Munenori Sawa

Quick Facts

Full Name	Munenori Sawa
Occupation	Professional Wrestler
Date Of Birth	Apr 20, 1979(1979-04-20)
Age	45
Birthplace	Suginami
Country	Japan
Birth City	Tokyo
Horoscope	Aries

Munenori Sawa Biography

Munenori Sawa is one of the most popular and richest Professional Wrestler who was born on April 20, 1979 in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. Munenori Sawa, also known as Ze Zong Ji, Sawa Munenori, was a Japanese professional wrestler who retired in 2009. Sawa was trained and spent his entire career with the Battlarts promotion. He adopted the “Bati Bati”, a style of wrestling that emphasizes submission-based wrestling and stiff strikes. However, he would also often incorporate comedy into his matches as Lingerie Mutoh (ranzieriWu Tu Teng, Ranjeri Muto), his humorous take on Keiji Mutoh. Sawa worked with Battlarts and various promotions in Japan, Germany, and the United States. He was also a member of the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team, NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champion, and won the 2011 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament. Sawa retired on November 9, 2011, four days following the collapse of Battlarts. Sawa has fought in grappling matches for ZST since his retirement from professional wrestling.

Sawa defeated Yuki Ishikawa in the Inoki Genome Federation’s first ever match on June 29, 2007. Sawa won wins over Kazuhiro Tamura and Atsushi Sawada in the IGF’s first ever match. Sawa defeated Akira Joh in IGF’s February 22nd 2010. Chris Daniels defeated Sawa in his first loss at IGF on September 25. Sawa and Taka Kunoh lost their first tag team match in IGF on April 28th 2011. After wrestling Joh to a fifteen-minute time limit draw on July 10, Sawa made his final IGF appearance on September 3, 2011, losing to YuichiroJienotsuNagashima.

On January 15, 2008, Sawa made his debut for Dragon Gate, when he, Dick Togo and Ikuto Hidaka unsuccessfully challenged Don Fujii, K-Ness and Masaaki Mochizuki for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship. On February 10, Sawa and Fujita “Jr.” Hayato won Dragon Gate’s one night Buyuden Cup Tag Tournament. Sawa returned to Dragon Gate on March 22, 2010, when he unsuccessfully challenged Super Shisa for the Open the Brave Gate Championship in a three-way match, which also included Genki Horiguchi.

In the beginning of 2008, most of Zero1-Max’s roster was split up into two opposing camps; Masato Tanaka’s Sword Army and Takao Omori’s Axe Army. Sawa, along with old acquaintance Ikuto Hidaka decided to join the Sword Army and went on to represent the stable in several matches against members of their rival stable. On July 20, Sawa and Hidaka unsuccessfully challenged Axe Army representatives Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship. A rematch between the two teams took place on August 3 in Korakuen Hall, where Sawa and Hidaka were victorious, becoming the new NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champions. Sawa and Hidaka made their first successful defense on August 31 in Battlarts, defeating Yuki Ishikawa and Yuta Yoshikawa. On October 28, Sawa won a one-night qualifying tournament to earn a spot in the 2008 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament. After defeating Takuya Sugawara in his opening round match, Sawa was eliminated from the 2008 Tenkaichi Jr. in the semifinals by Tatsuhito Takaiwa, who went on to win the entire tournament. On December 17, Sawa again unsuccessfully challenged his tag team partner Ikuto Hidaka for the Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship. On February 7, 2009, Sawa and Hidaka made their second successful defense of the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship, first in Zero1, against Great Sasuke and Osamu Namiguchi. Sawa continued teaming with Hidaka throughout 2009, with the two making successful title defenses against the teams of Katsumi Usuda and Minoru, Minoru Fujita and Yusaku Obata, Speed of Sounds (Hercules Senga and Tsutomu Oosugi), and previous champions Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara. On October 24, Sawa and Hidaka defeated Kamikaze and Kohei Sato to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, becoming double tag team champions. In December, Sawa and Hidaka took part in the 2009 Furinkazan, a tag team tournament featuring both junior heavyweight and heavyweight wrestlers. After two wins and one draw, Sawa and Hidaka were defeated in the final day of the tournament by old rivals Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara and, as a result, finished second in their round-robin block, narrowly missing the finals of the tournament. On January 27, 2010, Sawa and Hidaka lost the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship to the 2009 Furinkazan winners, Akebono and Shinjiro Otani. The two then resumed defending the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship, defeating Dragon Gate representatives Masaaki Mochizuki and Super Shisa on February 28, and American promotion Chikara representatives The Osirian Portal (Amasis and Ophidian) on May 8. Finally, after a reign of 766 days, the longest in the title’s history, and eight successful defenses, Sawa and Hidaka lost the NWA International Lightweight Championship to Kaijin Habu Otoko and Takuya Sugawara on September 8, 2010.

Sawa, Lingerie Mutoh and Keiji Mutoh made their first and only appearances for All Japan Pro Wrestling on June 10, 2006.

Munenori Sawa Net Worth

Munenori Sawa is one of the richest Professional Wrestler from Japan. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Munenori Sawa 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Sawa graduated from high school and entered the Battlarts Dojo. There, he was taught amateur wrestling by Yuki Ishikawa, the founder of the promotion, and Tamashii Okamoto. Sawa continued to wrestle in college. Sawa began participating in grappling matches in 2002. He then entered UWF Snakepit Japan where he was further trained in mixed martial arts as well as professional wrestling. Sawa made his professional wrestling debut in August 2003. However, Sawa did not become a full time wrestler until almost two years later. Combat Wrestling hosted a 2005 grappling tournament that saw Sawa win in the 80kg (180 lb class). Sawa lost his first official mixed martial arts match against Takeshi Ono on May 21, 2006. This was due to strikes.

Sawa started his career with Lingerie Mutoh as an alter ego. This was a comedic persona that was based on Keiji Mutoh. Sawa, as Lingerie Mutoh, wore a baldcap, fake hair, and women’s underwear. He also adopted many of Keiji Mutoh’s moves and mannerisms for comic effect, sometimes performing them in an exaggerated way. Sawa, who was known as Lingerie Motoh, made his pro wrestling debut on August 20, 2005 when he teamed up with Haruka Mizuo in an intergender match. They defeated Fugofugo Yumeji and Amazing Kong. Sawa participated in several intergender matches against Kong throughout the month. Sawa lost to Osamu Naguchi in a singles bout on January 24, 2006. Sawa and Namiguchi fought two rematches over the next two months. The first, on February 24, was won a Sawa while the second, was won by Namiguchi on March 28. Sawa and Gentaro formed a brief partnership in June. This led to Sawa receiving his first title shot at Zero1-Max. The two defeated Ikuto Hidaka (and Minoru Fujita) for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship. Sawa returned to Zero1-Max on September 29th, but was unable to challenge Minoru Fujita in the AWA World Junior heavyweight Championship. Sawa started making regular appearances at Zero1-Max in May 2007. He joined Takuya Sugwara, Minoru Fujita, and Ikuto Hidaka to fight Dick Togo’s evil Far East Connection (FEC). Sawa, Fujita, and Sugawara lost the rivalry in August 2nd when Sawa, Fujita, and Takuhito Takaiwa defeated Sawa, Masaaki Mchizuki, and Tatsuhito Takaiwa in a six-man tag match. Sawa fought his most high-profile match in Zero1-Max on September 3. He defeated Takao Omori to the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Sawa won his first Tenkaichi Jr. match against Chad Malenko on September 25. Three days later, Sawa lost to Chad Malenko in his first round match of Tenkaichi Jr. and was then eliminated by Dick Togo in Round 2. Sawa lost to Ikuto Hidaka in the second round of the AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship at the end.

After deciding to become a full-time professional wrestler, Sawa returned to Battlarts in 2005, making the promotion his new home. He made his in-ring debut for the promotion on June 5 in a losing effort against Daisuke Sekimoto. For his first 25 months in the promotion, Sawa was unable to win a single match, losing to the likes of Manabu Hara, Daisuke Ikeda, Viktor Krueger in a WAA Heavyweight Championship match, and Yuki Ishikawa, before finally submitting Michinoku Pro Wrestling’s Fujita “Jr.” Hayato for his first win on July 21, 2007. From October to November, Sawa, along with Yuki Ishikawa, represented Battlarts in Fu-Ten Promotion’s Bati Bati tag team tournament, where they made it to the semifinals, before losing to Takahiro Oba and Takeshi Ono. In late 2007, Sawa began feuding with El Dorado Wrestling representative Toru Owashi. On November 11, Owashi and Manabu Hara defeated Sawa and Ikuto Hidaka in a tag team match via referee stoppage, after Sawa was unable to continue following Owashi’s powerbomb. On December 24, Sawa and Owashi met in a singles match, which Owashi won via knockout following another powerbomb. When Owashi left Battlarts at the end of the year, Sawa started a new rivalry with Alexander Otsuka, with the first exchange between the two taking place on April 6, 2008, when Otsuka and Katsumi Usuda defeated Sawa and Yuki Ishikawa in a tag team match with Otsuka defeating Sawa via knockout following a dragon suplex. Sawa and Otsuka met in a singles match on June 8, when Otsuka was again victorious. Nine days later, Sawa’s and Otsuka’s rivalry led to a match in the Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW) promotion, where Sawa unsuccessfully challenged Otsuka for his Legend Championship. On July 26, Sawa teamed with Otsuka and Yuki Ishikawa in a six-man elimination tag team match, where they wrestled Daisuke Ikeda, Katsumi Usuda and Super Tiger II to a draw. The match received rave reviews and was later recognized as one of the best matches of 2008. The final singles match between Sawa and Otsuka took place on January 10, 2009, when Otsuka defeated Sawa in the first round of the B-Rule grappling tournament. The following July, Sawa took part in the first B1 Climax tournament. After two wins and two losses, Sawa failed to advance from his round-robin block.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Munenori Sawa height 5 ft 9 in Munenori weight 80 kg & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Munenori Sawa Dating?

According to our records, Munenori Sawa is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Munenori Sawa’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Munenori Sawa. You may help us to build the dating records for Munenori Sawa!

On January 15, 2011, Sawa returned to Westside Xtreme Wrestling, when he and Hikaru Sato unsuccessfully challenged Oberhausen Terror Corps (Bad Bones and Carnage) for the wXw World Tag Team Championship. The following day, Sawa entered the Ambition 2 tournament. After wins over Tommy End and Hikaru Sato, Sawa was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Rico Bushido. Sawa returned to Kaiju Big Battel in on October 14, 2011, taking part in an event in Brooklyn, New York.

Facts & Trivia

Munenori Ranked on the list of most popular Professional Wrestler. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Japan. Munenori Sawa celebrates birthday on April 20 of every year.

Later in September, Sawa again made it to the semifinals of the Tenkaichi Jr. tournament, before losing to tag team partner Ikuto Hidaka. In the 2010 Furinkazan, Sawa opted to team with DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pancrase representative Hikaru Sato instead of Hidaka. However, with a record of one win and three losses, the team finished nowhere near a place in the finals. Despite their unimpressive tournament, Sawa and Sato received a shot at the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship on January 1, 2011, but were unable to dethrone Kaijin Habu Otoko and Takuya Sugawara. On March 6 at Zero1’s tenth anniversary event, Sawa attempted to win his first singles title in the promotion, but was defeated by Craig Classic in his match for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. On March 27, Sawa reunited with Ikuto Hidaka for a rematch for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship, but the two were again defeated by Otoko and Sugawara. On June 14, Sawa took part in Dick Togo’s Zero1 retirement match, where he, Fujita “Jr.” Hayato and Masato Tanaka were defeated by Togo, Funaki and Ikuto Hidaka. On September 14, Sawa entered the 2011 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament with a win over Takuya Sugawara. After defeating Susumu Yokosuka in the semifinals, Sawa defeated Fujita “Jr.” Hayato on September 17 to win the tournament. As a result, Sawa received another shot at the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, however, this time Zero1’s version of the title, on October 2, but was again defeated by Craig Classic. On November 6, the day after the folding of Battlarts, Sawa wrestled his retirement match as Lingerie Mutoh, losing to World Wonder Ring Stardom representative Yoshiko. Three days later, Sawa was defeated by longtime tag team partner Ikuto Hidaka in his professional wrestling retirement match. At the end of the year, Zero1 fans voted Sawa the 2011 MVP.