Akira Maeda
| Akira Maeda | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 24, 1959 Osaka, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kwik-kik-Lee Akira Maeda |
| Billed height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Billed weight | 102 kg (225 lb) |
| Trained by |
Karl Gotch Yoshiaki Fujiwara |
| Debut | August 25, 1978 (vs Kotetsu Yamamoto) |
| Retired | February 21, 1999 (vs Alexander Karelin) |
| Akira Maeda | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 24, 1959 Osaka, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb) |
| Division | Heavyweight |
| Team | Rings Japan |
| Years active | 1995–1999 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 12 |
| Wins | 7 |
| By knockout | 0 |
| By submission | 4 |
| By decision | 0 |
| Unknown | 3 |
| Losses | 5 |
| By knockout | 0 |
| By submission | 3 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Akira Maeda (前田 日明 Maeda Akira?) (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明) on January 24, 1959), is a Japanese mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler of Korean descent. Maeda was also known by the ring name Kwik-kik-Lee during his time on the British wrestling show World of Sport. Maeda helped develop the shoot-style of professional wrestling during the late 1980s.
Maeda entered the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) dojo in 1978 and debuted the same year. Like many other New Japan stars before and after him, Maeda embarked on a foreign tour to the United Kingdom, where he adopted the Kwik-kik-Lee moniker. In 1983, he participated in the first International Wrestling Grand Prix tournament, won by Hulk Hogan. He was one of three Japanese entrants to the international tournament, alongside Antonio Inoki and Rusher Kimura.
In 1984, Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and other New Japan defectors formed the Japanese UWF. It was during his time in the first incarnation of the UWF that his willingness to show his displeasure in the ring became known; he quarreled with Satoru Sayama (the original Tiger Mask) over the direction of the UWF, as Maeda wanted the promotion to feature wrestling and grappling holds, while Sayama (a kickboxer before he went into wrestling) favored kicks. Some in the UWF were also reportedly resentful of Sayama's booking himself to win all his matches, where others, Maeda included, "jobbed" in the worked matches. The promotion folded a year later, and Maeda returned to New Japan, where he became one of the promotion's biggest stars.
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