Taiyō Kea

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Taiyō Kea
Keiji Mutoh
Kenta Kobashi
DebutNovember 26, 1994[1]

Maunakea Mossman (born November 18, 1975) is an American semi-retired

professional wrestler, better known under his stage name Taiyō Kea (太陽ケア). Best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), he is the only wrestler in AJPW's history to have held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the World Tag Team Championship and the World Junior Heavyweight Championship
.

Kea trained with and debuted for AJPW as a junior heavyweight in 1994, and won the World Junior Heavyweight Championship once in 1997, vacating the championship upon his graduation to heavyweight the following year. Following the 2000 exodus, Kea remained with the promotion and was pushed as one of its top gaijin throughout the 2000s, winning the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship once, the Champion Carnival twice (in 2006 and 2012), the World's Strongest Tag Determination League three times (in 2001, 2002 and 2004), as well as being a 7 time and longest-reigning World Tag Team Champion, a record he shares with partner Minoru Suzuki.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Junior Heavyweight Champion and Mossman Trial Series (1994–1998)

Mossman was a Hawaiian state

Johnny Smith, Wolf Hawkfield and Giant Kimala, but lost to Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa
.

Tag title reigns (1999–2006)

On October 25, 1999, Mossman and Johnny Smith unsuccessfully challenged for the vacant

Johnny Smith in January 2001.[5] In April, Kea took part in the 2001 Champion Carnival, finishing with 15 points and advancing to the final where he lost to Genichiro Tenryu.[6]

In 2001, Kea also began appearing in

BATT stable, and by October 2001, he would form a successful tag team with Mutoh as they made history twice in one week by winning both the World Tag Team Championship and New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Tag Team Championship, which made them the first team to not only win both titles, but also the first to hold them simultaneously.[7][8] The team also would win the 2001 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.[9] In 2002, Kea briefly competed for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he appeared at the company's inaugural event Genesis, where he competed in the tournament to crown the first MLW World Heavyweight Champion, where he defeated The Wall in the quarter-finals, wrestled Vampiro to a draw in the semi-finals and lost in the final to Shane Douglas in a 3-Way Dance (which also featured Vampiro). Kea would compete for MLW again on September 26 at Reload, where he defeated Sabu
to become the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, but Kea never returned to the promotion to claim the opportunity.

In 2003, Kea joined

Jamal. On April 20, 2006, Kea won AJPW's Champion Carnival, defeating Minoru Suzuki in the semi-finals[10] and Suwama in the finals.[10]

Championship pursuit (2006–2010)

On July 3, 2006, he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career after defeating Satoshi Kojima.[11] He made one successful defence, defeating Toshiaki Kawada on August 27.[12] He lost the championship to Minoru Suzuki on September 3 after two months. He participated in the 2006 World's Strongest Tag Determination League with Taka Michinoku as his partner, finishing fourth in their block with two wins and 5 points.

On January 4, 2007, Kea challenged

High Fly Flow.[13] On February 17, Kea and Toshiaki Kawada defeated Suwama and RO'Z to claim the vacant World Tag Team Championship.[14] From March 26 to March 30, Kea competed in the 2007 Champion Carnival, finishing with 1 win and 4 points. In August 2007, Kea and Kawada lost the championships to the Voodoo Murders (Satoshi Kojima and TARU).[15]

In 2008, Kea and Minoru Suzuki formed the Gurentai stable along with

Keiji Mutoh to win the World Tag Team Championship on June 28 during the Crossover tour.[1][16] On August 31, Kea wrestled Suwama to a time limit draw for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[17]

In early 2009, Kea and Suzuki successfully defended the titles against Suwama and Shuji Kondo.[18] The two proceeded to team mostly with Yoshihiro Takayama, before Kea injured his knee, taking him out of action for 5 months. Kea returned during the Taiwan Cup, where he was eliminated in the first round by Masayuki Kono. After over a year as champions, Kea and Suzuki lost the titles to Masakatsu Funaki and Keiji Mutoh on January 3, 2010.[19]

Partisan Forces (2010–2011)

Later in 2010, Kea formed a tag team with

Suwama and Ryota Hama to win the vacant World Tag Team Championship on July 4.[20] On January 10, 2011, Kea unsuccessfully challenged Suwama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[21] On February 6, Kea and Akebono lost the championships to the Voodoo Murders (Joe Doering and Kono).[22] In November, Kea travelled to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he unsuccessfully challenged Jun Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.[23]

Final years (2012–2013)

On May 7, 2012, Kea won his second Champion Carnival, defeating Suwama in the final.[24] In July, he unsuccessfully challenged Jun Akiyama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[25]

On November 30, 2012, Kea announced that he was putting his wrestling career on hold to attend business school in his native Hawaii.[26] His farewell match, a ten-man tag team match, took place on January 3, 2013, where he, Keiji Mutoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Masanobu Fuchi and Taka Michinoku defeated Hiroshi Yamato, Manabu Soya, Ryota Hama, Suwama and Takao Omori.[27] Kea announced his return to All Japan in a press conference on June 11, 2013.[28] Kea wrestled his return match on June 30, where he and Takao Omori defeated Joe Doering and Yasufumi Nakanoue.[29]

Freelancer (2014–present)

On March 2, 2014, Kea made a surprise jump to Keiji Mutoh's AJPW splinter promotion

Yohei Nakajima.[32]

Championships and accomplishments
  • Hawai'i Championship Wrestling
  • HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jamal

References

  1. ^ a b "Taiyo Kea". Puroresucentral.com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  2. ^ Roy Lucier (2017-10-08), Japanese Wrestling Classics with Roy Lucier Episode 5 (With Taiyo Kea), retrieved 2017-10-17[dead YouTube link]
  3. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Tag 5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW October Giant Series 1999 - Tag 13 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  5. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Giant Series 2001 - Tag 9 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  6. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Champion Carnival 2001 - Tag 13 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  7. ^ "AJPW World Tag Team Title". Purolove.Com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  8. ^ "IWGP Tag Team Title". Purolove.Com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  9. ^ "Real World Tag League 2001". Purolove.Com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  10. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Champion Carnival 2006 - Tag 10 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  11. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Crossover 2006 - Tag 6 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  12. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Summer Impact 2006 - Tag 5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  13. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom In Tokyo Dome « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  14. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW 2007 Excite Series - Tag 5: Pro-Wrestling Love in Kokugikan Vol.2 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  15. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 3 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  16. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Crossover '08 - Tag 4 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  17. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  18. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 7 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  19. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Shining Series 2010 - Tag 2 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  20. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Cross Over 2010 - Tag 9 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Shining Series 2011 - Tag 6 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  22. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Excite Series 2011 - Tag 1 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  23. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NOAH Great Voyage 2011 In Tokyo Vol. 4 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  24. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW 40th Anniversary Year Champion Carnival 2012 - Tag 12 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  25. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW/AJPW New Japan & All Japan 40th Anniversary ~ Summer Night Fever In Ryogoku ~ We Are Pro-Wrestling Love « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  26. ^ "全日本プロレス オフィシャルサイト - 公式ホームページ". Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  27. ^ "全日本プロレス オフィシャルサイト - 公式ホームページ". Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  28. ^ "太陽ケアが全日本復帰！古巣の一大事に決意｜ニュース｜スポーツナビ". Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  29. ^ "2013 プロレスLove in 両国～an abiding belief～". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  30. ^ "Wrestle-1「開戦～Outbreak～」". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  31. ^ 全日本プロレス「ジャイアント馬場 十七回忌特別大会」. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. January 31, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  32. ^ "AJPW Raising An Army Memorial Series 2017 - Tag 4".
  33. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ^ "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2001". wrestlingscout. February 16, 2016.
  35. ^ "Taiyo Kea « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  36. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  37. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taiyō_Kea&oldid=1217965097"