 Nakanishi in February 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1967-01-22)January 22, 1967 (age 58)[1][5] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kurasawa[1] Manabu Nakanishi[1][2] Mascara Don[3] Maybach Don[4] Super Strong Machine Don |
| Billed height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[5] |
| Billed weight | 120 kg (265 lb)[5] |
| Billed from | Tokyo, Japan |
| Trained by | Karl Gotch Joe Malenko Hiroshi Hase Kensuke Sasaki |
| Debut | October 13, 1992[1][5] |
| Retired | February 22, 2020 |
Manabu Nakanishi (中西 学,Nakanishi Manabu; born January 22, 1967) is a Japanese retiredprofessional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, who was primarily associated withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a one-timeIWGP Heavyweight Champion, one-timeG1 Climax winner and three-timeIWGP Tag Team Champion.
Nakanishi has always stayed based in Japan, but has wrestled for various other promotions includingWorld Championship Wrestling,All Japan Pro Wrestling,Pro Wrestling Noah andPro Wrestling Zero1.[6] Nakanishi's career slowly declined after a spinal injury in 2011, but he continued to wrestle for a further nine years, before retiring on February 22, 2020.
In 1992, Nakanishi won bronze infreestyle wrestling at theAsian Championships. Later that year, he competed in the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain, and placed eleventh.
Medal record
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Manabu Nakanishi began his amateur wrestling career in 1986, competing freestyle in the 220 lbs. division.
In July 1986, Nakanishi competed in his very first tournament, the World Cup inSt. John's,Newfoundland, Canada, where he placed fifth. In October 1987, he participated in theAsian Championship inBombay,India, where he placed fifth. In June 1989, he participated in another Asian Championship inŌarai, Ibaraki, Japan, and this time moved up to fourth place.
In September 1990, Nakanishi took part in two tournaments: On September 6, he participated in the World Championship in Tokyo, where he was placed tenth. Over three weeks later, on September 30, he participated in theAsian Games inBeijing,China, where he placed fourth. In October 1991, he took part in his second World Championship inVarna, Bulgaria, where he was placed eleventh. In April 1992, he took part in his third Asian Championship inTehran, Iran, and was in third place, earning a bronze medal.
In his biggest tournament, Nakanishi participated in the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain, where he was placed eleventh.
Nakanishi debuted forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in October 1992, already taking part on NJPW'sSuper Grade Tag League, teaming up withTatsumi Fujinami. The team lost all but one match, this one where they beat the combination ofJim Neidhart andZ-Man, during the whole tournament. He wrestled tag matches for the rest of his first year. Nakanishi's first single match came in February 1993, when he lost toTakayuki Iizuka. His in-ring style was very basic early in his career, as is standard for their trainees. After winning theYoung Lions Cup in 1995, in order to hone his skills and bulk up, he went on an excursion to North America and joinedWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW).
12 days after his pro debut Nakanishi appeared atHalloween Havoc, as a spectator, sitting alongside NJPW and NWA PresidentSeiji Sakaguchi at ringside. Three years later he returned to WCW to wrestle, under the nameKurasawa as a member ofThe Stud Stable led byColonel Robert Parker.[7] He frequently teamed withMeng, with whom he feuded againstSting andRoad Warrior Hawk. Hebroke the arm of Hawk using aseated armbar after their tag team match at Clash of the Champions XXXI, in which they lost it was at the event that he was billed as the Terror from the Far East[8] He subsequently feuded with Hawk when Hawk returned from injury heading intoHalloween Havoc, beating many local wrestlers on their B-shows,WorldWide andPro, as well as a big win overSgt. Craig Pittman onNitro. He was also known there for nearly defeating"Macho Man" Randy Savage on an episode ofNitro. It was here that Nakanishi learned the infamous "Road Warrior Workout" from Hawk andAnimal, who also taught this routine toKenta Kobashi andKensuke Sasaki.
When Nakanishi came back to NJPW in September 1996, he appeared more confident and stronger. With his new change in attitude and in-ring style, he found instant success. He formed The Bull Powers withSatoshi Kojima, who returned from Europe. In May 1997, he and Kojima won theIWGP Tag Team Championship. He had arguably the upset win of the decade in the1999 G1 Climax, submitting then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion andnWo Japan leaderKeiji Mutoh, to win the tournament.
As the years went by, Nakanishi was never able to capitalize on his win in the G1 Climax as he constantly came up short in big matches, and Antonio Inoki's focus on pushing MMA fighters from 2002 to 2005 made matters worse for him. When the company suffered a massive exodus in main event talent (includingShinya Hashimoto,Shinjiro Otani, Sasaki, and Mutoh), it was considered that Nakanishi might finally live up to his potential, but once again he was overlooked, as NJPW started to look towards building their younger talent likeHiroshi Tanahashi,Shinsuke Nakamura,Togi Makabe, andHirooki Goto. He formed the popular tag team, Wild Child, withTakao Omori in late 2006 and together they enjoyed another IWGP Tag Team title reign. Nakanishi finally captured theIWGP Heavyweight Championship by pinning Hiroshi Tanahashi at Dissidence on May 25, 2009.[9] He went on to hold the title for nearly a month until losing it back to Tanahashi atDominion 6.20. For the2010 G1 Tag League Nakanishi formed a tag team named Muscle Orchestra withStrong Man. The team made it to the semifinals of the tournament and was at the end of the year named Tag Team of the Year byTokyo Sports.[10][11] On January 4, 2011, atWrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Muscle Orchestra unsuccessfully challengedBad Intentions (Giant Bernard andKarl Anderson) for theIWGP Tag Team Championship in a three–way match, which also includedBeer Money, Inc. (James Storm andRobert Roode).[12][13] On February 20 atThe New Beginning, Muscle Orchestra received another shot at Bad Intentions and the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but were again unable to win the title.[14]
On June 4 Nakanishi was injured during a six-man tag team match after taking aGerman suplex fromWataru Inoue. The match was stopped immediately and Nakanishi was stretchered out of the arena in a neckbrace.[15] The following day it was announced that Nakanishi had suffered a spinal cord injury, which resulted in numbness and temporary paralysis, but was expected to make a full recovery.[16]
Nakanishi returned to the ring on October 8, 2012, atKing of Pro-Wrestling, where he teamed with Strong Man andYuji Nagata in a losing effort against the team ofTakashi Iizuka,Tomohiro Ishii andToru Yano.[17] From November 20 to December 1, Muscle Orchestra reunited to take part in theround-robin portion of the2012 World Tag League, finishing with a record of two wins and four losses, finishing second to last in their group.[18][19] On January 4, 2013, atWrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Nakanishi teamed with Strong Man,Akebono andMVP in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeatedChaos (Bob Sapp, Takashi Iizuka, Toru Yano andYujiro Takahashi).[20] On April 7 atInvasion Attack, Nakanishi debuted his new finisher, theUekara Don!, to gain a victory for his team consisting of him, Akebono,Hiroyoshi Tenzan andSuper Strong Machine, defeating the Chaos faction of Bob Sapp, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii andYoshi-Hashi.[21] On May 3 atWrestling Dontaku 2013, Nakanishi and Strong Man received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a four-way match with the defending champions,K.E.S. (Lance Archer andDavey Boy Smith Jr.), as well as Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) andTencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima). Kojima pinned Strong Man to win the match and the title.[22] On June 22 atDominion 6.22, Nakanishi unsuccessfully challengedRob Conway for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship.[23] From November 24 to December 6, Nakanishi and Strong Man took part in the2013 World Tag League, where they finished second to last in their block with a record of two wins and four losses, failing to advance to the semifinals.[24][25] Nakanishi spent the majority of 2014 and 2015 working the undercard and in multiple man tag matches, teaming with Yuji Nagata during the2014 World Tag League, failing to advance from their block. On August 19, 2015, Nakanishi donned a mask and going as Maybach Don, teamed up with Nagata (as Maybach Blue Justice) andMaybach Taniguchi to win the Arukas Cup 6-Man Tag Tournament hosted byPro Wrestling Noah.[26]
On January 5, 2017, Nakanishi, Hiroshi Tanahashi andRyusuke Taguchi defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Evil andSanada) for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On March 25, 2018, Nakanishi made an appearance in All Japan, where he reunited Wild Child for one night with Takao Omori to unsuccessfully challenge Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata for the All Asia Tag Team Championship. After teaming with young lionHenare the year prior, Nakanishi reunited with Yuji Nagata for the2018 World Tag League, finishing second-last in a 14-team block with 3 wins and 10 losses, earning 6 points. They wouldteam once more in what would be Nakanishi's last World Tag League, finishing in last place in a 16-team block with 2 wins and 13 losses, earning 4 points.
Nakanishi would say farewell to the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2020, after losing a pre-show tag team match with longtime partner Yuji Nagata against Tencozy, being pinned by Satoshi Kojima following a lariat.[27][28] Nakanishi would announce his retirement three days later, scheduling it for a February 22Korakuen Hall show.[29] Nakanishi had said that 'As a result of a neck injury [that he had sustained in 2011], I haven't been able to wrestle to the level I wanted, and rather than drag things out, I wanted to draw a line in the sand.'[30]
Nakanishi hosts his own variety show called Nakanishi Land onTV Asahi where he cooks traditional Japanese food, play sports, complete challenges alongside special guests that are fellow wrestlers or legends, likeKuniaki Kobayashi,Seiji Sakaguchi,Hiroshi Tanahashi,Yuji Nagata and others.
| 1 match | 0 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 0 | 1 |
| By submission | 0 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0-1 | Kazuyuki Fujita | TKO (punches) | NJPW Ultimate Crush | May 2, 2003 | 3 | 1:09 | Tokyo,Japan | [42] |
| 0 wins (0 KOs), 1 loss | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 29, 2003 | Loss | Toa | K-1 Beast II 2003 | Saitama, Japan | KO (right punch) | 1 | 1:38 | 0-1 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest | ||||||||
,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database
