, known by his ring name , 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 ...

. He co-founded the promotion

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 Nagas ...

(BJW). Kojika is the oldest active Japanese wrestler as well as the one with the longest career, having debuted in 1963. He is also the oldest active wrestler in the world.

Career

Early career (1963–1967)

Kojika made his debut on October 13, 1963, for

Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance The , also known as the Japan Pro Wrestling Association and the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA), was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963 ...

(JWA) against Kakutaro Koma (future

NWA World Middleweight Champion The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican ''lucha libre'' promotion Consejo Mundial d ...

Mashio Koma). In 1967, he left Japan to wrestle in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

North America (1967-1970)

In 1967, Kojika made his debut in North America for

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 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...

in Tennessee. He teamed with

Motoshi Okuma Motoshi Okuma (大熊元司, ''Ōkuma Motoshi'', December 17, 1941 – December 27, 1992) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Japan Wrestling Association (JWA), Internationa ...

and they also worked for

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

. They disbanded in 1968 and Kojika went to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. In 1969, Kojika went to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and won the NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship by defeating

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning. M ...

on November 19. A month later he dropped the title back to Martin. On August 26, 1970, he defeated Les Roberts for the TV title and held it until losing to The Great Goliath on September 16. After the loss, Kojika went back to Japan.

Return to Japan and folding of JWA (1970–1973)

After a few years in the United States, Kojika returned to Japan and stayed with Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance until the company folded on April 14, 1973.

Return to North America (1973–1974, 1980)

In 1973, Kojika returned to the United States to wrestle in Texas as Kung Fu Lee. He would feud with Dory Funk Jr.,

Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

Ricky Romero Ricardo Romero Jr. (born November 6, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays. Prep career After spending three years at Garfield High School, Romero graduate ...

and Akio Sato. He left Texas in 1974. In 1980, he went to Hawaii to work for NWA Polynesian.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1973–1986)

After the folding of JWA, Kojika went to

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 ...

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. Ma ...

(AJPW) where he reunited with Motoshi Okuma. From 1976 to 1981, he and Okuma won the

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 brou ...

three times. They were together until 1986 when Kojika retired from wrestling.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (1995–2002)

Kojika returned to wrestling in 1995, co-founding

(BJW) with

Kazuo Sakurada , better known as Mr. Sakurada, The Dragonmaster, and as the Japanese version of , was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Stampede Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling. Sak ...

where it was a style based on deathmatches and King's Road style. He started wrestling again in 1996. He retired for the second time in 2002. He continued co-promoting Big Japan.

Second return to wrestling (2006–present)

In 2006, Kojika return to wrestling for the second time. He still wrestles for Big Japan and numerous Japanese promotions at 80 years old.

Return to All Japan Pro Wrestling (2019)

Kojika returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2019 after having last worked for them in 1986.

Championships and accomplishments

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) – with

(3) and Gantetsu Matsuoka (1) *

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. The title was created on August 4, 2012. As the name suggests, the title is usuall ...

( 1 time) – with

Masato Inaba is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his time in the Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2007-present) Inaba made his professional ...

and Kankuro Hoshino *

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...

Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Championship The was a six-person tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dramatic Dream Team, today known as DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title, established in 2003, was named after the Jiyūgaoka neighborhood in Meguro. It has since been ...

( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and

Riho is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of 9. She would work for th ...

** Sea Of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and Riho **

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 ...

( 1 time) – with Mr. #6 and Riho *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title was in use from 1969, when it replaced Amarillo's version of the ...

( 1 time) *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...

( 1 times) ** NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with Don Carson (1) and

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (April 5, 1931 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, in Hamilton, Ontario to G ...

(1) *Niigata Pro Wrestling **Niigata Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shigeno Shima (2) *

Pro Wrestling Freedoms , also known simply as Freedoms (stylized in capital letters as FREEDOMS), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Chigasaki, Kanagawa. Founded by Takashi Sasaki in 2009, the promotion's name is derived from its founding philosoph ...

** King of Freedom World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time, inaugural) – with The Winger

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojika, Great 1942 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers People from Hakodate Professional wrestlers from Hokkaido 20th-century Japanese sportsmen 21st-century Japanese people Big Japan Pro Wrestling 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions UWA World Trios Champions Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Champions Sea of Japan 6-Person Tag Team Champions Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions King of Freedom World Tag Team Champions