Mitsuya Nagai
, better known as , is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor from 1991 until 2013, he fought the majority of his career in Fighting Network RINGS. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Satoru Sayama and Akira Maeda, Nagai holds notable victories over former King of Pancrase Super Heavyweight Champion Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Nobuaki Kakuda, four-time world kickboxing champion Andre Mannaart, Russian sambo champion Mikhail Ilyukhin, RINGS King of Kings 2000 Tournament runner up Valentijn Overeem, ADCC bronze medallist and RINGS Light Heavyweight title contender Chris Haseman, and Pancrase veteran Takaku Fuke. He also fought for K-1 in kickboxing. He later transitioned to traditional puroresu and notably wrestled for Battlarts, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former three time All Asia Tag Team Champion. He currently performs on a part-time ba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sunagawa, Hokkaido
is a city located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Population As of August 2024, the city has an estimated population of 15,340 and a population density of 190 people per km2. The total area is 78.69 km2. Amenity town The city was designated as the first "Amenity Town" in Hokkaido in 1984 (Showa 59). As an Amenity Town, Sunagawa contains lot of greenery, such as parks. Name Name of Sunagawa is derived from an Ainu word "Ota-ushi-nai", meaning the river near sandy shore. History *1890 - Nae Village founded. *1895 - Nae Village Office opened. *1897 - Utashinai Village splits off . *1902 - Nae becomes a Second Class Municipality. *1903 - Nae Village becomes Sunagawa Village. *1907 - Sunagawa becomes a First Class Municipality. *1923 - Sunagawa Village becomes Sunagawa Town. *1944 - Naie Village splits off. *1949 - Kamisunagawa Town splits off. *July 1, 1958 - Sunagawa Town becomes Sunagawa City. Education High school * Hokkaido Sunagawa High School. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Valentijn Overeem
Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a Dutch retired professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, RINGS, KSW, the World Fighting Alliance, K-1, M-1 Global, Its Showtime, World Victory Road, and Strikeforce. He is the older brother of fellow MMA Superstar Alistair Overeem. Overeem has notable wins over fighters such as Randy Couture and Renato Sobral. Biography Overeem was born in Amersfoort, Utrecht and is associated with the ''Imperial Athletics'' gym in Boca Raton, Florida where he trains with his younger brother Alistair. Along with his younger brother, Valentijn spent part of his childhood in England, which is where his brother was born. RINGS Valentijn was trained at the Chris Dolman gym, where he specialized in kickboxing and sambo before debuting at the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Fighting Network RINGS. In 1999, Overeem particip ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shootboxing
, commonly written as Shootboxing, is a combat sport. Shoot boxing is also a stand-up fighting promotion company based in Tokyo, Japan. The organization was founded by former kickboxer Caesar Takeshi in 1985. Shootboxing, the combat sport, is a mixture of its two parent combat styles of shoot wrestling and kickboxing, allowing for kicks, punches, knees, elbows, throws, and standing submissions (chokeholds, armlocks and wristlocks). History Shoot boxing was created in August 1985 by former kickboxer Caesar Takeshi. The first Shootboxing event took place on September 1, 1985. Some mixed martial artists such as Hayato Sakurai began their careers in Shootboxing. Shootboxing has also drawn fighters who became famous in other promotions such as Jens Pulver. Many K-1 World MAX stars also either debuted in Shootboxing or have fought for Shootboxing in the past, including Andy Souwer, Albert Kraus, and Buakaw Banchamek. Rules Shootboxing rules are as follows: Match for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Giant Baba
, best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota and Yoshihiro Momota, the sons of his mentor Rikidōzan. For the first 10 years of its existence, Baba was the top star of All Japan, while also serving as the booker, promoter, head trainer and president of the promotion from its inception in 1972 till his death in 1999. Baba was also responsible for recruiting much of the talent for All Japan, and was the public face of the promotion for much of his lifetime. Considered one of the most beloved Japanese wrestlers ever, Baba was a national hero with a level of popularity in Japan comparable to that of Hulk Hogan in the United States. '' The 2006 Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan'' survey ranked Baba the 93rd greatest person in the history of Japan, as voted for by the general public. A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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GLEAT
Gleat (stylized as GLEAT and pronounced as "great") is a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2020 by former Pro Wrestling Noah parent company Lidet Entertainment after the acquisition of Noah and DDT Pro-Wrestling by CyberAgent. The promotion is overseen by Hiroyuki Suzuki and former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura. The promotion emphasizes the use of the UWFi combat sports-based wrestling style. History In November 2018, Japanese advertising company Lidet Entertainment began investing in various business ventures in the professional wrestling industry including Riki Choshu's Power Hall show in December 2018. On January 29, 2019, Lidet Entertainment bought 75% shares of Pro Wrestling Noah, with the goal of transforming the promotion into the second largest promotion in Japan after New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A year later due to Noah's financial struggles, Lidet Entertainment sold all shares of Pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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All Asia Tag Team Championship
The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brought from the United States. It is currently one of two tag team titles in AJPW, along with the World Tag Team Championship. It is also the current oldest active title in Japan. The current champions are ELPIDA ( Yuma Anzai and Rising Hayato). History The title was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA founder Rikidōzan and Harold Sakata in a tournament final. It was abandoned in 1973 when the JWA closed, but was later revived in 1976 by AJPW in response to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announcing the creation of its own version of the title. Reigns There have been a total of 125 official reigns and 34 vacancies, with the first 27 reigns fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, with many more joining the following year when JWA folded. From the mid-1970s, All Japan was firmly established as the largest promotion in Japan. As the 1990s began, aging stars gave way to a younger generation including Mitsuharu Misawa, Steve Williams (wrestler), "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Kenta Kobashi, Gary Albright, Toshiaki Kawada, Mike Polchlopek, Mike Barton (Bart Gunn), Akira Taue and Jun Akiyama, leading to perhaps AJPW's most profitable period in the 1990s. In 1999, Giant Baba died and the promotion was run by Motoko Baba. Misawa was named president but left in 2000 after disagreements with Motoko. Misawa created Pro Wrestling Noah and every single native wrestler besides Masanobu Fuchi and Tos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shares of the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Hiroshi Tanahashi has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan. Their biggest event is the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show (currently promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom banner) held each year since 1992. In addition to promoting professional wrestling matches, NJPW has also showcased mixed martial arts fights on some of its live events. The promotion was owned by Yuke's from 2005 until 2012. It was then sold to Bushiroad in 2012, which parlayed its entry to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Puroresu
is a Japanese term used for professional wrestling in Japan, professional wrestling in and outside of Japan. The term comes from the Gairaigo, Japanese pronunciation of , which in Japanese is abbreviated to “puro” ( - “pro”) & “resu” ( - an abbreviation of “wrestling”). The term became popular among English language, English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's activities in the online Usenet community. Growing out of origins in the traditional American style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. Japanese pro wrestling is distinct in its Glossary of professional wrestling terms#ring psychology, psychology and presentation of the sport and how it functions based on Japanese culture. It is treated closer to a legitimate competition, with fewer theatrics; the Angle (professional wrestling), stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighter's spirit and perseverance. Pro wrestling in Japan led to the development of shoot wrestling and has been closely r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Takaku Fuke
Takaku Fuke (冨宅飛駈; January 30, 1969), born Yusuke Fuke (冨宅裕介) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter. He was most notably involved in the early days of Pancrase, at infancy of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan. Fight Matrix ranked Takaku Fuke was #2 Heavyweight and #4 Pound-for-Pound best MMA fighter in the world in 1994. Background Fuke was an active practitioner of judo in high school. After graduating from high school in 1989, he became a UWF trainee. There, he would train with likes of Tatsuo Nakano and Ken Shamrock. Subsequently, he would work for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. While employed with PWFG, he was involved in a proto-MMA match with kickboxer Lawi Napataya. Combat sport career At Pancrase 2 (October 1993), he lost to Bas Rutten via TKO, following a knee to Fuke's liver. In November 1993, Fuke lost to Ken Shamrock via submission. In December 1994, Fuke took part in the King of Pancrase tournament, where he lost a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |