Mr. Gannosuke

is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under the ring name .

Honda was quickly pushed as "Mr. Gannosuke" due to his resemblance to the actor Ashiya Gannosuke and he began competing as Atsushi Onita's tag team partner in main event matches during his rookie year. He left the company in 1995 with his trainer Tarzan Goto due to differences with Onita and worked in International Wrestling Association (IWA) for nearly two years. He returned to FMW in 1997 and became the main rival of Hayabusa for the next four years. He was the company's most popular villain from 1997 to 1998 and the second top villain from then onwards. He would be a member of villainous groups Funk Masters of Wrestling, ZEN, Team No Respect and Shin Fuyuki-gun.

He held many titles in his FMW career including being a one-time Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a two-time Independent Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of Over the Top tournament in 1999. He headlined many pay-per-view events for FMW including the company's flagship event Anniversary Show in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Early life Masashi Honda was born in Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki, Japan on June 20, 1968. He was a fan of professional wrestling since childhood and grew up watching New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Honda idolized Riki Choshu as his favorite wrestler and decided to follow in his footsteps and become a professional wrestler. He joined Kumamoto University in 1987 and excelled in weight training, where he befriended Eiji Ezaki and the two trained for a professional wrestling career.

Professional wrestling career Early years (1987–1991) Honda made his wrestling debut while in college on a student wrestling event on November 2, 1987, teaming with Eiji Ezaki against three upper classmen. They would cut their teeth on the small Japanese independent circuit for four years, before applying for the upstart promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1991.

Return to independent circuit (2015–2018) Although primarily wrestling for Guts World Pro Wrestling, Mr. Gannosuke also wrestles on several independent promotions and promotes his own wrestling events under the Kishindo banner as well. He debuted for Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS on May 1, 2015, as a member of Kamui's reformed WMF Army by teaming with Onryo against Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Toru Sugiura. Gannosuke and Onryo won the match. Gannosuke continues to wrestle occasionally for FREEDOMS. He debuted for the resurrected FMW on March 22, 2017, at the occasion of the first anniversary of Hayabusa's death. Gannosuke teamed with Raijin Yaguchi, Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Tomohiko Hashimoto against Atsushi Onita, Hideki Hosaka, Mammoth Sasaki and Ricky Fuji in an eight-man tag team match, which Gannosuke's team lost. In 2018, Gannosuke announced his retirement from professional wrestling, promoting his last Kishindo Returns Final show on March 27, where he teamed with Hayabucha against Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka in a losing effort.

Personal life Although portrayed on screen as longtime rivals, Honda and Hayabusa (Eiji Ezaki) were good friends with each other. Honda is also friends with Kintaro Kanemura. Their friendship suffered in 2002 after the demise of FMW when Gannosuke lured away half of the FMW roster for his Wrestlings Marvelous Future (WMF) and refused to compete in Kodo Fuyuki's World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) and Kanemura remained loyal to Fuyuki. In 2004, the two broke their friendship over combining their WMF and Fuyuki Army Promotions and Kanemura used his links to prevent Gannosuke from competing in other major promotions in Japan. They patched up in 2008 and Gannosuke convinced Kanemura to compete in his retirement match on December 27, 2008, which Kanemura accepted.

Gannosuke now promotes shows under his own name about every four months and is a trainer for Emi Sakura's Ice Ribbon promotion. He also runs his bar called Nov Bar every night.

Championships and accomplishments All Japan Pro Wrestling All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tetsuhiro Kuroda Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling / World Entertainment Wrestling FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship (1 time) FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship (2 times) FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Atsushi Onita (1), Hisakatsu Oya (1), and Yukihiro Kanemura (1) FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with The Gladiator and Hisakatsu Oya (1), Yukihiro Kanemura and Jado (1) WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kodo Fuyuki and Shinjuku Shark (1), Kodo Fuyuki and Kintaro Kanemura (1) WEW Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with H (1), Mammoth Sasaki (2), and Tetsuhiro Kuroda (1) FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (1997) – with The Gladiator and Hisakatsu Oya Over the Top Tournament (1999) WEW Tag Team Championship Tournament (2001) – with Tetsuhiro Kuroda Guts World Pro-Wrestling GWC Single Championship (1 time) GWC 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) — with Yuji Kito and Suzki International Wrestling Association of Japan IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tarzan Goto National Wrestling Alliance NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tarzan Goto