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|height=186 cm (6 ft 1 in) |height=186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
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Revision as of 23:45, 24 April 2008

Masahiro Chono
Born (1963-09-17) September 17, 1963 (age 61)
Mitaka, Tokyo
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Masahiro Chono
Mister Black Jack
Billed height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight108 kg (237 lb)
Trained byStu Hart, Lou Thesz
DebutOctober 5, 1984

Masahiro Chōno (蝶野正洋 Chōno Masahiro) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He primarily wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), but has also made appearances for the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, as a member of the nWo. Chono, called Mister Black Jack when he first started as a heel, is one of the top heels in Japanese wrestling history. He is a former NWA World Champion and IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Career

Chōno debuted in 1984 against Keiji Mutoh at a NJPW event in Saitama, Japan. In 1988, he came to the United States and wrestled in the Kansas City and Alabama areas.

On February 10 1990, he wrestled in the main-event of NJPW's second Tokyo Dome, teaming with Shinya Hashimoto against Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi, in April he won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Mutoh, and on December 26 he defeated his mentor, wrestling legend Lou Thesz, when Thesz came out of retirement for one last match. The next year, Chono solidified his main-event status with an amazing performance in the first G1 Climax tournament, winning the tournament in a thirty-minute final over Mutoh. He won the tournament again in 1992, winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the process. Since then, he has won the tournament on three more occasions.

In 1992, Chono suffered a serious neck injury during a match with Steve Austin.

Originally a clean cut face during his NWA World title reign, he turned heel beginning in 1995. His team with Hiroyoshi Tenzan was called "Team Wolf" and it was the core for the formation of the stables nWo Japan in NJPW when the nWo was huge in WCW, and its successor stable, Team 2000, which eventually was restructured again. In a match against WCW's Bill Goldberg, Chono supposedly "shot the match" (actually hurting the opponent) and dislocated his shoulder.

Upon returning to Japan, Chono rejoined NJPW, where he achieved much success. He won the IWGP Tag Team Titles on six occasions and also won the very prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Title, in 1998. In 2002, he won his fourth G-1 Climax tournament. He also became a booker for NJPW around this time. In 2003, Chono briefly joined Pro Wrestling NOAH for a handful of matches. In one bout, Chono was defeated by another fellow Japanese legend, Global Honored Champion Kenta Kobashi on May 2 of that year. In early 2004, Chono became the leader of the Black New Japan stable, which was the most dominating heel stable in NJPW until it was disbanded by Riki Chōshū. As a reaction to this, Chono now leads an "Anti-Chōshū Army" with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Black Strong Machine. Chono won the 2005 G-1 Climax tournament, thus having achieved a record-setting five G-1 victories. His success in the G-1 has given him the nickname Mr. August. On October 30 2005, Masahiro Chono and Tenzan defeated the team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi to win their fifth IWGP Tag Team Championship. The team went on to rename themselves ChoTen, a portmanteau of the members' names. They were stripped of the titles in late 2006 after they split up, and refused to defend them together. Masahiro Chono formed a stable with Shinsuke Nakamura in 2006 called Chono & Nakamura-gun, which began feuding with Tenzan's new group.

Chono continued to wrestle full-time in 2007, but also began working as a promoter, with New Japan permitting him to set up cards in different areas of Japan. Following the 2007 G-1 Tournament, it appears that Chono may be breaking away from his BLACK faction and forming a legends stable, having asked in wrestlers such as Riki Chōshū, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Shiro Koshinaka, and AKIRA.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Personal life

On July 4 2006, Masahiro Chono became a father when his wife Martika, whom he met during a tour in Germany, gave birth to a baby boy. He converted to Catholicism when he married his wife. Together, they own four cats. In addition, he is the godfather to Jeff Farmer's children.

Masahiro Chono is the owner of his own line of clothing stores called ArisTrisT. Hulk Hogan can be seen wearing Chono's ArisTrisT apparel on his TV show Hogan Knows Best. His wife Martika designs many of the clothing line's jewelry and clothing.

Chono played football in his youth. He in fact made famous national team player Masashi Nakayama an honorary member of Team 2000 during a televised promo in 2001.

References

  1. ^ John Molinaro, The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, (Winding Stair Press: 2002), page 198.

External links

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