Yoshinobu Kanemaru
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Yoshinobu Kanemaru | |
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Statistics | |
Ring name(s) | {{{names}}} |
Billed height | 5'8" |
Billed weight | 187 lbs |
Born | September 23, 1976 |
Trained by | All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo |
Debut | July 6, 1996 w/ Masao Inoue vs. Satoru Asako & Kentaro Shiga |
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (金丸義信 Kanemaru Yoshinobu) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling NOAH, where he is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight and current Junior Tag Team champion.
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[edit] Career
Kanemaru debuted in 1996 for All Japan Pro Wrestling, in the last years of owner Giant Baba's regime, which had isolated the promotion from outsider wrestlers at the expense of the younger, lighter-weight talent. His first high-profile match in 1997 saw him team with New Japan Pro Wrestling's Koji Kanemoto to battle freelancer Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask, and his disciple, Michinoku Pro Wrestling's Tiger Mask IV. (As Mitsuharu Misawa, who once portrayed Tiger Mask II, was now a heavyweight and fully focused on the AJPW Triple Crown, Kanemaru had to substitute for him in this interpromotional bout.)
Despite Baba's death in 1999, Kanemaru rarely had further opportunities to go into other promotions. It was only in 2000, after Misawa broke with AJPW to create NOAH that his experience began widening. In a brief promotional alliance with FMW, Kanemaru was able to win his first championship, the WEW tag team title, with heavyweight Masao Inoue.
In 2001, Kanemaru underwent a transformation. His simple Bermuda shorts and boots were changed for tights and shinguards, and he began executing more high-risk maneuvers proper for a junior heavyweight. This paid off well for Kanemaru, as he plowed through a field of unlikely but talented competitors to win a tournament for the first-ever GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to win the title twice more, including a win over NJPW's long time junior ace, Jushin Liger. In tag teams his experience widened as well, teaming with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, and with Takashi Sugiura to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice. His win of the NJPW title served as a catalyst for the creation of the equivalent NOAH title.
Long overlooked in AJPW, Kanemaru has steadily built himself as one of the top junior heavyweight superstars in Japan for the foreseeable future.
[edit] Wrestling facts
[edit] Finishing and signature moves
- Deep Impact Driller (Diving DDT)
- Revolution Buster (Twisting Brainbuster)
- Brainbuster
- Moonsault
- Split-legged moonsault
- Camel clutch
- Frog splash
- Guillotine leg drop on an opponent who is hanging on a guardrail
- Stalling low Dropkick on an opponent held in the Tree of Woe Position
- Tilt-a-whirl DDT
- Elevated DDT
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi)
- Defeated Jushin "Thunder" Liger & Minoru Tanaka on August 29, 2002 in Tokyo, Japan
- Lost to Koji Kanemoto & Jushin "Thunder" Liger on January 26, 2003 in Kobe, Japan
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi)
- Pro Wrestling NOAH
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1)
- Defeated Juventud Guerrera in a tournament final to become the first champion on June 24, 2001 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
- Lost to Tatsuhito Takaiwa on October 19, 2001
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (2)
- Defeated KENTA in a tournament final to claim the vacant title on May 26, 2002 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Lost to Michael Modest on March 30, 2003 in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (3)
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (with Takashi Sugiura)
- Defeated KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji on June 5, 2005 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Lost to Minoru Fujita & Ikuto Hidaka on March 5, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (2) (with Takashi Sugiura)
- Defeated Minoru Fujita & Ikuto Hidaka on August 13, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan
- Current
- GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1)
- World Entertainment Wrestling
- WEW Tag Team Championship (with Masao Inoue)
- Defeated Gedo & Jado on July 28, 2000
- Lost to Tamon Honda & Naomichi Marufuji on October 22, 2000
- WEW Tag Team Championship (with Masao Inoue)