(1951-12-03) December 3, 1951 (age 72)[1] Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, Japan[1]
Alma mater
Senshu University School of Commerce
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
Riki Choshu Yoshida
Billed height
1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Billed weight
120 kg (265 lb)[1]
Trained by
Masa Saito NJPW Dojo
Debut
August 8, 1974[1]
Retired
June 26, 2019[2]
Mitsuo Yoshida (吉田 光雄, Yoshida Mitsuo, born Kwak Gwang-ung (Korean: 곽광웅; Hanja: 郭光雄), December 3, 1951), better known by his ring name Riki Choshu (長州 力, Chōshū Riki), is a South Korean-Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers for his work in the 1980s and 1990s and is known as the first wrestler to popularize the Sasori-Gatame, better known in English as the Scorpion Deathlock or Sharpshooter. After leaving NJPW in 2002, he formed Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ), but eventually returned to New Japan in October 2005 as a site foreman, booker and part-time wrestler. Choshu once again left NJPW in 2010 and primarily worked in Tatsumi Fujinami’s Dradition, as well as his own self-produced Power Hall events as a freelancer.
Choshu was a second generation Zainichi Korean until his naturalization in 2016.[3]
^ abcdef"長州力". ChoshuRiki.com. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^"Riki Choshu retires in Korakuen Hall | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW.
^"韓国代表でオリンピック出場の長州力、革命戦士の本音". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 1 August 2020.
Hanja: 郭光雄), December 3, 1951), better known by his ring name RikiChoshu (長州 力, ChōshūRiki), is a South Korean-Japanese retired professional wrestler who...
for the song's tenth anniversary, appearing under his RIKI persona along with wrestlers RikiChoshu and Yoshihiro Takayama. His Motorbike, Her Island (1986)...
Bosnian-born Swedish footballer RikiChoshu (長州 力, born 1951), ring name of Mitsuo Yoshida, Korean-Japanese professional wrestler Riki Christodoulou (born 1988)...
participants, except in 1992, 2001, 2004 and 2008, when then-champions RikiChoshu (in 1992), Kazuyuki Fujita (in 2001 and 2004), and Keiji Mutoh (in 2008)...
Knightmare. The Adventures of Dino Riki development staff has only been revealed through social media posts. Wrestler RikiChoshu lent his name and likeness to...
Van Vader's first and third reigns, Salman Hashimikov's only reign, RikiChoshu's first reign, Tatsumi Fujinami's third and fifth reigns, Masahiro Chono's...
formed in Japan in 2002 by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling employees RikiChoshu and Katsuji Nagashima, who also served as chairmen along with Tomohiro...
NJPW, after giving an ultimatum of either RikiChoshu leave or Fujinami leave. New Japan stuck with Choshu, causing Fujinami to leave. Another veteran...
(the "tsuru" in Tsuruta) + 龍 = ryū in Tenryū). The team feuded with RikiChoshu and Yoshiaki Yatsu, who were the leaders in an "invasion" angle by the...
ninth in the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. Originally trained by RikiChoshu, Hase began his pro wrestling career in February 1986, training at Carlos...
partner Adrian Adonis. In 1983, he mainly feuded with RikiChoshu's Ishin Gundan, mainly wrestling Choshu, Killer Khan, Animal Hamaguchi and Yoshiaki Yatsu...
Suzuki Misterioso Jr. Naoya Ogawa Nobuhiko Takada Osamu Kido Ricky Reyes RikiChoshu Rocky Romero Salman Hashimikov Sara Del Rey Satoru Sayama Sean McCully...
heel stable in NJPW until it was disbanded by RikiChoshu. As a reaction to this, Chono lead an "Anti-Choshu Army" with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Black Strong...
Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami teamed to take on Genichiro Tenryu and RikiChoshu. Inoki and Fujinami won the match. The event also featured a "dream match"...
of wrestling legend RikiChoshu, who would wrestle five times that night against select opponents in what was billed as the Riki Road Final Message 5...
professional wrestler RikiChoshu due to his resemblance. Koriki is a wordplay on Riki's name, meaning something like "little Riki". Unlike many Japanese...
Dory Funk Jr., Mitsuharu Misawa, Harley Race, Verne Gagne, Rick Martel, RikiChoshu, Jack Brisco, Ric Flair, and Nick Bockwinkel. Tsuruta was the first Triple...
including Kantaro Hoshino and Seiji Sakaguchi as well as Osamu Kido and RikiChoshu. They used the stage name McGuire, since it was easier for Japanese ring...
Fujiwara, and Kantaro Hoshino, and battling the likes of Tatsumi Fujinami, RikiChoshu, Akira Maeda, Kengo Kimura, and Super Strong Machine. In January 1988...
Hashimikov dropped the title to Vader's old rival, RikiChoshu, on July 12. On August 10, Vader defeated Choshu to become a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion...
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