Kesen Numajiro
Numajiro in May 2014
|
|
| Born |
April 22, 1972 Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan |
|---|---|
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Kesen Numajiro Kesen Numagirolamo Yone Genjin Akihiro Yonekawa |
| Billed height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Billed weight | 90 kg (200 lb) |
| Trained by | Gran Hamada |
| Debut | 1992 |
Akihiro Yonekawa (米河 彰大 Yonekawa Akihiro?) is a Japanese professional wrestler and singer, better known for his ring name Kesen Numajiro. He has had a long career in Michinoku Pro Wrestling, where he currently wrestles, being a three-time Tohoku Tag Team champion and a one-time Tohoku Junior Heavyweight champion.
With a kendo and amateur wrestling background, Yonekawa trained in and debuted in Gran Hamada's Universal Lucha Libre in 1992. He later joined Michinoku Pro Wrestling, where after years in the low card, he became Yone Genjin, a humorous caveman gimmick. He had a comical feud with Wellington Wilkins Jr. before being sent to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre to train, which was in storyline explained as Genjin himself swimming his way to Mexico through the Pacific Ocean. Upon his return, now as a more civilized, Spanish talking version of himself, but his luck did not change, being relegated again to low card comedy matches. In 1999, after a head injury, Yone announced he was going to retire and was replaced by similar character Tsubo Genjin, played by Hiroyuki Kotsubo.
After several years working as a ring announcer under the name of Kesen Numajiro (a play with the name of his origin city, Kesennuma), he returned to the ring in 2004, adopting the gimmick of an eccentric enka singer. Characterized by his traditional kimonos and for sporting big eyebrows, Numajiro came to the ring while singing, and he launched several successful singles thanks to Yonekawa's natural voice skills. He teamed up with top wrestlers Great Sasuke and Jinsei Shinzaki to win the Michinoku Trios League, but the next year he turned heel, allying with the villainous salsa stable Los Salseros Japoneses (Takeshi Minamino, Pineapple Hanai and Mango Fukuda) in an attempt to turn it into a band called "Kesen Numajiro and los Salseros Japoneses". He feuded with another music-themed faction, Sailor Boys (Kei and Shu Sato), over which had the best music, and they resolved to prove it in a match in which the loser would have to drop their gimmick. With the aid of Minamino, Numajiro defeated one of the Satos and stripped them of their music. Numajiro and Minamino took part in the Futaritabi Tag Team Tournament 2004, where they advanced to the finals, but they were eliminated by Shanao & Kagetora. His alliance with Los Salseros Japoneses lasted until 2006, when he turned face again and returned to the Michinoku Seikigun.
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