1. Kazunari Murakami was born on November 29,1973 and is a Japanese professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah.
25 Facts About Kazunari Murakami
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Kazunari Murakami has made sporadic appearances in Dramatic Dream Team, Pro Wrestling Noah and Cho Sento Puroresu FMW.
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Kazunari Murakami met Wajyutsu Keishukai founder Yoshinori Nishi, who convinced him to join his team, and Murakami started his career in mixed martial arts.
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Kazunari Murakami began his career fighting for the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J '95 on October 13,1995 where he lost his first fight to Akihiro Gono by knockout.
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Kazunari Murakami fared better, defeating Isamu Osugi by submission and avenging his loss to Gono by decision, but lost to Masanori Suda by submission.
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In late 1996, Kazunari Murakami then began fighting for Extreme Fighting where he defeated Bart Vale At EF3: Extreme Fighting 3 on October 18,1996 by TKO.
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On October 11,1997, Kazunari Murakami made history by joining the newly formed PRIDE Fighting Championships and won in the company's first fight by defeating John Dixson at PRIDE 1.
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Kazunari Murakami returned to PRIDE three years later at PRIDE 10 on August 27,2000, where he lost to Masaaki Satake by TKO.
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Kazunari Murakami returned to fighting two years later at UFO: Legend in a losing effort to Wallid Ismail by TKO.
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Kazunari Murakami entered professional wrestling in 1998 when he joined Antonio Inoki's Universal Fighting-Arts Organization alongside fellow judoka Naoya Ogawa.
11.
On May 5 at Wrestling Dontaku 2000, Kazunari Murakami teamed with Ogawa to challenge Fighting Club G-Eggs for the IWGP Tag Team Championship but lost when Kazunari Murakami was pinned by Nagata.
12.
In early 2001, Kazunari Murakami would wrestle several times for the newborn Pro Wrestling ZERO1, main eventing the promotion's second ever show where he and Ogawa lost to Mitsuharu Misawa and Takeshi Rikio.
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Kazunari Murakami finished fourth in his block with 5 points scoring victories over Nakanishi and Tadao Yasuda while going to a double countout with eventual winner, Yuji Nagata.
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In early 2002, Kazunari Murakami joined NJPW full time, and in the summer, Kazunari Murakami joined the heel stable Makai Club, where he was considered one of the highest ranking members behind only Tadao Yasuda.
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On December 10,2002, Kazunari Murakami challenged Yuji Nagata for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
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On May 2 at NJPW Ultimate Crush 2003, Kazunari Murakami lost to Inoue in an extremely bloody match that ended in just 6 minutes.
17.
In early 2004, Kazunari Murakami began feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship, which eventually led to an empty arena steel cage match on March 28 at King of Sports, won by Tanahashi.
18.
On May 3,2004 at Nexxess in the Tokyo Dome, Kazunari Murakami teamed with Masahiro Chono to unsuccessfully challenge Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
19.
At Big Mouth Loud's first show in September 2005, Kazunari Murakami defeated Shibata in the main event.
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Kazunari Murakami reignited his feud with Enson Inoue at the next show in December 2005, defeating him in a singles match.
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Kazunari Murakami continued to compete for BML until the promotion's closure in mid-2006.
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Kazunari Murakami took part in ZERO1's 2006 Fire Festival tournament, making it to the semi-finals before losing to Shinjiro Otani.
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Kazunari Murakami debuted for Pro Wrestling Noah, taking part in a tournament for the GHC Tag Team Championship alongside Shinjiro Otani.
24.
In February 2010 Kazunari Murakami returned to pro wrestling, as Big Kazunari Murakami, losing to Kensuke Sasaki in a match for Sasaki's Kensuke Office promotion.
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Kazunari Murakami later announced it as his home promotion, and continued to compete with the promotion until its closure in 2014.