is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW). His style is a combination of submission wrestling and hard, martial arts style strikes.
Professional wrestling career
Kaientai Dojo/Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2001-present) Kengo Mashimo debuted in Puerto Rico in 2001 as one of the first Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo)'s students. Once Kaientai Dojo arrived in Japan in April 2002, Mashimo started as a wrestler using a grappling and shoot style, finishing his opponents quickly by KO or TKO before starting a short series of matches with Isami which Mashimo lost 3-1, but in doing so, won a lot of crowd support for his fire and spirit. Mashimo did not affiliate with any units in the early years, instead choosing to fight anyone. 2003 also saw Mashimo have his biggest match in his career since debuting as a wrestler, taking on NJPW junior legend Jyushin Thunder Liger in an impressive match which opened eyes to him. He also travelled to some other promotions that year, including Riki Choshu's World Japan. In 2004, he allied with Kunio Toshima and SUPER-X but never officially making a faction. Toshima & Mashimo won the UWA and UWF Intercontinental tag team titles, but vacated them after winning due to winning them in a Handicap match in the tournament final as Hi69's partner, MIYAWAKI was injured earlier in the night. Mashimo also got the biggest chance of his career, challenging Heat for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He also made it to the STRONGEST-K '04 finals that year after dispatching of Taka Michinoku in the semifinals. However, Mashimo was defeated by Hi69 in the finals at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall.
In 2005, under the guidance of former Far East Connection manager, 296, Kengo Mashimo formed a stable along with KAZMA called Kinnoutou and Kinnoutou started to dominate, eventually taking in Ryota Chikuzen and Kunio Toshima as well. Mashimo and KAZMA though were the most successful of the group, Mashimo going undefeated from the formation of Kinnoutou and did not drop a fall until well after he left the group. Kengo Mashimo and KAZMA won the first Strongest-K Tag Team tournament and were crowned the first ever Strongest-K Tag Team Champions, the two dominating the tag team scene in K-DOJO as they also won the UWA and UWF Intercontinental Tag Team titles, absorbing them into the STRONGEST-K Tag Team title. When K-DOJO split its roster into two, Mashimo, along with the rest of his Kinnoutou allies were drafted to GET. Mashimo's singles dominance was also highlighted with winning the STRONGEST-K '05 tournament, defeating Yuji Hino in one of the longest singles matches in K-DOJO history.
Early 2006, saw Mashimo and KAZMA lose their first ever tag match together, losing the STRONGEST-K Tag Team title in February to Makoto Oishi and Shiori Asahi. After losing, signs of friction started to grow in Kinnoutou with Kunio Toshima's sense of justice saving TAKU Michinoku from a Kinnoutou attack. Mashimo and Toshima battled each other until Mashimo defeated Toshima in April. Mashimo resumed his quest to become the ace of K-DOJO and became the first man to win the STRONGEST-K tournament twice by defeating Saburo Inematsu in the final and after his win, he left Kinnoutou and jumped to RAVE where he was a lone wolf after rejecting attempts from New Standard, Kashiwa Gumi and the Boso Heroes. Finally, after two years of chasing, Mashimo finally gained K-DOJO's Strongest-K Championship title by defeating the popular JOE and became the ace of the company. After joining RAVE and winning the Strongest-K Championship, Mashimo started a rival partnership with the newly unmasked Madoka. Mashimo also appeared regularly on Big Mouth Loud and later Uwai Station shows.