 Kakihara (left) withKazuo Yamazaki (right) in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1972-04-29)April 29, 1972 (age 53) Niihama, Ehime, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Masahito Kakihara Miyama Mask |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 209 lb (95 kg) |
| Trained by | Nobuhiko Takada |
| Debut | August 31, 1990 |
| Retired | May 28, 2006 |
Masahito Kakihara (Japanese:垣原 賢人,Kakihara Masahito; born April 29, 1972)[1][2] is a Japanese formerprofessional wrestler andmixed martial artist, who is known for his work inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)[3] andUWF International (UWFI).[4]
Kakihara actually joinedUWF Newborn in 1989 and debuted a year later, but the promotion folded shortly after. He then joined its new incarnation, UWF-i, where he became an apprentice underNobuhiko Takada. A promising rookie, he was booked accordingly and soon had wins overKiyoshi Tamura,Gary Albright andDan Severn. In 1995, during the interpromotional feud between UWF-i andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, Kakihara was one of the few who were given victories in his side, defeatingKensuke Sasaki,Shinjiro Otani andYuji Nagata. Later, when UWF-i started another feud with Wrestle Association R, Kakihara teamed up with Takada andYuhi Sano to win the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. He also had an appearance in one of the first events ofBattlarts, beatingSatoshi Yoneyama. In 1996, UWF-i folded as well. He spent some time in the next incarnation,Kingdom Pro Wrestling, but it was short-lived.
Kakihara and his Kingdom partnerYoshihiro Takayama debuted inAll Japan Pro Wrestling in 1998. They reunited with Gary Albright to form the second incarnation of the Triangle of Powerstable, which would get into a feud withThe Holy Demon Army, but they split up later when Takayama left to found No Fear withTakao Omori andSatoru Asako. Kakihara then joinedMitsuharu Misawa and his Untouchables faction, where he teamed up withYoshinari Ogawa. Out of kayfabe, Misawa wanted Kakihara to be pushed as the second member of the group, but Giant Baba opposed, feeling Kakihara was too undersized and hadn't paid his dues with the promotion yet.[5]
In 2000, Misawa, Kakihara and a large group of wrestlers left to formPro Wrestling Noah, but he soon left the promotion because of a few personal problems with fellow wrestlerTakao Omori. In his first and only match for NOAH, a six-man tag team match involving him,Yoshinari Ogawa andDaisuke Ikeda against Omori, Takayama andSatoru Asako on the promotion's first show, Kakihara appeared wearingmixed martial arts gloves and got in a scuffle with Omori, beating him down with stiff strikes. Immediately after Kakihara left, claiming he was interested in competing forPride Fighting Championships like several of his fellow shoot-style wrestlers.[5] However, he instead returned as a freelancer to AJPW, where the Noah exodus had left new chances. He joined another shoot-stylist,Mitsuya Nagai, and they won the vacantAll Asia Tag Team Championship against Yuji Nagata andShinya Makabe. Their reign would be short, as Masahito suffered a knee injury and was forced to vacate the titles again. He didn't return to AJPW when he recovered.
In 2001, Kakihara debuted forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling. Upon his arrival, he formed an occasional alliance with two other shoot-style users,Masayuki Naruse andMinoru Tanaka. Tanaka and him competed for the vacantIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Kakihara was defeated. He spent the rest of his tenure as a midcarder, until in 2003 Kakihara shockingly won theBest Of The Super Junior X. However, his persistent injury impeded any lasting push he might have received. He seemed to recover his momentum at theBest Of The Super Junior XI, but he was defeated at the very finals byHeat. Around this time, he also started competing in Kiyoshi Tamura's promotion U-style. He ended 2004 teaming withTakashi Iizuka to challenge two of Kakihara's former allies, Naruse and Nagai, for the very title Kakihara had gained in AJPW with the latter, the All Asia Tag Team Championship; however, Kakihara and Iizuka failed.
Kakihara bounced around the roster for two more years, until in 2006 he announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to a spinal injury.
| 1 match | 1 win | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 0 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Rocky Romero | Submission (kneebar) | Jungle Fight 3 | October 23, 2004 | 1 | 0:20 | Manaos,Brazil |
,Internet Wrestling Database