Masayuki Kono

Masayuki Kono (河野 真幸) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist.

He is currently working as a freelancer.

He is best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he is a former two-time Wrestle-1 Champion.

Kono began training in the All Japan Dojo in late 2002 and made his debut on March 28, 2003 in a losing effort to Nobutaka Araya.

For the next two years, Kono was largely featured in opening matches where he worked with fellow newcomers and older wrestlers, often coming out on the losing end, a common practice for young wrestlers in Japan as a way of paying dues.

During this time, Kono had no title matches and did not take part in any tournaments.

In 2005, he left All Japan and professional wrestling to pursue a career in Mixed Martial Arts.

In early 2005, Kono began a MMA career fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling.

He won his first fight at Pancrase – Spiral 5 on July 10, 2005 defeating Yukio Kawabe by Technical Submission.

He then lost to Aslan Dzeboev by Knockout at Pancrase – Spiral 8 on October 2.

He then went on a two fight win streak defeating Teymur Aliyev at Pancrase – Blow 4 and Daniel Lyons at Pancrase – Blow 7 both by TKO.

Kono then lost his last four fights, losing to Mu Bae Choi by Technical Submission at Pancrase – Blow 10, then to Tetsuya Mizuno at Pancrase – Rising 9 by TKO.

His next appearance was at Warrior Realm 12 where he lost to Brad Morris by Submission.

His most recent fight was a loss to Stanislav Nedkov at Pancrase – Shining 10 by TKO.

By early 2009, Kono had retired from MMA and returned to professional wrestling.

He spent the first few months of 2009 in Canada, wrestling on the independents before returning to All Japan in May 2009.

Upon his return, Kono was pushed immediately, as he teamed Keiji Mutoh to defeat Satoshi Kojima and Suwama with Kono submitting Kojima.

Throughout the spring and summer, Kono often competed in tag team matches for the All Japan army and occasionally teamed with Mutoh.

On July 5, 2009, he received his first title shot when he unsuccessfully teamed with Mutoh to challenge Minoru Suzuki and Taiyo Kea for the World Tag Team Championship.

In the fall of 2009, Kono teamed with Suwama in the 2009 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.

The two were able to make it to the finals but lost to Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki.

In his first big victory of 2010, Kono defeated Suwama at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 9 on March 21, 2010.

In the spring, he entered the 2010 Champion Carnival, finishing second in his block with 5 points, allowing him to advance to the semi-finals where he fell to Funaki.

Following the Champion Carnival, Kono joined the New Generation Force stable with Suwama, Ryota Hama, Seiya Sanada, and Manabu Soya and from there began a feud with the Partisan Forces stable (Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Akebono, and Taiyo Kea).

On July 4, 2010, Kono challenged Suzuki for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship but lost.

At Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 10 on August 29, Kono faced Masakatsu Funaki and lost by Knockout.

In September 2010, the New Generation Force disbanded, and shortly afterward, Kono joined the Voodoo Murders and began wrestling simply as Kono (stylised in all capital letters).

On November 5, 2010, 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.

In late November, Kono entered the 2010 World's Strongest Tag Determination League teaming with Kenso.

The two emerged victorious, defeating Suwama and Ryota Hama in the finals.

On January 3, 2011, Kono and Kenso challenged Taiyo Kea and Akebono for the World Tag Team Championship but lost.

On February 6, Kono and Joe Doering defeated Taiyo Kea and Akebono to win the World Tag Team Championship.

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 Kono, and vacated the Unified World Tag Team Championship.

Kono was suspended specifically for not attempting to stop Taru's assault on Hirai.

Kono's suspension was lifted on June 30.

At a press conference, Kono announced that he would be returning to performing under his real name.

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.

On January 4, 2012, 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.

On June 20, 2013, 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.

Kono's final match for the promotion took place on June 30 and saw him, Funaki and Koji Kanemoto lose to Akebono, Osamu Nishimura and Ryota Hama in a six-man tag team match.