Kai En Tai
Encyclopedia
Kai En Tai was a professional wrestling
stable made up of Japan
ese wrestlers Kaz Hayashi
, Dick Togo and Mens Teioh, later joined by Sho Funaki
and Taka Michinoku. The group was managed
by Yamaguchi-San when they were in the WWF
.
named Ryoma Sakamoto. Considered Japan's first modern corporation, Kaientai (translated as "Naval Auxiliary Force") was a naval institution and paramilitary organization dedicated to freeing Japan from feudal rule and protecting the country's national sovereignty. It was a major player in the introduction of the Meiji Restoration
. Dick Togo named his faction "Kaientai" in its honor.
wrestling promotion
in late 1994 when SATO, Terry Boy and Shiryu
introduced themselves as Kai En Tai. They had many high profile tag team
matches before two of them changed their names; SATO became Dick Togo, Terry Boy became Mens Teioh while Shiryu's name remained unchanged. The stable's name was also changed to Kaientai Deluxe, or Kaientai DX for short. They would later be joined by Taka Michinoku and Funaki as new members. Other members included Hanzo Nakajima, Yoshihiro Tajiri
, Gran Hamada
and Super Boy.
under his real name, Kaz Hayashi
) made their first appearance in the WWF the night after WrestleMania XIV on the March 30, 1998 episode of Raw is War
. The team dropped the 'DX' from their full title due to the existence of D-Generation X
in the WWF. They attacked Taka Michinoku—who signed with the WWF much earlier—for unknown reasons, and their alliance with Taka in Japan was not mentioned. Kaientai was originally referred to by the announcers as Club Kamikaze, but their new manager Yamaguchi-San announced their actual name upon his arrival shortly afterwards.
Their most infamous WWF feud
was with Val Venis
, who had a porn star
gimmick at the time. Yamaguchi was enraged when he was shown a pornographic video of his (onscreen) wife, sleeping with Venis, and threatened to punish both of them. Mrs. Yamaguchi-San
was brought to the ring for what was going to be a spanking
by Yamaguchi-san using a wooden paddle, but she was rescued by Venis. A week later, just as Venis had finished a match, Yamaguchi and Kaientai showed up with a salami on a table. Yamaguchi proceeded to chop the salami while shouting at Venis, "I choppy choppy your pee pee
!"
The following week, Venis teamed up with Taka Michinoku to take on Togo and Funaki in a tag team match. Taka made a swerve, however, by turning against Venis, proclaiming that Mrs. Yamaguchi-San was his sister. Venis was dragged backstage by Kaientai to be castrated
, though the audience did not see what happened next. Venis returned after a week, explained that Yamaguchi's sword narrowly missed his genitalia, due to the lights being turned off by John Wayne Bobbitt, broke up his relationship with Mrs. Yamaguchi-San and thus ended the feud.
After Togo, Teioh and both Yamaguchis left the WWF, Michinoku and Funaki began wrestling as a tag team using the name Kaientai. They were primarily comedy jobbers
, best known for their "Indeed!" skits in which voices in English were dubbed into their promos while they badly lip-synched. Funaki and Taka's last ever tag team partnership as Kaientai in the WWF was a win over Raven and Justin Credible
in October 2001.
Michinoku eventually left the WWF. He now runs a promotion called Kaientai Dojo
(or K-DOJO). Funaki remained in the WWF, finding a niche as part of the SmackDown cruiserweight division and as a backstage interviewer before being released from his contract in 2010 after 12 years with the company.
On July 15, 2005, another Kaientai reunion took place at Kaientai Dojo, when Taka Michinoku teamed up with Sho Funaki, Dick Togo and Men's Teioh to do battle with Kengo Mashimo, KAZMA, Ryota Chikuzen and Kunio Toshima. Although Kaientai came up short of defeating the opposing team, it was a very emotional moment and the crowd showed their support after the match.
Kaientai reunited once again on the 2006 New Year's Eve
Indie Summit show where TAKA Michinoku, Sho Funaki, Kaz Hayashi, Dick Togo and MEN's Teioh defeated Makoto Oishi, KUDO, Katsunari Kishi, Shinjitsu Nohashi and Milanito Collection a.t. The Kaientai team claimed victory after Togo hit Oishi with a Cannonball Senton. On January 25, 2007, TAKA Michinoku, MEN's Teioh and Dick Togo appeared in Dragon Gate
to take on the team of CIMA
, BxB Hulk
and Matt Sydal
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
stable made up of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese wrestlers Kaz Hayashi
Kaz Hayashi
Kazuhiro "Kaz" Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is also the head booker for the company's junior division.-Career:...
, Dick Togo and Mens Teioh, later joined by Sho Funaki
Shoichi Funaki
is a Japanese/American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Hardcore Champion.-Early years :...
and Taka Michinoku. The group was managed
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
by Yamaguchi-San when they were in the WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
.
Origins
The name "Kaientai" is based on the organization of the same name founded by a samuraiSamurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
named Ryoma Sakamoto. Considered Japan's first modern corporation, Kaientai (translated as "Naval Auxiliary Force") was a naval institution and paramilitary organization dedicated to freeing Japan from feudal rule and protecting the country's national sovereignty. It was a major player in the introduction of the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
. Dick Togo named his faction "Kaientai" in its honor.
Kai En Tai DX
The group debuted in Japan's Michinoku ProMichinoku Pro Wrestling
Michinoku Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded by The Great Sasuke in 1993. Michinoku Pro was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather in Morioka, Iwate...
wrestling promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
in late 1994 when SATO, Terry Boy and Shiryu
Kaz Hayashi
Kazuhiro "Kaz" Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is also the head booker for the company's junior division.-Career:...
introduced themselves as Kai En Tai. They had many high profile tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
matches before two of them changed their names; SATO became Dick Togo, Terry Boy became Mens Teioh while Shiryu's name remained unchanged. The stable's name was also changed to Kaientai Deluxe, or Kaientai DX for short. They would later be joined by Taka Michinoku and Funaki as new members. Other members included Hanzo Nakajima, Yoshihiro Tajiri
Yoshihiro Tajiri
, is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently competing in SMASH as TAJIRI.-Early years :...
, Gran Hamada
Gran Hamada
, better known by his ring name , is Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro, and All Japan Pro Wrestling, and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre...
and Super Boy.
Kaientai (WWF)
Kai En Tai (with the exception of Shiryu, who was in WCWWorld Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
under his real name, Kaz Hayashi
Kaz Hayashi
Kazuhiro "Kaz" Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is also the head booker for the company's junior division.-Career:...
) made their first appearance in the WWF the night after WrestleMania XIV on the March 30, 1998 episode of Raw is War
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
. The team dropped the 'DX' from their full title due to the existence of D-Generation X
D-Generation X
D-Generation X was a professional wrestling stable in WWE . The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
in the WWF. They attacked Taka Michinoku—who signed with the WWF much earlier—for unknown reasons, and their alliance with Taka in Japan was not mentioned. Kaientai was originally referred to by the announcers as Club Kamikaze, but their new manager Yamaguchi-San announced their actual name upon his arrival shortly afterwards.
Their most infamous WWF feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
was with Val Venis
Sean Morley
Sean Allen Morley is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with World Wrestling Federation, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment...
, who had a porn star
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
gimmick at the time. Yamaguchi was enraged when he was shown a pornographic video of his (onscreen) wife, sleeping with Venis, and threatened to punish both of them. Mrs. Yamaguchi-San
Shian-Li Tsang
Shian-Li Tsang is a professional Japanese model and former valet for World Wrestling Entertainment best known for her stint as Mrs. Yamaguchi-San in 1998.-World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment:...
was brought to the ring for what was going to be a spanking
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
by Yamaguchi-san using a wooden paddle, but she was rescued by Venis. A week later, just as Venis had finished a match, Yamaguchi and Kaientai showed up with a salami on a table. Yamaguchi proceeded to chop the salami while shouting at Venis, "I choppy choppy your pee pee
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
!"
The following week, Venis teamed up with Taka Michinoku to take on Togo and Funaki in a tag team match. Taka made a swerve, however, by turning against Venis, proclaiming that Mrs. Yamaguchi-San was his sister. Venis was dragged backstage by Kaientai to be castrated
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
, though the audience did not see what happened next. Venis returned after a week, explained that Yamaguchi's sword narrowly missed his genitalia, due to the lights being turned off by John Wayne Bobbitt, broke up his relationship with Mrs. Yamaguchi-San and thus ended the feud.
After Togo, Teioh and both Yamaguchis left the WWF, Michinoku and Funaki began wrestling as a tag team using the name Kaientai. They were primarily comedy jobbers
Job (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...
, best known for their "Indeed!" skits in which voices in English were dubbed into their promos while they badly lip-synched. Funaki and Taka's last ever tag team partnership as Kaientai in the WWF was a win over Raven and Justin Credible
Peter Polaco
Peter Joseph Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ringname Aldo Montoya...
in October 2001.
Michinoku eventually left the WWF. He now runs a promotion called Kaientai Dojo
Kaientai Dojo
Kaientai Dojo is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion and training facility owned and promoted by Taka Michinoku....
(or K-DOJO). Funaki remained in the WWF, finding a niche as part of the SmackDown cruiserweight division and as a backstage interviewer before being released from his contract in 2010 after 12 years with the company.
Kai En Tai Reunions
With the occasion of Michinoku Pro's 10th Anniversary on November 2, 2003, Kaientai DX reformed, as Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, Taka Michinoku, Shiryu and Hanzo Nakajima took down Jinsei Shinzaki, Hayate, Kesen Numa-jiro, Kazuya Yuasa and Chi-Nen Hokkai.On July 15, 2005, another Kaientai reunion took place at Kaientai Dojo, when Taka Michinoku teamed up with Sho Funaki, Dick Togo and Men's Teioh to do battle with Kengo Mashimo, KAZMA, Ryota Chikuzen and Kunio Toshima. Although Kaientai came up short of defeating the opposing team, it was a very emotional moment and the crowd showed their support after the match.
Kaientai reunited once again on the 2006 New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
Indie Summit show where TAKA Michinoku, Sho Funaki, Kaz Hayashi, Dick Togo and MEN's Teioh defeated Makoto Oishi, KUDO, Katsunari Kishi, Shinjitsu Nohashi and Milanito Collection a.t. The Kaientai team claimed victory after Togo hit Oishi with a Cannonball Senton. On January 25, 2007, TAKA Michinoku, MEN's Teioh and Dick Togo appeared in Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling,...
to take on the team of CIMA
Nobuhiko Oshima
, better known by his ring name Cima , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA...
, BxB Hulk
BxB Hulk
, better known by his ring name BxB Hulk , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one half of the Open the Twin Gate Champions, and Dragon Gate USA.-Professional wrestling career:...
and Matt Sydal
Matt Sydal
Matthew Joseph Korklan is an American professional wrestler, also known as Matt Sydal and Evan Bourne. He is signed with WWE and wrestles on its Raw brand under the ring name Evan Bourne, where he is currently one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Kofi Kingston as Air Boom.Before signing...
.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Taka Michinoku, Togo, FunakiShoichi Funakiis a Japanese/American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Hardcore Champion.-Early years :...
, and ShiryuKaz HayashiKazuhiro "Kaz" Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is also the head booker for the company's junior division.-Career:...
all hit consecutive splashes onto a single opponent
- Taka Michinoku, Togo, Funaki
- Signature moves
- Seated chinlock by Funaki followed by a baseball slide by Michinoku
Championships
- Michinoku Pro WrestlingMichinoku Pro WrestlingMichinoku Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded by The Great Sasuke in 1993. Michinoku Pro was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather in Morioka, Iwate...
- British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipBritish Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that although being created in England, it gained its biggest notoriety in Japan...
(1 time) Dick Togo - UWF Super Welterweight ChampionshipUWF Super Welterweight ChampionshipThe UWF Super Welterweight Championship was a title in the Japanese professional wrestling, created by Universal Pro/FULL, then later on defended in Michinoku Pro and Osaka Pro before becoming inactive.-Title history:-External links:*...
(2 times) Dick Togo (1 time) Men's Teioh (1 time) - FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) TAKA Michinoku
- British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship
- New Japan Pro WrestlingNew Japan Pro Wrestlingis a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipThe IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998 at a NJPW live event...
(1 Time) TAKA Michinoku & Dick Togo (Note: Not listed as Kai En Tai)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
- World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
- WWF Light Heavyweight ChampionshipWWF Light Heavyweight ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 220 lbs.- History :...
(1 time) Taka Michinoku - WWF Hardcore ChampionshipWWE Hardcore ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
(1 time) Shoichi Funaki
- WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
External links
- Gerweck.net Funaki profile (including his history with Kaientai)
- OWW Profile: Kai En Tai
- The Wrestling Utopia: Kai En Tai