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Kensho Obayashi (大林 賢将, Ōbayashi Kenshō, born January 27, 1982)[1] is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Zeus. He is currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former three-times World Tag Team Champion alongside The Bodyguard.

Obayashi began his career in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he is a former Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion and three-times Osaka Pro Tag Team Champion, winning the championship once with Gaina and two-times with longtime rival and partner The Bodyguard. Outside of OPW, he is a former NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion, NWA United National Heavyweight Champion and winner of the 2012 Furinkazan Tournament with James Raideen in the Zero1 promotion, and a former Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT).

Obayashi is of Korean descent. His Korean name is Kim Bǒn-u (金 繁優, 김본우), but he used the tsūmei Shigemasa Kanaya (金谷 成格, Kanaya Shigemasa) until he legally changed his name to Kensho Obayashi when he was naturalized in 2011.

Professional Wrestling Career and Boxing Career

Osaka Pro Wrestling (2006–2009)

In the run up to the 2006 Tennozan Finals, a brief video hyped up the debut of a mysterious new wrestler. That man was revealed to be Zeus, who would make his first appearance at that show, first bending a frying pan in a show of strength and then aligning himself with Gaina & Condor, taking out the OPW Seikigun. Soon after joining forces, the group dubbed themselves "Bad Force". Nicknamed "God of Destroy", Zeus went undefeated for several months after his debut. He teamed up with Gaina to win the Osaka Pro Tag Title shortly afterwards,[2] but they would lose them at Hurricane 2007 to Hideyoshi & Masamune in a three-way match also featuring Tsubasa and Flash Moon.[3] Zeus started to break out as a singles wrestler in late 2007, reaching the Tennozan final but losing to the Osaka Pro Champion, Tigers Mask.[4] Super Delfin then started to take an interest in Zeus, offering to teach him more about professional wrestling and give him further training. Despite the rest of Bad Force’s protests, Zeus accepted Delfin’s offer and eventually left the group. After Hurricane 2008, he started the rookie group Blood & Guts (B&G), recruiting Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke and eventually Atsushi Kotoge[5] to join.

In 2008, Zeus started to appear in other promotions, most notably facing and later teaming with veteran Toshiaki Kawada[6] in Hustle. It was in Hustle that he picked up a clean singles win over former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Bob Sapp.[7] Zeus produced his own show in December and hinted at a major announcement at Hurricane 2009. After defeating Bodyguard,[8] Zeus announced that he was going to start training for a career in boxing and that he would be leaving the wrestling industry effective immediately.

Boxing (2009–2010)

He didn’t turn out to be a successful boxer and he announced in July 2010 that he would be returning to professional wrestling in the fall.

Return to Osaka Pro Wrestling (2010–2013)

After retiring from boxing, Obayashi announced his return to professional wrestling in July 2010. His in-ring return was delayed after he underwent further training and spent time to trying to build up body mass after losing a lot of weight for boxing. His official return to wrestling took place in November 2010 at Osaka Pro: Zeus Will Be Back, where he teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto to defeat Akebono and Don Fujii.[9] Shortly after returning, Zeus re-ignited his old rivalry with the Bodyguard. The two traded wins back and forth for months, but eventually formed a tag team in early 2011 after Bodyguard was kicked out of the Joker[10] stable and Zeus saved him from an attack by the rest of Joker. Known collectively as The Big Guns, they would go on to hold the Osaka Pro Tag Team Championship for a short time in early 2011. The Big Guns started to achieve major success in 2013, winning the Osaka Tag Festival and the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship for the second time later that year.[11] In the 2013 Tennozan, Zeus and Bodyguard faced each other in the finals with Zeus coming out victorious.[12] On March 1, 2014, it was announced that Osaka Pro would be folding due to financial difficulties. On April 20, all of its workers became freelancers. It was later announced that the promotion would continue under new management, but Zeus and Bodyguard eventually vacated their all of their championships, and on April 20 wrestled their last match in OPW, teaming with Quiet Storm in a losing effort against Billyken Kid, Bull Armor Takuya and Black Buffalo.[13]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–Present)

On March 28, Zeus and The Bodyguard made their debut for AJPW, defeating Menso re-Oyaji and SUSHI.[14] On May 16, Zeus and The Bodyguard received an opportunity at the World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to defeat defending champions Evolution (Joe Doering and Suwama.[15] Zeus and Bodyguard both participated in the 2014 Ōdō Tournament as singles competitors, with Zeus being eliminated in the second round by eventual winner Go Shiozaki[16] and Bodyguard in the first round by Takao Omori.[16] Zeus and The Bodyguard participated in the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing with 8 points but not making it to the final.[17]

On January 12, 2015, Zeus defeated KENSO to become the new #1 contender to the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[18] On February 7, Zeus failed to capture the championship from Go Shiozaki.[19] Both Zeus and The Bodyguard participated in the 2015 Champion Carnival Tournament, with Zeus finishing the tournament with 3 points in Block B and Bodyguard finishing with 2 points in Block A. On May 31, they received another shot at the World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to defeat Xceed (Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara).[20] On August 15, Zeus and Bodyguard scored a big win, defeating former World Tag Team Champions Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie.[21] The following day, Zeus made his second challenge for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, this time losing to Akebono.[22] Zeus and The Bodyguard participated in the 2015 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, losing their first two matches but managing to win the rest of their matches, and make it into the finals, finishing the tournament with 8 points. In the final, they were defeated by Kento Miyahara and Suwama.[23] On December 23, Zeus and Bodyguard finally captured the World Tag Team Championship, defeating Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori).[24]

On January 10, 2016, after Zeus, Bodyguard, and Billyken Kid defeated Suwama, Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato,[25] Zeus called out for a shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On February 12, at the first day of the Jr.Battle Of Glory, Zeus lost to Kento Miyahara for the vacated Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[26] On February 21, Zeus and Bodyguard retained the World Tag Team Championship against Nextream (Jake Lee and Kento Miyahara).[27] From April 9 to April 24, Zeus participated in the 2016 Champion Carnival Zeus in block B. He finished his block with 10 points, losing only 1 match and advancing to the finals, where he lost to Daisuke Sekimoto.[28] On June 15, Zeus and Bodyguard lost the World Tag Team title to Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi.[29] On November 27, Zeus and Bodyguard defeated Sekimoto and Okabayashi to regain the championship.[30] Zeus and Bodyguard lost the titles to KAI and Kengo Mashimo on May 21, 2017. They regained the titles from KAI and Mashimo on June 11. Zeus and Bodyguard third regn as World Tag Team Champions ended on July 17 when they lost the titles to Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura.

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2011–2014)

Zeus debuted with Zero1 in 2011, taking part in the 2011 Fire Festival, finishing with 3 points and therefore not advancing to the final. In September, he teamed with Masato Tanaka to capture the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship from Kohei Sato and KAMIKAZE.[31] Zeus and Tanaka held the title for over a year, eventually losing them to Yusuke Obata and Shito Ueda in November 2012.[32] Zeus and James Raideen participated in the 2012 Furinkazan tournament, defeating Ueda and Obata in the final on December 15.[33] On February 3, 2013, Kohei Sato and Zeus received an opportunity at the vacated NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, but lost to Zero64 (Akebono and Daisuke Sekimoto).[34] On July 30, Zeus defeated Ikuto Hidaka to win the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship.[35] Zeus held the championship for 6 months, losing it in January 2014 to Tama Williams in his first defense and last appearance in Zero1 to date.[36]

Dramatic Dream Team (2014)

Zeus made his debut for DDT in March 2014, when he and The Bodyguard defeated the Nuru Nuru Brothers (Michael Nakazawa & Tomomitsu Matsunaga).[37] On September 13, Zeus received an opportunity at the DDT Extreme Division Championship, losing against Danshoku Dino in a "Kiss Pin" match.[38] On February 15, Zeus won the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, defeating Soma Takao, but later that day he lost the championship back to Tomomitsu Matsunaga.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Jackhammer (Vertical Suplex Powerslam)
    • Jihad (Argentine Neckbreaker)
  • Signature moves
    • Biceps Explosion (Axe Bomber)
    • Chokeslam
    • Neck Hanging Buster
  • Nicknames
    • God Of Destruction
  • Entrance Theme
    • Stronger by Kanye West (Osaka Pro)[39]

Championship and accomplishments

References

  1. "浪速の筋肉獣"ゼウス 波瀾万丈の人生、プロレスへの思い激白 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports. Retrieved on 2016-04-10.
  2. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=11268
  3. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=11298
  4. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=15176
  5. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=29&nr=394&name=Blood+And+Guts
  6. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=40668
  7. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=27143
  8. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=35847
  9. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=57733
  10. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=29&nr=879&name=JOKER
  11. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=102711
  12. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=105284
  13. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=110269
  14. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=108986
  15. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=111148
  16. 16.0 16.1 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=3066
  17. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=3128
  18. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=123126
  19. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=124381
  20. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=130844
  21. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=135946
  22. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=135947
  23. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=142614
  24. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=143922
  25. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=144969
  26. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=146892
  27. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=147474
  28. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=151401
  29. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=155994
  30. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=165036
  31. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=68916
  32. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=87455
  33. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=89378
  34. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=91251
  35. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=98749
  36. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=106284
  37. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=109168
  38. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=117101
  39. Philip Kreikenbohm. Themes « Zeus . cagematch.net.
  40. Ironman Heavymetalweight Title . wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-22.
  41. 41.0 41.1 Philip Kreikenbohm. Tournaments « Zeus . cagematch.net.
  42. Philip Kreikenbohm. Osaka Tag Festival 2008 . cagematch.net.
  43. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016 . The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
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