Kenta Kobayashi

"KENTA" redirects here. For other uses, see Kenta.
Not to be confused with Kenta Kobashi.
Kenta Kobayashi
Kobayashi in 2023
Birth nameKenta Kobayashi (小林 健太, Kobayashi Kenta)
Born (1981-03-12) March 12, 1981 (age 43)[1]
Sōka, Saitama, Japan[1][2]
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Halimao
Hideo Itami[3]
KENTA[4]
Kenta Kobayashi
Billed height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[4]
Billed weight85 kg (187 lb)[4]
Billed fromTokyo, Japan[3]
Trained byAll Japan Dojo[5]
Kenta Kobashi[6]
Yoshihiro Takayama[6]
DebutMay 24, 2000[1]

Kenta Kobayashi (小林 健太, Kobayashi Kenta, born March 12, 1981),[1] known mononymously as Kenta (stylised in all caps), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Bullet Club stable. A former amateur kickboxer, Kobayashi's wrestling style is based upon strong kicks and strikes. Kobayashi pioneered both the Go 2 Sleep and Busaiku Knee kick finishing manoeuvres, later popularized by CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, respectively.

Kobayashi started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), before moving to Pro Wrestling Noah; through Noah's involvement in the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA), a global organization of cooperative promotions that allow their competitors to travel abroad to other companies, he has wrestled extensively in American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH).[7] In Noah, he was a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion,[8] three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and one-time GHC Tag Team Champion. He was also the winner of the 2012 Global League and the 2013 Global Tag League tournaments.

He is also well known for his tenure in American promotion WWE where he worked under the name Hideo Itami (ヒデオ・イタミ) in the company's developmental territory NXT and later in their cruiserweight exclusive brand 205 Live. In 2019, he departed from WWE, and in May, appeared for NJPW, announcing his participation in that year's G1 Climax and aligned with former tag partner Katsuyori Shibata. He turned on Shibata and joined the Bullet Club, and has since held the Strong Openweight Championship twice and the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight Championship and the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship once each.

  1. ^ a b c d "Kenta". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference USA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Hideo Itami". WWE. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  4. ^ a b c "KENTA Profile". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  5. ^ "KENTA". Puroresu Central. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Podgorski, Alexander (March 3, 2019). "Hideo Itami in WWE, how did it all go so wrong?". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  7. ^ "Global Professional Wrestling Alliance!". Pro Wrestling Zero1. 2006-09-12. Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  8. ^ "Global Honored Crown Junior Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Noah. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-07-20.