Kenichi Sakai
| Kenichi Sakai | |
|---|---|
Jorge "Skayde" Rivera | |
| Debut | December 7, 2002 |
Kenichi Sakai (坂井 謙一, Sakai Kenichi),[1] (born May 25, 1982) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Michinoku Pro Wrestling where he competes under the ring name Ken45° and is one half of the reigning Tohoku Tag Team Champions and UWA World Tag Team Champions with Kengo.
Biography
Toryumon (2002–2004)
In December 2002, Sakai debuted in
Michinoku Pro Wrestling (2004–present)
Los Salseros Japoneses continued their run at Michinoku Pro Wrestling, with Hanai and Fukuda winning the Futaritabi Tag Team League 2004 upon their debut. However, the stable's history ended in April 2006 when they lost the UWA Trios title to STONED (Maguro Ooma, Kei Sato and Shu Sato) after Minamino accidentally hit Hanai. After the match, Hanai attacked Minamino and renounced his faction, which folded definitively when Hanai defeated Minamino in a match next week and hit him with his guitar.
Afterwards, Hanai changed his name to "Ken45º" and his gimmick to a rock star character along the lines of veteran wrestler Ricky Fuji. He also switched to an electric guitar and adopted punk mannerisms and outfits. He initially worked with Kagetora's heel faction STONED, but he distanced himself from them, as he was also teaming with up with Aagan Iisou, STONED's enemy faction, in El Dorado Wrestling.
Ken then tried to form his own stable, Ken Gundan, by defeating wrestlers and forcing them into servitude, but he only managed to secure the low-carders
El Dorado Wrestling (2006–2009)
Sakai also joined El Dorado Wrestling, where he started teaming up with Shuji Kondo's Aagan Iisou stable in an attempt to become a member. However, he had heat with Takuya Sugawara, who didn't want him in Aagan, and this brought losses and failures. At the end, Ken would lose a match to Sugawara which stipulated that he could not even occasionally team up with them, so he abandoned his aspirations and became freelance, not allied with any stable.
After growing tired of his free lifestyle, he joined up with the Sukiyaki stable when they were first being formed. He soon turned heel, buried his enmity with Sugawara and joined his stable Hell Demons.
Other media
Outside of wrestling, Sakai is part of the rock band Crazy Crew with
Championships and accomplishments
- 4 Front Wrestling
- 4FW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Michinoku Pro Wrestling
- Tohoku Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kengo
- UWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kengo
- Artemis Cup (2014)
- Futaritabi Tag Team League (2004) – with Mango Fukuda
- Secret Base
- Secret Base Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2011) – with Jun Ogawauchi and Kinya Oyanagi
- Toryumon
- UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Mango Fukuda and Takeshi Minamino
References
- ^ "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2015-02-11.