Kim Duk

Kim Duk
Born (1948-02-07) February 7, 1948[1][2]
Tokyo, Japan[1][2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Kim Duk[1][2][3]
Tiger Chung Lee[1][2][3]
Tiger Toguchi[1][2][3]
Ultra Seven[1][2][3]
YAMATO[1][2][3]
Masanori Toguchi[1][2]
Billed height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1][2]
Billed weight 125 kg (276 lb)[1][2]
Billed from Seoul, South Korea
Trained by Karl Gotch
Kintaro Ohki
Dory Funk, Jr.
Debut August 30, 1968[1][2]
Retired May 6, 2011

Masanori Toguchi (戸口 正徳, Toguchi Masanori) or Kim Duk (Korean: 김 덕/金 徳) is a retired Zainichi-Korean professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Kim Duk (キム・ドク). He was also known by the name Tiger Chung Lee in the World Wrestling Federation.

Early life

Masanori Toguchi was a basketball player and jūdōka during his high school days. After graduation, he joined the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance dojo with the recommendation from Kintaro Ohki. Since Seiji Sakaguchi, another jūdōka, joined the JWA during the same time, it caused a conflict between the jūdō world and puroresu. Toguchi was sent to South Korea for half a year with "special training" as an excuse until the issue died out.

Wrestling career

1960s–1970s

Masanori Toguchi debuted for Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance on August 30, 1968, against future NJPW referee Katsuhisa Shibata. During his rookie year, he was also trained by Karl Gotch. In his days in JWA, he was Ohki's student. When JWA folded in 1972, Toguchi went to the United States, where he developed himself as a heel under his Korean real name, Kim Duk. He spent the next four years roaming around NWA territories and in the American Wrestling Association. In 1976, he returned to Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling, while wrestling for the NWA's Mid-Atlantic territory in the States. He was managed by Boris Malenko in the Mid-Atlantic area, often teaming with another Malenko protege, The Masked Superstar. During his Mid-Atlantic run, Duk had a short-lived feud with then-reigning Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Wahoo McDaniel. In AJPW, he had a heated rivalry with Jumbo Tsuruta. In 1979, he would defect to International Wrestling Enterprise, before defecting to New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1981.

1980s–1990s

In 1982, Kim Duk began wrestling for the NWA's Kansas City territory, before moving to the World Wrestling Federation in 1983 under the name Tiger Chung Lee. After leaving the WWF in 1988, he went back to the Kim Duk name and wrestled for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. Upon his return to Japan in 1991, he balanced wrestling for various promotions including New Japan Pro Wrestling between 1991 and 1992, W*ING between 1992 and 1993, and WAR in 1994. Between 1993 and 1994, he would wrestle in Mexico for Universal Wrestling Association under the name YAMATO. By 1995, he was winding down his career.

2000s–present

In 2001, Kim Duk made his return to AJPW, helping out the promotion during their crisis after the Pro Wrestling Noah exodus.

Kim Duk had since remained semi-retired and works for a non-profit organization. He still wrestles on special legends matches from time to time. Since 2007, he has been running Wrestle-Aid. His last match to date as a wrestler was on May 6, 2011, in a tag team match, teaming with Raideen against Masaru Toi and Red Tiger.

Acting career

In 1986, while wrestling in the U.S. for the WWF, Kim Duk made his acting debut as a henchman of Charles Dance's character, Sardo Numspa, in The Golden Child, which starred Eddie Murphy.[4][5] Two years later, he portrayed a Mongol hippie in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Red Heat.[4][5] A year later, he acted in two more films, Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer, and Cage, starring Lou Ferrigno.[4][5] In 2012, after a long hiatus from acting, Kim Duk portrayed Lee in the film, Mountain Mafia.[4]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Lucha de Apuesta record

Wager Winner Loser Location Date Notes
Mask Dos Caras YAMATO Naucalpan, Mexico August 1, 1993 Mask vs. Mask vs. Mask Triangle Match that also included El Canek
Hair El Canek YAMATO Naucalpan, Mexico August 15, 1993 Mask vs. Hair Match

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Cagematch profile".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ja:タイガー戸口
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tiger Toguchi's PuroresuWiki profile".
  4. 1 2 3 4 "IMDB profile".
  5. 1 2 3 "Movies That Feature Pro Wrestlers". Archived from the original on 2013-05-15.
  6. ↑ 東京スポーツ　プロレス大賞. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-01-20.
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