Masayuki Kono is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist.
20 Facts About Masayuki Kono
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Masayuki Kono is best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he is a former two-time Wrestle-1 Champion.
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In early 2005, Masayuki Kono began a MMA career fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling.
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Masayuki Kono spent the first few months of 2009 in Canada, wrestling on the independents before returning to All Japan in May 2009.
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On July 4,2010, Masayuki Kono challenged Suzuki for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship but lost.
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In September 2010, the New Generation Force disbanded, and shortly afterward, Masayuki Kono joined the Voodoo Murders and began wrestling simply as Masayuki Kono.
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On November 5,2010, Masayuki Kono teamed with Minoru to win a Number 1 Contenders tournament for the All Asia Tag Team Championship, but lost the following the day in the title match against Seiya Sanada and Manabu Soya.
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In late November, Masayuki Kono entered the 2010 World's Strongest Tag Determination League teaming with Kenso.
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On June 3,2011, in the aftermath of a backstage fight between Yoshikazu Taru and Nobukazu Hirai which resulted in Hirai suffering a stroke, All Japan immediately disbanded the Voodoo Murders, suspended all of its Japanese members, including Masayuki Kono, and vacated the Unified World Tag Team Championship.
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Masayuki Kono was suspended specifically for not attempting to stop Taru's assault on Hirai.
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At a press conference, Masayuki Kono announced that he would be returning to performing under his real name.
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Masayuki Kono made his return to All Japan on October 10,2011, teaming with Joe Doering and Osamu Nishimura in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Akebono, Masakatsu Funaki and Ryota Hama.
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On January 4,2012, Masayuki Kono made a special appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he teamed with Masakatsu Funaki to defeat the New Japan Seigigun of Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue.
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On June 20,2013, Masayuki Kono, following Funaki, announced his resignation from All Japan out of loyalty to Keiji Mutoh, who had left the promotion when Nobuo Shiraishi took over as its new president at the beginning of the month.
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On July 10,2013, Masayuki Kono was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 promotion.
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In early 2014, after Desperado had failed in their attempt to recruit Kai to the stable, Masayuki Kono entered a new feud with the self-proclaimed ace of Wrestle-1.
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Masayuki Kono was victorious over Kai, forcing him to have his head shaved.
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Later that same day, Masayuki Kono defeated Kai to win the tournament and become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Champion.
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Masayuki Kono then started a feud with his former stablemate Kazma Sakamoto over the rights to the name Desperado.
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Masayuki Kono lost the title to Shotaro Ashino on March 20,2017.