, (born May 25, 1982) is a Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, currently signed to

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 rathe ...

where he competes under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Ken45° and is one half of the reigning Tohoku Tag Team Champions and UWA World Tag Team Champions with Kengo.

Biography

Toryumon (2002–2004)

In December 2002, Sakai debuted in Toryumon under his real name, although soon he adopted the ring name of Kenichi Hanai. After losing a match to Takeshi Minamino, the two allied themselves with Takayasu Fukuda and formed Los Salseros Japoneses, a salsa

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

. They became the main villains of the new brand Toryumon X, opposed to the similarly music-themed stable Sailor Boys (

Taiji Ishimori is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its List of Bullet Club members#War Dogs, War Dogs sub-group. Ishimori is a three-time IWGP Junio ...

, Kei Sato and Shu Sato). Hanai, now renamed Pineapple Hanai to fit his group's

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand out ...

, became known for carrying a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

to the ring to hit their opponents and help his team to win. Los Salseros Japoneses and Sailor Boys traded victories, but the former managed to capture the promotion's main title, the UWA World Welterweight Championship, in a three-way match among the members of the team themselves, which was won by Minamino. They also won the

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various p ...

from

Solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...

and Ultraman, Jr. in Mexico. After Toryumon X's demise, all of its wrestlers were sent to

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (2004–present)

Los Salseros Japoneses continued their run at Michinoku Pro Wrestling, with Hanai and Fukuda winning the ''Futaritabi Tag Team League 2004'' upon their debut. However, the stable's history ended in April 2006 when they lost the UWA Trios title to STONED ( Maguro Ooma, Kei Sato and Shu Sato) after Minamino accidentally hit Hanai. After the match, Hanai attacked Minamino and renounced his faction, which folded definitively when Hanai defeated Minamino in a match next week and hit him with his guitar. Afterwards, Hanai changed his name to "Ken45º" and his

to a rock star character along the lines of veteran wrestler

Ricky Fuji (born September 27, 1965) better known under his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Action Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations. He is perhaps best known for his time with Frontier M ...

. He also switched to an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

and adopted

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

mannerisms and outfits. He initially worked with Kagetora's heel faction STONED, but he distanced himself from them, as he was also teaming with up with Aagan Iisou, STONED's enemy faction, in El Dorado Wrestling. Ken then tried to form his own stable, Ken Gundan, by defeating wrestlers and forcing them into servitude, but he only managed to secure the low-carders

Mototsugu Shimizu is a Japanese wrestler. He currently works in Secret Base. Career He began his career with the T2P (Toryumon 2000 Project) group of students and had a very promising career until he was sidelined with a shoulder injury in September 2000. He be ...

Rei Recreational Equipment, Inc., doing business as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It was formerly governed, and continues to brand itself, as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells camping gear, hiking, clim ...

and Banana Senga, and the group disbanded after some time. In March 2008, Ken45º helped to found Kowloon, a heel stable eventually led by Hayato Fujita. Ken left and turned face in October 2010 as a losing condition in a match against Great Sasuke.

El Dorado Wrestling (2006–2009)

Sakai also joined El Dorado Wrestling, where he started teaming up with

Shuji Kondo is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played Rugby union, rugby. After starting his career in Dragon Gate (wrestling), Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where h ...

's Aagan Iisou stable in an attempt to become a member. However, he had heat with

Takuya Sugawara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently wrestling for Pro Wrestling Zero1. Career Toryumon/Dragon Gate (2001–2004) He debuted in the 9th term of Toryumon 2000 Project as Henry III Sugawara, an English prince character. He joined wit ...

, who didn't want him in Aagan, and this brought losses and failures. At the end, Ken would lose a match to Sugawara which stipulated that he could not even occasionally team up with them, so he abandoned his aspirations and became freelance, not allied with any stable. After growing tired of his free lifestyle, he joined up with the Sukiyaki stable when they were first being formed. He soon turned heel, buried his enmity with Sugawara and joined his stable Hell Demons.

Other media

Outside of wrestling, Sakai is part of the rock band Crazy Crew with

and Great Sasuke.

Championships and accomplishments

* 4 Front Wrestling **4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** Tohoku Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Kengo **

UWA World Tag Team Championship The UWA World Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Lucha libre, Mexican Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. After the UWA's closing, the title was ...

( 1 time) – with Kengo **Artemis Cup (2014) **Futaritabi Tag Team League (2004) – with Mango Fukuda *Secret Base **Secret Base Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2011) – with

Jun Ogawauchi , also known as JUN, is a Japanese professional wrestler and former Japanese professional wrestling ring announcer, working for the Pro Wrestling Secret Base. Ogawauchi's greatest fame came as the fifth member of the Crazy Max stable in Toryumon ...

and Kinya Oyanagi * Toryumon **

( 1 time) – with Mango Fukuda and Takeshi Minamino

References

External links

Pro Wrestling El Dorado~The Next DOOR Project~
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Kenichi 1982 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people 20th-century male professional wrestlers UWA World Trios Champions Tohoku Tag Team Champions 21st-century male professional wrestlers UWA World Tag Team Champions