Shoichi Funaki is a Japanese-American professional wrestler primarily known for his time with the WWF/WWE. Born in Tokyo, Japan, Funaki moved to the U.S. to further his career in the 1990s and now is heading a wrestling school in San Antonio, Texas. Although no longer with the WWE, Funaki continues to wrestle and has amassed a number of professional accomplishments around the world throughout his lengthy career.
Early Years
Born on Aug. 24, 1968, Shoichi Funaki started his professional wrestling career in 1990. Despite his small stature of 5 foot 7 and 180 lbs., Funaki started in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi as a shoot wrestler, employing high power maneuvers and strikes in his early career. While he stayed with the company as it transitioned to becoming the Battlarts promotion, Funaki began incorporating high-flying, lucha-libre style maneuvers into his repertoire and eventually moved to the lucha libre-based Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion. Funaki made appearances for other promotions during this time, including a tenure as Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association's middleweight champion from March 19 to May 24, 1997.
Early WWF/WWE Career
At the age of 29, Funaki signed with the World Wrestling Federation and moved to the U.S. Joined by Men's Teioh and Dick Togo, Funaki and his partners from Michinoku Pro Wrestling introduced their Japanese faction to the U.S. on March 30, 1998. Known as Kai En Tai in both Japan and the U.S., this faction made its debut by feuding with its former partner, Taka Michinoku. Michinoku eventually joined Kai En Tai and formed a tag team with Funaki that lasted from 1998 to 2001. During this time, Funaki briefly held the WWF Hardcore Championship title on April 2, 2000, and the Texas Wrestling Alliance's Heavyweight Championship title in July 2000.
Solo WWE Career
While all of his Kai En Tai partners had left the WWE by 2002, Funaki continued to wrestle in both the hardcore and cruiserweight divisions. In addition to his work in the ring, Funaki served as a backstage interviewer and announcer through 2003. Despite having little success in his early years as a singles wrestler, Funaki eventually established himself as a top contender in the cruiserweight division and won the title on Dec. 12, 2004. After losing the title on Feb. 20, 2005, Funaki unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim it on multiple occasions, suffering numerous setbacks due to in-ring injuries between 2005 and 2008.
Later Years and Departure from WWE
As his on-stage presence began to decline, Funaki adopted a martial arts gimmick and rebranded himself as "Kung Fu Naki" on Oct. 10, 2008. Despite having both tag team and singles success in his few televised appearances as this new character, Funaki made few televised appearances between Dec. 5, 2008, and Wrestlemania XXVI on March 28, 2010. Following his Battle Royal loss at Wrestlemania, Funaki was released from the company on April 22, 2010.
Post-WWE
During his later years and after leaving the WWE, Funaki made limited appearances for a number of Japanese promotions, including a one-time appearance at the Puroresu King Indy Summit in 2006 and two appearances with Pro Wrestling Zero1 in 2010. Despite these brief returns to Japan, Funaki began working with San Antonio's River City Wrestling in 2010 to head his own wrestling school. Announced on Nov. 29, 2010, the FU Dojo opened in San Antonio in early 2011; Funaki serves as both the trainer and coach of developing professional wrestlers.
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