 Kimura in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Seiei Kumura (1953-09-04)September 4, 1953 (age 72)[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Takashi Kimura Pak Choo Kengo Kimura Kendo Kimura |
| Billed height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 107 kg (236 lb) |
| Trained by | Antonio Inoki[1] NJPW Dojo[1] Seiji Sakaguchi[1] |
| Debut | August 2, 1972[1] |
| Retired | April 18, 2003 |
Seiei Kimura (木村 聖裔,Kimura Seiei; born September 4, 1953) is a Japanese retiredprofessional wrestler, best known under thering nameKengo Kimura (木村 健悟,Kimura Kengo) and for his many years working forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan.
Kimura made his professional wrestling debut on August 2, 1972 on aJapan Pro Wrestling (JPW) card where he facedAkio Sato.[1] In 1973, JWA folded.
After JWA folded, Kimura joinedNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 1973 as a junior heavyweight. He mainly worked on the undercard during this tenure, until he was sent to North America on a learning excursion.
In the late 1970s Kengo Kimura travelled to North America for an excursion mainly working inMexico forEmpresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and inPuerto Rico for theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC). In WWC Kimura defeatedCarlos Colón to win theWWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship.[2] He would also hold theWWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship with Kengo Arakawa.[3] He also held theWWC World Tag Team Championship along withHiro Sasaki.[4] On December 8, 1978 Kimura, while wrestling as "Pak Choo" won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship fromEl Faraón. He held the title until April 30, 1979 whenAlfonso Dantés defeated him for the title.[5]
In 1980 Kimura returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He quickly won theNWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeatingBret Hart in a match for the vacant title. Kimura held the title until October 3, 1980 when he lost the belt toChavo Guerrero.[6]
In the mid-1980s Kimura began teaming withTatsumi Fujinami on a regular basis. The team won the revivedWWF International Tag Team Championship in 1985 when they defeatedDick Murdoch andAdrian Adonis. The title was vacated a few months later when NJPW decided to create their own Tag Team title, theIWGP Tag Team Championship.[7] Kimura and Fujinami won the tournament to crown the first ever IWGP Tag Team title defeatingAntonio Inoki andSeiji Sakaguchi in the finals of the tournament, with Fujinami upsetting Inoki by pinning him with his trademark Dragon Suplex.[8] On August 5, 1986 Kimura and Fujinami were defeated byAkira Maeda andOsamu Kido to win the title.[8] The duo regained the title only 49 days later, but vacated the belts in February, 1987 when the team split up.[8]
In December 1986, Kimura graduated to the heavyweight division. Fujinami focused on winning theIWGP Heavyweight Championship while Kimura teamed with various partners in unsuccessful attempts at winning the tag team titles back. On January 18, 1988 Kimura and Fujinami reunited to win the IWGP Tag Team titles fromKazuo Yamazaki andYoshiaki Fujiwara.[8] The team's third reign ended on June 10, 1988 at the hands ofRiki Choshu andMasa Saito, with the two not winning the title again until approximately nine years later when they defeatedHiroyoshi Tenzan andMasahiro Chono on January 4, 1997.[8] Later that year Kimura teamed up withTakashi Ishikawa to captureBig Japan Pro Wrestling's inauguralBJW Tag Team Championship.[9]
In the 1990s, he was part ofShiro Koshinaka'sHeisei Ishingun faction, alongsideKuniaki Kobayashi,Akitoshi Saito,Tatsutoshi Goto,Akira Nogami, and Michiyoshi Ohara.
In early 2003 Kengo Kimura announced that he would retire at the end of the "Kengo Kimura Inazuma Countdown Tour". Kimura's retirement match took place on March 23, 2003 where he wrestledOsamu Nishimura to a time limit draw.[10] Since his official retirement Kimura has only made one or two "special appearances" in the wrestling ring.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halcón Ortiz (mask) | Pak Choo (hair) | Mexico City, Mexico | Live event | March 2, 1979 | [14] |
,Internet Wrestling Database