Kai Hosako, the twin brother of Kaori Hosako, is Japan's first autistic pro wrestler who made waves in New Japan Pro Wrestling and would be considered one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers to ever step foot inside the wrestling ring, proclaimed by...
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Wrestling Style: Technical
Signature: Sleeper Hold
Finisher: Fujiwara Armbar
Theme:
Accomplishments:
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion (4x) IWGP Intercontinental Champion (2x) NEVER Openweight Champion (3x) DDT Pro Champion (2x) GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion (1x) Frequent spokesperson for autistic children and their parents
Love Interest: Io Shirai
Bio:
Born in Yamaguchi, Japan, twin brother of Kaori Hosako, Kai Hosako has had a very rough life before pro wrestling. His family had noticed his difficulties in speaking and struggling with the lisp that would cost him a few friendships and it would get him bullied constantly.
His family had decided to get Kai looked at and when the results came back, they were not what his family was expecting: Kai had been diagnosed with the autism spectrum.
Throughout his childhood, Kai would be getting therapy for his communication skills and would have schoolwork that would adapt to his learning skills.
Those lessons would be a success because although Kai would have trouble remembering stuff, he would always improve his character as a person.
One day, Kaori and him would watch pro wrestling together and promised each other to get in the ring someday. Kai got started first by training at the New Japan dojo, where he earned the respect of every Japanese wrestlers: the sorts of Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the legend himself, Antonio Inoki.
Kai's fighting style was almost a reminisce of Strong Style that Inoki himself excelled in, almost bringing back the way Japanese wrestling was evolved into.
Trained by Minoru Suzuki for the task, Kai would be a success in the dojo, earning him a chance to compete for the G1 Climax, which he won in his rookie year, beating Kazuchika Okada, a fellow Japanese wrestler.
Once Kaori got started, Kai was so happy that when her and her two friends Mayu Iwatani and Masami Odate, got together for a wrestling event, she introduced her autistic brother to them and they found him adorable.
The girls never saw Kai differently and they treated him as if he was one of their own.
Throughout his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling from 2008 to 2018, Kai would win the IWGP World and Intercontinental Championships four times each, along with the AJPW Triple Crown Championship three times and in Drama Dream Team Pro Wrestling, Kai would win the company's title two times.
Whenever he wasn't competing, Kai would participate in autism charity events in Japan by helping kids on the spectrum.
In an interview Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Kai would get asked how it feels to be a role model for kids who are on the spectrum and how it feels to work with the charities:
"As a kid, I would have trouble reading, pronouncing words, communicating with people, and my mental health would always come back to bite me in the butt, but truthfully, I don't give myself all the credit. I give my family the credit because they were in my corner when I needed them, especially Kaori, who was such a sweetheart and she's MY role model since she always helped me if I ever needed anything. All of that had to do with the fact that I love being a role model for kids like me, because they're people too, they just need some help every now and then. So, to me, I'm just doing my job and showing that these kids need someone to look up to because if they don't motivate me to work harder as Japan's first autistic pro wrestler, then I don't know what does."
That answer had been praised by wrestlers around the world and started supporting autistic children alongside Kai.
Soon after his interview, Kai would secretly sign with NXT and would surprise Kaori by helping her win the NXT Women's Championship from Shayna Baszler at Takeover: Brooklyn IV.
Soon after, Masami Odate, Io Shirai, signs with NXT as well and the three people would reunite as Kai and Masami would catch up despite his autism getting the best of him.
Although Kai saw Masami as a sister he never had, he starts falling in love with her, but the question is, does Masami feel the same?
