Stalker Ichikawa

Kanji Ichikawa (市川 寛二, Ichikawa Kanji; born October 12, 1974), better known by his stage name "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa (“ハリウッド”ストーカー市川, “Hariuddo” Sutōkā Ichikawa), is a Japanese retired professional wrestler he is best known tenure for Dragon Gate.

A member of Último Dragón's Toryumon Dojo second class gifted with an extensive amateur wrestling background, Ichikawa is one of the many comedy characters whose purpose is more based on entertaining the fans than it is to actually win matches. Stalker's matches do not last very long, often within five to ten minutes tops. His offenses would have little to no effect on his opponents and they would simply side-step whenever he attempts any sort of high flying move. In some cases, just as Stalker is about to be hit by his opponent's finisher someone, usually his wife Namiko, would throw in the towel to stop the match. The opponent would still hit him with his finisher shortly after. He is very good friends with CIMA and Don Fuji, though the two have no problem beating him up many times to the delight of the fans.

Stalker gained mass popularity with the Reckless Run series. When not wrestling a regular member of the Dragon Gate roster, he would face an endless run of X opponents of great importance. Among those he had faced during the series included The Great Kabuki, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Kintaro Kanemura, Yoshihiro Takayama, Toshiaki Kawada, and even female wrestlers such as Aja Kong.

When Stalker started out in Japan in 1999, he had a legendary rivalry with Crazy MAX member TARU, the two having many comedy-themed matches. Eventually, he began to occasionally team with TARU and was made an honorary member of Crazy MAX in August 2000. He was promoted to full member after gaining his first victory, scoring the pin in a Hair vs. Mask tag team match where he and TARU beat M2K's Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda. His affiliation with the group would not last, however, for he was booted out three months later on the grounds that he did not fit their heel image. In 2002, he became the first member of the Toryumon roster to marry when he married Namiko. Stalker would rejoin CIMA and Don Fujii after Crazy MAX ended in November 2004 in their new stable, Waku Waku Fuji Land, but when CIMA and Don Fujii renamed the stable to Blood Generation in January, Stalker was booted out for not meeting the strength principle set by the group.

In late 2006, Stalker Ichikawa announced he would be retiring to spend more time with Namiko. On November 12, 2006, Dragon Gate held the Stalker Bom-Ba-Ye show at Shinjuk FACE in Tokyo. In addition to regular Dragon Gate matches featuring the likes of CIMA, Don Fuji, BxB Hulk and Gamma along with guests such as Mr. Pogo, Onryo, and Kevin Steen, the show centered on a series of three matches between Stalker Ichikawa and Akira Tozawa. The first, which opened the show, was a Stalker victory in a Miki Bean Jam Filled Rice Cake Eating Contest, where the first to successfully eat three would win. Half-way through the show, Akira would win in a regular wrestling match that saw members of Akira's Tozawajuku faction as well as CIMA and Don Fuji getting involved. The main event was Akira defeating Stalker in a Vale Tudo fight.

Stalker's retirement lasted a week and was talked into returning to the ring by his wife Namiko. He honoured the stipulation of retiring the Stalker Ichikawa name and returned as Stalker Ichikawa Z. Not long after returning, he engaged in another Reckless Run series which included him facing Pro Wrestling Noah superstar Jun Akiyama.

In 2007, Stalker was invited to wrestle in the United States for the first time in his career. Joining CIMA, Don Fuji, and the Muscle Outlaw'z of Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino, he competed on the two-night Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament event for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at the Burbank National Guard Armory in Burbank, California. On May 19, Stalker opened the first night's show in a loss to Don Fuji. He would open night two on May 20 against one of the PWG Six in Top Gun Talwar, once again on the losing end though walking away with a greater fan base.

Upon his return from the United States, it was announced on May 25 that he would change his name to "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa. He also introduced the Open the Owarai Gate Championship, nicknamed O2G and Open the Comedy Gate, with him as its first champion. The idea would be that the belt could only change hands from earning a particular set of laughter from the audience regardless if the champion lost the actual match itself.