Masakatsu Funaki Biography, Wiki, Net Worth, Age, Height, Record, Career

Masakatsu Funaki Biography: Masaharu Funaki, better known as Masakatsu Funaki, is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist, & professional wrestler who has formerly wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, Newborn UWF, and Wrestle-1.

Masakatsu Funaki Biography

Masakatsu Funaki Biography: Masakatsu Funaki was born on March 13, 1969 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. He is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist, & professional wrestler who has formerly wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, Newborn UWF, and Wrestle-1.

Masakatsu Funaki Wiki

Masakatsu Funaki was born on March 13, 1969 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

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What is Masakatsu Funaki Net Worth?

According to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Masakatsu Funaki’s net worth is $5 million.

Masakatsu Funaki Career

He submitted an application to the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), who sent him to the New Japan dojo. Chris Benoit attended the same school as Keiichi Yamada (Jyushin Thunder Liger), Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, Minoru Suzuki, Masato Chono, and Keiji Mutoh. The New Japan Dojo was famously demanding on its students, both mentally and physically, to graduate only the absolute best from each class. However, Funaki’s athleticism, timing, and natural aptitude for submission grappling amazed the New Japan trainers. Funaki connected closely with the dojo’s head grappling instructor, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, alongside the former high school wrestler Minoru Suzuki. Funaki made his junior heavyweight debut at the age of 15, the earliest debut in NJPW history.

Funaki debuted for New Japan on March 3, 1985, in a losing effort against three-year veteran Tatsutoshi Goto. During a time when NJPW owner Antonio Inoki decided to shift the company’s focus towards the heavyweight division, Funaki did not receive a push from the promotion. Funaki did so, frequently pairing up with fellow wrestler Akira Nogami, and became the first individual to take the Shooting Star Press from Yamada. In 1988, he was sent on an educational trip to Europe, where he competed in the Catch Wrestling Association in Austria and Germany and All-Star Wrestling in England in 1989, where “Flying” Funaki and “Fuji” Yamada were a tag team.

Funaki’s MMA career began when he and Minoru Suzuki founded Pancrase. Funaki proceeded to defeat, among others, Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Minoru Suzuki, & Guy Mezger. Frank Shamrock said, “Funaki was similar to a mad scientist. He raised the concept of submissions even further than the rest of the Japanese contingent. He had an insatiable appetite for information and physical activity. And as a performer, he recognized the need to enthrall.”

This realization resulted in Funaki and Minoru Suzuki frequently “carrying” some of their opponents during combat. To entertain the audience, Funaki and Suzuki occasionally give their opponents opportunities to create drama before finishing them off. Josh Barnett stated, “When you’re that good, you can fool a guy into thinking he’s doing much better than he anticipated when they’re just playing with you like a cat with a mouse.” Frank Shamrock added, “I know those guys were light years ahead of everyone else, and they were so good that they would move on to entertainment before a match.” However, this strategy failed at least once for Funaki. In a match against Jason DeLucia, Funaki allowed Delucia to capture him in a kneebar to create drama. He intended to use a rope escape once Delucia had secured the submission. Unfortunately, Funaki allowed himself to stray too far from the ropes and was consequently required to tap out.