The Underrated Files: Hakushi

Say I wanted you to think of some WWE Superstars that came from ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’, Japan. Most assuredly, the most common names you or any WWE fan came up with would be Hall Of Famer Mr. Fuji, Tajiri, maybe Taka Michinoku or Sho Funaki and more recently, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa. Maybe even a less-remembered man named Kenzo Suzuki and perhaps another Hall Of Famer in Tatsumi Fujinami, but one that is often forgotten about would be that of ‘The Modern Day Kamikaze’, ‘The White Angel’, Hakushi.

Born Kensuki Shinzaki in Tokushima, Japan on December 2nd, 1966, Hakushi is a former soccer player who trained in amateur wrestling while in high school, but went on to become an actor before thinking of joining the professional wrestling ranks. He received minimal success with his acting chops, which led him to pursue the squared circle in 1992 after meeting one of Japan’s all-time greats, Gran Hamada. He began training under this legend, originally learning the Mexican style of lucha libre before making his pro debut under a mask. Named Mongolian Yuga for Hamada’s Universal Lucha Libre promotion, a company that was the first of its kind in Japan based around the style. Shinzaki wouldn’t spend much time there, leaving the promotion in 1993 to follow another Japanese legend, The Great Sasuke, as they headed to an upstart company called Michinoku Pro Wrestling.

Shinzaki would unmask and take on a new persona as Jinsei Shinzaki, a Buddhist pilgrim gimmick that really allowed him to hone his very original style, slow and meditated. Without knowing it, the gimmick also showed he had entertainment value as his entrance became just as interesting, dressed in white robes, carrying a shakujo staff and donning a hat that would be comparable to one worn by Raiden of the Mortal Kombat games.

He was a silent heel and would feud against the aforementioned Great Sasuke, but the intrigue of his character would lead to people getting behind him. This unforseen change caused a babyface turn to help his now-former rival. In 1994, Shinzaki wrestled on a World Wrestling Federation tour of Japan, catching the right eyes. The upstart quickly found himself being offered a contract in what could be considered unusual for a man who had only been competing roughly two years.

In late 1994, he would arrive in the WWF using the same gimmick, but under his new name Hakushi, meaning “White Master”. He added Buddhist shakyo text all over his body (which referenced a famed Japanese tale and folk character, Hoichi the Earless) and Hakushi would receive a solid push upon his entry to the United States. The going was good early, picking up victories with the help of his new manager Shinja over jobbers like Matt Hardy, as well as mid-card talents such as Aldo Montoya and The 1-2-3 Kid. He was something that fans in America had never seen before, a mixture of lucha libre and what would be known today as strong style, showing off his athleticism with awe-inspiring moves like an Asai moonsault or a back handspring moonsault over the top rope to an opponent on the floor. Hell, he was even the first man I saw execute a bronco buster, although it didn’t have the same kind of connotation it would have later on during the Attitude Era. Additionally, he brought the wrestling style known as lucharesu to the WWF, which saw him not use one single finishing maneuver, but would imply a variety of moves that could end a match.

‘The White Angel’ would have a brief alliance with the masked Superstar Kwang (Savio Vega) before turning on him, then would embark on his most notable rivalry in the WWF against the legendary Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart. If you ever saw ‘The Excellence of Execution’ and Hakushi go one-on-one, those matches still hold up to this day and even Bret himself has credited ‘The Modern Day Kamikaze’ as being innovative and very technically sound. Unfortunately, Hakushi would generally come out on the losing end of those confrontations and for one reason or another, he never saw the same success. He would move on to a feud with perennial jobber Barry Horowitz, even shockingly losing a match to him in what I remember being a surprising move, even as a 9-year old. Hakushi would never reach the heights he once saw with his matches against ‘The Hitman’ and would eventually leave the company in 1996 when his contract expired.

It’s not really known what exactly happened or why Hakushi was not more of a player in the WWF, as he was supremely talented and still a relatively young man at the time of his departure. I have previously covered a number of classic WWF pay-per-views, which is where I gained a newfound respect and appreciation for not only Hakushi’s character, but also what he could do in the ring given the time period. I’ve always been a fan of characters that were a little darker like The Undertaker or Bray Wyatt, but perhaps he was too far ahead of his time to be fully appreciated by the company or fans alike.

I would highly recommend looking up some of his work. You might end up saying, “Wow, did you see that?!”, or possibly wondering, “How did this guy not get a longer stint?”. I’d also argue that if he could time travel to today’s current wrestling landscape, I probably would have had a lot more to write about.