Gran Naniwa

Gran Naniwa
Birth name Yoshikuni Kimura
Born (1977-02-15)February 15, 1977
Ibaraki Prefecture
Died October 6, 2010(2010-10-06) (aged 33)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Gran Naniwa
The Claw
Billed height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Billed weight 98 kg (216 lb)
Trained by Great Sasuke
Debut June 2, 1993

Yoshikuni Kimura (木村 吉公, Kimura Yoshikuni)[1] (February 15, 1977 – October 6, 2010)[2] was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Gran Naniwa (愚乱・浪花, Guran Naniwa). Naniwa was known for his comedic gimmick, in which he performed mannerisms of crabs.[3] This was also reflected upon in the design of his wrestling mask.

Professional wrestling career

Naniwa debuted professionally in 1993 in Michinoku Pro Wrestling as a face. He participated in the 1995 Super J-Cup, managing to get to the quarterfinals, but he was later eliminated by eventual winner Jushin Thunder Liger.[2] In the late 1990s, Naniwa competed in the United States for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). He wrestled Gran Hamada in January 1998 at the ECW House Party event.[3] After this, Naniwa took a brief hiatus for a few years but made his return in 2006, again under his Gran Naniwa ring name, competing in a match for New Japan Pro Wrestling's now defunct WRESTLE LAND "brand".

Death

Kimura died on October 6, 2010 due to a heart attack at the age of 33.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

  • Central American Middleweight Championship (1 time)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  2. 1 2 選手名鑑 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Caldwell, James (2010-11-21). "Japan News: Japanese pro wrestler Gran Naniwa dies at age 33, briefly wrestled for ECW in 1990s". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "WAR Super J Cup 1995". Puroresu Central. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.