Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

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Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Born (1964-11-21) November 21, 1964 (age 59)
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Dokuganryu-Sasakaman[1]
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Takashi Kikuchi[2]
Billed height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Billed weight99 kg (218 lb)
Trained byAJPW Dojo
Jumbo Tsuruta
Masanobu Fuchi[2]
DebutFebruary 26, 1988, vs. Mitsuo Momota[3]
RetiredMay 3, 2021[2]

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (菊地 毅, Kikuchi Tsuyoshi) (born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired

Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid
.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1988–2000)

Kikuchi turned pro on February 26, 1988, his debut was against veteran wrestler

Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat but failed to win the titles.[7] Kikuchi and Kobashi also entered the 1991 World's Strongest Tag Determination League but finished 11th place with 4 points.[7]

On May 25, 1992, Kikuchi and Kobashi again challenge Furnas and Kroffat for the All Asia Tag Team Titles and this time was victorious as Kikuchi won his first title.[6] Along with the title win, the match won numerous honors as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave it 5 Stars and named it the 1992 Match of the Year. During the title reign, Kikuchi also enjoyed success in the Junior Division by winning the yearly January 3 Junior Heavyweight Korakuen Hall Battle Royal on January 3, 1993[4] and also won a Junior Heavyweight Tournament on January 31, 1993.[8] After a year as champions, Kikuchi and Kobashi lost the titles on June 2, 1993, to The Patriot and The Eagle.[6] Following the title loss, Kikuchi and Kobashi broke up with Kobashi forming a successful team with Mitsuharu Misawa while Kikuchi remained in the midcard.

From 1993 to 1996, Kikuchi largely remained in the midcard with little to no direction, and continued to receive shots at the Jr. title and All Asia Tag titles but continually failed to win either.[5][9] On July 24, 1996, Kikuchi defeated Fuchi to finally win the World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[10] He went on to make two successful title defenses and hold the title throughout the remainder of 1996[10] before eventually losing the title to Yoshinari Ogawa on January 15, 1997.[11]

After losing the title, Kikuchi's spent the remainder of his All Japan tenure wrestling in opening and low card matches as he wrestled young up and comers or aging legends.

Pro Wrestling NOAH
.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2000–2010)

Kikuchi debuted for Noah at their first show on August 5, 2000.

IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship.[12] The two held onto the title for four months and made four successful title defenses before eventually losing the title to Liger and Koji Kanemoto on January 26, 2003.[12]

After losing the titles, Kikuchi once again returned to opening matches, over the next few years, he occasionally got title shots at the GHC Jr. Title, the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship but came up short each time.[13][14][15] In 2010, Kikuchi along with a few others were released from Noah.

Freelance (2010–2021)

After leaving Noah, Kikuchi became a freelancer doing shows for All Japan and

DDT.[19] In the spring, Kikuchi returned to New Japan for their NEVER brand by taking part in the Road to the Super Juniors tournament where the two winners qualified for the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors. On April 7, Kikuchi defeated Ken Ohka in the first round. Then on April 8, he defeated Kazuhiro Tamura in the semifinals, but lost in the finals later that night to Daisuke Sasaki.[20]
In April, Kikuchi returned to All Japan to take part in the 2011 Jr. Tag League teaming with Masanobu Fuchi.

He defeated

NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship. However, Kikuchi lost the title to his tag-team partner Sugawara on March 2 at 11th Anniversary show.[22]
Shortly thereafter, Kikuchi and Sugawara were stripped of the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team titles.

On August 11, 2017, Kikuchi took part in a mini-tournament for the new WEW Junior Heavyweight Championship for Pro Wrestling A-Team. He defeated Takumi Sakurai to qualify for the four-way elimination-style tournament final, in which he defeated Nobutaka Moribe, Masamune, and HASEGAWA, to win the tournament and title, to become the inaugural champion.

Kikuchi had his retirement on May 3, 2021, losing to Koji Kanemoto.[23]

Championships and accomplishments

  • Apache Army
  • Apache Opendivision Championship (1 time)[25]
  • Dramatic Dream Team
  • Pro Wrestling A-Team
  • WEW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Match of the Year
    (1992) with Kenta Kobashi vs. Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat, Sendai, May 25

Personal

Kikuchi owns "Kotetsu", a restaurant in Tomiya, Miyagi. It is frequented by wrestlers when in the area and the walls are adorned with wrestler photographs and autographs, pictures from Kikuchi's career, and posters for his upcoming appearances.[26]

References

  1. ^ "Kenta". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Wrestlers Database » Tsuyoshi Kikuchi". CageMatch. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Pro Wrestling History". Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 6, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  10. ^ a b c "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ a b "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  13. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  14. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  15. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  16. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  17. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  18. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  19. ^ "CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
  20. ^ "Results". puroresufan.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  21. ^ "Risultati ZERO1 "NIPPON Puroresu" 01/01 (Con foto) - Puroresu Mission R Newsboard". Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  22. ^ "ZERO1, NOAH, Osaka and 19pro Results for March 2, 2012". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  23. ^ "Pro Wrestling Bar GOLD 15th Anniversary". Cagematch. Cagematch. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  24. ^ "Real World Tag League 1991". CageMatch. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  25. ^ "Apache Pro « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on September 29, 2013.
  26. ^ "焼肉 小鉄 (仙台市泉区その他/焼肉)". Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018.

External links

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