 Nishimura in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1971-09-23)September 23, 1971 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | February 28, 2025(2025-02-28) (aged 53) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Osamu Nishimura Nishimu Lama |
| Billed height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 105 kg (231 lb) |
| Trained by | NJPW Dojo B. Brian Blair Hiro Matsuda Don Jardine Tatsumi Fujinami Karl Gotch Dory Funk, Jr. Tony St. Clair[1] |
| Debut | April 21, 1991 |
| Retired | December 8, 2024 |
Osamu Nishimura (西村修,Nishimura Osamu; September 23, 1971 – February 28, 2025) was a Japaneseprofessional wrestler. Nishimura was best known for his time inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) andMUGA World Pro Wrestling (MUGA).[2] Outside of pro wrestling, he was also a politician, having served as a member of theTokyo Bunkyo Ward Assembly as a food education instructor.
Nishimura joined theNew Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in April 1990, while a senior in high school. After a year of training, he debuted for NJPW in April 1991, losing toTakayuki Iizuka. In August 1993, he went overseas to Florida for an extensive training excursion underB. Brian Blair,Hiro Matsuda andDon Jardine. In March 1994, he wrestled a match forYoshiaki Yatsu's Social Pro Wrestling Federation, before returning to the States to start his overseas excursion.
In April 1994, he embarked on his first overseas tour of the United States, wrestling for variousNational Wrestling Alliance territories. On August 26, 1994, he went to theGlobal Wrestling Federation and defeatedAlex Porteau to win theGWF Light Heavyweight Championship; he would be its final champion before the promotion folded a month later. A day later, he went to the NWA's biggest territory at the time,Eastern Championship Wrestling, and take part in theNWA World Title Tournament to crown a newNWA World Heavyweight Champion; he lost toDean Malenko in the first round. The next day, he unsuccessfully challengedShane Douglas for theECW World Heavyweight Championship. He would be brought back to NJPW for one match in October 1994, before Nishimura returned to the States to resume his excursion. In November 1994, he would receive another chance at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with another tournament, this time co-promoted bySmoky Mountain Wrestling; he and Lou Perez went to a time limit draw in the first round, eliminating both men. In March 1995, he had a couple shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, now held byDan Severn, but lost both times. In May 1995, he moved to the Netherlands to train inChris Dolman's dojo for a month, before moving to the United Kingdom to train inThe Snake Pit under Roy Wood. It was in the Snake Pit, whereTatsumi Fujinami saw Nishimura's progress and was so impressed that Nishimura was to return to NJPW, after the NJPW vs. UWFi show.
In May 1997, he underwent another overseas excursion. First, he went to Canada to train under Tokyo Joe Daigo for a month, before going to Europe forCatch Wrestling Association. In September 1997, he defeatedRobbie Brookside to win theCWA Submission Shootfighting Championship. He would vacate the title in January 1998, due to his return to NJPW.
In 2001, he went to the United States again to polish his skills at the Funking Conservatory inFlorida, under the eye ofDory Funk, Jr. (whom Nishimura admired from watching matches of New Japan's founderAntonio Inoki). He would wrestle on and off with them until 2019. In May 2002, he wrestled a couple of matches forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico. In June 2003, he wrestled for another Florida promotion, Independent Pro Wrestling, before moving to Germany three months later to wrestle for European Wrestling Promotion. In February 2006, he and old MUGA comradeKatsushi Takemura took part inChikara's2006 Tag World Grand Prix, where they made it to the semi-finals, before being defeated byMilano Collection A. T. andSkayde. In December 2006, he wrestled a show forFull Impact Pro. In June 2007, he wrestled a show for NWA Bluegrass, taking part in another tournament for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but lost toBrent Albright in the first round. In May 2008, he wrestled in South Korea for New Korea Pro Wrestling Association, winning the NKPWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, defeating Riki Bassan andKurt Angle in a three-way match. He would lose the title in March 2009 to Yun Kang Chul. In May 2017, he returned to Florida and won the BANG! TV World Heavyweight Championship. In September 2017, Nishmura regained the NKPWA World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He would hold onto the title for nearly a year, before losing it back to Yun Kang Chul. He would regain the title nearly a year later for a third time.
Nishimura returned to New Japan in October 1995. He was immediately paired withKeiji Muto for the annualSuper Grade Tag League; they tied for third with the team ofShiro Koshinaka andTatsutoshi Goto. In November 1995, he lost a high-profile match toRic Flair. In October 1996, he won the Catch of Lancashire tournament.
After a European excursion, Nishimura returned in January 1998 and teamed withShinya Hashimoto in the struggle againstNWO Japan'sKeiji Mutoh andMasahiro Chono, who held theIWGP Tag Team Championship, but they were unsuccessful. Nishimura also failed to unseatIWGP Heavyweight ChampionKensuke Sasaki, before Nishimura was diagnosed with acancerous retroperitoneal tumor in August. He made his triumphant return in June 2000, despite losing to Tatsumi Fujinami on his first match back. Nishimura's star was bright enough to warrant an earnest push, and he won the IWGP tag team titles with Fujinami. Nonetheless, the bi-promotional duo of Mutoh andAll Japan Pro Wrestling'sTaiyō Kea were on the rise, and the two teams clashed over both the IWGP title and AJPW'sWorld Tag Team Championship, both of which ended up around the waists ofMutoh and Kea.
In 2002 he teamed withManabu Nakanishi under the nameGotch-ism, but they failed to win the titles. As Nakanishi began teaming more withYutaka Yoshie, Nishimura engaged in a feud with the returningMinoru Suzuki, with whom he had a MUGA-style feud that showcased the traditional, scientific skills of both wrestlers. He later began teaming withHiroyoshi Tenzan, with whom he won another IWGP tag team title in late 2003. They held the belts until February 2004 when they were defeated by Suzuki andYoshihiro Takayama. As Tenzan focused on the IWGP Heavyweight title, Nishimura aimlessly was relegated to the mid-card. In January 2006, Nishimura opted not to renew his NJPW contract and left the company altogether.
On October 20, 2007, Nishimura announced that he and trainee Manabu Soya have signed withAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as full-time wrestlers, citing unhappiness with the erratic MUGA World scheduling. From November 23 to December 9, 2007, Nishimura teamed withMasanobu Fuchi to compete in theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the league with 7 points (2 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws) and placing 5th overall. In November 2007, Nishimura announced plans to form a tag team withDory Funk, Jr. in 2008, along with claiming that All Japan was planning a retirement ceremony for Funk. His final match for AJPW took place on March 9, 2024, teaming withTakao Omori, defeatingSeigo Tachibana andYuma Aoyagi.
On March 31, 2013, Nishimura made his debut forWrestling New Classic (WNC), defeating Zeus to become the number one contender to theWNC Championship.[3] On April 25, he defeatedAkira to become the second WNC Champion.[4] A month later, Nishimura joined Akira'svillainous Synapsestable.[5] On August 8, Nishimura lost the WNC Championship toTajiri in his first defense.[6]
In 2022, Nishimura began working withFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Explosion. His first match was on December 11, teaming up withKatsushi Takemura andYutaka Yoshie in a loss to the team ofAtsushi Onita,Koji Nakagawa andRaijin Yaguchi in a Current Blast Spider Net & Barbed Wire Barricade Mine Explosion & Current Blast Explosion Bat & Barbed Wire Inside Board Explosion Deathmatch, Nishimura's first-ever deathmatch in his career. He wouldn't return to the company until August 2024, as his mentor, Dory Funk, Jr. wanted him as his partner for his final match on his final trip to Japan. To take part in this match, Nishimura had to get a waiver from the hospital and have five doctors, nurses and trainers at ringside to monitor his health, due to having stage-four esophageal cancer. On August 24 at Kawasaki Stadium, he and Funk defeated Atsushi Onita and Raijin Yaguchi in a Double Hell Current Blast Deathmatch, as Nishimura used Funk's spinning toehold to force Yaguchi to submit, a fitting tribute to his 83-year-old mentor and his late brother,Terry Funk. His final match of his career took place on December 8, as he teamed up with Katsushi Takemura andShinya Aoki in a loss to Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi andMammoth Sasaki in a No Ropes Barbed Wire & Giant Electric Explosive Bat Deathmatch.
In 2004, Nishimura starred in the filmThe Calamari Wrestler. His character, Kanichi Iwata, like Nishimura, had cancer and used natural remedies to combat the illness.
In March 2010, Nishimura announced that he was taking a hiatus from professional wrestling and announced his candidacy for theHouse of Councillors, but lost his bid in July 2010. In January 2011, he announced his candidacy for the Tokyo Bunkyo Ward Assembly, representing thePeople's New Party. A month later, he announced that he would cancel his contract with AJPW and concentrate on political activities. In April 2011, he was elected as a member of the Tokyo Bunkyo Ward Assembly. In May 2012, Nishimura changed his political party toIndependent, due to the collapse of the People's New Party. In April 2015, he was re-elected for a second term. In April 2019, he was re-elected to a third term. In April 2023, he was re-elected to a fourth term, which he served until his death in 2025. His last message on social media, posted on February 16, he wrote, "It's been a painful week for me to not know if I'm alive or dead. I can't go down any more, so I just have to go up. If you give up, it's over, and I'll be back in Congress in a few days."
In August 1998, after theG1 Climax, Nishimura was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in hisretroperitoneal space. He spent nearly two years fighting by using natural remedies such as natural diet, medicinal food, Chinese medicine, Ayurvada, sea bathing, and urine therapy, instead of chemotherapy, until he was declared cancer-free in 2000. His cancer scare inspired his political career as a food education instructor, as his top priority was how to make the world healthier and how to direct it to preventive medicine.
In March 2024, Nishimura was diagnosed with stage-fouresophageal cancer. The cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes outside the esophagus and the entire upper left side of his body, except his head. Unlike his first cancer scare, he had to undergo chemotherapy. In July 2024, he was in a coma due to the cancer metastasizing to the brain, but was able to recover. In October 2024, Nishimura underwent a craniotomy to remove a four-centimeter-sized cancer that had spread to his brain. In January 2025, Nishimura missed two shows he was scheduled to wrestle and by the end of the month, he was hospitalized again, this time due to the side effects of anti-cancer medication, worsened by the metastasizing of his brain tumor. On February 28, 2025, it was announced byShinsuke Nakamura that Nishimura had died at the age of 53.[7]
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