Katsuhiko Nakajima
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Katsuhiko Nakajima | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Ring name(s) | Katsuhiko Nakajima |
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Weight | 82 kg (180 lb) |
Born | March 11, 1988 Fukuoka, Fukuoka |
Debut | January 5, 2004 vs. Tomohiro Ishii |
Katsuhiko Nakajima (中嶋 勝彦 Nakajima Katsuhiko?, born March 11, 1988) is a Japanese professional wrestler, represented as a freelancer by his mentor Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office. He most frequently wrestles in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Having made his professional debut aged 15,[1] Nakajima has already made a significant impact on puroresu, earning the nickname "Supernova" and facing Hall of Famers[2] such as Kenta Kobashi,[3] Satoru Sayama,[4] Jushin Liger,[5] and Tatsumi Fujinami.[6] He has competed in several notable Japanese promotions, including New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, Michinoku Pro, Dragon Gate, and currently, All Japan Pro Wrestling.
He has set several age records over his short career, including being the youngest wrestler to compete in AJPW's Champion's Carnival tournament[7] and the youngest to hold the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship. He won the Tokyo Sports Grand Prix "Rookie of the Year" award in 2004 and the Fighting Spirit award in 2005.[8]
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[edit] Career
[edit] 2002-2004
An accomplished jūdōka, Nakajima was hired by Riki Chōshū's World Japan promotion in December 2002 at the age of 14. He debuted for World Japan (WJ) in September 2003, facing American fighter Jason Leigh in a steel cage vale tudo match, winning via knockout in one minute and thirty-five seconds.[1] His true professional wrestling debut came on the main event of World Japan's "RESOLUTION" card on January 5, 2004, losing via submission to Tomohiro Ishii.[4]
Nakajima continued to wrestle for WJ for a short time, even wrestling the original Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama[4] before signing with Kensuke Office in April.[9] This led to his debut with New Japan Pro Wrestling, facing legendary junior heavyweight Jushin Liger in the Tokyo Dome on May 3, 2004.[5] He made his debut with All Japan Pro Wrestling the next day, successfully teaming with Toshiaki Kawada in a six-man tag team match.[10] He continued to wrestle for both promotions extensively throughout 2004, even competing in Block B of NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing with two points by defeating Curry Man[11] and reaching the finals of the Young Lion Toukon (fighting spirit) tournament, losing to Ryusuke Taguchi.[5]
On September 17, 2004, Nakajima made his debut in Dragon Gate on their pay-per-view Gate of Sanctuary, losing to Masaaki Mochizuki.[12] In AJPW, Nakajima received the first championship match of his career, teaming with Kensuke Sasaki to unsuccessfully challenge Masanobu Fuchi & Genichiro Tenryu for the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship.[13] The two would go on to team up in the 2004 World's Strongest Tag Team League, finishing with four points in Block B.[14]
[edit] 2005
Nakajima received his first opportunity at a singles championship on April 20, 2005, losing to AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku.[15] His appearances in NJPW became much more sporadic around this time, with his final match to date taking place on April 24, 2005, a loss to 6-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami.[6]
On May 7, 2005, Katsuhiko participated in the 2005 Differ Cup, a biennial cross-promotional junior heavyweight tag team tournament, teaming with Osaka Pro's Takehiro Murahama; the two lost to Super Shisa and Tiger Emperor in the first round.[16] He also teamed with Tomoaki Honma in a tournament throughout June 2005 to decide the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship, making it to the finals before losing to Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI.[17] Just over one month later on July 26, 2005, Nakajima and Kensuke Sasaki defeated Kondo and YASSHI for the titles in their second defense, giving Nakajima his first championship.[18] They would continue to defend the titles through 2005, against such teams as Arashi & Ryuji Hijikata[19] and Buchanan & D'Lo Brown.[20]
On July 18, 2005, Nakajima made his debut in Pro Wrestling NOAH, wrestling in a six-man tag team match in the Tokyo Dome. He would continue by teaming with Kensuke Sasaki against Kenta Kobashi and his own protege Go Shiozaki in an inter-generation tag team match on November 5, 2005, with Sasaki pinning Shiozaki after a lariat.[3] This match was rated 4 3/4 out of 5 stars by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, one of only eight NOAH matches to receive that or a higher rating.[21]
Nakajima made his debut for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX on July 9, 2005, winning a six-man junior tag team match.[22] He went on to defeat Osamu Namiguchi on August 31 for his first singles title, the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, though whether this can be considered part of the title's official lineage is disputed.[23] He held it until June 24, 2006, losing the title to premier ZERO1-MAX junior Tatsuhito Takaiwa.[24] This is to date Nakajima's last appearance with the promotion.
[edit] 2006
On February 11, 2006 at a Kensuke Office show celebrating Kensuke Sasaki's 20th career anniversary, Nakajima teamed with Genichiro Tenryu against the "dream team" of Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki, falling to a Sasaki lariat.[25] On March 21, 2006, Nakajima won a three-way elimination match in AJPW, defeating both Tomoaki Honma and NOSAWA Rongai to earn a spot in Block B of the prestigious 2006 Champion's Carnival,[26] becoming the youngest man to participate in the tournament.[7] Nakajima finished in last place in the block with two points by defeating D'Lo Brown. He then participated in the 2006 Junior League tournament from June 25, 2006 to July 3, 2006, to decide a challenger for the Junior Heavyweight Championship; Katsuhiko won his block with five points, before losing in the final to Kaz Hayashi.[27] On July 2, 2006, Nakajima's partner Kensuke Sasaki suffered a left eye fracture in a match against Katsuyori Shibata in Big Mouth Loud, taking him out of action for the foreseeable future and forcing the team to vacate the All Asia Tag Team Championship on October 29, 2006 after holding the titles since July 2005.[28]
On October 15, 2006, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kaz Hayashi were announced as one of seven teams in the 2006 World's Strongest Tag Team League, to take place in December 2006. They had a strong showing in the tournament, defeating such teams as NOSAWA Rongai & Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki and RO'Z & Suwama and drawing with Taiyō Kea & TAKA Michinoku, finishing with 5 points overall.[29] On November 14, 2006, Nakajima wrestled in the main event of the debut show of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance, a cooperation of several different promotions, teaming with NOAH's Go Shiozaki and El Dorado's Takuya Sugawara to defeat ZERO1-MAX's Ryouji Sai, Dramatic Dream Team's HARASHIMA and Kaientai Dojo's KAZMA.[30]
[edit] 2007
Kensuke Sasaki made his return from injury on January 2, 2007, teaming with Nakajima to defeat TARU & "brother" YASSHI. The following day Nakajima faced YASSHI in a match to determine Shuji Kondo's next challenger for the Junior Heavyweight Championship, winning via disqualification when Kondo himself interfered.[29] He made his challenge on February 17, 2007, defeating Kondo to end his 16-month reign, and becoming the youngest junior heavyweight champion in history.[31] Nakajima made his first defense of the title on April 30, 2007, defeating Kondo's Voodoo Murders partner "brother" YASSHI,[32] as well as Ryuji Hijikata[33] and Kikutaro in following months, though whether the latter can be considered an official defense is unclear.[34][dead link]
Nakajima once again participated in the Junior League in June 2007, finishing in third place for his block with four points, behind Hijikata and Kondo.[35] The league was won by American wrestler Chris Sabin,[36] setting up a title match between Sabin and Nakajima on August 26, 2007, in which Nakajima was victorious.[37] On September 1, 2007, Nakajima challenged Pro Wrestling NOAH's Takeshi Morishima for his ROH World Championship in the main event of a Kensuke Office show, putting up a good fight but losing in the end.[38] On September 19, 2007, Nakajima was pinned in a tag team match by visiting luchador Silver King,[39] who then challenged Nakajima to a future junior heavyweight title match. The match was made official on October 2, 2007, scheduled for All Japan's 35th anniversary show on October 18, 2007.[40][dead link] On October 8, 2007, Nakajima suffered a fractured navicular bone in his right hand, forcing him off of several shows on the tour,[41][dead link] though he defended the title as scheduled on October 18, 2007; when the match came, Nakajima and Silver King fought to a no contest, forcing PWF commissioner Hiroshi Hase to vacate the title.[42] Katsuhiko then took time off to nurse his injured hand.
[edit] 2008
Nakajima returned from injury on February 11, 2008 at Kensuke Office's first anniversary show, defeating fellow Kensuke Sasaki protege Ryuji Yamaguchi; he would follow this up with victories over two more Kensuke trainees in Kento Miyahara and Takashi Okita on February 16, 2008 and March 9, 2008 respectively, held in the Kensuke Office exercise hall.[43] On March 1, 2008, in a rematch from their October encounter, Nakajima lost to Silver King in a match to decide the vacant junior heavyweight title.[44] Later that month, Nakajima teamed with Ryuji Hijikata to participate in the six-team junior tag league, winning the tournament with six points by defeating the teams of Silver King and Shuji Kondo, MAZADA and NOSAWA Rongai, and T28 and KUSHIDA, as well as Kaz Hayashi and El Samurai in the final, who had defeated them in the group stage.[45] On March 28, 2008, Nakajima faced and defeated Osaka Pro and Dragon Gate wrestler Magnitude Kishiwada on Kensuke Office's first event in the Fukuoka region.[43]
In March and April 2008, Nakajima and Sasaki participated in Pro Wrestling NOAH's Global Tag League, a 9-team round-robin tag team tournament. The two finished tied in 5th place with 8 points, defeating the teams of Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio, D'Lo Brown and Buchanan, and Go Shiozaki and Akira Taue, and drawing with Takeshi Morishima and Mohammed Yone, and GHC Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
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- German suplex, sometimes while trapping the opponent's leg for extra leverage
- R-15 (High-angle reverse roundhouse kick, sometimes to the back of the opponent's head)
- Northern Lights bomb
- Over the shoulder belly to back piledriver
- Big boot
- X-Plex
- Dropkick
- Jumping high kick
- Lariat
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
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- AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kensuke Sasaki[18]
- AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[31]
- Junior Tag League (2008) - with Ryuji Hijikata
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- Tohoku Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kensuke Sasaki[46]
- Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
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- Rookie of the Year (2004)
- Fighting Spirit Award (2005)[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Profile on PuroresuFan.com. Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “His pro debut came in September, 2003, but not in a pro wrestling match; instead, in a steel cage and under vale tudo rules against Jason Rey, (sic) an American fighter, who 15-year-old Nakajima KO'd in 95 seconds!”
- ^ Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame listing. Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ a b NOAH results, 2005. Green Destiny. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki (24:58) when Sasaki used a lariat on Shiosaki.”
- ^ a b c World Japan results, 2004. Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Tomohiro Ishii beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (debut) (12:11) with a single-leg crab hold"; "Original Tiger Mask beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (11:44) with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold.”
- ^ a b c NJPW results, 2004. Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Jushin Thunder Liger beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (7:27) with a crab hold"; "Young Lion Toukon Tournament - Final: Ryusuke Taguchi beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (9:41) with a crab hold.”
- ^ a b New Japan Cup results, 2005. Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Tatsumi Fujinami beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (3:59) with a Dragon sleeper.”
- ^ a b AJPW news, March 23 to April 17, 2006. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Katsuhiko Nakajima became the youngest person to wrestle in the Champion Carnival at the age of 18.”
- ^ a b Tokyo Sports Grand Prix Awards, 2000s. Puroresu.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ Kensuke Office profile (Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ AJPW BAPE STA!! 2004 results. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Toshiaki Kawada, Ryuji Hijikata & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat TAKA Michinoku, Takehiro Murahama & Miracle Man (14:10) when Kawada used a single-leg crab hold on Miracle.”
- ^ Best of the Super Juniors results, 2004. Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Katsuhiko Nakajima [2] beat Curry Man [1] (8:20) by referee stop.”
- ^ Dragon Gate results, 2004 (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
- ^ AJPW Crossover results, 2004. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “All Asia Tag Team Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi (c) beat Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (14:04) when Fuchi used an inside cradle on Nakajima (1st defense).”
- ^ World's Strongest Tag Team League results, 2004. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ Champion's Carnival results, 2005. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: TAKA Michinoku (c) beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (17:04) with the Michinoku Driver II (5th defense).”
- ^ Differ Cup results, 2005. ZEROONEUSA.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ AJPW Crossover results, 2005. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Shuji Kondo & "brother YASSHI" (sic) beat Tomoaki Honma & Katsuhiko Nakajima (16:30) when YASSHI pinned Nakajima after Kondo used a King Kong lariat to become the 79th champions.”
- ^ a b AJPW Summer Action Series results, 2005. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI (c) (12:23) when Nakajima used a German suplex hold on YASSHI to become the 80th champions.”
- ^ AJPW Summer Impact results, 2005. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “All Asia Tag Team Title: Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) beat Arashi & Ryuji Hijikata (20:30) when Sasaki used a lariat on Hijikata (1st defense).”
- ^ AJPW Flashing Tour results, 2005. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “All Asia Tag Team Title: Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) beat Buchanan & D-Lo Brown (21:24) when Sasaki used a Northern Light bomb on Buchanan (2nd defense).”
- ^ Observer Star Ratings List. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “11/5/05 Kenta Kobashi/Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima ****3/4”
- ^ ZERO1-MAX Decide it Again results. ZEROONEUSA.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ a b WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ ZERO1-MAX Rights results. ZEROONEUSA.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ AJPW results, 2006. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Kensuke Sasaki 20th Anniversary: Kensuke Sasaki & Kenta Kobashi beat Genichiro Tenryu & Katsuhiko Nakajima (26:36) when Sasaki used a lariat on Nakajima.”
- ^ AJPW news, February 21 to March 22, 2006. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ AJPW Junior League results. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “Final: Kaz Hayashi beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (20:58) with the Final Cut”
- ^ AJPW news, October 14 to November 25, 2006. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “During Kensuke's talk show, it seems that he and Nakajima returned the All-Asia Tag Titles after one year and 3 months of holding them since Kensuke will not make his return in December.”
- ^ a b AJPW news, December 4, 2006 to February 9, 2007. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ GPWA results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
- ^ a b AJPW news, February 12 to March 9, 2007. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-03-14. “AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Shuji Kondo (c) (24:25) with a German Suplex hold (Nakajima becomes the 24th champion).”
- ^ Hold Out Tour 2007. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
- ^ AJPW Rise Up tour results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. “6. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) besiegt Ryuji Hijikata (19:21) mit einem German Suplex Hold (2nd defense).”
- ^ AJPW Muto Festival official results (Japanese). All-Japan.co.jp. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- ^ AJPW Crossover 2007 tour results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- ^ Junior Champion Carnival 2007. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
- ^ Summer Impact 2007. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
- ^ Kensuke Office Take the Dream Vol. 2 ~ A New Dream report (Japanese). SportsNavi. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- ^ AJPW Flashing Tour results. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
- ^ Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Silver King announcement (Japanese). All-Japan.co.jp. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
- ^ Katsuhiko Nakajima injury official news (Japanese). All-Japan.co.jp. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ AJPW 2007 Shining Series. Shining Road. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
- ^ a b Kensuke Office results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ AJPW Excite Series tour results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
- ^ AJPW Hold Out 2008 tour results (German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Tohoku Tag Team Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ PWI 500 2006 listing. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ PWI 500 2007 listing. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official profile at all-japan.co.jp[dead link]
- (Japanese) Official profile at Kensuke-Office.com
- (Japanese) Kensuke Office blog
- (English) Nakajima on Strong Style Spirit
Persondata | |
---|---|
NAME | Nakajima, Katsuhiko |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Professional wrestler |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 11, 1988 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Fukuoka, Fukuoka |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |