04.10.2013, 08:08
Sasaki continued in NJPW until having a falling-out with the company and leaving. His last match during this tenure appears to be teaming with Kenzo Suzuki to defeat Manabu Nakanishi and Osamu Nishimura on September 7 in Nigata. Sasaki’s mentor Choshu had been balancing wrestling and booking up until this time but left the promotion following the departures of Keiji Mutoh and others for All-Japan Pro Wrestling. Sasaki and Shiro Koshinaka left with Choshu who formed his own promotion called Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling, or World Japan for short.
The first World Japan show took place on March 1, 2003 in Yokohama. The show drew 13,200 and Sasaki teamed with Hiroshi Hase in the semi-final to defeat Don Frye and Dan Bobish. Sasaki also teamed with Kenzo Suzuki to defeat The Road Warriors or Hawk and Animal on March 18. Sasaki had wins over opponents such as Yoshiaki Yatsu, Jinzei Shinzaki, Genichiro Tenryu and Takao Omori in the months leading to the tournament to crown the World Magma Greatest champion. On July 20 Sasaki defeated Riki Choshu in the first round, Steve Williams in the second round and then Kenzo Suzuki in the finals to become the first WMG Champion. This show drew 8,500 to Sumo Hall. Sasaki teamed with Hase on July 27 on the All Japan Pro Wrestling “Gold For Athens” show and wrestled to a sixty-minute draw against Toshiaki Kawada and Satoshi Kojima in front of 8,000 fans at the Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial Exhibition Hall in Kanazawa.
Unfortunately, World Japan soon became the scene of a tragedy reminiscent of the 1995 training death of Hiromitsu Gompei. World Japan wrestler Kenzo Suzuki was involved in training former MMA fighter Giant Ochiai in August of 2003 when Ochiai suffered a subdrual hemotoma leading to his death on August 8. Suzuki subsequently left Japan to wrestle in the WWE and again, there were no charges laid as a result of the incident.
Sasaki defended the WMG title against Dan Bobish on August 21 in Osaka on a show that drew 2,800. This would seem to be his only defense of the title as he competed in other singles and tag matches leading up to his last World Japan appearance on December 7, 2003. Sasaki had his second MMA match on September 6, defeating future UFC fighter Christian Wellisch by guillotine choke in 2:35 at the WJ X-1 show in Yokohama. Sasaki left World Japan and there reportedly was a fall-out between he and Riki Choshu over financial issues. World Japan ultimately did not succeed in drawing attention away from other promotions or in lasting long-term and went out of business in 2004. Before it went out of business, fifteen-year-old Katsuhiko Nakajima had debuted, losing to Tomohiro Ishii on the January 5, 2004 show. Nakajima would go on to be closely associated with Sasaki, becoming his protégé as well as forming a close familial-type bond with Sasaki and Akira Hokuto.
The Freelance Era Begins
Sasaki returned to New Japan and lost to Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage on the January 4, 2004 Tokyo Dome Show. The show drew 53,000 and Sasaki vs Nagata was the third-to-last match. On January 10 Sasaki debuted for Don Muraco’s Hawai’I Championship Wrestling in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sasaki defeated Lopaka Kapanui to win the HCW Kamehameha Heritage World Heavyweight Title. Upon returning to Japan, Sasaki began what is known as the freelance period of his career. Within 2004, Sasaki wrestled for AJPW, DDT, IWA Japan, Kageki, Michinoku Pro, Toryumon Japan, U-Style, WMF, and NJPW. He also defended the HCW title against Mr. Gannosuke on a WMF show at Korakuen Hall on February 11.
Sasaki participated in a tournament for the vacant IWGP title, losing to Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the first round on February 15. Tenzan became champion when he defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the tournament finals later that night. On March 12 Sasaki defeated Tenzan in front of 3,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo to become IWGP Champion for the fourth time. Sasaki worked as Masked Volcano in Michinoku Pro on March 20, teaming with The Great Sasuke and Atlantis to defeat Masao Orihara, Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita in Yahaba. Sasaki defended the HCW title against Masahiro Chono on March 21 in NJPW, winning by disqualification. Sasaki lost the IWGP title to Bob Sapp on the March 28 NJPW King Of Sports show drawing 10,000 to Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in All-Japan’s Champion Carnival in April, defeating Jamal and Kaz Hayashi and going to a draw against Keiji Mutoh. On April 20 Sasaki defeated Satoshi Kojima in the semi-finals before losing to Mutoh in the finals on a show drawing 5,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.
On June 12 Sasaki teamed with Katsuhiko Nakajima in AJPW and lost to Masanobu Fuchi and Genichiro Tenryu in a match for Fuchi’s and Tenryu’s All-Asia Tag Team titles. Sasaki and partner Jushin Liger were defeated in an IWGP Tag Team title match on July 19, losing to champions Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. Sasaki participated in the 2004 G1 Climax Tournament and had victories over Togi Makabe, Osamu Nishimura, Koji Kanemoto and Manabu Nakanishi. He had losses to Takayama, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Genichiro Tenryu and had a time-limit draw with eventual tournament winner Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Sasaki defeated Leatherface on the IWA Japan 10th Anniversary Show on August 31. He teamed with Nakajima in Michinoku Pro on September 10 to defeat Jinzei Shinzaki and Ultimo Dragon and win the Tohoku Eastern Tag Team Titles. Sasaki also worked in Dragon Gate in September and wrestled as “Kenskee Sasaki”.
On October 9 Sasaki defeated Kazayuki Fujita in 2:29 to win the IWGP Title in front of 11,000 fans at Sumo Hall. Sasaki teamed with Genichiro Tenryu and lost to Masahiro Chono and Katsuyori Shibata in the finals of the 10,000,000 Yen Offer Tag Tournament. Sasaki and Tenryu had defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroyoshi Tenzan earlier in the show. On October 31 Sasaki and Hiroshi Hase lost to Keiji Mutoh and Mitsuhara Misawa in a Keiji Mutoh 20th Anniversary Special Match in front of 11,000 at Sumo Hall. On November 3 Sasaki successfully defended the IWGP Title against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the semi-final of the Masahiro Chono 20th Anniversary Show that drew 10,000. Shortly thereafter, Sasaki defeated Minoru Suzuki on November 13 in an IWGP Title match in a match third-to-last on a show drawing 28,000 to the Osaka Dome. The matches that followed were Toshiaki Kawada and Naoya Ogawa defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiroshi Tanahashi as well as Kazayuki Fujita and Kendo Kashin defeating Manabu Nakanishi and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Sasaki teamed with Katsuhiko Nakajima in the 2004 AJPW Real World Tag League. On a December 5 AJPW show the “Kensuke Family” of Sasaki, Nakajima, Akira Hokuto, Genichiro Tenryu and KENSHIN defeated TAKA Michinoku, D-Lo Brown, Jamal, Buchanan and Taiyo Kea in an elimination match. On December 11 Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team titles in front of 6,000 in Osaka. On December 12 Sasaki lost the IWGP Title to Hiroyoshi Tenzan on a show drawing 9,000 in Nagoya. Sasaki finished out the year winning the AJPW Bape Sta tournament on December 30, wrestling as Masked Volcano and defeating The Apeman in the tournament final. This appears to have been a tournament of comedy matches.
In early 2005, Sasaki left NJPW as Riki Choshu had returned to the promotion and there was too much animosity between them. On January 16 Sasaki lost to All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada in a Triple Crown title match on a show drawing 4,500 in Osaka. On January 23 Sasaki lost a three-way match with Takao Omori and Kohei Sato in a Zero-1 match to decide the AWA Heavyweight Title. On March 5 Sasaki and Nakajima lost the Tohoku Eastern Tag Team Titles to Jinzei Shinzaki and GAINA in Michinoku Pro. Sasaki participated in the AJPW Champion Carnival in April with wins over Satoshi Kojima, Shuji Kondo and Taiyo Kea and losses to Giant Bernard and Arashi. On April 20 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Sasaki defeated Toshiakia Kawada in the semi-finals and then Jamal (later known as Umaga in WWE) in the finals to win the Champion Carnival in front of 5,300. In May of 2005 Sasaki worked in Kageki, K-Dojo, WMF and AJPW. He worked as “Kenskee Sasaki” in Dragon Gate again in June and July, including a match in which he teamed with Nakajima to defeat Genichiro Tenryu and Magnum TOKYO on the Kobe World Hall show on July 3. Sasaki defeated Shinjiro Ohtani in Zero-1 on July 9.
On July 18, Sasaki had one of his most famous matches when he lost to Kenta Kobashi on Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Tokyo Dome show. The show drew 62,000 and although the official main event was Mitsuhara defeating Toshiaki Kawada, the semi-final of Sasaki vs Kobashi was largely acknowledged as the biggest draw on the show. Both Sasaki and Kobashi were acknowledged as two of the best wrestlers in the world over the previous two years and they had never faced each other. The iconic moment from the match involved Sasaki and Kobashi exchanging chops to the chest for over four minutes, with Yoshihiro Takayama saying on commentary “I want this to never end.”
On July 26 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Shuji Kondo and Brother YASSHI to win the All-Asia Tag Team Titles on an AJPW show in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in the Zero-1 Fire Festival with wins over Hirotaka Yokoi, Takao Omori and Ryouji Sai and a loss to Chris the Bambi-Killer. Sasaki lost to Shinjiro Ohtani on August 7 in the finals of the tournament. On August 4 Sasaki wrestled on Keiji Mutoh’s Wrestle-1 Show, defeating Riki Choshu in what was listed as the first round of a Grand Prix tournament. Sasaki and Nakajima successfully defended the All-Asia tag titles against Arashi and Ryuji Hijikata on September 1 and again against Buchanan and D-Lo Brown on September 22. Sasaki lost to The Great Muta in the second round of the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix on October 2. Sasaki wrestled in Pro Wrestling NOAH for the second time on November 5 on the Budokan Hall show in which Akira Taue defeated Takeshi Rikioh for the GHC Title in front of 16,600. Sasaki and Najajima lost to Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki in a match that drew strong reviews and was a source of exposure for both Shiozaki and Nakajima. On November 19 Sasaki was defeated by AJPW Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima in a title match drawing 5,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium. Sasaki and Nakajima were a part of the AJPW Real World Tag League in December before working in NOAH again on December 5 to defeat Jun Akiyama and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in Yokohama.
Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Arashi and Kaz Hayashi in a match for the All-Asia Tag Titles on January 8, 2006. Within January Sasaki also wrestled in Osaka Pro and NOAH and he and Nakajima defeated SUWA and TARU in the main event of a Ring Soul Live on January 24 on a small show. Sasaki continued working primarily in AJPW and was in the Champion Carnival tournament in April. He had wins over Buchanan and Yutaka Yoshie, a time limit draw with Keiji Mutoh and losses to Suwama and Taiyo Kea. On June 10 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Yoshie and Brute Issei in a match for the All-Asia tag titles. On July 16 Sasaki teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama and lost to Jun Akiyama and Mitsuhara Misawa in NOAH. This was Takayama’s return match after suffering a stroke in 2004 after a match with Sasaki. Takayama had originally been scheduled to team with Kenta Kobashi who was pulled from the match when he was diagnosed with cancer. Sasaki had suffered a fractured orbital bone in a match against Katsuyori Shibata on July 2 in Big Mouth Loud. He still participated in the Takayama return match but it was his last match of 2006.
Grand Slam Champion
On January 2, 2007 Sasaki and Nakajima teamed in AJPW to beat TARU and brother YASSHI at Korakuen Hall on a show drawing 2,100. Sasaki then won a battle royal in the main event of the show. On February 11 Sasaki had the first show for his Kensuke Office promotion, defeating Nakajima in the main event of a show drawing 1,800 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in the Champion Carnival in April with wins over Keiji Mutoh and Toru Owashi, a time limit draw with Taiyo Kea and a loss to Suwama. Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and Seiya Sanada to win the Samurai! TV Cup Triple Arrow Tournament with a win over TARU, Shuji Kondo and YASSHI on May 29. In July Sasaki and Nakajima worked in CMLL in Mexico. Sasaki teamed with Marco Corleone and Ultimo Dragon to win the Copa Suzuki 2007 tournament. They defeated Hirooki Goto, Hajime Ohara and Shigeo Okamura in the finals on a show drawing 3,313 to Arena Coliseo in Mexico City.
Sasaki continued in AJPW throughout the summer including a number of tag team matches against Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki. On August 26 Sasaki defeated Suzuki on a show drawing 8,200 to Sumo Hall to win the Triple Crown championship for the first time. The match lasted 42:07. On September 1 Sasaki worked as Power Warrior and teamed with Road Warrior Animal to defeat Shuji Kondo and Yasshi on the second Kensuke Office show. On September 13 Sasaki teamed with Dick Togo to defeat Takuya Sugawara and Yoshihiro Takayama on a Ring Soul Live show. On October 18 Sasaki defeated Toshiaki Kawada in a Triple Crown title match in front of 4,000 at Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium in Tokyo. Sasaki teamed with Kawada in AJPW’s Real World Tag League in November and December and they lost to Satoshi Kojima and Suwama in a finalist decision match on December 9.
On January 3, 2008 Sasaki teamed with his trainee Ryuji Yamaguchi and lost to Abdullah The Butcher and Minoru Suzuki at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki continued teaming with Yamaguchi and Nakajima through January and February. On March 1 Sasaki defeated Satoshi Kojima in a Triple Crown title match in a show drawing 8,500 to Sumo Hall. On the fourth Kensuke Office show on March 28 Sasaki teamed with Jun Akiyama to defeat Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki in front of 1,800 at Hakata Star Lane in Fukuoka. In March and April Sasaki teamed with Nakajima in NOAH’s Global Tag League and during this same time Sasaki was a part of AJPW’s Champion Carnival tournament. In four straight days, Sasaki went to thirty-minute draws with both Osamu Nishimura and Suwama, defeated Joe Doering and lost to Suzuki by referee stoppage. Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio on the final day of NOAH’s Global Tag League on April 27. Sasaki then lost the Triple Crown to Suwama (who had won the Champion Carnival) on April 29 in front of 3,200 fans in Nagoya.
On May 11 Sasaki worked at Arena Mexico on the Dragon Mania 2008 show for Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon promotion. Sasaki worked as Power Warrior and teamed with Road Warrior Animal to win the UWA tag team titles from Damian 666 and Damian el terrible. Sasaki returned to Japan and teamed with Nakajima on May 25 to lose to Taiyo Kea and Minoru Suzuki in a # 1 contenders match for the AJPW Tag Team titles. Sasaki defeated Naomichi Marufuji in the main event of the fifth Kensuke Office show on June 13 in Osaka. Sasaki then started working primarily in Pro Wrestling NOAH, along with his trainees Nakajima, Kento Miyahara and Takashi Okita. On June 14 Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw against Kenta Kobashi and KENTA in Yokohama. On July 13 Sasaki wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw against GHC Champion Takeshi Morishima in Fukuoka. Sasaki defeated KENTA at Budokan Hall on July 18 in a match third-to-last on a show drawing 9,500. On August 3 Sasaki defeated Kikutaro on a Kensuke Office show for what was billed as Sasaki’s 42nd birthday special. On August 17 in Korakuen Hall, Sasaki teamed with trainees Nakajima, Okita and Miyahara to win a 4-on-4 survival match against Kobashi, KENTA, Atsushi Aoki and Akihiko Ito.
On September 6 Sasaki defeated Takeshi Morishima to win NOAH’s Global Honored Crown Heavyweight championship on a show drawing 11,500 to Budokan Hall in Tokyo. This made Sasaki the first person to have won the top championships in NJPW, AJPW and NOAH and as of 2013 the only other person to have done so is Yoshihiro Takayama. On September 14 Sasaki wrestled for U.S. company Ring Of Honor for the first time when he defeated Roderick Strong at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. On September 19 Sasaki wrestled for Harley Race’s World League Wrestling, teaming with Nakajima to defeat Keith Walker and Oliver John in Eldon, Missouri. On September 20 Sasaki defeated Claudio Castognolli on ROH’s Glory By Honor VII show at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia. On September 27 Sasaki was back in NOAH where he defeated Mohammed Yone in a GHC Title match in front of 3,300 in Osaka. In October Sasaki participated in tag team and six-man tag team matches. On November 23 Sasaki teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama and Takashi Okita to lose to Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Rikio and Takashi Sugiura in a six-man tag team tournament.
On December 7 Sasaki successfully defended the GHC title against Akitoshi Saito in front of 11,000 at Budokan Hall. Sasaki wrestled in “The Tournament” in NOAH in December and had wins over Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Junji Iizumida and ten-minute time-limit draws with Go Shiozaki and Saito. On December 26 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Roderick Strong and Brent Albright at ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia. On December 27 Sasaki and Nakajima lost to Jay and Mark Briscoe at ROH’s Final Battle 2008 show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
Sasaki continued to team with his trainees in NOAH through January and February of 2009. On March 1 Sasaki lost the GHC title to Jun Akiyama in front of 14,800 at Budokan Hall. Sasaki also wrestled in Dragon Gate in March as well as on a show promoted by Naomichi Marufuji in which Sasaki and his trainees Nakajima, Kento Miyohara and Takashi Okita teamed against Mohammed Yone, Takeshi Rikio, Kotaru Suzuki and Mitsuo Momota. Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima in NOAH’s Global Tag League in April. They placed second in the tournament and lost to eventual tournament winners Mitsuhara Misawa and Go Shiozaki in front of 9,000 at Budokan Hall on May 6. Sasaki defeated the Bodyguard on Osaka Pro’s 10th Anniversary show on May 20 and then teamed with Kota Ibushi and Okita to defeat Morishima, Ricky Marvin and Kazma on the eighth Kensuke Office show.
2009 and Beyond
On June 13 in Hiroshima, Sasaki teamed Takeshi Morishima and Kento Miyahara to lose to Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi and Shuhei Taniguchi. This was the semi-final match on the show in which Mitsuhara Misawa died in the ring while teaming with Go Shiozaki to challenge GHC Tag Team Champions Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito. A number of wrestlers including Sasaki were shown in the ring watching as efforts were made to resuscitate Misawa. The next day Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima to defeat Bison Smith and Bobby Fish on a NOAH show in Fukuoka. Sasaki continued in NOAH throughout the summer. Sasaki lost to Morishima in a singles match in the main event of the tenth Kensuke Office show on August 2 at Korakuen Hall. In September, Sasaki had singles victories in NOAH over Tamon Honda and Bison Smith. On September 21 Sasaki and Morishima defeated Smith and Saito for the GHC Tag Team Titles in the main event of a show drawing 1,600 in Nagoya. They successfully defended the titles against Saito and Shiozaki on the eleventh Kensuke Office show on November 7 in Kumagaya. They lost the titles to Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone on December 6 in the semi-final match of a Budokan Hall show drawing 12,000.
Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 2010 Global Tag League took place in January 2010. Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima and had wins over Go Shiozaki and Akitoshi Saito and Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnolli. Nakajima returned from injury on January 31 and teamed with Sasaki to defeat Yutaka Yoshie and Go (not to be confused with Go Shiozaki) on a Kensuke Office show in Tatebayashi. On February 22 Sasaki and Nakajima worked on an Inoki Genome Federation show in Tokyo, defeating Naoya Ogawa and Atsushi Sawada. Sasaki continued in NOAH through the year and participated in the Global League singles tournament in April and May. Sasaki had wins over Jun Akiyama, Takuma Sano, Takeshi Rikio, a loss to Bison Smith and a time limit draw to Takashi Sugiura. Sasaki placed second in the A Block. Sasaki continued with matches in NOAH, Kensuke Office and Bape Sta. Sasaki held Kensuke Office shows on July 17 and July 19 and defeated Yutaka Yoshie on the 19th. Sasaki defeated Go Shiozaki on NOAH’s Tenth Anniversary Show on July 24 in Osaka.
There were two Kensuke Office shows on August 29 and September 5, with Sasaki and Nakajima defeating Takeshi Morishima and Yoshie on August 29. On September 26 Sasaki and Nakajima lost a GHC Tag Team title match to champions Yoshihiro Takayama and Takuma Sano in the semi-final match of a show drawing only 7,200 fans to Budokan Hall. On October 6 Sasaki and Go Shiozaki defeated Takashi Sugiura and Masao Inoue in a match with the stipulation that if Sugiura lost, secret mail that he sent to a cabaret girl would be opened to the public. On November 23, Morishima returned after a lay-off and teamed with Sasaki to defeat Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi in front of 2,100 at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Bobby Lashley and Hurricane Helms in the semi-final of a December 3 IGF show drawing 8,625 to Sumo Hall.
On January 15, 2011 NOAH promoted a show drawing 3,400 in Osaka as having “Three Big Singles Matches” with one of them being Sasaki defeating Takuma Sano. The “Kensuke Sasaki 25th Anniversary Show” was promoted at Korakuen Hall on February 11 drawing 2,100. On that show, Sasaki and trainee Takashi Okita defeated Manabu Nakanishi and King Fale in a “Kensuke Office vs New Japan” match. Sasaki teamed with his trainee Kento Miyahara in the Global Tag League in April. They only had two wins in the tournament and tied for last place. On the June 13 Mitsuhara Misawa Memorial show in Osaka, Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and Miyahara and lost to Yoshihiro Takayama, Takuma Sano and Akira Taue. Sasaki defeated Takeshi Morishima on July 10 show at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. On a Kensuke Birthday Commemorative Special Match on August 4, Sasaki and Jun Akiyama defeated Antonio Honda and Miyahara. On August 27 NJPW, AJPW and NOAH promoted an “All Together” show to raise money for victims of the 2011 earthquake in Japan. The show drew 17,000 to Budokan Hall and in the third-to-last match Sasaki teamed with Jun Akiyama to defeat Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama.
On October 2 Sasaki teamed with Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki to defeat Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito and Masao Inoue in Inoue’s 20th Anniversary Match. Sasaki participated in NOAH’s Global League in November and had wins over Shuhei Taniguchi, KENTA, Bobby Fish, Akitoshi Saito, and Takashi Sugiura. He had a loss to Takuma Sano and a time-limit draw with Bison Smith. The November 10 Genichiro Tenryu 35th Anniversary Show at Korakuen Hall featured a Triple Crown Champions Skirmish match. In the main event, Sasaki teamed with Satoshi Kojima and Taiyo Kea to defeat Tenryu, Minoru Suzuki and Suwama in front of 1,522 fans. Sasaki finished out the year on Dragon Gate’s Final Gate 2011 show and defeated Cyber Kong on a show drawing 7,500 on December 25.
On the January 14, 2012 Kensuke Office show, Sasaki teamed with Satoshi Kojiwara and lost to Nakajima and Takeshi Morishima in Sasaki’s hometown of Yoshikawa. Sasaki continued in NOAH as well and on January 22 he and Nakajima defeated Kenta Kobashi and Shuhei Taniguchi. In January the Kensuke Office promotion changed its name to Diamond Ring. They had their first show under the new name on February 11 with Kobashi and Jun Akiyama defeating Sasaki and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya. On the second “All Together” show on February 19 in Sendai, Sasaki teamed with Yuji Nagata, Naomichi Marufuji and Akebono to defeat Masayuki Kono, Taiichi, Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. On the Zero-1 11th Anniversary Show on March 2 at Korakuen Hall, Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Shinjro Ohtani and Daichi Hashimoto, the son of Sasaki rival Shinya Hashimoto. Sasaki teamed with Kento Miyahara in NOAH’s Global Tag League in April and May and they had three wins and a time-limit draw. On May 19 Sasaki wrestled as Power Warrior in Mexico, teaming with El Canek and beating Hector Garza and NOSAWA. On July 22 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Akira Taue and Takeshi Rikio and Genba Hirayanaga in a NOAH vs Diamond Ring Teacher vs Student showdown. Diamond Ring continued to promote more steadily and Sasaki continued in NOAH through October 2012.
Sasaki had his return match in February 2013 on the Diamond Ring 1st Anniversary Show at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki and Takashi Sugiura teamed to defeat Shinjiro Ohtani and Nakajima. On March 22 Sasaki and Nakajima lost to Takeshi Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji on Morishima’s 15th Anniversary Show. Sasaki and Nakajima participated in NOAH’s Global Tag League and won the B Block before losing to KENTA and Yoshihiro Takayama in the finals. Sasaki was also a part of Kenta Kobashi’s final match on the May 11 Final Burning show at Budokan Hall in front of 17,000 that were obviously drawn by Kobashi. Sasaki teamed with Kobashi, Keiji Mutoh and Jun Akiyama to defeat Go Shiozaki, KENTA, Maybach Taniguchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On July 21 Sasaki teamed with Danshoku Dino and Matako Oishi in DDT to win the KO-D 6 Man Tag Team Titles from Antonio Honda, Hoshitango and Yuji Hino. They lost the titles to Sanshiro Takagi, Akebono and Toru Owashi on the August 18 DDT Peter Pan Show that drew 9,000 to Sumo Hall (although this was not the main event).
Summary:
I feel that Kensuke Sasaki is a strong candidate for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame based on both in-ring ability, success and influence. A list of notable attendance figures is attached at the end of this writing. Included are five shows main evented by Sasaki drawing more than 60,000 to the Tokyo Dome and there are six if you include the January 2001 IWGP Title Tournament in which he defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals. Sasaki was also in the semi-main event of two other Tokyo Dome shows drawing 60,000 and 70,000 showing his level in the company at the time if nothing else. Sasaki has also main evented shows drawing 27,000 and 35,000 as well as what might seem a non-impressive 30,000 at the Tokyo Dome that should be placed in the context of being a post-split AJPW show. It would also appear that if a list of wrestlers drawing crowds of more than 10,000 were completed for Japan that Sasaki would fare well, although not to the level of the hottest stars of his era. But the attendance figures I listed span a period of fourteen years and very distinct periods of Sasaki’s career. Some feel that Sasaki was not necessarily responsible for the attendance at the Tokyo Dome shows but I am not sure of any objective way to argue that in either direction.
The only negative I can see regarding Sasaki is the incident in which Gompeii died in 1995. I will say nothing to minimize that incident other than to ask if that is something that would disqualify one from consideration, which is a personal judgment. Beyond that, while Sasaki might not be as strong a candidate as contemporaries Mitsuhara Misawa, Kenta Kobashi or even Shinya Hashimoto, that is a measure that many in the history of the business and even the Hall Of Fame would not live up to. My impression of Sasaki has always been one of a good-to-great wrestler depending on the period of his career you are talking about and even his early career work in NJPW provided some great matches, including his tag team work with HOF member Hiroshi Hase.
Sasaki’s status in wrestling history as compared to Akira Hokuto is also something to be considered as when I see their names I feel he is just as important. While the accomplishment of winning the three major world titles in Japan might not be as impressive as it would have been in other eras, to say it is not impressive at all would be overly dismissive. I also think Sasaki’s influence will continue to grow as his students, especially Nakajima, establish themselves within wrestling. In terms of influence, I feel that Sasaki has impacted several organizations since 1991 and it has been almost all for the positive. He also helped to entrench the ability to act as a freelancer in modern Japan.
I hope people find this write-up informative. The amount of discussion and debate regarding the Hall Of Fame in recent years is one of my favorite parts of being a fan and I hope it continues for years to come.
Ich fuege mal ein paar seiner Matches ein:
NJPW 1992 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Rick Rude
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NJPW 1995 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Shinya Hashimoto
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WCW 1996 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Chris Benoit
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NJPW 2004 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan
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NJPW 2004 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Minoru Suzuki
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AJPW 2005 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada
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NOAH 2005 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Kenta Kobashi
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K-Office 2007 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima
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AJPW 2008 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Osami Nishimura
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NOAH 2009 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Jun Akiyama
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The first World Japan show took place on March 1, 2003 in Yokohama. The show drew 13,200 and Sasaki teamed with Hiroshi Hase in the semi-final to defeat Don Frye and Dan Bobish. Sasaki also teamed with Kenzo Suzuki to defeat The Road Warriors or Hawk and Animal on March 18. Sasaki had wins over opponents such as Yoshiaki Yatsu, Jinzei Shinzaki, Genichiro Tenryu and Takao Omori in the months leading to the tournament to crown the World Magma Greatest champion. On July 20 Sasaki defeated Riki Choshu in the first round, Steve Williams in the second round and then Kenzo Suzuki in the finals to become the first WMG Champion. This show drew 8,500 to Sumo Hall. Sasaki teamed with Hase on July 27 on the All Japan Pro Wrestling “Gold For Athens” show and wrestled to a sixty-minute draw against Toshiaki Kawada and Satoshi Kojima in front of 8,000 fans at the Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial Exhibition Hall in Kanazawa.
Unfortunately, World Japan soon became the scene of a tragedy reminiscent of the 1995 training death of Hiromitsu Gompei. World Japan wrestler Kenzo Suzuki was involved in training former MMA fighter Giant Ochiai in August of 2003 when Ochiai suffered a subdrual hemotoma leading to his death on August 8. Suzuki subsequently left Japan to wrestle in the WWE and again, there were no charges laid as a result of the incident.
Sasaki defended the WMG title against Dan Bobish on August 21 in Osaka on a show that drew 2,800. This would seem to be his only defense of the title as he competed in other singles and tag matches leading up to his last World Japan appearance on December 7, 2003. Sasaki had his second MMA match on September 6, defeating future UFC fighter Christian Wellisch by guillotine choke in 2:35 at the WJ X-1 show in Yokohama. Sasaki left World Japan and there reportedly was a fall-out between he and Riki Choshu over financial issues. World Japan ultimately did not succeed in drawing attention away from other promotions or in lasting long-term and went out of business in 2004. Before it went out of business, fifteen-year-old Katsuhiko Nakajima had debuted, losing to Tomohiro Ishii on the January 5, 2004 show. Nakajima would go on to be closely associated with Sasaki, becoming his protégé as well as forming a close familial-type bond with Sasaki and Akira Hokuto.
The Freelance Era Begins
Sasaki returned to New Japan and lost to Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage on the January 4, 2004 Tokyo Dome Show. The show drew 53,000 and Sasaki vs Nagata was the third-to-last match. On January 10 Sasaki debuted for Don Muraco’s Hawai’I Championship Wrestling in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sasaki defeated Lopaka Kapanui to win the HCW Kamehameha Heritage World Heavyweight Title. Upon returning to Japan, Sasaki began what is known as the freelance period of his career. Within 2004, Sasaki wrestled for AJPW, DDT, IWA Japan, Kageki, Michinoku Pro, Toryumon Japan, U-Style, WMF, and NJPW. He also defended the HCW title against Mr. Gannosuke on a WMF show at Korakuen Hall on February 11.
Sasaki participated in a tournament for the vacant IWGP title, losing to Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the first round on February 15. Tenzan became champion when he defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the tournament finals later that night. On March 12 Sasaki defeated Tenzan in front of 3,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo to become IWGP Champion for the fourth time. Sasaki worked as Masked Volcano in Michinoku Pro on March 20, teaming with The Great Sasuke and Atlantis to defeat Masao Orihara, Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita in Yahaba. Sasaki defended the HCW title against Masahiro Chono on March 21 in NJPW, winning by disqualification. Sasaki lost the IWGP title to Bob Sapp on the March 28 NJPW King Of Sports show drawing 10,000 to Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in All-Japan’s Champion Carnival in April, defeating Jamal and Kaz Hayashi and going to a draw against Keiji Mutoh. On April 20 Sasaki defeated Satoshi Kojima in the semi-finals before losing to Mutoh in the finals on a show drawing 5,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.
On June 12 Sasaki teamed with Katsuhiko Nakajima in AJPW and lost to Masanobu Fuchi and Genichiro Tenryu in a match for Fuchi’s and Tenryu’s All-Asia Tag Team titles. Sasaki and partner Jushin Liger were defeated in an IWGP Tag Team title match on July 19, losing to champions Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. Sasaki participated in the 2004 G1 Climax Tournament and had victories over Togi Makabe, Osamu Nishimura, Koji Kanemoto and Manabu Nakanishi. He had losses to Takayama, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Genichiro Tenryu and had a time-limit draw with eventual tournament winner Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Sasaki defeated Leatherface on the IWA Japan 10th Anniversary Show on August 31. He teamed with Nakajima in Michinoku Pro on September 10 to defeat Jinzei Shinzaki and Ultimo Dragon and win the Tohoku Eastern Tag Team Titles. Sasaki also worked in Dragon Gate in September and wrestled as “Kenskee Sasaki”.
On October 9 Sasaki defeated Kazayuki Fujita in 2:29 to win the IWGP Title in front of 11,000 fans at Sumo Hall. Sasaki teamed with Genichiro Tenryu and lost to Masahiro Chono and Katsuyori Shibata in the finals of the 10,000,000 Yen Offer Tag Tournament. Sasaki and Tenryu had defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroyoshi Tenzan earlier in the show. On October 31 Sasaki and Hiroshi Hase lost to Keiji Mutoh and Mitsuhara Misawa in a Keiji Mutoh 20th Anniversary Special Match in front of 11,000 at Sumo Hall. On November 3 Sasaki successfully defended the IWGP Title against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the semi-final of the Masahiro Chono 20th Anniversary Show that drew 10,000. Shortly thereafter, Sasaki defeated Minoru Suzuki on November 13 in an IWGP Title match in a match third-to-last on a show drawing 28,000 to the Osaka Dome. The matches that followed were Toshiaki Kawada and Naoya Ogawa defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiroshi Tanahashi as well as Kazayuki Fujita and Kendo Kashin defeating Manabu Nakanishi and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Sasaki teamed with Katsuhiko Nakajima in the 2004 AJPW Real World Tag League. On a December 5 AJPW show the “Kensuke Family” of Sasaki, Nakajima, Akira Hokuto, Genichiro Tenryu and KENSHIN defeated TAKA Michinoku, D-Lo Brown, Jamal, Buchanan and Taiyo Kea in an elimination match. On December 11 Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team titles in front of 6,000 in Osaka. On December 12 Sasaki lost the IWGP Title to Hiroyoshi Tenzan on a show drawing 9,000 in Nagoya. Sasaki finished out the year winning the AJPW Bape Sta tournament on December 30, wrestling as Masked Volcano and defeating The Apeman in the tournament final. This appears to have been a tournament of comedy matches.
In early 2005, Sasaki left NJPW as Riki Choshu had returned to the promotion and there was too much animosity between them. On January 16 Sasaki lost to All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada in a Triple Crown title match on a show drawing 4,500 in Osaka. On January 23 Sasaki lost a three-way match with Takao Omori and Kohei Sato in a Zero-1 match to decide the AWA Heavyweight Title. On March 5 Sasaki and Nakajima lost the Tohoku Eastern Tag Team Titles to Jinzei Shinzaki and GAINA in Michinoku Pro. Sasaki participated in the AJPW Champion Carnival in April with wins over Satoshi Kojima, Shuji Kondo and Taiyo Kea and losses to Giant Bernard and Arashi. On April 20 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Sasaki defeated Toshiakia Kawada in the semi-finals and then Jamal (later known as Umaga in WWE) in the finals to win the Champion Carnival in front of 5,300. In May of 2005 Sasaki worked in Kageki, K-Dojo, WMF and AJPW. He worked as “Kenskee Sasaki” in Dragon Gate again in June and July, including a match in which he teamed with Nakajima to defeat Genichiro Tenryu and Magnum TOKYO on the Kobe World Hall show on July 3. Sasaki defeated Shinjiro Ohtani in Zero-1 on July 9.
On July 18, Sasaki had one of his most famous matches when he lost to Kenta Kobashi on Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Tokyo Dome show. The show drew 62,000 and although the official main event was Mitsuhara defeating Toshiaki Kawada, the semi-final of Sasaki vs Kobashi was largely acknowledged as the biggest draw on the show. Both Sasaki and Kobashi were acknowledged as two of the best wrestlers in the world over the previous two years and they had never faced each other. The iconic moment from the match involved Sasaki and Kobashi exchanging chops to the chest for over four minutes, with Yoshihiro Takayama saying on commentary “I want this to never end.”
On July 26 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Shuji Kondo and Brother YASSHI to win the All-Asia Tag Team Titles on an AJPW show in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in the Zero-1 Fire Festival with wins over Hirotaka Yokoi, Takao Omori and Ryouji Sai and a loss to Chris the Bambi-Killer. Sasaki lost to Shinjiro Ohtani on August 7 in the finals of the tournament. On August 4 Sasaki wrestled on Keiji Mutoh’s Wrestle-1 Show, defeating Riki Choshu in what was listed as the first round of a Grand Prix tournament. Sasaki and Nakajima successfully defended the All-Asia tag titles against Arashi and Ryuji Hijikata on September 1 and again against Buchanan and D-Lo Brown on September 22. Sasaki lost to The Great Muta in the second round of the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix on October 2. Sasaki wrestled in Pro Wrestling NOAH for the second time on November 5 on the Budokan Hall show in which Akira Taue defeated Takeshi Rikioh for the GHC Title in front of 16,600. Sasaki and Najajima lost to Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki in a match that drew strong reviews and was a source of exposure for both Shiozaki and Nakajima. On November 19 Sasaki was defeated by AJPW Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima in a title match drawing 5,800 at Yoyogi National Stadium. Sasaki and Nakajima were a part of the AJPW Real World Tag League in December before working in NOAH again on December 5 to defeat Jun Akiyama and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in Yokohama.
Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Arashi and Kaz Hayashi in a match for the All-Asia Tag Titles on January 8, 2006. Within January Sasaki also wrestled in Osaka Pro and NOAH and he and Nakajima defeated SUWA and TARU in the main event of a Ring Soul Live on January 24 on a small show. Sasaki continued working primarily in AJPW and was in the Champion Carnival tournament in April. He had wins over Buchanan and Yutaka Yoshie, a time limit draw with Keiji Mutoh and losses to Suwama and Taiyo Kea. On June 10 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Yoshie and Brute Issei in a match for the All-Asia tag titles. On July 16 Sasaki teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama and lost to Jun Akiyama and Mitsuhara Misawa in NOAH. This was Takayama’s return match after suffering a stroke in 2004 after a match with Sasaki. Takayama had originally been scheduled to team with Kenta Kobashi who was pulled from the match when he was diagnosed with cancer. Sasaki had suffered a fractured orbital bone in a match against Katsuyori Shibata on July 2 in Big Mouth Loud. He still participated in the Takayama return match but it was his last match of 2006.
Grand Slam Champion
On January 2, 2007 Sasaki and Nakajima teamed in AJPW to beat TARU and brother YASSHI at Korakuen Hall on a show drawing 2,100. Sasaki then won a battle royal in the main event of the show. On February 11 Sasaki had the first show for his Kensuke Office promotion, defeating Nakajima in the main event of a show drawing 1,800 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. Sasaki participated in the Champion Carnival in April with wins over Keiji Mutoh and Toru Owashi, a time limit draw with Taiyo Kea and a loss to Suwama. Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and Seiya Sanada to win the Samurai! TV Cup Triple Arrow Tournament with a win over TARU, Shuji Kondo and YASSHI on May 29. In July Sasaki and Nakajima worked in CMLL in Mexico. Sasaki teamed with Marco Corleone and Ultimo Dragon to win the Copa Suzuki 2007 tournament. They defeated Hirooki Goto, Hajime Ohara and Shigeo Okamura in the finals on a show drawing 3,313 to Arena Coliseo in Mexico City.
Sasaki continued in AJPW throughout the summer including a number of tag team matches against Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki. On August 26 Sasaki defeated Suzuki on a show drawing 8,200 to Sumo Hall to win the Triple Crown championship for the first time. The match lasted 42:07. On September 1 Sasaki worked as Power Warrior and teamed with Road Warrior Animal to defeat Shuji Kondo and Yasshi on the second Kensuke Office show. On September 13 Sasaki teamed with Dick Togo to defeat Takuya Sugawara and Yoshihiro Takayama on a Ring Soul Live show. On October 18 Sasaki defeated Toshiaki Kawada in a Triple Crown title match in front of 4,000 at Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium in Tokyo. Sasaki teamed with Kawada in AJPW’s Real World Tag League in November and December and they lost to Satoshi Kojima and Suwama in a finalist decision match on December 9.
On January 3, 2008 Sasaki teamed with his trainee Ryuji Yamaguchi and lost to Abdullah The Butcher and Minoru Suzuki at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki continued teaming with Yamaguchi and Nakajima through January and February. On March 1 Sasaki defeated Satoshi Kojima in a Triple Crown title match in a show drawing 8,500 to Sumo Hall. On the fourth Kensuke Office show on March 28 Sasaki teamed with Jun Akiyama to defeat Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki in front of 1,800 at Hakata Star Lane in Fukuoka. In March and April Sasaki teamed with Nakajima in NOAH’s Global Tag League and during this same time Sasaki was a part of AJPW’s Champion Carnival tournament. In four straight days, Sasaki went to thirty-minute draws with both Osamu Nishimura and Suwama, defeated Joe Doering and lost to Suzuki by referee stoppage. Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio on the final day of NOAH’s Global Tag League on April 27. Sasaki then lost the Triple Crown to Suwama (who had won the Champion Carnival) on April 29 in front of 3,200 fans in Nagoya.
On May 11 Sasaki worked at Arena Mexico on the Dragon Mania 2008 show for Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon promotion. Sasaki worked as Power Warrior and teamed with Road Warrior Animal to win the UWA tag team titles from Damian 666 and Damian el terrible. Sasaki returned to Japan and teamed with Nakajima on May 25 to lose to Taiyo Kea and Minoru Suzuki in a # 1 contenders match for the AJPW Tag Team titles. Sasaki defeated Naomichi Marufuji in the main event of the fifth Kensuke Office show on June 13 in Osaka. Sasaki then started working primarily in Pro Wrestling NOAH, along with his trainees Nakajima, Kento Miyahara and Takashi Okita. On June 14 Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw against Kenta Kobashi and KENTA in Yokohama. On July 13 Sasaki wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw against GHC Champion Takeshi Morishima in Fukuoka. Sasaki defeated KENTA at Budokan Hall on July 18 in a match third-to-last on a show drawing 9,500. On August 3 Sasaki defeated Kikutaro on a Kensuke Office show for what was billed as Sasaki’s 42nd birthday special. On August 17 in Korakuen Hall, Sasaki teamed with trainees Nakajima, Okita and Miyahara to win a 4-on-4 survival match against Kobashi, KENTA, Atsushi Aoki and Akihiko Ito.
On September 6 Sasaki defeated Takeshi Morishima to win NOAH’s Global Honored Crown Heavyweight championship on a show drawing 11,500 to Budokan Hall in Tokyo. This made Sasaki the first person to have won the top championships in NJPW, AJPW and NOAH and as of 2013 the only other person to have done so is Yoshihiro Takayama. On September 14 Sasaki wrestled for U.S. company Ring Of Honor for the first time when he defeated Roderick Strong at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. On September 19 Sasaki wrestled for Harley Race’s World League Wrestling, teaming with Nakajima to defeat Keith Walker and Oliver John in Eldon, Missouri. On September 20 Sasaki defeated Claudio Castognolli on ROH’s Glory By Honor VII show at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia. On September 27 Sasaki was back in NOAH where he defeated Mohammed Yone in a GHC Title match in front of 3,300 in Osaka. In October Sasaki participated in tag team and six-man tag team matches. On November 23 Sasaki teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama and Takashi Okita to lose to Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Rikio and Takashi Sugiura in a six-man tag team tournament.
On December 7 Sasaki successfully defended the GHC title against Akitoshi Saito in front of 11,000 at Budokan Hall. Sasaki wrestled in “The Tournament” in NOAH in December and had wins over Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Junji Iizumida and ten-minute time-limit draws with Go Shiozaki and Saito. On December 26 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Roderick Strong and Brent Albright at ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia. On December 27 Sasaki and Nakajima lost to Jay and Mark Briscoe at ROH’s Final Battle 2008 show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
Sasaki continued to team with his trainees in NOAH through January and February of 2009. On March 1 Sasaki lost the GHC title to Jun Akiyama in front of 14,800 at Budokan Hall. Sasaki also wrestled in Dragon Gate in March as well as on a show promoted by Naomichi Marufuji in which Sasaki and his trainees Nakajima, Kento Miyohara and Takashi Okita teamed against Mohammed Yone, Takeshi Rikio, Kotaru Suzuki and Mitsuo Momota. Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima in NOAH’s Global Tag League in April. They placed second in the tournament and lost to eventual tournament winners Mitsuhara Misawa and Go Shiozaki in front of 9,000 at Budokan Hall on May 6. Sasaki defeated the Bodyguard on Osaka Pro’s 10th Anniversary show on May 20 and then teamed with Kota Ibushi and Okita to defeat Morishima, Ricky Marvin and Kazma on the eighth Kensuke Office show.
2009 and Beyond
On June 13 in Hiroshima, Sasaki teamed Takeshi Morishima and Kento Miyahara to lose to Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi and Shuhei Taniguchi. This was the semi-final match on the show in which Mitsuhara Misawa died in the ring while teaming with Go Shiozaki to challenge GHC Tag Team Champions Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito. A number of wrestlers including Sasaki were shown in the ring watching as efforts were made to resuscitate Misawa. The next day Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima to defeat Bison Smith and Bobby Fish on a NOAH show in Fukuoka. Sasaki continued in NOAH throughout the summer. Sasaki lost to Morishima in a singles match in the main event of the tenth Kensuke Office show on August 2 at Korakuen Hall. In September, Sasaki had singles victories in NOAH over Tamon Honda and Bison Smith. On September 21 Sasaki and Morishima defeated Smith and Saito for the GHC Tag Team Titles in the main event of a show drawing 1,600 in Nagoya. They successfully defended the titles against Saito and Shiozaki on the eleventh Kensuke Office show on November 7 in Kumagaya. They lost the titles to Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone on December 6 in the semi-final match of a Budokan Hall show drawing 12,000.
Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 2010 Global Tag League took place in January 2010. Sasaki teamed with Takeshi Morishima and had wins over Go Shiozaki and Akitoshi Saito and Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnolli. Nakajima returned from injury on January 31 and teamed with Sasaki to defeat Yutaka Yoshie and Go (not to be confused with Go Shiozaki) on a Kensuke Office show in Tatebayashi. On February 22 Sasaki and Nakajima worked on an Inoki Genome Federation show in Tokyo, defeating Naoya Ogawa and Atsushi Sawada. Sasaki continued in NOAH through the year and participated in the Global League singles tournament in April and May. Sasaki had wins over Jun Akiyama, Takuma Sano, Takeshi Rikio, a loss to Bison Smith and a time limit draw to Takashi Sugiura. Sasaki placed second in the A Block. Sasaki continued with matches in NOAH, Kensuke Office and Bape Sta. Sasaki held Kensuke Office shows on July 17 and July 19 and defeated Yutaka Yoshie on the 19th. Sasaki defeated Go Shiozaki on NOAH’s Tenth Anniversary Show on July 24 in Osaka.
There were two Kensuke Office shows on August 29 and September 5, with Sasaki and Nakajima defeating Takeshi Morishima and Yoshie on August 29. On September 26 Sasaki and Nakajima lost a GHC Tag Team title match to champions Yoshihiro Takayama and Takuma Sano in the semi-final match of a show drawing only 7,200 fans to Budokan Hall. On October 6 Sasaki and Go Shiozaki defeated Takashi Sugiura and Masao Inoue in a match with the stipulation that if Sugiura lost, secret mail that he sent to a cabaret girl would be opened to the public. On November 23, Morishima returned after a lay-off and teamed with Sasaki to defeat Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi in front of 2,100 at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Bobby Lashley and Hurricane Helms in the semi-final of a December 3 IGF show drawing 8,625 to Sumo Hall.
On January 15, 2011 NOAH promoted a show drawing 3,400 in Osaka as having “Three Big Singles Matches” with one of them being Sasaki defeating Takuma Sano. The “Kensuke Sasaki 25th Anniversary Show” was promoted at Korakuen Hall on February 11 drawing 2,100. On that show, Sasaki and trainee Takashi Okita defeated Manabu Nakanishi and King Fale in a “Kensuke Office vs New Japan” match. Sasaki teamed with his trainee Kento Miyahara in the Global Tag League in April. They only had two wins in the tournament and tied for last place. On the June 13 Mitsuhara Misawa Memorial show in Osaka, Sasaki teamed with Nakajima and Miyahara and lost to Yoshihiro Takayama, Takuma Sano and Akira Taue. Sasaki defeated Takeshi Morishima on July 10 show at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. On a Kensuke Birthday Commemorative Special Match on August 4, Sasaki and Jun Akiyama defeated Antonio Honda and Miyahara. On August 27 NJPW, AJPW and NOAH promoted an “All Together” show to raise money for victims of the 2011 earthquake in Japan. The show drew 17,000 to Budokan Hall and in the third-to-last match Sasaki teamed with Jun Akiyama to defeat Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama.
On October 2 Sasaki teamed with Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki to defeat Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito and Masao Inoue in Inoue’s 20th Anniversary Match. Sasaki participated in NOAH’s Global League in November and had wins over Shuhei Taniguchi, KENTA, Bobby Fish, Akitoshi Saito, and Takashi Sugiura. He had a loss to Takuma Sano and a time-limit draw with Bison Smith. The November 10 Genichiro Tenryu 35th Anniversary Show at Korakuen Hall featured a Triple Crown Champions Skirmish match. In the main event, Sasaki teamed with Satoshi Kojima and Taiyo Kea to defeat Tenryu, Minoru Suzuki and Suwama in front of 1,522 fans. Sasaki finished out the year on Dragon Gate’s Final Gate 2011 show and defeated Cyber Kong on a show drawing 7,500 on December 25.
On the January 14, 2012 Kensuke Office show, Sasaki teamed with Satoshi Kojiwara and lost to Nakajima and Takeshi Morishima in Sasaki’s hometown of Yoshikawa. Sasaki continued in NOAH as well and on January 22 he and Nakajima defeated Kenta Kobashi and Shuhei Taniguchi. In January the Kensuke Office promotion changed its name to Diamond Ring. They had their first show under the new name on February 11 with Kobashi and Jun Akiyama defeating Sasaki and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya. On the second “All Together” show on February 19 in Sendai, Sasaki teamed with Yuji Nagata, Naomichi Marufuji and Akebono to defeat Masayuki Kono, Taiichi, Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. On the Zero-1 11th Anniversary Show on March 2 at Korakuen Hall, Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Shinjro Ohtani and Daichi Hashimoto, the son of Sasaki rival Shinya Hashimoto. Sasaki teamed with Kento Miyahara in NOAH’s Global Tag League in April and May and they had three wins and a time-limit draw. On May 19 Sasaki wrestled as Power Warrior in Mexico, teaming with El Canek and beating Hector Garza and NOSAWA. On July 22 Sasaki and Nakajima defeated Akira Taue and Takeshi Rikio and Genba Hirayanaga in a NOAH vs Diamond Ring Teacher vs Student showdown. Diamond Ring continued to promote more steadily and Sasaki continued in NOAH through October 2012.
Sasaki had his return match in February 2013 on the Diamond Ring 1st Anniversary Show at Korakuen Hall. Sasaki and Takashi Sugiura teamed to defeat Shinjiro Ohtani and Nakajima. On March 22 Sasaki and Nakajima lost to Takeshi Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji on Morishima’s 15th Anniversary Show. Sasaki and Nakajima participated in NOAH’s Global Tag League and won the B Block before losing to KENTA and Yoshihiro Takayama in the finals. Sasaki was also a part of Kenta Kobashi’s final match on the May 11 Final Burning show at Budokan Hall in front of 17,000 that were obviously drawn by Kobashi. Sasaki teamed with Kobashi, Keiji Mutoh and Jun Akiyama to defeat Go Shiozaki, KENTA, Maybach Taniguchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On July 21 Sasaki teamed with Danshoku Dino and Matako Oishi in DDT to win the KO-D 6 Man Tag Team Titles from Antonio Honda, Hoshitango and Yuji Hino. They lost the titles to Sanshiro Takagi, Akebono and Toru Owashi on the August 18 DDT Peter Pan Show that drew 9,000 to Sumo Hall (although this was not the main event).
Summary:
I feel that Kensuke Sasaki is a strong candidate for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame based on both in-ring ability, success and influence. A list of notable attendance figures is attached at the end of this writing. Included are five shows main evented by Sasaki drawing more than 60,000 to the Tokyo Dome and there are six if you include the January 2001 IWGP Title Tournament in which he defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals. Sasaki was also in the semi-main event of two other Tokyo Dome shows drawing 60,000 and 70,000 showing his level in the company at the time if nothing else. Sasaki has also main evented shows drawing 27,000 and 35,000 as well as what might seem a non-impressive 30,000 at the Tokyo Dome that should be placed in the context of being a post-split AJPW show. It would also appear that if a list of wrestlers drawing crowds of more than 10,000 were completed for Japan that Sasaki would fare well, although not to the level of the hottest stars of his era. But the attendance figures I listed span a period of fourteen years and very distinct periods of Sasaki’s career. Some feel that Sasaki was not necessarily responsible for the attendance at the Tokyo Dome shows but I am not sure of any objective way to argue that in either direction.
The only negative I can see regarding Sasaki is the incident in which Gompeii died in 1995. I will say nothing to minimize that incident other than to ask if that is something that would disqualify one from consideration, which is a personal judgment. Beyond that, while Sasaki might not be as strong a candidate as contemporaries Mitsuhara Misawa, Kenta Kobashi or even Shinya Hashimoto, that is a measure that many in the history of the business and even the Hall Of Fame would not live up to. My impression of Sasaki has always been one of a good-to-great wrestler depending on the period of his career you are talking about and even his early career work in NJPW provided some great matches, including his tag team work with HOF member Hiroshi Hase.
Sasaki’s status in wrestling history as compared to Akira Hokuto is also something to be considered as when I see their names I feel he is just as important. While the accomplishment of winning the three major world titles in Japan might not be as impressive as it would have been in other eras, to say it is not impressive at all would be overly dismissive. I also think Sasaki’s influence will continue to grow as his students, especially Nakajima, establish themselves within wrestling. In terms of influence, I feel that Sasaki has impacted several organizations since 1991 and it has been almost all for the positive. He also helped to entrench the ability to act as a freelancer in modern Japan.
I hope people find this write-up informative. The amount of discussion and debate regarding the Hall Of Fame in recent years is one of my favorite parts of being a fan and I hope it continues for years to come.
Ich fuege mal ein paar seiner Matches ein:
NJPW 1992 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Rick Rude
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NJPW 1995 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Shinya Hashimoto
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WCW 1996 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Chris Benoit
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NJPW 2004 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan
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NJPW 2004 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Minoru Suzuki
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AJPW 2005 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada
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NOAH 2005 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Kenta Kobashi
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K-Office 2007 - Kensuke Sasaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima
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AJPW 2008 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Osami Nishimura
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NOAH 2009 – Kensuke Sasaki vs Jun Akiyama
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