Kendo Nagasaki
Kendo Nagasaki is a
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. the gimmick.
Peter Thornley
The original and best-known use of the gimmick is by the British wrestler who made his name in
After retiring in 1978, he briefly came back in 1981 before returning more permanently in 1986 as lead heel of
Kazuo Sakurada
A Japanese wrestler named Kazuo Sakurada also used 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
Like Thornley, Sakurada wore a Kendo
Related characters
Kendo Nagasaki II
A year after Thornley's original retirement in 1978, a lighter wrestler named Kendo Nagasaki II (played by Nick Heywood) briefly wrestled for
King Kendo (Bill Clarke)
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 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.[9]
Still as King Kendo, Clarke would later join
King Kendo (Dale Preston)
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 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.[10] 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 a substitute under the mask).
Kendo the Samurai
In the early 1990s,
Kendo Kashin
In 1996, Japanese wrestler Tokimitsu Ishizawa became the masked Kendo Kashin while wrestling for 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.[12]
Kendo Nakazaki
In 2008, the original
References
- ^ "Kendo Nagasaki profile". OWOW. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ISBN 9781908345479
- ^ Garfield, Simon. The Wrestling (1996)
- ^ "And so we go to a pre-recorded video narrated by JJ Dillon, introducing his charge, “Black Ninja” Kendo Nagasaki, who is entering the tournament for the North American Title." Mid-South Wrestling (2.26.1983) Review, 411Mania, Adam Nedeff January 6, 2020
- ^ "PUERTO RICO ... #9 Kendo Nagasaki 248(lbs) Singapore" Official Ratings Pro Wrestling Illustrated July 1988 p23
- ^ a b c https://www.pwinsider.com/article/132864/kendo-nagasaki-passes-away.html
- ^ "Now this Dragon Master has absolutely no connection to Kazuo Sakurada (aka Kendo Nagasaki), who also used this name while in the NWA with Gary Hart and The Great Muta" Madison Carter, Wrestlecrap.com
- ^ "Wrestling Heritage".
- ^ http://kendonagasaki.org/node/52
- ^ a b "WrestlingEpicenter.com - RIP Rest in Peace Obituaries". www.wrestlingepicenter.com.
- ^ "Tim Horner profile". OWOW. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ "Wrestlers Database » Kendo Kashin". CageMatch.