Kai (wrestler)

Kai
Kai holding the Wrestle-1 Championship belt in May 2016
Birth nameAtsushi Sakai[1]
Born (1983-05-20) May 20, 1983 (age 41)[1][2][3]
Yokohama, Kanagawa[1][2][3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kai[2]
Billed height1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)[1][2][3]
Billed weight87 kg (192 lb)[1][4] (as a junior heavyweight)
100 kg (220 lb)[2][3] (as a heavyweight)
Trained byAnimal Hamaguchi[5]
Kaz Hayashi
Keiji Mutoh
Virus
DebutFebruary 22, 2007[1][2]

Atsushi Sakai (境 敦史, Sakai Atsushi, born May 20, 1983)[1][2][3] is a Japanese professional wrestler better known under the ring name Kai (stylized in all capital letters). Best known for his work in the All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, Kai is an accomplished junior heavyweight wrestler, having won the World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice and the Junior League also twice (2008 and 2011), while he and Kaz Hayashi also won the 2011 Junior Tag League. In August 2012, Kai announced that he was ending his junior heavyweight days and becoming a heavyweight wrestler. After taking a seven-month break from in-ring action, Kai returned to All Japan in March 2013, now working as a heavyweight wrestler. However, the following July, Kai quit All Japan following a change in the promotion's management and joined the new Wrestle-1 promotion. In March 2015, Kai won the promotion's top title, the Wrestle-1 Championship. He went on to win the title two more times, before quitting Wrestle-1 in December 2016 to become a freelancer.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Kai". Puroresu Spirit. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Kai". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Kai". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  4. ^ "Kai". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference KaiHamaguchiTNA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).