Masakatsu Funaki

is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), and Wrestle-1 (W-1). He is also the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations and non-rehearsed shoot wrestling promotions (following five years after the inception of Shooto but predating America's Ultimate Fighting Championship). Funaki was also Pancrase's biggest star; Josh Barnett described him as the "symbol of Japan", Frank Shamrock labeled Funaki "the golden boy" of Pancrase, and Guy Mezger called Funaki "hands down the smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock".

Not only the organization's co-founder and most popular fighter, Funaki was also one of Pancrase's most successful fighters to date, scoring submission victories over numerous MMA champions such as Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Semmy Schilt, Guy Mezger, Yuki Kondo, Minoru Suzuki, and Bas Rutten through the course of his Pancrase career. He is the only fighter in mixed martial arts to hold wins over both Shamrock brothers and Bas Rutten, and was the first man to win the King of Pancrase title twice.

Funaki is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese fighters in mixed martial arts history. Sherdog.com ranked him as the #1 mixed martial artist in the world for the years 1996 and 1997, and also had him ranked as a top 4 pound for pound fighter from 1993 to 1998.

Early life The son of a movie theater owner, Masaharu Funaki was exposed to martial arts films at an early age. He idolized Bruce Lee above all others, but also eagerly watched the films of Sammo Hung and Sonny Chiba. His father would ultimately abandon young Funaki and his family.

Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1985–1989) Instead of entering high school, he applied to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), who sent him to the New Japan dojo. He was in the same class as Keiichi Yamada (better known as Jyushin Thunder Liger), Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, Minoru Suzuki, Masahiro Chono, and Chris Benoit. The New Japan Dojo had a reputation for being particularly harsh on its trainees, both mentally and physically, with the intent of only graduating the very best of each class. However, Funaki stunned the New Japan trainers with his athleticism, timing and natural talent for submission grappling. Along with the former Highschool Wrestler Minoru Suzuki, Funaki formed a strong bond with the dojo's head grappling instructor, Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Funaki debuted as a junior heavyweight at the age of 15; a record for the youngest debut in NJPW.

After debuting for New Japan on March 3, 1985, in a losing effort against three-year veteran Tatsutoshi Goto, Funaki did not receive a push from the promotion, stuck in the junior heavyweight division during a time when NJPW owner Antonio Inoki decided to shift the focus of the company towards the heavyweight division. Funaki did, often teaming with fellow wrestler Akira Nogami have many memorable matches with Yoji Anjo and Tatsuo Nakano belonging to UWF and became the first person to take the Shooting Star Press from Yamada. In 1988, he was sent on a learning excursion to Europe, competing in the Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) in Austria and Germany and for All Star Wrestling (ASW) in England in 1989 where "Flying" Funaki and "Fuji" Yamada were a tag team.

When New Japan top draw Akira Maeda became so frustrated with backstage politics that he shoot kicked Riki Choshu and broke his eye socket, and was subsequently suspended for refusing to go on an excursion to Mexico, Maeda left NJPW to form the Newborn UWF promotion. Funaki, seeing an opportunity to shine and showcase his talents, wanted to follow. Maeda negotiated the acquisition of Funaki's contract, along the contracts of friend Minoru Suzuki and mentor Yoshiaki Fujiwara for an undisclosed amount of money.

Newborn UWF and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (1989–1993) In Newborn UWF, Funaki became a top draw for the promotion acting as a nemesis to Akira Maeda. When Newborn UWF folded in December 1990, Funaki decided to sign with mentor Fujiwara's new Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) promotion. Funaki left PWFG in 1993 to form the mixed martial arts promotion Pancrase. Around the same time, Funaki was scouted by K-1 executive Kazuyoshi Ishii to compete in their '93 GP tournament, but he declined, having set his sights on MMA.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2009–2013, 2015–present)

In August 2007, Funaki and Keiji Mutoh discussed the possibility of Funaki returning to regular professional wrestling in Mutoh's company, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). On August 31, 2009, Funaki signed a one-year contract with All Japan, following a tag team victory with Mutoh against Minoru Suzuki and Masahiro Chono.

On January 3, 2010, Funaki and Mutoh won the World Tag Team Championship from Suzuki and Taiyo Kea. On March 21, Funaki defeated Suzuki in a cage match at All Japan's Sumo Hall show.

On January 4, 2012, Funaki made a special appearance for New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he teamed with Masayuki Kono to defeat the Seigigun team of Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue. During the match, Nagata broke Funaki's orbital bone, sidelining him from in-ring action for an estimated six months. Funaki returned to the ring on June 17, 2012. On July 29, he defeated the man who had injured him, Yuji Nagata, in a grudge match to become the number one contender to the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On August 26 he defeated Jun Akiyama in a match that lasted less than five minutes to become the 45th Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He lost the title to Suwama on March 17, 2013. In June 2013, Funaki announced his resignation from All Japan in the aftermath of Nobuo Shiraishi taking over as the new president and Keiji Mutoh leaving the promotion. Funaki's final match for the promotion took place on June 30 and saw him and his Stack of Arms partners Koji Kanemoto and Masayuki Kono, who were also leaving All Japan, lose to Akebono, Osamu Nishimura and Ryota Hama in a six-man tag team match.

After becoming a freelancer, Funaki returned to All Japan on November 11, 2015, teaming with Kendo Ka Shin to defeat Suwama and Hikaru Sato. Funaki periodically shows up in All Japan for tag team matches but has not expressed a will to contend for titles again.

Wrestle-1 (2013–2015) On July 10, 2013, Funaki was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 (W-1) promotion. During the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, Funaki teamed with Masayuki Kono in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba. Following the match, Kono turned on Funaki, hitting his mentor with a steel chair. Funaki and Kono faced off in a singles match at Wrestle 1's second show on September 15, where Kono was victorious with help from Kazma Sakamoto and Ryoji Sai. A rematch between the two took place on October 12 and saw Funaki emerge victorious. On March 2 at Kaisen: Outbreak, Funaki defeated Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) representative Bobby Roode in an interpromotional match, after which he challenged Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle to a match. At Wrestle-1's July 6 event, Funaki defeated Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) representative Kohei Sato to win the World Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title back to Sato on September 19. Three days later, Funaki entered the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament, defeating Tajiri in his first round match. The following day, Funaki defeated Akira to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Prior to the semifinals of the tournament, Funaki entered a storyline, where his former rival Tajiri came to his aid to help him prepare for his match. On October 8, Funaki was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Masayuki Kono, after Tajiri turned on him. In June 2015, it was announced that Funaki would be leaving Wrestle-1 and going freelance following his contract expiring at the end of the month. His final match for the promotion took place on June 20.

Freelancing (2015–present) Funaki wrestled his first match as a freelancer on August 18, 2015, at a Masahito Kakihara cancer benefit show, where he and Minoru Suzuki defeated Mitsuya Nagai and Takaku Fuke. On September 18, Funaki won his first title since becoming a freelancer, when he defeated Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW) wrestler Super Tiger to win the Legend Championship. He lost the title to Daisuke Sekimoto on December 9, before regaining it on June 23, 2016. On September 10, Funaki lost the Legend Championship to Shinjiro Otani. On January 9, 2017, Funaki and Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Konosuke Takeshita and Mike Bailey at a DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) event to win the promotion's KO-D Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Danshoku Dino and Yoshihiro Takayama in their third defense on April 29. Funaki Wrestled at NOAH – DESTINATION 2021 BACK TO BUDOKAN! on 2/12/21 in a losing effort versus Kenoh for the GHC National Title.

Mixed martial arts career Overview Funaki's MMA career began when he founded Pancrase along with Minoru Suzuki. Funaki went on to defeat Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Minoru Suzuki, and Guy Mezger, among others. Frank Shamrock said, "Funaki was like a mad scientist. He took the idea of submissions to an even higher level than the rest of the Japanese contingent. He had this insatiable desire to learn more and push his body harder. And as an entertainer he understood the need to entertain."

This realization for the need to entertain often resulted in Funaki (along with Minoru Suzuki) "carrying" some of their opponents during fights. In essence, in order to entertain the crowd, Funaki and Suzuki would occasionally give their opponents opportunities to create drama before finally finishing them off. Josh Barnett said, "when you're that good, you can have a guy thinking he's doing so much better than he expected and have no idea that they're just letting you last like a cat playing with a mouse."

At Pancrase 1996 Anniversary Show, Masakatsu challenged King of Pancrase Bas Rutten in what is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Pancrase history. Funaki came close to finishing the match earlier with an ankle lock, but Rutten miraculously escaped and continued to fight. Funaki made a wide usage of the knee-on-stomach and mount positions to initiate leglock attacks, but the Dutchman countered every time and eventually pushed Masakatsu away from him, after which Funaki threw an illegal kick to Rutten, who was on his knees. Rutten proceeded to knock Funaki down with a palm strike, and then completely broke his nose with a second palm strike. Stunned, Funaki tried to stand up with Rutten, only for Bas to capitalize with his famed striking game. Rutten knocked him down twice with palms and knees, and then landed a lengthy, unanswered string of strikes, until a knee to the face finally downed Funaki.

By the end of 1998, Funaki started fighting in Pancrase under the vale tudo rules made famous by Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships, which he had previously criticized as too brutal. The turn was detrimental for the end of his career, as accumulated injuries and ring wear of over forty fights had greatly broken down his body. After defeating John Renken, he fought a match against luta livre expert Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Funaki was dominated and would have loss had there been judges in the match, but as it was not the case, it ended in a draw. Funaki departed from Pancrase after a win over Tony Petarra in September 1999, according to fellow Pancrase fighter Bas Rutten, being burnt out from the hectic Pancrase schedule.

Fight against Rickson Gracie and retirement (2000) Despite the state of Funaki's health, he returned for a fight against the legendary Rickson Gracie at Colosseum 2000 held at the Tokyo Dome. The show was almost canceled due to Rickson trying to change the rules to make knees and strikes to the head illegal, but the problems were overcome and the show continued. The event was broadcast to 30 million TV Tokyo viewers. There was no championship title at stake and Rickson got the majority of his demands, with elbows and knees to the head being rendered illegal standing or on the ground.

Funaki walked to the ring in samurai attire with a samurai sword which garnered a roaring excitement from the Japanese announcers and crowd. Funaki and Rickson clinched to the corner, where Funaki appeared to have secured a guillotine choke. Funaki then took Rickson down, relinquishing the choke as they hit the mat and landing a hammer-fist that marked Rickson's face before standing up. The Japanese then kicked the Brazilian's legs to no effect, until according to reports, some well timed upkicks from Gracie in return blew out Funaki's injured right knee. They clinched again, but Funaki's knee rendered him unable to wrestle correctly, and he was taken down by the Brazilian grappler, who promptly mounted him. Masakatsu looked stunned while Rickson bloodied his face with ground and pound, and finally Gracie forced his way into a rear-naked choke. Funaki refused to submit to the hold, passing out before his cornerman Yoshiki Takahashi threw the towel.

Professional wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time) World's Strongest Tag Determination League (2009) – with Keiji Mutoh Chō Hanabi Puroresu Bakuha-ō Championship (1 time) DDT Pro-Wrestling KO-D Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yukio Sakaguchi Best Tag Team Award (2009) with Keiji Mutoh Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013 Ranked No. 251 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 Pro Wrestling Noah GHC National Championship (1 time) Pro Wrestling Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Real Japan Pro Wrestling/Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Legend Championship (4 times) Tokyo Sports Fighting Spirit Award (1990) Service Award (2000) Technique Award (1993) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

Mixed martial arts record Draw

Volk Han Draw (majority) Rings/The Outsider: Volk Han Retirement Match

Tokyo, Japan Win

Ikuhisa Minowa Submission (heel hook) Dream 6: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round

Saitama, Japan Loss

Kiyoshi Tamura TKO (punches) Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round

Saitama, Japan Loss

Kazushi Sakuraba Submission (kimura) K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!

Osaka, Japan Loss

Rickson Gracie Technical submission (rear naked choke) Colosseum 2000

Tokyo, Japan Special rules: no knees or elbows to head standing up or on ground Win

Tony Petarra Submission (punches) Pancrase: 1999 Anniversary Show

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Draw

Ebenezer Fontes Braga Draw Pancrase: Breakthrough 4

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

John Renken Submission (punches) Pancrase: Advance 12

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Loss

Kiuma Kunioku Decision (lost points) Pancrase: Advance 10

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Semmy Schilt KO (punch to the body) Pancrase: 1998 Anniversary Show

Tokyo, Japan Win

Osami Shibuya Submission (arm triangle choke) Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round

Aomori, Japan Loss

Guy Mezger Decision (unanimous) Pancrase: Advance 5

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Semmy Schilt Decision (lost points) Pancrase: Advance 4

Tokyo, Japan Win

Katsuomi Inagaki Submission Pancrase: Advance 2

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Yuki Kondo Submission (triangle kimura) Pancrase: Alive 11

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Jason Godsey Submission (calf slicer) Pancrase: Alive 10

Kobe, Hyogo, Japan Win

Guy Mezger Submission (triangle armbar) Pancrase: 1997 Anniversary Show

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Win

Osami Shibuya Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase: 1997 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Wes Gassaway Submission (achilles lock) Pancrase: Alive 7

Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan Loss

Yuki Kondo Submission (triangle armbar) Pancrase: Alive 4

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Win

Paul Lazenby Submission (top wristlock) Pancrase: Alive 3

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Win

Semmy Schilt Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Alive 2

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Win

Jason DeLucia TKO (leg injury) Pancrase: Truth 10

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yuki Kondo Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Truth 9

Fukuoka, Japan Loss

Bas Rutten KO (knee) Pancrase: 1996 Anniversary Show

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Win

Takafumi Ito Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: 1996 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Vernon White Submission (achilles lock) Pancrase: Truth 6

Fukuoka, Japan Win

August Smisl Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Truth 5

Tokyo, Japan Win

Katsuomi Inagaki Submission (kneebar) Pancrase: Truth 2

Kobe, Hyogo, Japan Win

Ryushi Yanagisawa Technical Submission (americana) Pancrase: Truth 1

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Takaku Fuke Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 7

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan Loss

Frank Shamrock Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 6

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Guy Mezger Submission (achilles lock) Pancrase: 1995 Anniversary Show

Tokyo, Japan Win

Leon Dijk Submission (achilles lock) Pancrase: 1995 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Gregory Smit Submission (achilles lock) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 5

Tokyo, Japan Win

Alex Cook Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 4

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan Loss

Manabu Yamada Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 3

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Win

Frank Shamrock Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 2

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Jason DeLucia Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 1

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Loss

Ken Shamrock Submission (arm-triangle choke) Pancrase: King of Pancrase Tournament Second Round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Vernon White Submission (americana) Pancrase: King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Todd Bjornethun Submission (armbar) Pancrase: King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Minoru Suzuki Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 5

Tokyo, Japan Win

Ken Shamrock Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 4

Osaka, Japan Win

Scott "Bam Bam" Sullivan Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 3

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Jason DeLucia Submission (kneebar) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 2

Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan Win

Gregory Smit Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Takaku Fuke Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Pancrash! 3

Osaka, Japan Win

Vernon White KO (palm strike) Pancrase: Pancrash! 2

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Win

Bas Rutten Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Pancrash! 1

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Kazuo Takahashi KO (palm strikes and knees) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 4

Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan Win

Cees Bezems Submission (americana) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 3

Kobe, Hyogo, Japan Win

Ryushi Yanagisawa Submission (kneebar) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Loss

Ken Shamrock Submission (arm-triangle choke) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1

Urayasu, Chiba, Japan