Masakatsu Funaki
Japanese professional wrestler
船木誠勝 · 후나키 마사카쓰
- Born
- 13 March 1969, Hirosaki
- Citizenship
- Japan
- Sport
- mixed martial arts, professional wrestling
- Occupation
- professional wrestler, mixed martial arts fighter, actor
- Height
- 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Masaharu Funaki (Japanese: 船木 優治, Funaki Masaharu; born March 13, 1969) is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as Masakatsu Funaki (船木 誠勝, Funaki Masakatsu), who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), and Wrestle-1 (W-1). He is also the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations and non-rehearsed shoot wrestling promotions (following five years after the inception of Shooto but predating America's Ultimate Fighting Championship). Funaki was also Pancrase's biggest star; Josh Barnett described him as the "symbol of Japan", Frank Shamrock labeled Funaki "the golden boy" of Pancrase, and Guy Mezger called Funaki "hands down the smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock".
Awards and honours
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
Films
| Film | Year | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie | 1994 | cast |
Teachers
- Yoshiaki Fujiwara
- Antonio Inoki
- Karl Gotch
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q2080446 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.