born April 12, 1980 in Noboribetsu, Hokkaidō is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is working as a freelancer. He is best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he is a former two-time Wrestle-1 Champion.
Career
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2003–2005)
Kono began training in the All Japan Dojo in late 2002 and made his debut on March 28, 2003 in a losing effort to Nobutaka Araya.
[ The Internet Wrestling Database. Cagematch. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] For the next two years, Kono was largely featured in opening matches where he worked with fellow newcomers and older wrestlers, often coming out on the losing end, a common practice for young wrestlers in Japan as a way of paying dues. During this time, Kono had no title matches and did not take part in any tournaments. In 2005, he left All Japan and professional wrestling to pursue a career in Mixed Martial Arts.
Mixed martial arts (2005–2008)
In early 2005, Kono began a MMA career fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. He won his first fight at Pancrase – Spiral 5 on July 10, 2005 defeating
Yukio Kawabe by Technical Submission. He then lost to Aslan Dzeboev by Knockout at Pancrase – Spiral 8 on October 2. He then went on a two fight win streak defeating Teymur Aliyev at Pancrase – Blow 4 and Daniel Lyons at Pancrase – Blow 7 both by TKO. Kono then lost his last four fights, losing to Mu Bae Choi by Technical Submission at Pancrase – Blow 10, then to Tetsuya Mizuno at Pancrase – Rising 9 by TKO. His next appearance was at Warrior Realm 12 where he lost to Brad Morris by Submission. His most recent fight was a loss to Stanislav Nedkov at Pancrase – Shining 10 by TKO.
Return to All Japan (2009–2013)
By early 2009, Kono had retired from MMA and returned to professional wrestling. He spent the first few months of 2009 in Canada, wrestling on the independents
[ The Internet Wrestling Database. Cagematch. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] before returning to All Japan in May 2009. Upon his return, Kono was pushed immediately, as he teamed
Keiji Mutoh to defeat
Satoshi Kojima and
Kohei Suwama with Kono submitting Kojima.
[ All Japan Pro-Wrestling – "RISE UP TOUR 2009". Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] Throughout the spring and summer, Kono often competed in tag team matches for the All Japan army and occasionally teamed with Mutoh. On July 5, 2009, he received his first title shot when he unsuccessfully teamed with Mutoh to challenge
Minoru Suzuki and
Taiyo Kea for the World Tag Team Championship.
[ AJPW World Tag Team Title. Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] In the fall of 2009, Kono teamed with Suwama in the 2009 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. The two were able to make it to the finals but lost to Mutoh and
Masakatsu Funaki.
[ Real World Tag League 2009 (23.11.2009 bis 06.12.2009). Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.]
In his first big victory of 2010, Kono defeated Suwama at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 9 on March 21, 2010. In the spring, he entered the 2010 Champion Carnival, finishing second in his block with 5 points, allowing him to advance to the semi-finals where he fell to Funaki.[ Champion Carnival 2010 (03.04.2010 bis 11.04.2010). Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] Following the Champion Carnival, Kono joined the New Generation Force stable with Suwama, Ryota Hama, Seiya Sanada, and Manabu Soya and from there began a feud with the Partisan Forces stable (Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Akebono Taro, and Taiyo Kea). On July 4, 2010, Kono challenged Suzuki for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship but lost.[ Triple Crown. Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] At Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 10 on August 29, Kono faced Masakatsu Funaki and lost by Knockout.[ All Japan Pro-Wrestling – "SUMMER IMPACT 2010". Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] In September 2010, the New Generation Force disbanded, and shortly afterward, Kono joined the Voodoo Murders and began wrestling simply as Kono (stylised in all capital letters). On November 5, 2010, Kono teamed with Minoru to win a Number 1 Contenders tournament for the All Asia Tag Team Championship, but lost the following the day in the title match against Seiya Sanada and Manabu Soya.[ All Japan Pro-Wrestling – "PRO-WRESTLING LOVE IN TAIWAN 2010". Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] In late November, Kono entered the 2010 World's Strongest Tag Determination League teaming with Kenzo Suzuki. The two emerged victorious, defeating Suwama and Ryota Hama in the finals.[ Real World Tag League 2010 (20.11.2010 bis 07.12.2010). Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.]
On January 3, 2011, Kono and Kenso challenged Taiyo Kea and Akebono for the World Tag Team Championship but lost.[ All Japan Pro-Wrestling – "NEW YEAR SHINING SERIES 2011". Purolove.Com. Retrieved on 2011-01-26.] On February 6, Kono and Joe Doering defeated Taiyo Kea and Akebono to win the World Tag Team Championship. On June 3, 2011, in the aftermath of a backstage fight between Yoshikazu Taru and Nobukazu Hirai which resulted in Hirai suffering a stroke, All Japan immediately disbanded the Voodoo Murders, suspended all of its Japanese members, including Kono, and vacated the Unified World Tag Team Championship. Kono was suspended specifically for not attempting to stop Taru's assault on Hirai.
Wrestle-1 (2013–2020)
On July 10, 2013, Kono was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 promotion.
During the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, Kono teamed with Masakatsu Funaki in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Katsuyori Shibata and
Kazushi Sakuraba. Following the match, Kono turned on Funaki, hitting his mentor with a steel chair and beating him down with help from
Kohei Sato and
Ryoji Sai.
Kono and Funaki faced off in a singles match at Wrestle 1's second show on September 15, where Kono was victorious with help from Sai and Kazma Sakamoto.
Kono, Sai and Sakamoto, replacing an injured Kohei Sato, formed a stable named Desperado,
which was in October also joined by René Duprée.
In early 2014, after Desperado had failed in their attempt to recruit Kai to the stable, Kono entered a new feud with the self-proclaimed ace of Wrestle-1.
The feud culminated on July 6 in a grudge match, where Kono put the future of Desperado on the line. Kono, however, was victorious over Kai, forcing him to have his head shaved.
On September 21, Kono entered the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament, defeating
Jiro Kuroshio in his first round match.
The following day, Kono handed Wrestle-1 founder Keiji Mutoh his first loss since March 2012 by submitting him in a three-on-four handicap match, where he, Kazma Sakamoto and Ryoji Sai faced Mutoh and the Novus stable (Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Rionne Fujiwara).
On September 23, Kono defeated
Yusuke Kodama to advance to the semifinals of the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament.
On October 8, Kono defeated Masakatsu Funaki in their semifinal match, after Funaki's training partner
Yoshihiro Tajiri turned on him and joined Desperado.
Later that same day, Kono defeated Kai to win the tournament and become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Champion.
Freelancer (2020 - )
Kono has competed as a freelancer since the closure of Wrestle-1. He has promoted a number of events with Andy Wu.
Championships and accomplishments
- *World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Joe Doering (1)
[ and Kohei Suwama (1)]
- *World's Strongest Tag Determination League (2010) – with Kenzo Suzuki
-
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- *PWI ranked him # 157 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011
- *Tenryu Project United National Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Kohei Sato
- *Tenryu Project World 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times, current) – with Kenichiro Arai and Kohei Sato (1), Kumaarashi and Yusuke Kodama (1) and Kengo and Yuya Susumu (1)
- *UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo
- *Wrestle-1 Championship (2 times)
- *Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Shuji Kondo (1)
[ Takanori Ito (1)]
- *Wrestle-1 Championship Tournament (2014)
Mixed martial arts record
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 3–5
| Stanislav Nedkov
| TKO (punches)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:35
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 3–4
| Brad Morris
| Submission (punches)
| WR 12: Warriors Realm 12
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:32
| Australia
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 3–3
| Tatsuya Mizuno
| TKO (punches)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:28
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 3–2
| Mu Bae Choi
| Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke)
|
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 2:36
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 3–1
| Daniel Lyons
| TKO (punches)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:46
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 2–1
| Teymur Aliyev
| TKO (punches)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 4:09
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 1–1
| Aslan Dzeboev
| KO (punch)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 4:12
| Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 1–0
| Yukio Kawabe
| Technical Submission (kimura)
|
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:10
| Yokohama, Japan
|
External links
