Michinoku Pro Wrestling ( みちのくプロレス , Michinoku puroresu ) (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 rather in Morioka, Iwate . Since the promotion is primarily focused on the Lucha libre style of wrestling, many of their wrestlers don masks and special motifs as they compete in the ring. However, Michinoku Pro has accepted wrestlers from various styles (such as shoot style and strong style) and backgrounds over the years. In 2003, Sasuke left the running of the promotion to Jinsei Shinzaki .
50-586: Michinoku Pro Wrestling (Michinoku Pro or M-Pro) was founded on October 1, 1992 by The Great Sasuke as a community-based promotion for the northeastern greater Tohoku region of Japan. Their first-ever pre-show was held on November 27, 1992 in Takizawa City , although due to disputes with the Universal Lucha Libre (UWF), the promotion was put on the back-burner for the next several months. Gran Hamada joined M-Pro, and their first-ever show
100-487: A Japanese folkloric gimmick who wore a cloak and a sandogasa hat in his ring entrance, which he traded for a white ōendan gakuran every time he wrestled abroad. His underling Taka Michinoku would receive a similar character. During a tour in Mexico for Universal Wrestling Association , Murakawa adopted the character of Ninja Sasuke, a ninja gimmick inspired by the legendary Sarutobi Sasuke . He started wearing
150-415: A black bodysuit with a matching lucha libre mask , and utilized a wrestling style set between lucha libre and martial arts . Upon returning to Japan after a second Mexico tour, he finally tweaked his name to "The Great Sasuke", and adopted a red, black, and white mask patterned after kumadori makeup, reminiscent of the one worn by fellow Japanese wrestler Mach Hayato. Shortly after, Sasuke proclaimed he
200-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked
250-472: A gimmick based on Randy "The Ram" Robinson, Mickey Rourke 's character from the professional wrestling film The Wrestler . He started wrestling barechested for the first time in his career, donned green tights with, and adopted a taunting diving headbutt just like the film character. He abandoned the impersonation after a couple years, though he retained the custom to wear only shorter tights as opposed to his old bodysuit. On April 15, 2011, Sasuke returned to
300-583: A new mask modified to resemble the Brahmans. It marked the first time Sasuke had turned heel in many years. Mu no Taiyo opposed the Michinoku home army, but had a particular beef with popular tag team of Yapper Man 1 and Yapper Man 2 , as well as New Phase, the new team of Ayumu Gunji and Daichi Sasaki. In early 2021, the Brahman Brothers kicked Sasuke out of Mu no Taiyo following a loss to
350-523: A series of challenges, Sasuke initiated the tradition of the Great Space War ( 宇宙大戦争 , Uchuu Daisensou ) , a garbage wrestling event where he would face off against the Sato brothers under outrageous costumed identities and fantastic storylines. After sitting out of most of 2007 due to his political career, he returned to form a tag team with upcoming ace Yoshitsune . Stoned disappeared later in
400-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It
450-647: A working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation , with M-Pro founder The Great Sasuke wrestling in two matches for the promotion. The WWF would also send talent to Japan, such as The Undertaker , who would wrestle against M-Pro mainstay Jinsei Shinzaki . During this period, the WWF was planning on holding a tournament to crown the first holder of the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship . It has been theorized in
500-529: Is a Japanese professional wrestler , professional wrestling promoter and politician . He is the founder of Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW). Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly legislator. He has wrestled in Japan and in the United States in various professional wrestling promotions . He is said to have an incredible tolerance for pain, mainly in reference to
550-646: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by
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#1732798404179600-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It
650-615: The Iwate Prefectural Assembly as an independent supported by the Liberal Party , making him the first actual masked legislator in history. He became the fourth Japanese wrestler to get elected to office. Antonio Inoki , Hiroshi Hase and Atsushi Onita preceded him, though all of them were elected to the Diet of Japan at the national level. Sasuke unsuccessfully ran in his bid to become governor of Iwate in
700-779: The World Wrestling Federation , one of them at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede . It was apparent that Sasuke would sign up with WWF, but it was Michinoku who ended up being signed on his place for unknown reasons. Upon returning to Japan, Sasuke and Tiger Mask IV began feuding with two heel doppelgängers , Sasuke the Great and Masked Tiger (played respectively by Masao Orihara and Takeshi Ono), aside from usual villain Super Delfin. Around this time, however, Sasuke would take repeated hiatuses in order to have time to heal injuries, which led him to clash against other wrestlers, most particularly Delfin, who accused him of being unfit to lead
750-485: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and
800-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and
850-646: The 2007 election. This championship is promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), it was on loan to them from New Japan Pro-Wrestling when he won it. Also, despite the title still using the NWA initials, it is no longer recognized or sanctioned as a world title by the National Wrestling Alliance . The same goes for the NWA World Middleweight Championship . Despite winning the title twice, neither of
900-582: The Brahman Brothers) defeated Sasuke after the latter crashed in a dangerous stunt, which prompted him to reflect about the state of things. Sasuke then said he knew the Brahmans were attempting to protect the Earth from alien invaders, and asked them to join forces to fight for the greater good. This led to the creation of Mu no Taiyo ( ムーの太陽 , Mū no Taiyō ) , a shinshūkyō cult -themed stable, with Sasuke posing as their messianic leader under
950-574: The Sasuke Group and the rest of Michinoku wrestlers would have the effect of fracturing the promotion, as Dick Togo and Super Delfin had their own feud about the latter's role in the babyface team. After Togo humiliated Delfín by forcing him to crawl between his legs and later caused a riot by abusing him further, Sasuke adopted the same approach against Delfín in their battles, which eventually led to his departure from MPW to form Osaka Pro Wrestling due to both kayfabe and real dissatisfaction with
1000-455: The Sato brothers turned heel the same year and joined Kagetora to create Stoned, the next great heel stable. Sasuke spent 2006 in an interpromotional feud with Osaka Pro Wrestling , eventually having a degree of reconciliation with Super Delfin in the ring, and continued wrestling in Hustle and other promotions, allying with tarento Hitomi Kaikawa in her wrestling debut. The same year, after
1050-458: The United States to wrestle for Chikara in the 2011 King of Trios tournament , where he would represent Michinoku Pro with Dick Togo and Jinsei Shinzaki. In their first round match Team Michinoku Pro defeated Team Minnesota ( 1-2-3 Kid , Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin). The following day, Team Michinoku Pro defeated Jigsaw , Manami Toyota and Mike Quackenbush to advance to the semifinals of
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#17327984041791100-450: The WWF never entered into any formal agreement with Sasuke, and that the company was only interested in signing TAKA Michinoku. Michinoku Pro Wrestling alumnus TAKA Michinoku would end up winning the title. By 1998, the promotion had gone on a temporary hiatus after Sasuke suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Delfin took charge of the promotion for the time being, but on January 17, 1999, he announced that he would be withdrawing from
1150-826: The Yapper Men and GAINA. Two months later, Sasuke would reunite with Shinozaki and the two would beat Mu no Taiyo for the MPW Tohoku Tag Team Championships and the UWA World Tag Team Championships. In 1999, Sasuke performed on Sasuke , the popular Japanese obstacle course competition. In the Third Competition, he got stuck at the Rolling Log and timed out on the Hill Climb. When the name SASUKE
1200-430: The angle. Sasuke continued his war on MPW until 1999, when he was forcefully turned face again after Jinsei Shinzaki " exorcized the evil out of him." Now devoid of talent due to the absence of wrestlers who had left with Delfín and other ventures, MPW was left in ruins, a situation the now heroic Sasuke vowed to mend. In 1999 he won the NWA World Middleweight Championship vacated by old rival Ultimo Dragon . Although
1250-604: The creation of the J Crown title, with Sasuke winning it in the final of a tournament against Último Dragón on August. For two months, Sasuke was one of the most decorated wrestlers in history, until he lost all of it to Dragón in Wrestle Association R in October 1996. In February 1997, Sasuke and several of his MPW teammates made a pair of appearances for Extreme Championship Wrestling in United States. In July, he and Taka Michinoku also wrestled two matches for
1300-463: The fallen Toryumon X wrestlers, Sasuke commanded the Michinoku home army against the new top heel faction, Los Salseros Japoneses ( Takeshi Minamino , Pineapple Hanai and Mango Fukuda ). He formed tag teams with Dick Togo and Garuda, but also joined Kei and Shu Sato to try to reform Sailor Boys, the boy band stable they formed in Toryumon with Taiji Ishimori . However, this was short-lived, as
1350-620: The first to join the promotion. Then in October, Taro Nohashi, Dynamite Tohoku, and Shu and Kei Sato joined the promotion. Then at the end of that year SUGI, Rasse, Kagetora, and Manabu Murakami made their debuts. On December 13, 2013 Kenoh left the promotion and vacated the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship due to signing with Pro Wrestling Noah . In 2014, Michinoku Pro reactivated the Okinawa Wrestling Championship which
1400-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which
1450-413: The injuries he has had including a cracked skull on two occasions. After failing the entrance exams to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Murakawa joined Universal Lucha Libre and had his debut on March 1, 1990, against Monkey Magic Wakita . He later adopted the name "Masa Michinoku", derived from his own given name and the alternate name for his Japanese home region of Tōhoku , Michinoku. He portrayed
1500-484: The most popular junior wrestlers in Japan. The same year, Sasuke competed in the similar NJPW Super Grade Jr. Heavyweight Tag League , where he teamed up with Black Tiger . As with the previous, Sasuke and Tiger amassed a high number of wins and came to the finals, but were eliminated there by Wild Pegasus and Shinjiro Otani . Sasuke also participated in the first Fukumen World League , hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling in 1995 and admitting only masked wrestlers . Sasuke
1550-414: The president job to him. He lost the NWA title to Último Dragón, who then vacated it in preparation for his WWE career. The same year, Sasuke reconciled with Super Delfin for a special match on November 2 by mediation of Shinzaki. In 2004, Sasuke became a regular wrestler for Hustle , where he played a lieutenant role to "Hustle Captain" Naoya Ogawa . At the same time, with MPW now repopulated by most of
Michinoku Pro Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-529: The president of the promotion. The 10th anniversary of the promotion was held on November 2, 2003 at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan. In July 2004, the promotion underwent a revival as Ultimo Dragon disbanded his then Toryumon X promotion and sent his talent to join the promotion, which was then dubbed Shinsei Michinoku Pro-Wrestling. Bear Fukuda, Ken45° , Murcielago, and Manabu Murakami were
1650-559: The promotion and that many of the wrestlers and backstage personnel would be joining him. This was in part due to differences regarding the direction of the promotion. Delfin was joined by Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa, Masaru Seno, Hayato Kigawa, and referee Yukinori Matsui. Delfin formed Osaka Pro Wrestling . TAKA Michinoku and Dick Togo later returned after their stint in the US and competed from time to time. In 2003, Sasuke ran for public office, and Jinsei Shinzaki took over as
1700-585: The promotion. This dissension would end up switching their respective alignment, with Delfín joining the home army and turning into the promotion's ace while Sasuke turned heel for the first time on his career and became an egotistical overlord. He would even change his mask, replacing its red stripes for blue stripes, as well as his name, leaving it as just "Sasuke" written in all caps. Sasuke would create his personal villainous stable, Sasuke Group, by allying with resident heels and summoning Crazy Max ( Shiima Nobunaga 's punk faction) from Toryumon . The battle between
1750-480: The reigns are recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment . No reigns with the title prior to December 1997 are recognized by the WWE. 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, or projecting
1800-511: The tournament was promoted by Ultimo's Toryumon Japan promotion, Sasuke took the title to his base at Michinoku and styled himself a "traveling world champion" in the style of NWA World Heavyweight Champions from the 1960-80s. In 2001, Sasuke had a feud in Michinoku Pro against a returning Dick Togo and his sable, Far East Connection. Sasuke left the running of the promotion to Shinzaki in 2003 to focus on his political career, handing
1850-414: The tournament. On April 17, Team Michinoku Pro was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinal stage by F.I.S.T. ( Chuck Taylor , Icarus and Johnny Gargano ). At the end of 2013, Sasuke took part in the classic "Great Space War" match, where he performed a striptease with Macho Pump parodying the film Magic Mike . However, for the first time in the history of GSW, Kei and Shu Sato (now known as
1900-589: The villainous Super Delfin and his Delfín Corps. This rivalry would last many years. In 1994, New Japan Pro-Wrestling celebrated the first Super J Cup , a junior heavyweight tournament for wrestlers from all over the world. Sasuke was drafted and reached the finals after beating NJPW favourites Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai , but fell to Wild Pegasus at the end. Despite his loss, Sasuke represented Michinoku Pro excellently and allowed for it to receive national coverage, and he himself became one of
1950-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude
2000-657: The wrestling press that although Great Sasuke was pushed to be the winner of the tournament, he had bragged to the Japanese media that he would only defend the title in Japan, and would refuse to drop the title on WWF television. When the WWF heard Sasuke's comments, he was removed from the tournament, fired, and the MPW/WWF working agreement was terminated. However, speaking on his Something to Wrestle With podcast in July 2017, Bruce Prichard disputed this version of events, suggesting
2050-575: The wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet , it is relatively easy to discover a fighter's real name. Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or
Michinoku Pro Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-515: The year, leaving place for the rise of Kowloon, a traitorous faction apparently led by Hayato Fujita . Yoshitsune departed at the end of 2008, leaving Sasuke and Shinzaki to delegate the Michinoku Seikigun on Kenou . In 2010, Sasuke's old enemy Ultimo Dragón appeared to reveal himself as the master behind Kowloon. In August 2009, months after unsuccessfully challenging Fujita for the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship, Sasuke adopted
2150-449: Was being taken with a cellphone camera. The incident happened on a Jōban Line train at Minami-Senju Station . However, all charges were dropped and was released from jail on February 21, after serving 40 hours in jail, after Sasuke apologized to the man. The man who took Sasuke's photograph was said to not have known who he was and thought he was just a "crazy" person wearing a mask in public. On April 13, 2003, Sasuke won election to
2200-514: Was defeated in the final round by Dos Caras . In April 1996, Sasuke returned to NJPW and defeated Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship , which he defended five times at both NJPW and MPW. His reign, along with his next title win over NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Masayoshi Motegi and WWF Light Heavyweight and WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight double champion El Samurai, would lead to
2250-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as
2300-555: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with
2350-569: Was going to found a professional wrestling promotion in Tohoku, initially thought as an Universal Lucha Libre branch, and left the promotion with a large group of wrestlers. He would found Michinoku Pro Wrestling , the first Japanese independent promotion not to be based around the Tokyo area. MPW kicked off in March 1993, when Sasuke and the rest of babyface wrestlers entered an intense feud against
2400-510: Was held on Match 16, 1993 in Yahaba , Iwate . The stable Kaientai Deluxe (海援隊Deluxe) was formed in 1996. Dick Togo , Men's Teioh, TAKA Michinoku , Shoichi Funaki , and Hanzo Nakajima worked as young protagonists looking to make a break in the business. This group competed against The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin . After a couple of years, TAKA and the rest of KAIENTAI moved to the US to compete. In 1997, Michinoku Pro Wrestling entered into
2450-473: Was translated into "Ninja Warrior" for the United States , the translators ignored his wrestling background and called him "The Great Ninja Warrior". Sasuke is also part of the rock band Crazy Crew with Ricky Fuji and Ken45° . On February 19, 2009, Sasuke was arrested for assault after kicking a 36-year-old man and grabbing him by the shirt collar. Sasuke was reported to be angry because his picture
2500-571: Was won by Eisa8. On December 13, 2019 at the Korakuen Hall , the promotion had a sellout, standing-room-only event with an attendance of 1,890, the highest reported attendance at the Korakuen Hall to date for a pro-wrestling event since April 2015. The Great Sasuke Masanori Murakawa ( 村川 政徳 , Murakawa Masanori , July 18, 1969) , best known under his ring name The Great Sasuke ( ザ・グレート・サスケ , Za Gurēto Sasuke ) ,
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