 Mashimo in December 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1978-11-25)November 25, 1978 (age 47)[5] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kengo Mashimo Kengo Ohka[1] Masked Jef[2] Murakami Takeyoshi[3] Nazo Fukumen K[4] |
| Billed height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[5] |
| Billed weight | 98 kg (216 lb)[5] |
| Trained by | Kaientai Dojo Taka Michinoku |
| Debut | April 27, 2001[5] |
Kengo Mashimo (真霜拳號,Mashimo Kengo; born November 25, 1978 inMaizuru, Kyoto,Japan)[5] is aJapanese professional wrestler currently working forActive Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW). His style is a combination ofsubmission wrestling and hard martial arts style strikes.
Kengo Mashimo debuted in Puerto Rico in 2001 as one of the firstKaientai Dojo (K-Dojo)'s students. Once Kaientai Dojo arrived in Japan in April 2002, Mashimo started as a wrestler using a grappling and shoot style, finishing his opponents quickly by KO or TKO before starting a short series of matches withIsami which Mashimo lost 3-1, but in doing so, won a lot of crowd support for his fire and spirit. Mashimo did not affiliate with any units in the early years, instead choosing to fight anyone. 2003 also saw Mashimo have his biggest match in his career since debuting as a wrestler, taking onNJPW junior legendJyushin Thunder Liger in an impressive match which opened eyes to him. He also travelled to some other promotions that year, includingRiki Choshu'sWorld Japan. In 2004, he allied withKunio Toshima andSUPER-X but never officially making a faction. Toshima & Mashimo won the UWA and UWF Intercontinental tag team titles, but vacated them after winning due to winning them in a Handicap match in the tournament final asHi69's partner,MIYAWAKI was injured earlier in the night. Mashimo also got the biggest chance of his career, challengingHeat for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He also made it to the STRONGEST-K '04 finals that year after dispatching ofTaka Michinoku in the semifinals. However, Mashimo was defeated byHi69 in the finals at Tokyo'sKorakuen Hall.
In 2005, under the guidance of former Far East Connection manager, 296, Kengo Mashimo formed a stable along withKAZMA calledKinnoutou and Kinnoutou started to dominate, eventually taking inRyota Chikuzen andKunio Toshima as well. Mashimo and KAZMA though were the most successful of the group, Mashimo going undefeated from the formation of Kinnoutou and did not drop a fall until well after he left the group. Kengo Mashimo and KAZMA won the first Strongest-K Tag Team tournament and were crowned the first everStrongest-K Tag Team Champions, the two dominating the tag team scene in K-DOJO as they also won the UWA and UWF Intercontinental Tag Team titles, absorbing them into the STRONGEST-K Tag Team title. When K-DOJO split its roster into two, Mashimo, along with the rest of his Kinnoutou allies were drafted to GET. Mashimo's singles dominance was also highlighted with winning the STRONGEST-K '05 tournament, defeatingYuji Hino in one of the longest singles matches in K-DOJO history.
Early 2006, saw Mashimo and KAZMA lose their first ever tag match together, losing the STRONGEST-K Tag Team title in February toMakoto Oishi andShiori Asahi. After losing, signs of friction started to grow in Kinnoutou with Kunio Toshima's sense of justice savingTAKU Michinoku from a Kinnoutou attack. Mashimo and Toshima battled each other until Mashimo defeated Toshima in April. Mashimo resumed his quest to become theace of K-DOJO and became the first man to win the STRONGEST-K tournament twice by defeatingSaburo Inematsu in the final and after his win, he left Kinnoutou and jumped to RAVE where he was a lone wolf after rejecting attempts from New Standard, Kashiwa Gumi and the Boso Heroes. Finally, after two years of chasing, Mashimo finally gained K-DOJO'sStrongest-K Championship title by defeating the popular JOE and became the ace of the company. After joining RAVE and winning the Strongest-K Championship, Mashimo started a rival partnership with the newly unmaskedMadoka. Mashimo also appeared regularly on Big Mouth Loud and laterUwai Station shows.
Mashimo and Madoka fought for Mashimo's title at the January Korakuen show, but resumed their partnership after, the two winning the 2007 STRONGEST-K Tag Team Tournament and followed it by winning in theGPWA sponsoredDiffer Cup tournament. Mashimo's Kinnoutou past was brought back to him, defeating his ex-partner KAZMA in the main event for the 5th Anniversary show in April, then taking on Ryota Chikuzen for his title a few months later. Once GET and RAVE merged, Mashimo kept his partnership with Madoka and broughtBoso Boy Raito into their alliance, however never officially becoming a group. Mashimo began a short feud with TAKA Michinoku, Mashimo forcing TAKA to prove himself after an average two years, which led to a title match on TAKA's 15 Anniversary show which Mashimo won. 2007 has also seen Mashimo start an interpromotional rivalry with BJW heavyweightDaisuke Sekimoto, the two fighting on nearly every Indy Summit show, culmulating in aBJW Tag Team Championship title match with Mashimo teaming with DDT starHARASHIMA in a 30-minute draw against champions Sekimoto andPro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX'sYoshihito Sasaki.
On September 7, 2012, Mashimo began working forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, joining theSuzuki-gun stable, which also included his trainer Taka Michinoku.[6] Mashimo's first big match in New Japan took place on September 23 atDestruction, where he was defeated byTogi Makabe in a singles match.[7] On November 15, Mashimo entered a tournament to determine the inauguralNEVER Openweight Champion. After wins overBushi[8] andRyusuke Taguchi, Mashimo was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals on November 19 byKarl Anderson.[9] From November 20 to December 1, Mashimo took part in theround-robin portion of the2012 World Tag League, alongside Suzuki-gun leaderMinoru Suzuki. The team finished with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance from their block.[10][11] In February 2013, Mashimo took part in Suzuki-gun's war with theChaos stable, which built to a singles match on February 10 atThe New Beginning, where he was defeated byShinsuke Nakamura.[12]
In early 2014, Mashimo began working regularly forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a member ofKenso'sDark Kingdom stable.[13] However, on August 30, Mashimo turned on Kenso and his stable.[14] On May 21, 2017, Mashimo won his first title in AJPW, when he andKai defeatedBodyguard andZeus for theWorld Tag Team Championship.[15] They lost the title back to Bodyguard and Zeus on June 11.[16]
