dome on October 4, 1992, headlined by Funaki versus Maurice Smith, which was attended by a record 40,000 fans. Legendary wrestler Karl Gotch acted as the face of the company, much like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santino Marella
Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974), better known by the ring name Santino Marella, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he works as the on-screen director of authority. He is best known for his 11-year tenure with WWE. He is the founder of and instructor at Battle Arts Academy, a martial arts and professional wrestling training facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and the official ambassador of Judo Canada. Carelli made his WWE debut during a live episode of '' Raw'' from Milan, Italy. Under the character of Santino Marella, a fan selected from the audience, he defeated the Intercontinental Champion Umaga, winning the title in his debut match. During the following years, he would win the Intercontinental title one more time, the United States Championship once and the WWE Tag Team Championship once. He was also involved in a storyline where he worked as Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister. Carelli retired fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki after the collapse of the second incarnation of the UWF. The company had the financial backing of eyeglass brand Meganesuper Co., Ltd executive Hachiro Tanaka who was also funding Super World Sports (SWS). Its motto was " ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE". Although the company was considered the smallest of the three UWF offshoots, it had a strong roster which included former UWF wrestlers Yusuke Fuke, Bart Vale and future MMA star Ken Shamrock. One of its most successful shows took place at the Tokyo Dome on October 4, 1992, headlined by Funaki versus Maurice Smith, which was attended by a record 40,000 fans. Legendary wrestler Karl Gotch acted as the face of the company, much like Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoot Wrestling
Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrestling, a form of wrestling with submissions that was the predominant style of professional wrestling in the 19th and early 20th century, at the time a competitive sport and not yet predetermined. Shoot wrestling originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit ('' puroresu'') of the 1970s, particularly stemming from the influence of wrestlers Karl Gotch, Lou Thesz and Billy Robinson, all who had an enduring popularity in Japan due to their serious submission wrestling style. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their excitement, diminishing or eschewing the theatrical elements and acrobatics, looking more similar to an actual, unscripted f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiyoshi Tamura
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of the greatest shoot wrestlers of all time. Competing exclusively in shoot style wrestling, Tamura began his career with UWF Newborn and later joined its successor group UWF International before transitioning to mixed martial arts. A professional MMA fighter from 1995 until 2008, he competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, RINGS, DEEP, DREAM, and fought at K-1's 2007 and 2008 Dynamite!! events. He is a two-time RINGS Openweight Champion and holds notable wins over Renzo Gracie, former UFC Welterweight Champion Pat Miletich, former UFC Middleweight Champion Dave Menne, former Pancrase Super Heavyweight Champion Tsuyoshi Kosaka, former Pancrase Openweight Champion Masakatsu Funaki, Olympic judo gold medallist Makoto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tag Team Match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "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 storyline. Throughout professional wrestling's decades-long history, some gimmick matches have spawned many variations of the core concept. Singles match The singles match is the most common of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. A victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout, or disqualification. One of the most common variations on the singles match is to restrict the possible means for victory. Blindfold match In a blindfold match, the two participants must wear a blindfold over their eyes for the entire duration of the match. A well-known example of this match is the WrestleMania VII match between Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Rick Martel. No count-out match A no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jinsei Shinzaki
Kensuke Shinzaki (新崎 健介 ''Shinzaki Kensuke'', born December 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki (新崎 人生 ''Shinzaki Jinsei''). He is signed to the Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion where he is the promotion's president. He also performs for Michinoku Pro as a wrestler, serving as the sole heavyweight wrestler on the roster. Shinzaki is also known for his appearances with other Japanese promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). To American fans, Shinzaki is perhaps most known for his stint in the United States–based World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 1996 under the ring name Hakushi (白紙). Professional wrestling career Universal Lucha Libre (1992–1993) A former soccer player, Shinzaki trained in amateur wrestling in high school. He first worked as an actor, but he left ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real Japan Pro Wrestling
(SSPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling and martial arts promotion founded in 2005 by Satoru Sayama as (RJPW), before being renamed in 2019. The promotion runs shows every two or three months, and features both professional wrestling matches and matches from a variety of martial arts, like mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and Seikendo. SSPW feature wrestlers from other promotions as well as their own talent, and has had working agreements with Toryumon Mexico, Battlarts, and Dradition. Roster * Akifumi Saito * Great Tiger * Hayato Mashita * Shodai Tiger Mask * Super Rider * Super Tiger (II) * Tiger Shark * Kozo Urita * Kendo Nagasaki * Masao Orihara ;Notable guests * Masakatsu Funaki * Alexander Otsuka * Atsushi Onita * Daisuke Sekimoto * Gran Hamada * Hikaru Sato * Mitsuya Nagai * Riki Choshu * Tatsumi Fujinami * Último Dragón * Great Sasuke * Bear Fukuda * Wakashoyo Shunichi * Kota Ibushi * Akebono * Tatsuhito Takaiwa * Minoru Suzuki Championships Active A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satoru Sayama
(born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, writer, and mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling promoter, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger. He is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously. He is also recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world. Sayama also started mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its kind, with a focus on striking from arts like Boxing, Muay Thai and Karate, and grappling from Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo (martial art), Sambo. The curriculum would help produce the first well rounded fighters of MMA several years be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
(BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, during the boom period for Deathmatch wrestling in Japan. Kendo Nagasaki left in 1999; Shinya Kojika is still president of the company to date. The promotion followed in the footsteps of organizations such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING), and the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan), who helped popularise a hard-hitting, violent and bloody style of wrestling known as the Deathmatch, or in more recent years, "hardcore" wrestling. These matches are usually weapon filled, using both "conventional" weapons (such as chairs and tables), as well as "extreme" weapons not usually seen in mainstream wrestling, and previously unused in wrestling at all. These weapon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
