Noboru Kurakawa
| Bodyguard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Noboru Kurakawa |
| Born | June 30, 1968 (age 48) Osaka, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
(The) Bodyguard Kurofuku MACHO Samurai |
| Billed height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Billed weight | 100 kg (220 lb) |
| Debut | January 24, 2009 |
Noboru Kurakawa (倉川 昇 Kurakawa Noboru?) is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler better known as The Bodyguard or Bodyguard (ボディガー Bodigā?). He is currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a two time and current World Tag Team Champion with longtime partner Zeus as "The Big Guns". Kurakawa is also a former 2 time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion with Zeus and a former IWF Heavyweight Champion.
The Bodyguard made his first appearance in Osaka Pro in the fall of 2008, assisting Tigers Mask in completing his heel turn. Originally called Kurofuku, his strength was evident from the start and immediately started to cause trouble by helping Tigers win matches. Soon, he began a a long-running feud started with Zeus, which eventually led to him being outed as former professional bodybuilder, Noboru Kurakawa, the winner of two Musclemania Japan competitions in 2002 and 2007. To build heat for their feud, Kurakawa (now known as The Bodyguard) and Zeus engaged in some power battles, including an arm-wrestling contest that had no clear winner. Bodyguard would make his official in-ring debut as The Bodyguard at Hurricane 2009 in a loss to Zeus. In August 2010, Bodyguard turned on Tigers Mask, aligning himself with Asian Cougar and Orochi to form Joker. In January 2011, Bodyguard was kicked out of Joker by Kuuga after they attempted to illegally help in a match against Zeus, but Bodyguard refused, wanting to win the match fairly. After the match, Bodyguard was attacked and beaten down by Joker, but was saved by Zeus, who cleared everyone out of the ring and shook hands with Bodyguard after the match, signalling a mutual respect between the two and ending their long-running rivalry. Soon after, they formed a tag team. Known as the Big Guns, they won the Osaka Pro Tag Titles in February 2011, but lost them to Joker in March. Various injuries kept him sidelined for a good portion of 2011, but he was able to return to active competition in the fall. A knee injury once again sidelined him in early 2012, but he returned for a Big Guns produced show in May. Shortly after that, he announced that other than for Big Guns-related matches, his new ring name would be "Macho Samurai". At Hurricane 2012, Bodyguard aggravated his knee injury during a three way Tag Title match, and shortly after announced that he needed surgery. The surgery and recovery kept him out for 8 months. He returned to the ring in March 2013, announcing that he would become a full-time Osaka Pro roster member. The Big Guns began to achieve more success shortly after, winning the Osaka Tag Festival in June and the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship for the second time in October. At the same time, Zeus also won the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship and the 2013 Tennozan Tournament. Zeus and Bodyguard faced each other in the finals, with Zeus coming out on top. On March 1, 2014, it was announced that Osaka Pro would be folding due to financial difficulties and on April 20, all of it's workers would become freelancers. Zeus and Bodyguard eventually vacated all of their championships, and on April 20 wrestled their last match in OPW to date, teaming with Quiet Storm in a loss to Billyken Kid, Bull Armor Takuya and Black Buffalo.
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