Puroresu Central

Riki Choshu

Birthdate: December 3rd, 1951
Height: 6'0''
Weight: 265 lbs.
Debut: 1974
Background: Old School Wrestling
Promotion History: New Japan (1974 to 1986), All Japan (1986 to 1987), New Japan (1987 to 2002), World Japan (2003 to 2004), Riki Pro (2004 to 2005, and New Japan (2005 to present)
Alliances: Legend-gun
Ring Attire: Black trunks
Card Position: Mid-Card
Major Tournaments Won: G1 Climax (1996) and the Super Grade Tag League (1992)
Current Title Held: None

Championship History:

IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Held 3 Times):
- Defeated Salman Hashimikov on 7/12/89 and lost to Big Van Vader on 8/10/89
- Defeated Big Van Vader on 8/19/90 and lost to Tatsumi Fujinami on 12/26/90
- Defeated Tatsumi Fujinami on 1/4/92 and lost to Great Muta on 8/16/92

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Masa Saito:
- Defeated Fujinami and Kimura on 6/10/88 and lost to Strong Machine and Takano on 3/16/89

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Takayuki Iizuka:
- Defeated Strong Machine and Takano on 7/13/89 and lost to Saito and Hashimoto on 9/20/89

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Kensuke Sasaki:
- Defeated Fujinami and Kimura on 4/12/97 and lost to Nakanishi and Kojima on 5/3/97

PWF Heavyweight Championship:
- Defeated Stan Hansen on 4/5/86 and Vacated in 3/87

Greatest 18 Club Championship:
- Awarded in 1990 and lost to Great Muta on 8/16/92

NWA International Tag Team Championship with Yoshiaki Yatsu:
- Defeated Tsuruta and Tenryu on 2/5/86 and lost to Jumbo Tsuruta and Tenryu on 2/5/87

WMG Tag TeamChampionship with Genichiro Tenryu:
- Defeated Shiro Koshinaka and Jinsei Shinzaki on 8/21/03 and Vacated in 2004

UWA Heavyweight Championship:
- Defeated El Canek on 7/23/82 and lost to El Canek on 9/26/82

Biggest Matches:
- June 10th, 1988 with Masa Saito vs. Tatsumi Fujinami and Kimura (title win)
- July 12th, 1989 vs. Salman Hashimikov (title win)
- January 4th, 1992 vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (title win)
- August 6th, 1996 vs. Masahiro Chono (tournament win)
- January 4th, 1998 vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (Retirement Match)

Pictures:
- Choshu with the lariat on Yano

Signature Moves:
- Backdrop Suplex
- Lariat
- Scorpion Deathlock

Matches:
- Riki Choshu, Masa Saito, and Hiro Saito vs. Akira Maeda, Osamu Kido, and Nobuhiko Takada, New Japan 11/18/87, Maeda shoot-kicks Choshu in the face, breaking his orbital bone. Three versions in one file.

World Japan History:
As the owner of World Japan, Choshu naturally had an important role in the ring as well. The promotion started with a three match series between he and Tenryu in the main event slot, with Tenryu winning the series. In the Strongest Tournament, Choshu would lose in the first round to the eventual winner Kensuke Sasaki. He rebounded from the loss however when he and Tenryu won the WMG Tag Team Title Tournament to be crowned the first ever champions. He would have to abandon the belt however due to lack of defenses when Tenryu stopped wrestling for World Japan. At the First Anniversary Show, he teamed with Yoshiaki Fujiwara to defeat TAKA Michinoku and KAZMA. After realizing that World Japan was a failure, Choshu downsized and changed the promotion's name to Riki Pro.

2005 Recap:
After wrestling occasionally in early 2005 in a hot feud with Nishimura, Choshu disappeared for much of the summer. He re-appeared in the fall, however, when he was named the new booker and leader of New Japan. Since then a faction has started of those that oppose his ideas, including Nishimura. Choshu also still wrestles on some occasions, although normally against old rivals (such as Junji Hirata) and not in a main event role.

2006 Recap:
Choshu wrestled full-time in 2006, leading a few of the younger wrestlers against Black New Japan and later Great Bash Heel. Choshu regularly tagged with Ishii and Uwano, two of his young disciples from World Japan. He also helped run Lock Up!, a New Japan brand that promotes no-frills hard hitting action. Choshu did not take part in the G1 Climax but he did wrestle in the G1 Tag League, teaming with Akebono. Not a serious title threat, Choshu spends most of his time helping lead the younger wrestlers against the evil forces in New Japan.

2007 Recap:
Choshu continued down the same path in 2007 that he did in 2006, mostly wrestling in tag matches with his faction mates (first with Ishii and Uwano, later with Legend-gun) against BLACK (and later RISE) and New Japan. Choshu wrestled in the New Japan Cup, but he lost in the first round to Masahiro Chono. In the fall, Choshu participated in many five vs. five faction matches with his new Legend-gun team mates against New Japan. He did not participate in the G1 Climax nor the G1 Tag League.

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