Kai En Tai

Kaientai
Kaientai
WWF)
Name(s)	Kaientai Deluxe; Kaientai; Kai En Tai; bWo Japan ; Club Kamikaze
Billed from	Japan
Debut	1994
Disbanded	2001 (WWF)
Years active	1994–2001

Kai En Tai (also spelled Kaientai) was a

WWF.^[1]

promotion in late 1994 when SATO, Terry Boy and Shiryu introduced themselves as Kai En Tai. The name "Kai En Tai" was based on Japan's first modern corporation, Kaientai ("Naval Auxiliary Force"), a naval institution and paramilitary organization dedicated to freeing Japan from feudal rule and protecting the country's national sovereignty that was a major player in the introduction of the Meiji Restoration

.

Kai En Tai had many high profile tag team matches before two of them changed their names; SATO became Dick Togo, Terry Boy became Men's Teioh while Shiryu's name remained unchanged. The stable's name was also changed to "Kaientai Deluxe", or Kaientai DX for short. They would later be joined by The Dream Chasers (Taka Michinoku and Shoichi Funaki) as new members. Other members included Hanzo Nakajima, Yoshihiro Tajiri, Gran Hamada and Super Boy.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In early 1997,

Barely Legal 1997

where the team of Sasuke, Hamada and Masato Yakushiji (filling in for an injured Gran Naniwa) came out victorious. Since then, Kai En Tai would permanently adopt the bWo colors of blue and white as their own.

World Wrestling Federation

Kai En Tai (with the exception of Shiryu, who was in WCW under his real name, Kaz Hayashi) made their first appearance in the WWF the night after WrestleMania XIV on the March 30, 1998 episode of Raw is War. The team dropped the 'DX' from their full title due to the existence of D-Generation X in the WWF. They attacked Taka Michinoku — who signed with the WWF much earlier — because they felt he had become Americanized since joining the WWE until he later rejoined them. Kaientai was originally referred to by the announcers as Club Kamikaze, but their new manager Yamaguchi-San announced their actual name upon his arrival shortly afterwards.

Their most infamous WWF

gimmick at the time. Yamaguchi was enraged when he was shown a pornographic video of his (onscreen) wife, sleeping with Venis, and threatened to punish both of them. Mrs. Yamaguchi-San was brought to the ring for what was going to be a spanking by Yamaguchi-san using a wooden paddle, but she was rescued by Venis. A week later, just as Venis had finished a match, Yamaguchi and Kaientai showed up with a salami on a table. Yamaguchi proceeded to chop the salami while shouting at Venis, "I choppy choppy your pee pee!"^[1]

The following week, Venis teamed up with Taka Michinoku to take on Togo and Funaki in a tag team match. Taka made a

genitalia, due to the lights being turned off by John Wayne Bobbitt

, broke off his relationship with Mrs. Yamaguchi-San and thus ended the feud.

After Togo, Teioh and both Yamaguchis left the WWF, Michinoku and Funaki began wrestling as a tag team using the name Kaientai.

WWF Jakked.^[2]

Michinoku eventually left the WWF. He ran a promotion called

SmackDown cruiserweight division and as a backstage interviewer before being released from his contract in 2010 after 12 years with the company.^[4]

However, he has since been re-hired and currently serves as a member of the Japanese commentary team.

Michinoku Pro Wrestling

With the occasion of Michinoku Pro's 10th Anniversary on November 2, 2003, Kaientai DX reformed, as Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, Taka Michinoku, Shiryu and Hanzo Nakajima took down Jinsei Shinzaki, Hayate, Kesen Numa-jiro, Kazuya Yuasa and Chi-Nen Hokkai.

Independent circuit

On July 15, 2005, another Kaientai reunion took place at Kaientai Dojo, when Taka Michinoku teamed up with Sho Funaki, Dick Togo and Men's Teioh to do battle with Kengo Mashimo, Kazma, Ryota Chikuzen and Kunio Toshima. Although Kaientai came up short of defeating the opposing team, it was a very emotional moment and the crowd showed their support after the match.

Kaientai reunited once again on the

Cima, BxB Hulk and Matt Sydal

.