(born Kim Il-Sung (김일성); October 31, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wrestling career Kanemoto practiced Judo during his high school days and won a few championships as a professional before being recruited by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Dojo. He debuted in November 1990, wrestling against Michiyoshi Ohara. In March 1992, he portrayed Tiger Mask in its third incarnation, succeeding Mitsuharu Misawa. In January 1994, he famously lost a "mask vs. mask" match against popular cruiserweight Jushin Thunder Liger at Battlefield. Since 1994 he has wrestled under his own name for NJPW. His style used to be the classic junior heavyweight wrestling, but repeated high-flying moves, the fans' change in taste, and inherent damage on his body put an incentive on him to use shoot-style taught by Kazuo Yamazaki, largely as a modification of his wrestling persona. Hard shoot kicks combined with scientific wrestling are his current trademark along with the facewash, which always gets the crowd going in a football stadium-like chant. Kanemoto was the first man to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in the United States, a match against Alex Wright at Starrcade '95: World Cup of Wrestling (although World Championship Wrestling did not announce it as such). He also holds a victory over revered MMA fighter Kazushi Sakuraba in shoot-style wrestling. He worked for a few matches for WCW. In the early 2000s Kanemoto formed a popular tag team with Minoru Tanaka called "Jr. Stars" the 2 enjoyed a lengthy reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, but before they could receive a rematch for their titles, Kanemoto was injured. Kanemoto made a very controversial return, turning on Tanaka and siding with Masahiro Chono's "Team 2000" Stable. As a reward for his defection Chono gave him his own sub-group to lead named "Team 2000 Jr."; among their ranks were Gedo, Jado, & Akira. During this time, Kanemoto wore entrance gear very similar to Chono, as a way to show "he was a boss". After Team 2000 dissolved he became a calmer, much more calculating individual and it was apparent that his days of a rude, arrogant punk were over. In 2003, in an attempt to regain the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles from rival promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, he formed a