Kazunari Murakami ( 村上 一成 , Murakami Kazunari , ring name : 村上 和成) (born November 29, 1973) is a Japanese professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah . Murakami is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) during the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he primarily competed as a member of the villainous Makai Club stable. Aside from pro wrestling, Murakami was also part of the first fight in PRIDE history, defeating John Dixson by submission in 1997.
43-802: After leaving NJPW in the fall of 2004, Murakami subsequently competed for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX (ZERO1-MAX) and Big Mouth LOUD, of which he was a founding member. Murakami has also made sporadic appearances in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) and Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW (FMW). Trained in Judo and Sumo since high school, Kazunari became a member of the judo team in Takushoku University . He met Wajyutsu Keishukai founder Yoshinori Nishi, who convinced him to join his team, and Murakami started his career in mixed martial arts . Murakami began his career fighting for
86-677: A 4,000,000 Bounty match. In early 2004, Murakami began feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship , which eventually led to an empty arena steel cage match on March 28 at King of Sports, won by Tanahashi. On May 3, 2004 at Nexxess in the Tokyo Dome , Murakami teamed with Masahiro Chono to unsuccessfully challenge Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Makai Club broke up in
129-565: A one off match at the 2006 Tokyo Dome show , losing to Yuji Nagata. Having both left New Japan, Murakami and Katsuyori Shibata announced the formation of a new promotion, Big Mouth Loud in January 2005. Backed by Fumihiko Uwai, the promotion was set to focus largely on shoot-style, and would use talent from other promotions as well as their own contracted wrestlers. At Big Mouth Loud's first show in September 2005, Murakami defeated Shibata in
172-740: A plan to reform the promotion, which would include holding a show in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on April 13, 2021, as part of the promotion's 20th anniversary. A further goal would be holding a show in the Roygoku Kokugikan annually, while also providing Zero1 wrestlers with fixed contracts and social security. During a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , the promotion suffered from severe financial problems. Kazuhiro Iwamoto resigned from his position as president while wrestlers Tatsuhito Takaiwa , Ikuto Hidaka , and Kohei Sato all departed
215-832: A row the Kongoh stable Murakami earned a title match against Kenou for the GHC National Title. On January 23, 2021 at the Noah Higher Ground 2021 - Day 3 show held at the EDION Arena Osaka Kenou retained the title. Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX Pro Wrestling Zero1 ( Japanese : プロレスリングZERO1 , Hepburn : Puroresuringu Zerowan , stylized as PRO WRESTLING ZERO1) , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively),
258-428: A severe brain injury against Shinjiro Otani, which forced him to leave professional wrestling effective immediately to undergo brain surgery. In February 2010 Murakami returned to pro wrestling, as Big Murakami , losing to Kensuke Sasaki in a match for Sasaki's Kensuke Office promotion. He also returned to Pro Wrestling Noah , and on March 26 teamed with Katsumi Usuda to challenge Takeshi Rikio and Muhammad Yone for
301-648: A slump for the remainder of the year. In November 2002, Yasuda, Yanagisawa, and Makai #1 entered the 2002 Triathlon Survivor League but finished in last place with 1 point. Then on December 10, 2002, Yasuda and Yanagisawa challenged Cho-Ten for the IWGP Tag Team Championship , but lost, and later in the night, Murakami challenged Yuji Nagata for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but he also came up short. Makai Club bounced back at Wrestling World 2003 . Yanagisawa won
344-617: A white mask, becoming known as "The Terrorist of Heisei". During his early career, Murakami split his time between NJPW and shoot-style promotion Battlarts to hone his skills as a wrestler. One of his first matches was at Wrestling World 2000 , teaming with Ogawa in a losing effort to Shinya Hashimoto and Takashi Iizuka when he submitted to Iizuka. On April 7, Murakami took on Iizuka in an attempt to avenge his loss but he once again fell to Iizuka by submission. On May 5 at Wrestling Dontaku 2000 , Murakami teamed with Ogawa to challenge Fighting Club G-Eggs ( Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi ) for
387-532: A whole year until the next summer's tournament. They also hold a Yasukuni Shrine show every April and a yearly junior tournament called the "Tenkaichi Jr." Makai Club Makai Club ( 魔界倶楽部 , Makai Kurabu ) , originally Puroresu Kessha Makai Club ( プロレス結社魔界倶楽部 , Puroresu Kessha Makai Kurabu , Pro Wrestling Association Hell Club) , was a villainous professional wrestling stable that competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling . It
430-517: Is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. Formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE and Pro Wrestling Zero1-MAX, respectively), it was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2001 until late 2004, and briefly reaffiliated in 2011. It was also affiliated with AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) from 2005 until late 2007,
473-638: The Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA) from 2006 to 2009, and has been affiliated with the United Wrestling Network (UWN) since 2017. The promotion was founded by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) stars Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani . In 2000, Hashimoto proposed an independent promotion within NJPW called "New Japan Pro-Wrestling Zero", but the idea was shot down. When Hashimoto
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#1732797657138516-554: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship . Despite making Nagata bleed and trapping him in his own finishing move, the Nagata Lock II, Murakami was defeated by Nagata. At Wrestling World 2003 , Murakami and Yasuda lost to Michiyoshi Ohara and Shinsuke Nakamura . The following month, Murakami teamed with Yasuda in a #1 Contenders Tournament for the IWGP Tag Team Championship , making it to the finals before losing to Mike Barton and Jim Steele . However, an injury to Steele would give
559-548: The IWGP Tag Team Championship but lost when Murakami was pinned by Nagata. In early 2001, Murakami would also wrestle several times for the newborn Pro Wrestling ZERO1 , main eventing the promotion's second ever show where he and Ogawa lost to Mitsuharu Misawa and Takeshi Rikio . Murakami became known for his wild, seemingly uncontrollable style of wrestling, predominately made up of punches, kicks, and legitimate judo/MMA throws and submissions, with very little actual wrestling moves in his moveset. In August 2001, Murakami entered
602-660: The Yasukuni Shrine , which is controversial for its relation to World War II . Larger Japanese wrestling promotions like NJPW, AJPW, and Noah have traditionally stayed away from such venues due to their controversial nature. On September 12, 2006, Zero1-Max joined 12 other wrestling companies to form the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA), a professional wrestling alliance that intended to "foster an environment of cooperation rather than competition." The alliance planned to hold occasional "Super Shows" where all member promotions would send wrestlers to compete under
645-497: The 2001 G1 Climax , his first time ever competing in the tournament. He finished fourth in his block with 5 points scoring victories over Nakanishi and Tadao Yasuda while going to a double countout with eventual winner, Yuji Nagata. In early 2002, Murakami joined NJPW full time, and in the summer, Murakami joined the heel stable Makai Club , where he was considered one of the highest ranking members behind only Tadao Yasuda . On December 10, 2002, Murakami challenged Yuji Nagata for
688-440: The 2014. During a September 16, 2016 press conference, Dream On Stage was announced as Zero1's new parent company. Also announced was a partnership between Zero1 and Akebono 's Ōdō company. On May 22, 2017, Zero1 partnered with the United Wrestling Network to become the group's official Japanese affiliate. On July 3, 2018, it was announced that the promotion be undergoing a management change, with Yoshitaka Ono stepping down as
731-518: The CEO. Katsumi Sasazaki would be appointed the representative director and president of the promotion, while Shinjiro Otani took on the chairman of the board position and Masato Tanaka and Kohei Sato split the vice-president role of the promotion. On February 1, 2020, Zero1 president Kazuhiro Iwamoto announced that the ownership of the promotion would be transferred from the previous management company Dream On Stage to iFD. Iwamoto additionally announced
774-683: The GHC Tag Team Titles but they came up short. Murakami later announced it as his home promotion, and continued to compete with the promotion until its closure in 2014. On December 26 at Kongoh Produce ~ Diamond 3 Murakami made his return in Pro Wrestling Noah as NOSAWA Rongai announced his return to the company. On December 29 at Takashi Sugiura 20th Anniversary Show he fought in a 7 vs 7 match and his team, Takashi Sugiura , Kazushi Sakuraba , Kendo Kashin , NOSAWA Rongai , Kaz Hayashi , Daisuke Nakamura won by defeating
817-678: The GPWA banner. Noah's CEO Mitsuharu Misawa was inaugurated as the first chairman of the GPWA, while Zero1-Max's Yoshiyuki Nakamura was announced as the alliance's president. The GPWA would later fold in 2009. In 2008, the promotion shortened its name to Pro Wrestling Zero1 . In 2011, the promotion returned to the NWA as their Japanese territory. In March 2011, NWA presented Zero1 with the NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship in celebration of
860-775: The Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '95 on October 13, 1995 where he lost his first fight to Akihiro Gono by knockout. A few months later, on March 30, 1996, Murakami fought at the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '96 . He fared better, defeating Isamu Osugi by submission and avenging his loss to Gono by decision, but lost to Masanori Suda by submission. In late 1996, Murakami then began fighting for Extreme Fighting where he defeated Bart Vale At EF3: Extreme Fighting 3 on October 18, 1996 by TKO. A few months later, at EF4: Extreme Fighting 4 on March 28, 1997, Murakami lost to future UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith by KO. On October 11, 1997, Murakami made history by joining
903-642: The Teisen Hall Six-Man Tag Team Tournament with Yanagisawa, Makai #1, and Makai #2 forming one team, while Kazunari Murakami, Makai #4 and #5 formed another team. However neither team would win with, as both teams lost to eventual winners Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiro Saito, and Tatsutoshi Goto. Also in February, Makai Club entered a #1 contenders tournament for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On January 30, Makai #1 and #2 lost an entrance match to Saito and Goto, Makai #4 and #5 lost in
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#1732797657138946-637: The Young Generation Cup defeating Kenzo Suzuki in the semi-finals and Yutaka Yoshie in the finals. Meanwhile, Makai #1 and one night only member, Dai Majin, defeated Hiro Saito and Tatsutoshi Goto . The new members Makai #4 (being Young Lion Katsuyori Shibata ) and Makai #5 (former All Japan Pro Wrestling competitor Mitsuya Nagai ) defeated Takashi Iizuka and Masahito Kakihara . The group would suffer one loss with Yasuda and Murakami losing to their former Makai #3 partner Ohara and Shinsuke Nakamura . On February 1, 2003, Makai Club entered
989-704: The entire tour and would also go on to add a new member in Kazunari Murakami . Makai Club would continue to enjoy success as the group added another member in Makai #3, who was actually Michiyoshi Ohara . The group also would go on to win a three match 5 vs. 5 series against New Japan which gave Hoshino the chance to name challengers for the IWGP Titles. Following the G1 World Tour, the Club would go on
1032-431: The fall of 2003, Makai #2 and #5 unmasked and began going by their real names, also during this time Yasuda and Makai #1 entered the 2003 G1 Tag League finishing in 5th place with 7 points. At Wrestling World 2004, Makai #1, Yanagisawa, Nagai and Chikuzen defeated The Crazy Dogs in the forms of Ohara, Goto, Saito and Inoue, while Yasuda lost to Masayuki Naruse twice (firstly by disqualification, and secondly by KO after
1075-454: The fall of 2003, Murakami began competing in a series of three "bounty" matches, where the winner would receive a cash prize from Makai Club leader Kantaro Hoshino . He defeated Shinya Makabe at Road to Ultimate Crush on September 21 in a 1,000,000 Yen Bounty match, then fellow Makai Club member Katsuyori Shibata at Ultimate Crush II on October 13 in a 2,000,000 Yen Bounty match, and finally Koji Kanemoto at Yokohama Dead Out on November 3 in
1118-517: The final match). On April 23, 2003, Yasuda challenged Yuji Nagata for the IWGP Title in a rematch from a year ago (where Nagata won the title from Yasuda), but Yasuda lost. At Ultimate Crush on May 2, 2003, Ken Shamrock joined the Makai Club for one night defeating Takashi Iizuka, while Murakami lost to Enson Inoue. Following Ultimate Crush, Makai Club for the most part of the year, went to
1161-481: The first round to Iizuka and Kakihara on February 6, and Yasuda and Murakami would make it to the finals where they lost to Mike Barton and Jim Steele . Despite the loss, Yasuda and Murakami would ultimately be granted the title match after Steele suffered an injury a few days later. On February 16, 2003, Yasuda and Murakami challenged Cho-Ten for the IWGP Tag Titles but would fail to win the titles, and in
1204-612: The main event, Yanagisawa challenged Yoshihiro Takayama for the NWF Heavyweight Championship , but lost. By the spring, the group began a feud with the Crazy Dogs (Tatsutoshi Goto, Hiro Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Enson Inoue ) and Makai #5 began a feud with Takashi Iizuka, who recognized him as Nagai (who got him injured in June 2001) with Iizuka defeating him in a best of series (with Nagai even unmasking for
1247-516: The main event. Murakami reignited his feud with Enson Inoue at the next show in December 2005, defeating him in a singles match. Murakami continued to compete for BML until the promotion's closure in mid-2006. After Big Mouth Loud folded, Murakami went freelance and began working for Pro Wrestling Zero1 in the summer of 2006. Murakami took part in ZERO1's 2006 Fire Festival tournament, making it to
1290-561: The midcard and would only receive a few more title shots afterwards. On July 9, 2003, Makai #4 and #5 challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie for the IWGP Tag Team Championship , but came up short. On July 13, Yasuda challenged Takayama for the NWF Heavyweight Championship, but he also came up short. Yasuda and Shibata, who abandoned his Makai #4 profile, entered the 2003 G1 Climax , with Shibata finishing third, while Yasuda finished last in their block. In
1333-763: The newly formed PRIDE Fighting Championships and won in the company's first fight by defeating John Dixson at PRIDE 1 . He returned to PRIDE three years later at PRIDE 10 on August 27, 2000, where he lost to Masaaki Satake by TKO. He returned to fighting two years later at UFO: Legend in a losing effort to Wallid Ismail by TKO. He last fight was at Jungle Fight 1 on September 13, 2003, where he defeated Lee Young Gun by verbal submission ending his MMA career at 5-5. Murakami entered professional wrestling in 1998 when he joined Antonio Inoki 's Universal Fighting-Arts Organization alongside fellow judoka Naoya Ogawa . They were sent to New Japan Pro-Wrestling , where Murakami initially gained fame for attacking wrestlers while sporting
Kazunari Murakami - Misplaced Pages Continue
1376-610: The promotion to Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max , with Otani and Nakamura taking over the promotion's general operations. Among other major changes made to the promotion's structure was the decision to join AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) as the alliance's only Japanese member. Due to their new affiliation with the AWA, the promotion's previous National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliation was given to rival promotion NJPW. Since April 2005, Zero1 has held yearly pay-per-view events at
1419-652: The promotion's tenth anniversary. In July, Daisuke Sekimoto won the Fire Festival to become the first NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight champion. Later in 2011, Zero1 left the NWA, renaming their NWA-branded championships to "New Wrestling Alliance" championships. Following their 2011 departure from the NWA, Zero1 launched an American affiliate, Zero1 USA, taking over the promotion previously known as NWA Midwest. In 2012, an Australian division of Zero1, known as Zero1 Australia, opened in Adelaide taking over what
1462-401: The promotion. In July 2020, it was announced that the company was acquired by Daiko Holdings Group. That same month, they hired former Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling women's wrestler Megumi Kudo as their general manager. Zero1 holds a heavyweight tournament every summer in the last week of July called the " Fire Festival " (Himatsuri) where the winner holds the "Fire Sword" (a katana) for
1505-568: The semi-finals before losing to Shinjiro Otani . He also debuted for Pro Wrestling Noah , taking part in a tournament for the GHC Tag Team Championship alongside Shinjiro Otani. They reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners Takeshi Morishima and Muhammad Yone . Murakami was also pinned by Mitsuharu Misawa in their only singles match in October. In the first match of the 2007 Fire Festival, Murakami suffered
1548-463: The summer of 2002 during New Japan's G1 Climax when Antonio Inoki's crown wrestler Tadao Yasuda sent three masked men against Masahiro Chono . One of the masked men would reveal himself as MMA fighter: Ryushi Yanagisawa , while the other two were Makai #1 (Junji Hirata, the original Super Strong Machine ) and Makai #2 (in the form of Ryota Chikuzen). The group's first tour was the September 2002 G1 World Tour which they dominated and would go 13–3 on
1591-488: The summer of 2004 and Murakami would briefly join Masahiro Chono 's Black New Japan stable before leaving New Japan shortly after. His last match under contract to the promotion took place on July 7, where he, Katsuyori Shibata, Super Strong Machine , Mitsuya Nagai and Masahiro Chono defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Osamu Nishimura , Shinya Makabe, Yuji Nagata and Yutaka Yoshie . Murakami would return to New Japan for
1634-484: The title shot to Murakami and Yasuda who unsuccessfully challenged Cho-Ten on February 16. Throughout much of 2003, Murakami and the rest of the Makai Club feuded with Michiyoshi Ohara 's Crazy Dogs faction, and in March 2003, MMA fighter Enson Inoue was bought into New Japan to feud with Murakami. On May 2 at NJPW Ultimate Crush 2003, Murakami lost to Inoue in an extremely bloody match that ended in just 6 minutes. In
1677-497: The whole Kongoh led by Kenoh . On January 4, 2021 at Noah New Sunrise 2021 Sugiura-gun (Kazunari Murakami, Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura ) defeat Kongoh ( Katsuhiko Nakajima , Kenou & Masa Kitamiya ) by referee's decision. On January 16, 2021, at Noah Higher Ground 2021 - Day 2 in another six-men tag team match Sugiura-gun ( NOSAWA Rongai & Takashi Sugiura & Kazunari Murakami) defeat Kongo ( Kenou , Manabu Soya & Tadasuke ). By defeating three times in
1720-556: Was fired by NJPW in November 2000, he registered the Pro Wrestling Zero-One name. In its early years, Zero1 had working agreements with Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), NJPW, Riki Pro , Hustle , Big Mouth Loud, King's Road, and Dragondoor. These agreements enabled Zero1 wrestlers to challenge for and hold the other promotions' titles. The promotion also operated their own dojo, which
1763-419: Was led by Tadao Yasuda and managed by Kantaro Hoshino , and its gimmick was that of a group of mixed martial arts fighters and pro wrestlers who worshipped Antonio Inoki as a god. It also had influence over All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , where it had an extension called Makai Majo Gundan ( 魔界魔女軍団 , Makai Majo Gundan , Hell Witch Army) which was led by Chiyo Obata. Makai Club first formed in
Kazunari Murakami - Misplaced Pages Continue
1806-598: Was previously known as NWA Pro Australia; in 2014 the relationship between Zero1 and Zero1 Australia ended with the Australian-based promotion renaming to Wrestle Rampage. Later in 2012, the Zero1 Hong Kong and Zero1 Mexico branches opened. In 2013, Yoshiyuki Nakamura opened a new division of Zero1 in Belarus. On December 17, 2013, Zero1 announced a corporate restructuring taking place at the start of
1849-414: Was referred to as the "Takeshiba Coliseum". On November 30, 2004, Shinya Hashimoto gave up ownership of the promotion, telling the press that due to financial problems he had decided to step away from the company. A new parent company "First On Stage" was formed consisting of president Yoshiyuki Nakamura, ring announcer Oki Okidata, Shinjiro Otani and a company named Baltic Curry. First On Stage renamed
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