Michael Majalahti

Michael Majalahti

Majalahti in 2012
Birth name Michael Majalahti[1]
Born (1973-04-24) April 24, 1973[2]
Timmins, Ontario, Canada[1]
Residence Espoo, Finland[3]
Website starbuck.fi
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Michael Wildside[2]
Natural[2]
StarBuck[1]
Billed height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3][4]
Billed weight 102 kg (225 lb)[3][4]
Trained by Lance Storm[3]
Karl Moffat[3]
Debut January 7, 1994[3]

Michael Majalahti[1] (born April 24, 1973)[2] is a Canadian-Finnish professional wrestler, singer and artist, better known by the stage name "The Canadian Rebel" StarBuck. His bands include Stoner Kings, Overnight Sensation and Crossfyre. Majalahti also works as a play-by-play commentator for the Finnish broadcasts of WWE programming on Eurosport.[5]

A pioneer in Finnish professional wrestling and the head trainer of his home promotion, Fight Club Finland (FCF), Majalahti has trained talent all across the Nordic countries and has won several championships across Europe. In 2010, Majalahti became a main eventer in Japanese promotion Smash, leading FCF's invasion of the promotion and feuding with the promotion's public face, Tajiri, for the Finnish Heavyweight Championship.[6] Having worked several main events and scoring major victories over Japanese legends, he finished with a win–loss record of 15–5 in the promotion.[6][7][8] In October 2011, StarBuck defeated Tajiri in the finals of a tournament to become the first ever Smash Champion.[9] Afterwards, StarBuck continued working in Tajiri's new Wrestling New Classic (WNC) promotion, winning the promotion's top title, the WNC Championship, in February 2014. StarBuck's popularity in Japan has been attributed to him presenting the locals with a new form of European professional wrestling, which has been described as an '80s American and a Stampede Wrestling style. He has been called a "pioneer of the new generation of European wrestling".[10]

Early life

Majalahti was born to Finnish parents in Timmins, Ontario, Canada on April 24, 1973.[1][2] Growing up as a fan of professional wrestling, Majalahti moved to Calgary in 1992 to pursue art college, before he started working for local wrestling promotion Rocky Mountain Pro Wrestling as a ring announcer and play-by-play commentator.[1] Majalahti became friends with future WWE wrestlers Edge, Christian, Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. Storm, after seeing the potential in him, agreed to become his trainer.[1]

Professional wrestling career

Europe

Majalahti, adopting the ring name StarBuck, made his professional wrestling debut on January 7, 1994, facing his trainer Lance Storm.[1] In 1996, Majalahti moved to Finland due to Canada's economic recession and quickly made himself a name on the Nordic professional wrestling scene, becoming a pioneer of professional wrestling in Finland, working and training talent for the first Finnish professional wrestling promotion, Valhalla Pro Wrestling, which went bankrupt in 2004. VPW was followed by Pro Wrestling Finlandia, which was in 2006 replaced by Fight Club Finland (FCF).[1] Throughout his years in the business, Majalahti has wrestled in countries such as Egypt, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, United States, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, France, among others,[1][3] and has had a hand in training wrestling talent all across Scandinavia since 2003.[2] Wrestling on the European independent circuit, he has won the Italian Heavyweight Championship (IWS), the Italian Intercontinental Championship (IWS), the Finnish Wrestling Championship (PWF and FCF), the British Wrestling Alliance Catchweight Championship (BWA), the TopCatch European Heavyweight Championship (TopCatch/VDB), and the European Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (WS).[1]

Smash

StarBuck after a match

In 2010, StarBuck booked former WWE wrestler Tajiri for Fight Club Finland's biggest event of the year. Following the appearance, Tajiri, especially impressed with StarBuck's charisma, asked him to be a part of his new Smash promotion.[10] StarBuck made his Japanese debut for Smash on May 29, 2010, at Smash.3, appearing in a video to start an invasion storyline involving wrestlers from FCF.[11] After several more videos and a match, where FCF wrestler Valentine lost the Finnish Heavyweight Championship to Tajiri, StarBuck announced that he was going come to Japan in person to reclaim his promotion's title.[12] StarBuck made his Smash wrestling debut on July 24 at Smash.5, squashing Hajime Ohara, winning the match by pinning him with one finger after a spike piledriver, finally achieving his dream of working in Japan in the process.[1][13] Later that same day on Smash.6, StarBuck defeated Tajiri in the main event in similar manner to regain the Finnish Heavyweight Championship, his fourth time winning the title.[14] After the match, Hajime Ohara turned on Tajiri and joined StarBuck's group of FCF wrestlers.[15] After successfully defending the title against Akira on September 24 at Smash.8, StarBuck lost the Finnish Heavyweight Championship back to Tajiri on November 22 at Smash.10, after which he was attacked by the debuting Austrian wrestler Michael Kovac, who announced his intention of taking over Smash.[16][17] On January 29, 2011, at Smash.12, Kovac defeated StarBuck in a grudge match and used the momentum to capture the Finnish Heavyweight Championship from Tajiri later that same day on Smash.13.[18][19] Meanwhile, StarBuck went on a win streak, scoring pinfall victories over Super Crazy,[20] Tajiri on two more occasions,[21][22] Takao Omori,[23] Yoshiaki Yago,[24] Leatherface[25] and Shinya Ishikawa.[26]

After Tajiri agreed to let an FCF representative participate in the tournament to determine the first ever Smash Champion, StarBuck won an eight man tournament in FCF in July to the second round of the Smash Championship tournament.[27] StarBuck returned to Japan on August 11 at Smash.20, defeating Genichiro Tenryu, who had upset Michael Kovac in his opening round match, to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.[28] On September 8 at Smash.21, StarBuck defeated the Mexican Veneno in the semifinals to set up a grudge match with Tajiri in the finals of the tournament.[29] On October 28 at Smash.22, StarBuck defeated Tajiri with his signature spike piledriver to become the first ever Smash Champion.[30] After the match, both competitors were attacked by the returning Michael Kovac, who had previously in the event revealed former WWE wrestler Dave Finlay as his new associate and now revealed that he was coming to Smash for the Smash Championship, before he was chased out of the ring by Hajime Ohara and Akira. The event seemingly brought StarBuck and Tajiri together to fight a common enemy, with StarBuck declaring war on Finlay, his first challenger for the Smash Championship.[31][32] On November 23, StarBuck represented Smash in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), when he teamed with Tajiri and Akira to defeat BUSHI, Keiji Mutoh and Shuji Kondo in a six man tag team match, pinning BUSHI for the win.[33] The following day at Smash.23, StarBuck lost the Smash Championship to Finlay in his third defense (the first two having taken place in Finland and Norway).[34] StarBuck returned to Smash on February 19, 2012, at Smash.25, teaming with Jessica Love and Hajime Ohara in a six person tag team match, where they were defeated by the Pro Wrestling Zero1 trio of Ikuto Hidaka, Masato Tanaka and Shinjiro Otani.[35] On March 14 at Smash.Final, StarBuck competed in Smash's final match, before the promotion closed its doors, where he and Ohara were defeated by Akira and Tajiri.[36]

Wrestling New Classic

On July 15, 2012, StarBuck made his debut for Smash's follow-up promotion Wrestling New Classic (WNC) in Korakuen Hall, teaming with Hajime Ohara in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Naomichi Marufuji and Tajiri, with Marufuji pinning Ohara, who was still without wins in WNC.[37] Following the match, StarBuck attacked Ohara, hit him with a spike piledriver and then walked out on him. In a backstage interview, StarBuck officially ended his partnership with Ohara, deeming him a loser, and announced a new partnership with Akira, who had turned on Tajiri and the WNC Seikigun the previous month.[38] The two were also joined by Syuri, with all three feeling disgruntled by the supposed changes that had taken place since the transition from Smash.[39] The following day in Osaka, StarBuck main evented his first WNC event, defeating Hajime Ohara.[40] StarBuck, Akira and Syuri wrestled their first match as a unit on August 2, defeating Hajime Ohara, Kana and Tajiri in a six person tag team main event.[41] The trio continued their winning ways during the following two days by first defeating the trio of Kana, Tajiri and Yusuke Kodama in a main event in Osaka and then the trio of Hanzo, Kana and Seiki in a semi-main event in Hiroshima.[42][43] StarBuck returned to singles action on August 6, losing to Tajiri in the main event.[44] On August 30, StarBuck, Akira and Syuri main evented another WNC event in Korakuen Hall, defeating Mikey Whipwreck, Kana and Tajiri in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch.[45][46] StarBuck, Akira and Syuri also won a rematch the following day in Osaka.[47] In the second rematch on September 1, Whipwreck pinned StarBuck for the win, ending the villainous trio's win streak in the process.[48] On October 24, StarBuck, Akira and Syuri named their stable "Synapse".[49] Two days later, StarBuck entered the WNC Championship tournament, but was defeated in his first round match by Hajime Ohara, following interference from his Kabushiki gaisha DQN stablemates Jiro Kuroshio and Nagisa Nozaki.[50]

StarBuck returned to WNC on March 31, 2013, when he teamed with Akira and Syuri in a six-person tag team main event during an afternoon show, where they were defeated by Ekaterina Bonnie, Emil Sitoci and Ivan Markov.[51] Later that same day, during an evening show, StarBuck defeated Koji Doi in a singles match.[52] After two months away from Japan, StarBuck returned to WNC on May 24 in a six-person tag team main event, where he, Akira and Syuri defeated WNC Champion Osamu Nishimura, WNC Women's Champion Lin Byron and Tajiri.[53] The following day, StarBuck and Akira were defeated in a main event tag team match by The Bodyguard and Zeus.[54] StarBuck then went inactive from in-ring action to rehabilitate two herniated discs in his neck.[55][56] StarBuck made his next return to WNC on February 27, 2014, when he defeated Tajiri to become the fourth WNC Champion.[56][57] Post-match, Akira announced that the Synapse stable had decided to disband.[55] StarBuck lost the WNC Championship to Belgian wrestler Bernard VanDamme at Fight Club Finland's Talvisota VIII on March 8.[58]

Wrestle-1

After WNC went out of business and its male wrestlers moved over to the Wrestle-1 promotion, StarBuck made his return to Japan on October 10, 2014, working at an Akira produced Wrestle-1 event. In the main event of the show, StarBuck defeated Akira and Masakatsu Funaki in a three-way match.[59]

Other endeavors

Majalahti performing at Hamburg Harley Days 2015

Majalahti has coached several Finnish rock and metal vocalists and bands in better English, both in regards to lyrics and pronunciation/enunciation. Known acts that Majalahti has worked with in some capacity are Sonata Arctica (Unia album), Stratovarius (Stratovarius album), Lordi (The Arockalypse and The Monsterican Dream albums), Celesty (Vendetta album), The Souls (The Grand Confusion), Widescreen Mode (The Hanging Man album), Godsplague (Evilution and Triumph albums), Thunderstone (Tools of Destruction album), Timo Kotipelto (Coldness and Serenity albums), in addition to others. Majalahti has also created the characters of children's heavy metal band Hevisaurus, and has illustrated the band's album covers.

Majalahti is a licensed FAF gym instructor, serving as a freelance personal trainer and coach in Finland. He also works as a freelance graphic artist and illustrator, and has been known to do perform translation work from Finnish to English for several companies.

In 2014, it was reported that Yle and the Finnish Film Foundation were working on a feature film on Majalahti, filmed over the past five years.[56]

Discography

Albums with Hallowed
Albums with Stoner Kings
Albums with Klaatuu
Albums with Angel of Sodom
Albums with Crossfyre
Albums with Overnight Sensation

Personal life

On March 13, 2013, Michael Majalahti married a Romanian girl, Diana (born April 27, 1987). She has worked for FCF as her husband's valet, under the name of Miss D.[60] Majalahti proposed to Diana in the wrestling ring in Lohja, Finland in 2012. Their engagement made headlines in the Romanian media.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Van Der Griend, Blaine (2009-03-03). "Finland's wrestling star a Canadian Rebel". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Fight Club Finland profile". Fight Club Finland. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Wrestling New Classic profile". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  5. ↑ "Pro Wrestlingia joka maanantai Eurosportilla". Eurosport (in Finnish). 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  6. 1 2 "2010 Smash results". Purolove. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  7. ↑ "2011 Smash results". Purolove. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  8. ↑ "2012 Smash results". Purolove. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  9. 1 2 3 "10・28『Smash.22』全試合結果". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  10. 1 2 Van Der Griend, Blaine (2015-07-05). "Starbuck's world travels continue in Japan". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
  11. ↑ "『Smash.3』Tajiri大会総括コメント". Smash (in Japanese). 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  12. ↑ "『Smash.4』Tajiri大会総括コメント". Smash (in Japanese). 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  13. ↑ "『Smash.5』試合結果（セミファイナル）". Smash (in Japanese). July 24, 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  14. ↑ "『Smash.6』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). July 24, 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  15. ↑ "「何か形をハッキリと見せて欲しい」Tajiri、大原はじめの造反について言及！". Smash (in Japanese). 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  16. ↑ "『Smash.8』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  17. ↑ "『Smash.10』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  18. ↑ "『Smash.12』試合結果（セミファイナル）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  19. ↑ "『Smash.13』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  20. ↑ "『Smash.13』試合結果（セミファイナル）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  21. ↑ "『Smash Live in Osaka』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  22. ↑ "『Smash Live in Nagoya』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-05-01. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  23. ↑ "『Smash.14』試合結果（セミファイナル）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  24. ↑ "『Smash.15』試合結果（第5試合）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-03-31. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  25. ↑ "『Smash.16』試合結果（第4試合）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  26. ↑ "『Smash.17』試合結果（第5試合）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-05-03. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  27. 1 2 "FCF代表スターバックが天龍と8・11『Smash.20』トーナメント2回戦で激突へ！". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  28. ↑ "『Smash.20』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  29. ↑ "『Smash.21』試合結果（セミファイナル）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  30. ↑ "『Smash.22』試合結果（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  31. ↑ "Tajiri初代王者ならず、"恐怖の大王"降臨に戦々恐々=ＳＭＡＳＨ". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  32. ↑ 初代王者スターバックがフィンレーに宣戦布告！. Smash (in Japanese). 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  33. ↑ 2011世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  34. ↑ "『Smash.23』試合レポート（メインイベント）". Smash (in Japanese). 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  35. ↑ "2・19『Smash.25』全試合結果". Smash (in Japanese). 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  36. ↑ "3・14『Smash.Final』全試合結果". Smash (in Japanese). 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  37. ↑ 7・15後楽園ホール大会 全試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  38. ↑ 第1試合：タッグマッチ 60分1本勝負. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  39. ↑ "Akira、スターバック、朱里、渦中の3人が密会!?". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  40. ↑ 7・16大阪世界館大会 全試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
  41. ↑ "今度は大原がまさかの造反！ 8・2新宿Face大会 全試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  42. ↑ "Akiraの挑発に華名が有刺鉄線マッチを決意！ 8・3大阪世界館大会 全試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  43. ↑ "Tajiriが秘策でレザー退治成功！ 8・4広島産業会館大会 全試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-04. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  44. ↑ "Tajiri、スターバックに劇勝！ 8・6博多スターレーン大会 全試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  45. ↑ 8・30後楽園ホール大会 全試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  46. ↑ 有刺鉄線ボードデスマッチ3連戦、まずは反体制が本隊に勝利！野崎は真琴に圧勝！大原は2人の師匠に暴挙！. Battle News (in Japanese). 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  47. ↑ 8・31大阪ムーブ・オンアリーナ大会 全試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  48. ↑ "WNC軍、一矢報いる！ 9・1豊橋 名豊ビル大会 全試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  49. ↑ シナプスの３選手、ＷＮＣ王座トーナメントに向け「一流の格」を見せつけるか？！. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  50. ↑ "10・26 後楽園ホール大会 全試合結果&Tajiri総括". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  51. ↑ "2013-03-31 WNC新宿Face大会　昼の部". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2013-03-31. Archived from the original on 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  52. ↑ "2013-03-31 WNC新宿Face大会　夜の部". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2013-03-31. Archived from the original on 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  53. ↑ "2013-05-24 WNC新宿Face大会　試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2013-05-24. Archived from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  54. ↑ "2013-05-25 WNC大阪大会　試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2013-05-25. Archived from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  55. 1 2 Majalahti, Michael (2014-03-03). "StarBuck defeats Tajiri for the WNC title!". Buckorama. WordPress. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  56. 1 2 3 Meltzer, Dave (March 17, 2014). "Mar 17 2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE Title match changes at Mania potentially, Daniel Bryan, Buck Zumhofe, TNA Lockdown, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Campbell, California): 10. ISSN 1083-9593.
  57. 1 2 "2014-02-27 WNC新宿Face大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2014-02-27. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  58. ↑ "スターバックWNC王座陥落！！海外で誕生した謎の新王者が日本初上陸を予告！？". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). 2014-03-11. Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  59. ↑ "Akira 30周年記念生前葬 地獄から来たチャンピオン". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
  60. 1 2 3 Majalahti, Michael (2013-05-12). "The Rebel claims BWA championship gold!". Buckorama. WordPress. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  61. ↑ Tajiri, Yoshihiro (2013-02-13). "きょうもyoutubeには、Akiraと朱里とスターバックによるチームSynapseの曲が" (in Japanese). Twitter. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  62. 1 2 3 "Cagematch title listing". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-06-13.

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