 Koshinaka in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1958-09-03)September 3, 1958 (age 67) Tokyo, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Shiro Koshinaka Samurai Shiro |
| Billed height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 105 kg (231 lb) |
| Trained by | Giant Baba Kazuharu Sonoda |
| Debut | March 5, 1979 |
Shiro Koshinaka (越中 詩郎,Koshinaka Shirō; born September 3, 1958) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler who has competed inAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW),New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) andWrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the firstIWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
After working for an electric power company for a year after graduating high school, Shiro Koshinaka enrolled in theAll Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo in August 1978, training underGiant Baba andKazuharu Sonoda. After months of training, on March 5, 1979, he debuted against one of his trainers,Kazuharu Sonoda.
In his first two years, Koshinaka would only gain victories inbattle royals, while losing in singles matches to guys likeAtsushi Onita,Masanobu Fuchi,Mitsuo Momota, Tor Hayashi, Munenori Higo,Lee Wang-pyo, andYoshihiro Momota, before gaining his first victory in February 1981 againstMasaji Goto. In 1983, Koshinaka defeatedMitsuharu Misawa to win the Lou Thesz Cup, his first tournament.
In 1984, Koshinaka went on an excursion to Mexico, wrestling as Samurai Shiro inEmpresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre, where in July, he lost aHair vs. Hair match toEl Satanico. While AJPW pushed Misawa, the man Koshinaka beat to win the Lou Thesz Cup the year before, as the second incarnation ofTiger Mask, Koshinaka was lingering in EMLL in Mexico. Frustrated, Koshinaka left AJPW in August 1985.
After his excursion in Mexico, Koshinaka joinedNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in September 1985. On February 6, 1986, he defeatedThe Cobra in a tournament to become the inauguralIWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. At the same time, NJPW was in a feud with the shoot-styleUWF promotion, and Koshinaka was immediately put in a feud withNobuhiko Takada, who at one time wasAntonio Inoki's protégé, just like Koshinaka was Giant Baba's. Koshinaka lost the title to Takada on May 19, 1986, but regained the title exactly four months later on September 19, 1986.
While reigning as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, he formed a tag team withKeiji Mutoh in a bid to win theIWGP Tag Team Championship, which was vacated byTatsumi Fujinami andKengo Kimura in February 1987. On March 20, 1987, Koshinaka and Mutoh defeated Takada andAkira Maeda to win the vacant titles, making Koshinaka a double champion, but the tag team title reign didn't last as he and Mutoh lost the titles to Takada and Maeda in a rematch nearly a week later, on March 26, 1987. On August 2, 1987, Koshinaka vacated the Junior Heavyweight title due to an ankle injury. When he returned that fall, Koshinaka slowly rebounded, but the rebound was big when he won the firstTop of the Super Juniors league in 1988, defeatingHiroshi Hase, the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion at the time, in the finals on February 7, 1988, earning him a title shot against Hase on March 19, 1988, but lost. He tried again to wrest the Junior Heavyweight title from Hase on May 8, 1988, but failed again. Finally, on June 24, 1988, the third time was the charm, as Koshinaka finally won his third and final IWGP Junior Heavyweight title fromOwen Hart. He would hold on to the title, before losing the title to Hase on March 16, 1989.
As a new decade began, Koshinaka graduated to the Heavyweight division. In August 1990, he went toAustria toOtto Wanz'sCatch Wrestling Association to challengeSteve Wright for the CWA World Middleweight Championship, but failed, as he lost on the tenth round. Returning to Japan in September 1990, he was the very first opponent for Mutoh's alter-ego, The Great Muta, and also joined Tatsumi Fujinami's Dragon Bombers.
In December 1991, Koshinaka andKuniaki Kobayashi were involved in a violent feud with karatekasAkitoshi Saito andMasashi Aoyagi. After their feud ended in the summer of 1992, the four eventually formed a stable that would eventually becomeHeisei Ishingun. Heisei Ishingun would also self-promote their own shows. They were also wrestle inWAR, which they feuded with several stars includingGenichiro Tenryu,Ashura Hara,Takashi Ishikawa,Hiromichi Fuyuki, andKoki Kitahara, among others. In January 1995, Koshinaka teamed up withThe Mad Dogs (Tatsutoshi Goto andMichiyoshi Ohara) to defeat Fuyuki,Jado, andGedo to win theWAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, before losing the titles to Tenryu, Kitahara, andAnimal Hamaguchi months later in June 1995. In July 1998, he won his second IWGP Tag Team title, this time with Tenryu, defeatingMasahiro Chono andHiroyoshi Tenzan. He and Tenryu would on to the titles until January 1999, when they lost the belts back to Tenzan and his new partner,Satoshi Kojima.
After Heisei Ishingun disbanded, Koshinaka rebounded and regained the IWGP Tag Team titles in March 1999, this time withKensuke Sasaki. He and Sasaki held on to the belts until June 1999, when they lost the belts to The Mad Dogs. In the summer of 2000, AJPW and NJPW were working together after thePro Wrestling Noah exodus nearly killed AJPW. This led Koshinaka to return to his home promotion after fifteen years. He took part in a tournament for theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship that was vacated byKenta Kobashi; he defeatedJohnny Smith in the first round, but lost toToshiaki Kawada in the semi-finals. In January 2003, Koshinaka's contract was not renewed by NJPW officials.
Since January 2003, Koshinaka has been a freelancer, wrestling for various promotions through Japan, both major and independent. As a freelancer, he has won three championships: theNWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship withTakao Omori in 2004 forPro Wrestling Zero1, the interim IWGP Tag Team Championship withTogi Makabe in 2006 for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and theKO-D Tag Team Championship withDanshoku Dino in 2010 forDramatic Dream Team. On January 4, 2016, Koshinaka made a surprise return to NJPW by taking part in theNew Japan Rumble on theWrestle Kingdom 10 pre-show. He was the second to last man eliminated from the match by the eventual winner, Jado.[1]
In 2008, Koshinaka made his debut inHustle, defeatingGenichiro Tenryu and breaking his winning streak. Koshinaka would start teaming up with Tenryu in order to help him to recover his motivation, and they joined the babyface faction Hustle Army shortly after. Koshinaka also formed a tag team withKG, acting as her mentor.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Satánico (hair) | Samurai Shiro (hair) | Mexico City, Mexico | Live event | July 13, 1984 | [10] |
