Kenta Kobayashi

Kenta Kobayashi (小林 健太, Kobayashi Kenta; born March 12, 1981), known mononymously as Kenta (stylised in all caps), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion in his second reign. A former amateur kickboxer, Kobayashi's wrestling style is based upon strong kicks and strikes. Kobayashi pioneered both the Go 2 Sleep and Busaiku Knee kick finishing manoeuvres, later popularized by CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, respectively.

Kobayashi started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), before moving to Pro Wrestling Noah; through Noah's involvement in the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA), a global organization of cooperative promotions that allow their competitors to travel abroad to other companies, he has wrestled extensively in American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). In Noah, he was a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and one-time GHC Tag Team Champion. He was also the winner of the 2012 Global League and the 2013 Global Tag League tournaments.

He is also well known for his tenure in American promotion WWE where he worked under the name Hideo Itami (ヒデオ・イタミ) in the company's developmental territory NXT and later in their cruiserweight exclusive brand 205 Live. In 2019, he departed from WWE, and in May, appeared for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), announcing his participation in that year's G1 Climax and aligned with former tag partner Katsuyori Shibata. He turned on Shibata and joined the Bullet Club, and has since held the Strong Openweight Championship twice and the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight Championship and the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship once each. He silently departed from NJPW in January 2025 and returned to Pro Wrestling Noah the following month.

Kobayashi was born on March 12, 1981, in Sōka, Japan. He trained under Kenta Kobashi and Yoshihiro Takayama.

Prior to wrestling professionally, Kobayashi had a variety of athletic backgrounds, practicing baseball and kickboxing; the latter came to be a strong foundation in his wrestling style often referred to as shoot style. Kobayashi made his professional wrestling debut on May 24, 2000, against future ally and rival, Naomichi Marufuji, in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) to compete in their junior heavyweight division. He did not remain in the company long as Mitsuharu Misawa, acting president of AJPW, decided to leave the company following a dispute, leading to Misawa forming his own company, Pro Wrestling Noah.

One of Misawa's focuses in his new promotion was the junior heavyweight division, which never was treated with high regard in AJPW despite the successes in other promotions. Being sidelined with injuries for the majority of Noah's first year of operation, Kobayashi made his return in July 2001, simply named Kenta.

Kenta's first involvement in a championship situation came when Naomichi Marufuji was forced to vacate the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship after suffering a knee injury; Kenta entered into the tournament held to determine a new champion. He advanced to the finals by defeating Kotaro Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi before losing to Yoshinobu Kanemaru on the Navigation with Breeze Tour in June 2002. Following his relative success in the tournament, Kenta had an increase in his popularity, and he joined his mentor, Kenta Kobashi, in the faction Burning.

March 1, 2003, saw Kenta team with Naomichi Marufuji for the first time against Makoto Hashi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a winning effort. They began teaming regularly as the two entered into a tournament to christen the first GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions during the company's Accomplish Our Third Navigation tour; they went to win the tournament by defeating junior heavyweight veterans Jyushin Thunder Liger and Takehiro Murahama in the finals on July 16. While defending the tag team title, Kenta continued his venture in hopes of winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight title once again on November 30, 2003, in an unsuccessful bid against Takashi Sugiura.