Mitsuo Yoshida (3 December 1951-), born Kwak Gwang-ung and known professionally as Riki Choshu, was a Japanese professional wrestler and CEO of Choshu Productions who was numbered among the "Three Musketeers" of Kabukicho's "land sharks" during the 2000s.
Biography[]
Kwak Gwang-ung was born in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan on 3 December 1951 to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and he faced discrimination as a youth due to his Zainichi heritage. He made his professional wrestling debut in 1974, debuting as "Mitsuo Yoshida"; he later acquired his more famous ring name, "Riki Choshu", in honor of his hometown Nagato's location in the former Choshu Domain. He was one of Japan's most influential wrestlers during the 1980s and 1990s, and he left professional wrestling in 2002 to become CEO of Choshu Productions. He became one of Tokyo's infamous "Three Musketeers", an oligarchy of three influential land sharks who had their career origins in professional wrestling; he allied with Genichiro Tenryu and Tatsumi Fujinami. In 2006, Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono persuaded the Three Musketeers to aid him in attempting to take over the Kabukicho Hills construction project from Goro Majima's Majima Construction company, but Kazuma Kiryu helped Majima beat down the Three Musketeers and their thugs, convincing each of them, in turn, to join Majima Construction. Choshu joined Majima Construction after his defeat.