Kuniaki Kobayashi was a Japanese professional wrestler, most notable for being the generational rival of the famous Tiger Mask character in Japanese puroresu.
19 Facts About Kuniaki Kobayashi
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Kuniaki Kobayashi wrestled numerous acclaimed matches against Tiger Mask I and Tiger Mask II.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi officially debuted for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on February 1,1973, against Masanobu Kurisu, at the early age of 17.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi stayed on the undercard, until he was sent abroad to North America in 1980.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi would wrestle against Los Misioneros de la Muerte putting their hair on the line.
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On June 6,1981, in their first hair vs hair encounter, Kuniaki Kobayashi's team, consisted of him, Gran Hamada and Enrique Vera defeated the Misioneros.
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Two months later, Kuniaki Kobayashi teamed with Saito against Coloso Colossetti and Cesar Valentino with their hairs on the line, with Kuniaki Kobayashi's team being victorious.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi held the championship for one month, before losing it to Black Gordman.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi allied with Riki Choshu, Masa Saito, and Killer Khan to form the stable "Ishin Gundan".
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In February 1996, Kuniaki Kobayashi lost a hair vs hair match to Akira Nogami.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi made sporadic appearances one being in May 2003, in a New Japan Alumnus battle royal, won by Kantaro Hoshino and Kotetsu Yamamoto.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi occasionally wrestled in legends matches, including a series of matches in 2011 against Sayama and a team with him in 2013 against Atsushi Onita.
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On January 4,2017, Kuniaki Kobayashi made a special appearance for NJPW, taking part in the New Japan Rumble on the pre-show of Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi was eliminated from the match by Tiger Mask.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi underwent surgery, in which 20 centimeters of large intestine was removed.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi would spend six months recuperating, before returning to the ring in February 1993.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi underwent surgery to remove part of his liver, but the surgery left him with a 70 centimeter surgical scar on his abdomen.
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The liver cancer and recovery forced Kuniaki Kobayashi to retire from active competition in April 2000.
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Kuniaki Kobayashi had been undergoing anti-cancer treatment, including undergoing a PET scan once a year, but had not taken any medication.