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Akira Maeda is a Korean Japanese professional wrestler, also known as Kwik-kik-Lee for his time on the British Wrestling show World of Sport. He is best known as the innovator of the shoot-style of professional wrestling, as the top star of the second incarnation of the Universal Wrestling Federation during the late 80's.

Career

New Japan

A former karate student, Maeda entered the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in 1978 and debuted the same year. Easily able to absorb and apply the "Strong Style" set as New Japan's norm by Antonio Inoki, he was a strong member of the undercard and, like many New Japan stars before and after him, embarked on a foreign tour to the United Kingdom, where he adopted the Kwik-kik-Lee moniker.

In 1983, he participated in the first International Wrestling Grand Prix tournament, won by Hulk Hogan. He was one of three Japanese entrants to the international tournament, alongside Inoki and Rusher Kimura.

In 1984, he, Kimura, and other New Japan defectors formed the Japanese UWF. It folded just a year later, and Maeda returned to New Japan, where he soon became one of their biggest stars. For the next few years, he would become more known for his actions outside the ring than his actions inside. He became involved in a real-life feud with New Japan booker and top star, Antonio Inoki, refusing to work with him in what could have been a huge moneymaking program.

In April of 1986, he was involved in one of the most surreal moments in wrestling history, when his match with Andre The Giant took a dangerous turn. Neither man could agree to losing the match, and for the next 15 minutes, Maeda proceeded to shoot kick Andre's legs and then back off, while the giant could only stand there defenseless. This resulted in Andre voluntarily lying down to be pinned by Akira, which Akira refused to do. Antonio Inoki eventually came to the ring and demanded the match to end, much to the bewilderment of the audience.

The most infamous moment of his career came on November 19, 1987. During a six-man tag team match, as Riki Choshu was putting opponent, Osamu Kido, in a Scorpion Deathlock, Maeda delivered a legitimate kick to Choshu's face, breaking his orbital bone. The resulting injury would sideline Choshu for well over a month. Maeda was suspended, and later fired, by New Japan.

UWF

In 1988, Maeda reformed the Universal Wrestling Federation with Nobuhiko Takada and others, this time as its number one star, using the notoriety he gained in New Japan to draw large crowds. In the UWF, he became the biggest draw in Japan, and his emphasis on clean finishes influenced other promotions, such as New Japan and All-Japan Pro Wrestling to follow suit. Maeda's UWF became the first promotion to hold a show at the Tokyo Dome, drawing 60,000 to watch Maeda defeat Willie Williams in the main event.

RINGS

In 1990, the UWF dissolved due to disagreements over the direction of the company. Maeda would go on to form Fighting Network RINGS in 1991, while Nobuhiko Takada formed Union of Wrestling Force International with most of the UWF roster. Fighting Network RINGS would no longer bill itself as wrestling. In 1997, after the collapse of UWF International, Maeda switched his promotion's style from shoot-style to real mixed martial arts fighting.

In 1999 he retired from active competition after a match against three-time Olympic Gold medalist Alexander Karelin, drawing an incredible gate of $2.5 million. The match gained widespread media coverage, including mentions in The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.

RINGS folded in 2002, due to the growing popularity of PRIDE.

Hero's

In 2006, he partnered with K-1 parent organization FEG to create Hero's, a new MMA circuit which continued K-1's earlier efforts into MMA.

Finishing and signature moves

Championships and accomplishments

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Other

Trivia

  • Maeda has said that he developed an interest in martial arts as a schoolboy while watching the "Ultraman" television series, and by his high school years his only interests were motorcycles and karate.

  • Maeda was born a third-generation zainichi kankokujin, or person maintaining his Korean nationality although permanently residing in Japan, and thus also bears the Korean name Il-Myung Koh. However, he has since taken Japanese citizenship and has ceased to use his Korean name, and has stated in interviews that he made this change because he was disappointed by the discriminatory treatment he and other zainichi received from native Koreans.

Japanese professional wrestlers | Zainichi Koreans

前田日明

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Akira Maeda".

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