Great Sasuke

Great Sasuke, written The Great Sasuke in his ring name, is Masanori Murakawa, a Japanese professional wrestler, wrestling promoter and politician born on 18 July 1969. After failing the entrance exams of New Japan Pro-Wrestling he joined Universal Lucha Libre and debuted on 1 March 1990. A tour of Mexico with the Universal Wrestling Association gave him the masked ninja character Ninja Sasuke, which he adapted on returning to Japan as The Great Sasuke. He then left Universal Lucha Libre with a group of wrestlers and founded Michinoku Pro Wrestling in 1993, the first Japanese independent promotion not based around Tokyo. Outside the ring he served as a legislator in the Iwate Prefectural Assembly, and he is known for his tolerance of pain and for injuries that include a cracked skull on two occasions. He continues to wrestle in Japan and on independent circuits in the United States.