Misplaced Pages

#876123

42-422: Although the masked British version portrayed by Peter Thornley remains a household name in his home country, most American and Japanese wrestling fans primarily associate the name "Kendo Nagasaki" and related imagery with the face-painted version portrayed by Kazuo Sakurada . The success of both Thornley and Sakurada has spawned an assortment of other wrestlers with characters inspired by, or simply impersonating.

84-420: A ceremony at Hanley 's Victoria Hall. This began a "Millennium Comeback" campaign for Nagasaki as a month later he returned to the venue teamed with Vic Powers to face Darren Walsh and Marty Jones who had objected (kayfabe) to Nagasaki winning the award. Over the next eighteen months he would appear on various All Star shows, sometimes teamed with Drew McDonald . In March 2001 he again partnered Vic Powers in

126-663: A charity tag ladder match against James Mason and Walsh. This run ended in December 2001 with a formal retirement match, a Four Corners bout, again at the Victoria Hall, in which he faced and defeated Mason, Doug Williams and Dean Allmark . Since then, he was said to be looking for a young wrestler to pass his "powers" on to. In June 2007, he signed a deal with London-based LDN wrestling. In November 2007 he appeared at LDN "Legends Showdown" in Broxbourne. He represented

168-630: A fresh battle of the Kendos. This storyline was soon aborted when Nagasaki retired once more to concentrate on his role in commerce . Over the next few years, Ryan continued to manage King Kendo (with Dale Preston taking over the role from Clarke who had also retired in 1993) in feuds with various old enemies of the real Nagasaki. He returned in May 2000 to accept the Wrestler of the Millennium trophy in

210-708: A handpicked LDN Wrestler named Gregory Cortez in a Triple Tag Team match to take on Powers, Brookside and Hakan, who replaced Yorghos who he refused to wrestle. He then began feuding with Yorghos. Barratt wrestled against Yorghos and Hakan in a Ladder match in Hanley in September 2008. Then in October he was scheduled to wrestle Yorghos in a singles match in Wolverhampton, but refused to face him again, instead teaming with Blondie Barratt to defeat Hakan and Travis to win

252-497: A lighter wrestler named Kendo Nagasaki II (played by Nick Heywood) briefly wrestled for Joint Promotions . Also in the late 1970s, wrestler "Big" Bill Clarke (also one half of the Lincolnshire Poachers tag team with "brother" Ron) appeared on shows by UK independent promoter Sandor Kovaks as a version of Kendo Nagasaki modelled directly on Thornley's character. Following considerable legal action by Thornley, Clarke

294-416: A representative. The character's voice was never heard in public. His identity as the man behind Kendo Nagasaki was first revealed publicly by a plumber who visited his house in the 1970s. His identity became more widely known after a 2002 court case over a land dispute with his neighbour. Thornley never spoke publicly about being Kendo Nagasaki until the publication of his autobiography in 2018. Away from

336-551: A second period of major success continuing even after the end of wrestling on ITV until Nagasaki retired again in 1993. Since that time, he has made further comebacks with All Star Wrestling in 2000-2001 and LDN Wrestling in 2008. On July 22nd 2012, Thornley reprised the character in a special appearance for New Generation Wrestling at the Bonus Arena in Kingston upon Hull . A Japanese wrestler named Kazuo Sakurada also used

378-534: A series of loser-lose-mask matches which saw Clarke defeated and unmasked night after night. In December 1986, Thornley made his masked return to the ring at the London Hippodrome in a ladder match with Clive Myers transmitted on ITV shortly after the New Year as the main event of the first ever edition of ITV wrestling taped at an All Star Wrestling show, and by September 1987 he went on to become

420-475: A storyline falling out over Nagasaki's rough tactics in the ring. During the late 1960s, Nagasaki would feud with Billy Robinson and also with a young Jean Ferre . In 1968, Thornley toured Japan where he was billed under the alternative name Mr Guillotine (but still with the same visual image). Kendo Nagasaki made his ITV debut in May 1971 on the FA Cup Final special edition of World of Sport with

462-526: A substitute under the mask). In the early 1990s, Jim Cornette 's Smokey Mountain Wrestling featured a masked samurai character named Kendo the Samurai managed by Daryl Van Horne . This was initially portrayed by Tim Horner but was later played by other wrestlers including Scott Antol and Brian Logan. In 1996, Japanese wrestler Tokimitsu Ishizawa became the masked Kendo Kashin while wrestling for

SECTION 10

#1732782551877

504-439: A team in a match against a team represented by his former manager Lloyd Ryan who had again (kayfabe) fallen out with his charge, this time over Ryan's son, young wrestler Damian Ryan. This event kicked off a storyline which saw him return to wrestling. Working exclusively for LDN Wrestling he feuded with Robbie Brookside over The Sword of Excellence. In May 2008 his old tag team partner Blondie Barratt teamed with him, along with

546-811: A variation of the gimmick in the United States during the early 1980s. Before adopting the gimmick, Sakurada, like Thornley, had wrestled for Stampede and held the North American title there. This version of Nagasaki would wrestle in the American Wrestling Association , Florida Championship Wrestling (where he was managed by J. J. Dillon ),. World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico and Continental Wrestling Federation and in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling , where he formed

588-443: A victory over Wayne Bridges . During July 1971, in what was said to be a sensational TV contest with Billy Howes, his mask came off in the heat of the battle. Howes spent a great deal of effort in pounding Nagasaki's head and dragging his tight-fitting mask up, almost covering Nagasaki's eyes, and tried to untie the straps holding it on, before under his relentless efforts it came loose. Howes showed little sign of actually wrestling in

630-496: Is most likely a Japanese student of Sayama's. Peter Thornley Peter William Thornley (born 19 October 1941) is an English retired professional wrestler who was best known for the ring character Kendo Nagasaki . The character of Nagasaki was a Japanese samurai with a mysterious past and reputed powers of healing and hypnosis . He was one of the biggest draws of all time in British wrestling , especially in

672-523: Is now called Nagasaki " which he had contacted while in "a trance state" during meditation. In November 1964 Thornley had his first professional contest against "Jumping" Jim Hussey at Willenhall Baths. Nagasaki's most notable achievement during the 1960s was in March 1966 when he defeated and unmasked Count Bartelli (Geoff Condliffe) at the Victoria Hall in Hanley , Stoke-on-Trent. Bartelli had been Nagasaki's mentor and tag team partner until they had

714-471: Is now in a new relationship with a man, his longtime personal assistant Lawrence Stevens. Thornley is a believer in Zen Buddhism . At his private estate, Moor Court Hall, near Cheadle, Staffordshire he established Lee Rigby House as a retreat for families coping with bereavement. The house was named in honour of Lee Rigby, who was murdered by Jihadists in 2013, with Lee's mother Lyn helping to run

756-522: The CWA in Germany and Austria . He would later take the gimmick back home to Japan where he has achieved considerable success, including various championships, as the character. In 2008, the original Tiger Mask , Satoru Sayama , introduced to his Real Japan Pro Wrestling promotion a wrestler named Kendo Nakazaki . Nakazaki's real name is unknown; he wears a mask and a Union Jack flag on his chest, but

798-705: The "Ninja Express" team alongside Mr. Pogo , before going on to wrestle on WCW television, changing his ring name to The Dragonmaster and joining the J-Tex Corporation stable . Like Thornley, Sakurada wore a Kendo men to the ring. Unlike the British original, Sakurada wore face paint instead of a mask and carried a kendo stick rather than a sword. Sakurada also used Asian mist as part of his repertoire. Sakurada died in Chiba , Japan on 12 January 2020. A year after Thornley's original retirement in 1978,

840-453: The 'Golden Boys' tag team of Robbie Brookside and Steve Regal when the masked man hypnotised ( kayfabe ) Brookside to attack Regal. This too would lead to a long running storyline with Nagasaki regularly using his 'powers' to turn Brookside over to his side at live shows. In January 1989, George Gillette died of AIDS and Lloyd Ryan officially became Kendo's new manager. In October 1991, he feuded with Giant Haystacks , and at one point

882-459: The 26 stone 9 pounds (169 kg) "The Battling Guardsman" Shirley Crabtree later known as 'Big Daddy', up on to his shoulders, then calmly walked to a corner carrying him and finished the bout with his famous Kamikaze Crash, walking out the ring as Crabtree was being counted out. In December 1975, again facing Big Daddy (as he was by then only named) on television, Nagasaki was successfully unmasked (although he nonetheless went on to win

SECTION 20

#1732782551877

924-687: The BBC Arena programme, Masters of the Canvas in January 1992. In December 2012, Kendo Nagasaki appeared in the BBC documentary "Timeshift — When Wrestling Was Golden: Grapples, Grunts and Grannies". He remained silent, and the programme also featured clips of him wrestling and the famous "unmasking" ceremony in Wolverhampton, 1977. The programme was repeated on BBC Four on 15 July 2013 and 10 June 2015. Thornley's autobiography Kendo Nagasaki and

966-627: The LDN British Tag Team Championship. Following this match, Nagasaki left LDN and the Sword of Excellence storyline was concluded without him. He did not wrestle again until November 2024 in Croydon when, aged 83 he teamed with the tag team Dead Gorgeous to defeat LDN promoter Sanjay Bagga and the tag team Filthy in a six man tag match. This was following a (kayfabe) war of words on social media and at shows regarding

1008-689: The Man Behind the Mask was published in 2018, in which he discussed for the first time publicly about being the person behind the Kendo Nagasaki persona. His identity had previously been publicly revealed during a 2002 court case over a land dispute with his neighbour. In his autobiography, Thornley says that he is bisexual, and he has spoken in related interviews about the issues faced by gay and bisexual sportsmen of his era. He married, and his wife Yvette died in 1990. In his autobiography he says he

1050-469: The Nagasaki character is "in fact, a spirit guide and sensei ... who appears by being channelled through an otherwise ordinary man" i.e. Thornley/Yogensha At the height of his career, Thornley discussed the relationship with his character in an interview for TVTimes in 1976 in which he claimed that the Nagasaki character was "the spirit of a samurai warrior who, 300 years ago, lived in the place that

1092-516: The Sword of Excellence which had remained in Bagga's possession since the above 2007 storyline. Nagasaki appeared with Lyn Rigby (see below) at several of All Star's wrestling events in 2018 to promote his autobiography. At these shows he performed a reenactment of the 1977 unmasking ceremony with Rigby in Gillette's role. Following each unmasking Nagasaki would revert to being Thornley for the rest of

1134-562: The WWA World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Wayne Bridges . He also formed a tag team with Mark 'Rollerball' Rocco but this fell apart after a televised match in early 1988 resulting in a lengthy and violent feud between the two which would rage on at live shows during the first few years after the end of British Wrestling on TV. Another tag team with Blondie Barrett would run for several years. During his final ITV appearance, Nagasaki and Barrett defeated

1176-467: The belt. Grey went on to pin NIWA to successfully defend the title and was presented with the belt by Nagasaki. The artist Peter Blake was once asked by a magazine what he would have liked to have been had he not been an artist, and he answered a wrestler, and more specifically Kendo Nagasaki (Thornley in turn expressed a wish to have been Richard Branson . Thornley agreed to sit for a Blake portrait for

1218-704: The bout), starting a violent feud between the two. The unmasking occurred two years before he had an official ceremonial unmasking ceremony at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton in what was one of the most anticipated and most viewed moments in ITV 's World of Sport . In April the following year (1978), he appeared as an unmasked wrestler for the first time; in a contest at Croydon against Bronco Wells. Following an August 1978 Nagasaki win on television over Colin Joynson, British Heavyweight champion Tony St. Clair entered

1260-726: The character for the Norwich -based World Association of Wrestling (WAW) in which he was for some time a major heel. Preston as King Kendo also won the RQW Tag Team Championship as half of the tag team 4K with Karl Kramer in December 2013. By the late 2010s, Preston's Kendo had evolved into a blue eye character due to his mentoring of young protegé "Kid Kendo". King Kendo also held the WAW World Heavyweight championship before curiously losing it to his own alter ego Dale Broughton in 2018 (possibly with

1302-422: The end stages, and was solely intent on removing the mask, which he finally did and Nagasaki quickly left the ring covering his face. In December 1971, he appeared for the first time with manager "Gorgeous" George Gillette at Dumfries . He then went on to tour Canada and the United States during 1972 working for wrestling legend Stu Hart . Nagasaki was renowned for his strength; in one televised match he lifted

Kendo Nagasaki - Misplaced Pages Continue

1344-539: The evening. On 16 October 2022, Nagasaki, fully masked and in character, attended an All Star show at the Floral Pavilion Theatre , New Brighton and was a ringside judge at Oliver Grey 's defence of his All Star British Heavyweight Championship (which Nagasaki himself had held in 1988) against former champion NIWA. During the match, NIWA attempted to grab the title belt to use as a weapon but Nagasaki used his "powers" to make NIWA keep his hands off

1386-541: The gimmick. The original and best-known use of the gimmick is by the British wrestler who made his name in ITV 's World of Sport . He started professional wrestling in November 1964, and became a household name in Britain after his television debut in 1971. He also toured Japan in 1968 (under the alternative ring name Mr Guillotine) and North America in 1972, wrestling for Stu Hart 's Stampede Wrestling where he held

1428-541: The main event at the Royal Albert Hall , making several appearances on television and frequently wrestling in tag matches against Big Daddy , including teaming with King Kong Kirk on the night Kirk died in the ring in 1987. Clarke and Thornley were scheduled to have a fresh feud in All Star Wrestling in 1993 with the authentic Nagasaki's manager Lloyd Ryan defecting to King Kendo's side, but this

1470-523: The mid-1970s and the turn of the 1980s – 1990s. Thornley wore a mask for most of his career, the one significant exception being several months following a December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony. He had originally retired in 1978 but returned to competition briefly in 1981 and then again from 1986 to 1993. Thereafter he made sporadic wrestling appearances. Thornley gave occasional interviews as Kendo Nagasaki, usually photographed fully masked or with his face hidden, and often speaking through

1512-626: The promotion's North American title, as well as Don Owen 's Pacific Northwest Wrestling and was being recruited by Verne Gagne 's AWA before having to return home due to a family bereavement. Back home in Britain, he achieved even greater fame due to his 1975–1977 feud with the tag team of future mutual arch enemies Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks , as well as his December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony. After retiring in 1978, he briefly came back in 1981 before returning more permanently in 1986 as lead heel of All Star Wrestling during their brief two years of ITV coverage. This triggered

1554-480: The retreat. However, Thornley later faced legal issues with the estate (relating to the above-mentioned land dispute) which threatened its forced sale, as a result of which he asked Lyn Rigby, who was a permanent resident in the House, either to buy or to rent the site. Unable to afford either option, Rigby and the charity moved out of the estate Joint Promotions Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1596-435: The ring and announced he was accepting a title challenge from the now unmasked and therefore eligible Nagasaki. However, before the match could take place, in September 1978 he retired on doctor's orders from the ring and began a new career in rock management. Nagasaki returned in 1981-1982 in a few appearances for Brian Dixon, in which the real Nagasaki feuded with notorious Nagasaki impersonator King Kendo (Bill Clarke) in

1638-459: The ring, Thornley has been a successful business entrepreneur and also had a career in rock management for around a decade from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, managing Cuddly Toys and Laura Pallas. Until the publication of his autobiography in 2018, Thornley and his close associates frowned on the use of his legal name, preferring that his out-of-character self be referred to as "Yogensha" (Japanese for seer). According to his official website,

1680-631: Was "robbed" of a World title (said to be the CWA World Heavyweight Championship , actually held at the time by Rambo ) after Haystacks deliberately pulled off his mask "forcing" him to abandon the match. Footage from this match was featured in the BBC2 documentary on Nagasaki Arena : Masters of the Canvas . In 1993, Nagasaki and Ryan fell out ( kayfabe ) and were set to feud with Nagasaki now managed by his personal assistant Lawrence Stevens and Ryan recruiting King Kendo for

1722-570: Was abandoned when Thornley retired for the second time, with Clarke also retiring soon after. Clarke died on 10 October 2018. Following Clarke's retirement, another wrestler Dale Preston (real name Dale Broughton) took over the role of King Kendo, wearing Clarke's original costume and still managed by Ryan. During the mid-1990s, this version of King Kendo was frequently in the main event of All Star shows pitted in reenactments of successful feuds in which Thornley's Kendo had been involved, such as against Giant Haystacks . Since 2012, Preston has revived

Kendo Nagasaki - Misplaced Pages Continue

1764-563: Was later renamed as King Kendo, but retained the Kendo helmet, sword, cape and striped mask. In this guise, Clarke would later wrestle Thornley in a series of loser-lose-mask battles of the Kendos for Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead circa 1981 with Clarke unmasked, usually by Thornley personally, night after night. Still as King Kendo, Clarke would later join Joint Promotions as a journeyman heel, teaming with Giant Haystacks in

#876123