Osaka Hurricane was the annual flagship professional wrestling event produced by Osaka Pro Wrestling between 2003 and 2012. The event was held during the month of February. The event was considered the biggest event of Osaka Pro. It was introduced first in 2003. Two editions of the event were held in 2004. The first edition of 2004 was the fourth Super J-Cup tournament held in Osaka while the second edition of 2004 was held in Tokyo during the month of April and was the only version of the event to be held in April and outside Osaka. The final event was held in July 2012 and then Osaka Hurricane was discontinued.
26-455: The first Osaka Hurricane event took place on February 1, 2003 at the Osaka-jō Hall . The event was headlined by an Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship match billed as "Symbol of Osaka vs. Tennozan" in which Delfin defeated the defending champion Big Boss MA-G-MA to capture the title. The second Osaka Hurricane was held on February 21, 2004 featured the 2004 Super J-Cup tournament , featuring
52-533: A former IWF Heavyweight Champion. The Bodyguard made his first appearance in Osaka Pro Wrestling in the fall of 2008, assisting Tigers Mask in completing his heel turn. Originally called Kurofuku, his strength was evident from the start and immediately started to cause trouble by helping Tigers win matches. Soon, he began a long-running feud started with Zeus , which eventually led to him being outed as former professional bodybuilder Noboru Kurakawa,
78-543: A loss to Billyken Kid, Bull Armor Takuya and Black Buffalo . On March 28, 2014, Zeus and The Bodyguard made their debuts for AJPW, defeating Menso re-Oyaji and Sushi . On May 16, they received an opportunity at the World Tag Team Championship , but were unable to defeat defending champions Evolution ( Joe Doering and Suwama ). Zeus and Bodyguard both participated in the 2014 Ōdō Tournament as singles competitors, with Zeus being eliminated in
104-719: A site area of 36,351 square meters (391,280 sq ft), part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of Osaka Castle and it won the Osaka Urban Scenery Architects Prize Special Award in 1984. The hall may be reached on a short walk from either Osaka Business Park Station on the Osaka Municipal Subway Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line or Osakajōkōen Station on the JR Osaka Loop Line . The hall
130-696: A special dream tag team match featuring four of the biggest junior heavyweights of Japan, pitting Super Delfin and The Great Sasuke against Gran Hamada and Último Dragón . The seventh Osaka Hurricane was held on February 11, 2008 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. The main event was a mask vs. mask match , in which Black Buffalo defended the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship against Tigers Mask . Billy Ken Kid made his return to action at
156-591: A tag team in future called The Big Guns , winning the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship multiple times and also achieving success in All Japan Pro Wrestling . The event featured comic tag team matches featuring wrestlers mimicking Antonio Inoki , Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu . The ninth Osaka Hurricane event was held on February 11, 2010 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. In
182-828: A tag team. Known as the Big Guns , they won the Osaka Pro Tag Titles in February 2011, but lost them to Joker in March. Various injuries kept him sidelined for a good portion of 2011, but he was able to return to active competition in the fall. A knee injury once again sidelined him in early 2012, but he returned for a Big Guns produced show in May. Shortly after that, he announced that other than for Big Guns-related matches, his new ring name would be "Macho Samurai" . At Hurricane 2012 , Bodyguard aggravated his knee injury during
208-701: A three way Tag Title match, and shortly after announced that he needed surgery. The surgery and recovery kept him out for 8 months. He returned to the ring in March 2013, announcing that he would become a full-time Osaka Pro roster member. The Big Guns began to achieve more success shortly after, winning the Osaka Tag Festival in June and the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship for the second time in October. At
234-407: Is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler better known by his ring name The Bodyguard ( ザ・ボディガー , Za Bodigā ) . He is currently a freelancer , working most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a four-time World Tag Team Champion with longtime partner Zeus as " The Big Guns ". Kurakawa is also a former two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion with Zeus, and
260-554: Is located in Osaka-jō Park, near Osaka Castle and is across a river from two other smaller concert halls. It is used for some sports, such as judo championships and wrestling matches such as those for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's annual NJPW Dominion event. The venue has also been used for The New Beginning in Osaka in 2020, New Japan Cup finals in 2020 and 2022, and Castle Attack in 2021. The venue
286-1498: Is popular for concerts , with many native and international pop and rock music artists. Every December, 10,000 people come to the hall to participate in a performance of Beethoven 's Symphony No. 9 . Many popular musical acts have played the arena, including Nana Mizuki , LiSA , Hikaru Utada , B'z , Mötley Crüe , Duran Duran , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Momoiro Clover Z , NMB48 , Dir En Grey , Babymetal , Iron Maiden , Pink Floyd , Ayumi Hamasaki , Britney Spears , Janet Jackson , Whitney Houston , Celine Dion , Mariah Carey , Maroon 5 , Misia , Kylie Minogue , Tina Turner , Gloria Estefan , Taylor Swift , Gen Hoshino , Prince , L'Arc-en-Ciel , David Bowie , George Michael , Patrick Fiori , Bon Jovi , Alanis Morissette , Rod Stewart , Oasis , Alice in Chains , Nine Inch Nails , Green Day , Beyoncé , Christina Aguilera , Björk , David Guetta , Avril Lavigne , The Black Eyed Peas , Norah Jones , John Mayer , Sarah Brightman , Westlife , BoA , 2NE1 , Girls' Generation , Justin Bieber , Ed Sheeran , E-girls , Exo , Shinee , BTS , Shishamo , Seventeen , Twice , Red Velvet , Scandal , Blackpink , Monsta X , iKON , NCT 127 , Radwimps , One Ok Rock , Dead or Alive , Queen and Aqours . The Bodyguard (wrestler) Noboru Kurakawa ( 倉川 昇 , Kurakawa Noboru , born June 30, 1968)
SECTION 10
#1732801503276312-690: The AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship against Tsubasa in the penultimate match. The fourth Osaka Hurricane was held on February 13, 2005 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. The event was aired live on pay-per-view via "Perfect Choice" pay-per-view service. In the main event, Big Boss MA-G-MA defended the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship against Super Dolphin, who defeated MA-G-MA to win
338-466: The Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship against his trainer and mentor Super Delfin , who defeated Dolphin to capture the title. The sixth Osaka Hurricane event was held on February 12, 2007 at the Grand Cube Osaka in Osaka, Japan. In the main event, Billy Ken Kid defended the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship against Tigers Mask , with Mask beating Kid for the title. The event also featured
364-544: The World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to defeat Xceed ( Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara ). On August 15, Zeus and Bodyguard scored a big win, defeating former World Tag Team Champions Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie . They once again participated in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in 2015, losing their first two matches but managing to win the rest of their matches, and make it into
390-563: The World Tag Team title to Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi . On November 27, they defeated Sekimoto and Okabayashi to regain the championship. The Bodyguard stars in the Emilio Insolera film Sign Gene , the first superhero film about deaf mutants who have superhuman powers through the use of sign language. The film was released on September 14, 2017. Outside of professional wrestling, Kurakawa co-owns "King Gym",
416-587: The best junior heavyweights in Japan and the event was aired on pay-per-view . The tournament was won by Naomichi Marufuji from Pro Wrestling Noah . The event also featured a six-man tag team match , in which Cima , Heat and Kenta defeated the veteran team of Jushin Thunder Liger , Jinsei Shinzaki and Super Delfin. The third Osaka Hurricane event was held at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo and
442-435: The event by competing against Naomichi Marufuji . The eighth Osaka Hurricane was held on February 15, 2009 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. The main event pitted Hideyoshi defending the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship against Billy Ken Kid. Kid won the title. The Bodyguard competed in his first professional wrestling match at the event, making his in-ring debut against Zeus . The two would go on to form
468-459: The finals, finishing the tournament with 8 points. In the final, they were defeated by Kento Miyahara and Suwama. On December 23, Zeus and Bodyguard finally captured the World Tag Team Championship, defeating Wild Burning ( Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori ). On February 21, Zeus and Bodyguard made their first successful defence of the World Tag Team Championship, defeating Nextream ( Jake Lee and Kento Miyahara). On June 15, Zeus and Bodyguard lost
494-412: The main event, Billy Ken Kid defeated the defending champion Dick Togo in a No Disqualification match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship . The tenth Osaka Hurricane event was held on August 14, 2011 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. In the main event, Billy Ken Kid defeated Tigers Mask to capture the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship . The eleventh and final Osaka Hurricane
520-542: The same time, Zeus also won the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship and the 2013 Tennozan Tournament. Zeus and Bodyguard faced each other in the finals, with Zeus coming out on top. On March 1, 2014, it was announced that Osaka Pro would be folding due to financial difficulties and on April 20, all of its workers would become freelancers. Zeus and Bodyguard eventually vacated all of their championships, and on April 20 wrestled their last match in OPW to date, teaming with Quiet Storm in
546-538: The second round by eventual winner Go Shiozaki and Bodyguard in the first round by Takao Omori . The Big Guns also participated in the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League , finishing with 8 points but not making it to the final. Both Zeus and The Bodyguard participated in the 2015 Champion Carnival Tournament, with Zeus finishing the tournament with 3 points in Block B and Bodyguard finishing with 2 points in Block A. On May 31, they received another shot at
SECTION 20
#1732801503276572-451: The title. The event also featured the return of Tsubasa to action as he teamed with Jushin Thunder Liger to take on Super Delfin and The Tiger in a tag team match, which Liger and Tsubasa won. The fifth Osaka Hurricane was held on February 26, 2006 at Namiyaha Dome Sub-Arena in Kadoma, Osaka , Japan. The main event featured a match between teacher and student in which Super Dolphin defended
598-479: The winner of two Musclemania Japan competitions in 2002 and 2007. To build heat for their feud, Kurakawa (now known as The Bodyguard) and Zeus engaged in some power battles, including an arm-wrestling contest that had no clear winner. Bodyguard would make his official in-ring debut as The Bodyguard at Hurricane 2009 in a loss to Zeus. In August 2010, Bodyguard turned on Tigers Mask, aligning himself with Asian Cougar and Orochi to form Joker. In January 2011, Bodyguard
624-529: Was held on July 22, 2012 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. The main event was a singles match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship , in which Daisuke Harada defeated the defending champion Black Buffalo to capture the title. Osaka-j%C5%8D Hall Osaka-jo Hall ( 大阪城ホール , Ōsaka-jō Hōru ) is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi area of Osaka , Japan . The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on
650-440: Was kicked out of Joker by Kuuga after they attempted to illegally help in a match against Zeus, only for Bodyguard to refuse, wanting to win the match fairly. After the match, Bodyguard was attacked and beaten down by Joker, but was saved by Zeus, who cleared everyone out of the ring and shook hands with Bodyguard after the match, signalling a mutual respect between the two and ending their long-running rivalry. Soon after, they formed
676-540: Was the first and only Osaka Hurricane event to be held in Tokyo and was dubbed Osaka Hurricane in Tokyo . The event took place on April 2, 2004 and marked the only time that Osaka Hurricane was held twice in a year. The event was headlined by a six-man tag team match in which Big Boss MA-G-MA, Daio QUALLT and GOA billed as Kishiwada Gurentai took on the team of New Japan Pro-Wrestling representatives Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue . Kaz Hayashi defended
#275724