Satoshi Kojima

Real Name: Satoshi Kojima
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 238 lbs.
Date of Birth: September 14, 1970
Hometown: Kōtō, Tokyo (Japan)
Pro Debut: July 16, 1991
Trained By: NJPW Dojo
Finishing Move: Cozy Crush Dynamite

Biography

– Kojima was a judoka at high school level, but opted not to pursue the sport into college level
– Kojima began his career with NJPW as a roadie, but would convince head trainer Animal Hamaguchi to allow him into the Dojo as a trainee in February 1991
– Kojima debuted on July 16, 1991 (his 21st birthday), losing to Hiroyoshi Yamamoto (later to be known as Kojima’s long-time tag partner, Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
– As is tradition, Kojima spent the early part of his career as an enhancement talent
– Kojima won his first match on Match 3, 1992, defeating Osamu Nishimura
– Kojima won the 1994 Young Lion Cup, defeating Manabu Nakanishi in the final
– At Wrestling Dontaku 1994, Kojima defeated Yuji Nagata
– In 1995, Kojima was sent on a learning excursion to Europe, competing primarily as ‘Joe Joe Lee’ for Germany’s CWA promotion
– Kojima returned to New Japan at Wrestling World 1996
– At Wrestling World 1997, Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Junji Hirata & Osamu Nishimura defeated Yuji Nagata, Osamu Kido, Takashi Iizuka & Kazuo Yamazaki
– On May 3, 1997, Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Riki Choshu to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles. The pair would later be christened ‘Bull Powers’
– On June 5, Bull Powers defeated nWo Japan (Masahiro Chono & nWo Sting) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– In late-1998, having already lost the IWGP Tag Team Titles, Kojima turned heel and joined nWo Japan
– nWo Japan (Kojima & Keiji Muto) won the 1998 Super Grade Tag League, defeating Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami in the final
– At Wrestling World 99, nWo Japan (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Shiro Koshinaka & Genichiro Tenryu to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On February 5, 1999, nWo Japan defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Following Keiji Muto’s loss to Masahiro Chono at Wrestle World 2000, nWo Japan was forced to disband, though Kojima and Tenzan would remain as a team
– On July 20, 2000, TEAM2000 (Kojima & Tenzan) defeated G-EGGS (Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On October 9, TEAM2000 defeated G-EGGS to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Battle Final 2000, TEAM2000 defeated their stablemates Masahiro Chono & Tatsutoshi Goto to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At NJPW Second Judgement, Kojima defeated Kenzo Suzuki
– On February 4, 2001, TEAM2000 (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 20, TEAM2000 defeated Shinya Makabe & Riki Choshu to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On June 29, TEAM2000 defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On July 20, TEAM2000 defeated BATT (Taiyo Kea & Jinsei Shinzaki) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Kojima & Tenzan won the 2001 G1 Tag League, defeating Mike Barton & Jim Steele in the final, but Kojima would leave the promotion and jump to All Japan shortly thereafter, citing dissatisfaction with booker Antonio Inoki’s pushing of shoot style wrestlers
– On September 26, 2002, Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant MLW World Title
– On October 19, Kojima defeated Mitsuya Nagai to retain the MLW World Title
– Kojima & Taiyo Kea won the 2002 AJPW Real World Tag League, defeating Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani in the final to earn the vacant AJPW World Tag Team Titles
– On December 12, Kojima defeated Mr Gannosuke to retain the MLW World Title. Over the next week, he would defend the title against Shinjiro Otani and Vampiro
– On January 3, 2003, Kojima defeated Johnny Smith to retain the MLW World Title
– Kojima made a one-night return to New Japan at Wrestling World 2003, teaming with Hiroyoshi Tenzan to defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Masahiro Chono
– On January 25, Kojima defeated Kintaro Kanemura to retain the MLW World Title
– On February 8, Kojima defeated John Tenta to retain the MLW World Title
– Kojima won the 2003 Champion Carnival, defeating Arashi in the final
– Kojima teamed with THE APEMAN to win the 2003 BAPESTA Tag Team Tournament, defeating The Great Sasuke & The Great Kosuke in the final
– On January 2, 2004, Kojima (under a mask at ‘Great Kosuke’) teamed with Shiryu to defeat Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Mr Gannosuke and win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On January 8, Great Kosuke & Shiryu defeated Shigeo Okumura & Mitsu Hirai Jr to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On January 18, Kojima & Kaz Hayashi defeated Keiji Muto & Arashi to win the AJPW World Tag Team Titles
– On February 11, Kojima & Hayashi defeated The Gladiator & Buchanan to retain the AJPW World Tag Team Titles, before Kojima donned the Great Kosuke mask and teamed with Shiryu to defeat Tomoaki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On March 19, Kosuke & Shiryu defeated Kintaro Kanemura & Hido to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On March 28, Kosuke & Shiryu defeated Silver King & Dr Wagner Jr to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– At Keiji Muto’s 20th Anniversary Show, Kojima defeated Love Machine X (Jim Steele under a mask)
– On February 16, 2005, Kojima defeated Toshiaki Kawada to win the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On February 20, Kojima defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in a Champion vs. Champion Match to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title and win the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– At NJPW’s Nexess V event, Kojima fought Shinsuke Nakamura to a one hour time-limit draw to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– At Shinya Hashimoto’s Memorial Show, Kojima & Keiji Muto fought Kensuke Sasaki & Arashi to a time-limit draw
– On July 26, 2005, Kojima defeated Keiji Muto to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On September 1, Kojima defeated Jamal to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On October 18, Kojima defeated Giant Bernard to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– At AJPW’s Uncharted World PPV, Kojima defeated Kensuke Sasaki to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On January 8, 2006, Kojima defeated TARU to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On March 10, Kojima defeated Great Muta to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On June 10, Kojima defeated Suwama to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– Kojima’s 18-month reign with the AJPW Triple Crown Title ended at the hands of Taiyo Kea on July 3
– Kojima was a guest entrant in the 2006 G1 Climax Tournament, eventually losing to Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the final
– Kojima & Tenzan won the 2006 Real World Tag League, defeating Suwama & RO’Z in the final
– On August 26, 2007, Voodoo Murders (Kojima & TARU) defeated Toshiaki Kawada & Taiyo Kea to win the AJPW World Tag Team Titles
– Kojima returned as a guest entrant in the 2008 G1 Climax
– At Pro Wrestling Love In Ryogoku 5, Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Togi Makabe & TARU
– Kojima & Tenzan won the 2008 G1 Tag League, defeating Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe & Toru Yano) in the final
– Kojima & Tenzan went on to win the 2008 Real World Tag League, defeating Shuji Kondo & Suwama in the final. They were the first team to win the All Japan and New Japan showcase tag team tournaments in the same year
– At Pro Wrestling Love In Ryogoku 8, F4(Kojima, Hiroshi Yamato & KAI) defeated Kenta Kobashi Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Akihiko Ito
– On September 26, 2009, Kojima defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to win the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On January 11, 2010, Kojima defeated Joe Doering to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– Kojima suffered an arm injury in May 2010, right before his All Japan contract was due to expire. Kojima, unhappy at this situation, opted instead to re-sign with New Japan
– Kojima re-debuted for New Japan in the 2010 G1 Climax Tournament. He went on to win the tournament, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final
– At NOAH’s 10th Anniversary Show, Kojima defeated Mohammed Yone
– At Destruction 2010, Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On December 11, Kojima defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– Later that month, Kojima formed the Kojima Office (later Kojima-gun) stable alongside Taichi. They later added Nosawa Rongai, TAKA Michinoku and MVP to the group
– Following a loss to Togi Makabe at Wrestling Dontaku 2011, Kojima’s stable turned on him to link up with Minoru Suzuki and form Suzuki-gun
– At Destruction 2011, Kojima defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan
– Kojima was honoured with an Anniversary Show on December 14, 2011, at which he teamed with Kaz Hayashi to defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & FUNAKI, before donning the Great Kosuke mask to team with The Great Sasuke in a win over CHAOS (Gedo & Jado)
– At Wrestle Kingdom VI, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At The New Beginning 2012, TenKoji defeated Bad Intentions to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At the NJPW/AJPW/NOAH All Together 2012 event, TenKoji & Kentaro Shiga defeated Captain New Japan, Captain All Japan & Captain NOAH
– On March 18, TenKoji defeated Suzuki-gun (Yoshihiro Takayama & Lance Archer) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Pro Wrestling Love In Ryogoku 14, Kojima defeated Seiya Sanada
– On July 22, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated CHAOS (Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano) to regain the vacant IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestle Kingdom 7, TenKoji defeated Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2013, TenKoji defeated CHAOS (Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano), Muscle Orchestra (Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man) and Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At NOAH’s Final Burning In Budokan event, Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Takashi Sugiura, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito
– At Dominion 2013, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) and CHAOS (Takashi Iizuke & Toru Yano) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestle Kingdom 8, Kojima defeated Rob Conway to win the NWA World Title
– At The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2014, Kojima defeated Big Daddy Yum Yum to retain the NWA World Title
– At WRESTLE-1’s Outbreak event, Kojima defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue
– On March 29, Kojima defeated Rampage Brown to retain the NWA World Title
– At Invasion Attack 2014, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Rob Conway & Jax Dane to win the NWA Tag Team Titles
– On April1 12, Kojima defeated Rob Conway to retain the NWA World Title
– The next day, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Rob Conway & Jax Dane to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2014, Kojima defeated Wes Brisco to retain the NWA World Title
– On May 25, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) and Wes Brisco & Rob Conway to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles
– On May 30, Kojima defeated Damien Wayne & Jeremiah Plunkett to retain the NWA World Title
– The next day, Kojima defeated Carson to retain the NWA World Title
– At Dominion 2014, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles
– At Destruction in Kobe 2014, TenKoji, Jushin Liger & Tomoaki Honma defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan
– At Destruction in Okayama 2014, TenKoji defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestle Kingdom 9, TenKoji & Yuji Nagata defeated BULLET CLUB (Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & Jeff Jarrett)
– At The New Beginning in 2015, Kojima, Tetsuya Naito & Yuji Nagata defeated CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomomhiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI)
– At Invasion Attack 2015, TenKoji & Tomoaki Honma defeated BULLET CLUB (Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Cody Hall)
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2015, TenKoji & Honma defeated BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale & Cody Hall)
– At Destruction in Kobe 2015, TenKoji & Matt Sydal defeated BULLET CLUB (Kenny Omega, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2016, TenKoji defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
– At The New Beginning in Niigata 2016, TenKoji, Matt Sydal & Ricochet defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay
– At Invasion Attack 2016, Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger defeated CHAOS (Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI)
– At Dominion 2016, TenKoji & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jay White, Juice Robinson & David Finlay
– On July 3, Kojima, Matt Sydal & Ricochet defeated BULLET CLUB (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) to win the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles
– At Destruction in Hiroshima 2016, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) & Ricochet defeated Togi Makabe, Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu
– At Destruction in Kobe 2016, Kojima, Ricochet & David Finlay defeated BULLET CLUB (Adam Cole, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) to win the vacant NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles
– On October 8, Kojima, Finlay & Ricochet defeated CHAOS (Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Beretta) to retain the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles
– At Power Struggle 2016, Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Juice Robinson defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Teruaki Kanemitsu
– At New Year Dash 2017, TEAM2000 (Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Hiro Saito, Scott Norton & Cheesburger) defeated BULLET CLUB (Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale & BONE SOLDIER)
– At The New Beginning in Sapporo 2017, Kojima, Tenzan & Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoyuki Oka, Yoshitatsu & Henare
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2017, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Yoshitatsu & KUSHIDA
– At NJPW’s 45th Anniversary Show, TenKoji defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles, but would lose them to War Machine in their first defence
– At AJPW’s 45th Anniversary Show, Kojima defeated Suwama
– At Power Struggle 2017, Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe defeated BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Cody)
– At New Year Dash 2018, Kojima, Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi, Tomoyuki Oka, Shota Umino & Ren Narita
– At Destruction in Kobe 2018, Kojima, Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ayato Yoshida
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2019, Kojima, Tenzan & Jushin Liger defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku)
– At NJPW’s 47th Anniversary Show, Kojima, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Taichi)
– At Wrestle Kingdom 14, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2020, TenKoji, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare
– At Castle Attack 2021, TenKoji defeated The United Empire (Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb)
– At Sakura Genesis 2021, Kojima & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated BULLET CLUB (Jay White & Bad Luck Fale)
– At Wrestle Kingdom 16, TenKoji (Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) & Master Wato defeated Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)
– At the Wrestle Kingdom 16 NJPW/NOAH special, TenKoji & Yuji Nagata defeated Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & King Tany
– On June 12, 2022, Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Title, but would lose it to Kenoh in his first defence
– On September 25, Kojima & Takashi Sugiura defeated Timothy Thatcher & Hideki Suzuki to win the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On October 30, Kojima & Sugiura defeated Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kenoh) to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On November 10, Kojima & Sugiura defeated Funky Express (Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito) to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On New Year’s Day 2023, Kojima & Sugiura defeated Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestle Kingdom 17, Kojima, Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki, Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami
– At the Wrestle Kingdom 17 special in Yokohama, Kojima, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Takashi Sugiura & Toru Yano defeated BULLET CLUB (Naomichi Marufuji, El Phantasmo, Gedo & KENTA)
– At Great Muta’s Final Bye-Bye show, Kojima, El Hijo del Dr Wagner Jr, Takashi Sugiura & Kaito Kiyomiya defeated Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masakatsu Funaki, Manabu Soya & Kenoh)
– At NJPW STRONG Independence Day 2023, Kojima defeated Oskar Leube
– Kojima won the 2023 All Japan Royal Road Tournament, defeating Ryuki Honda in the final
– On the WrestleDream 2023 pre-show, Kojima, Billie Starkz, Keith Lee & Athena defeated Mercedes Martinez, Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty & Diamante