Great Kojika | |
Birthname: | Shinya Koshika |
Names: | Kung Fu Lee Raizō Kojika Shinya Kojika Great Kojika Dory Boy |
Weight: | 251lb |
Birth Date: | April 28, 1942 |
Birth Place: | Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan |
Trainer: | Rikidozan |
Debut: | October 13, 1963 |
,[1] known by his ring name, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He co-founded the promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW).[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Kojika is the oldest active Japanese wrestler as well as the one with the longest career, having debuted in 1963. He is also the oldest active wrestler in the world.
Kojika made his debut on October 13, 1963, for Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) against Kakutaro Koma (future NWA World Middleweight Champion Mashio Koma). In 1967, he left Japan to wrestle in North America.
In 1967, Kojika made his debut in North America for NWA Mid-America in Tennessee. He teamed with Motoshi Okuma and they also worked for Georgia Championship Wrestling. They disbanded in 1968 and Kojika went to Florida, Detroit and St. Louis. In 1969, Kojika went to Los Angeles and won the NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship by defeating Pepper Martin on November 19. A month later he dropped the title back to Martin. On August 26, 1970, he defeated Les Roberts for the TV title and held it until losing to The Great Goliath on September 16. After the loss, Kojika went back to Japan.
After a few years in the United States, Kojika returned to Japan and stayed with Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance until the company folded on April 14, 1973.
In 1973, Kojika returned to the United States to wrestle in Texas as Kung Fu Lee. He would feud with Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, Ricky Romero and Akio Sato. He left Texas in 1974. In 1980, he went to Hawaii to work for NWA Polynesian.
After the folding of JWA, Kojika went to Giant Baba's All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) where he reunited with Motoshi Okuma. From 1976 to 1981, he and Okuma won the All Asia Tag Team Championship three times. They were together until 1986 when Kojika retired from wrestling.
Kojika returned to wrestling in 1995, co-founding Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) with Kazuo Sakurada where it was a style based on deathmatches and King's Road style. He started wrestling again in 1996. He retired for the second time in 2002. He continued co-promoting Big Japan.
In 2006, Kojika return to wrestling for the second time. He still wrestles for Big Japan and numerous Japanese promotions at 80 years old.
Kojika returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2019 after having last worked for them in 1986.