Jacky "Funky" Kamei

Kamei in February 2022

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Tottori, Japan

**Taketo Kamei** (亀井丈人, *Kamei Taketo*, born November 11, 1999 in Tottori, Japan), currently known as **Jacky "Funky" Kamei** (ジャッキー ファンキー カメイ, *Jakkī Fankī Kamei*, stylized in all capital letters), in short **JFK** (also stylized as **J! F! K!**), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate (DG), where he is a former two-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion and a former one-time Open The Twin Gate Champion.

Kamei was trained in the Dragon Gate Dojo and made his debut in June 2020. Kamei worked as a rookie, alongside Kento Kobune and Madoka Kikuta, before being placed on Dragon Gate's mid-card for under a year. After Kobune and Kikuta turned heel, Kamei remained face and joined the Natural Vibes stable in January 2021, renaming himself to "Jacky "Funky" Kamei", before winning the Open The Triangle Gate Championship in February 2022, holding it for a month.

## Professional wrestling career

### Dragon Gate

#### Early career (2020)

Kamei trained for his professional wrestling career in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate's wrestling school called "Dragon Gate Nex", wrestling several exhibition bouts before making his officially debut teaming with YAMATO in a losing effort against fellow rookie Kento Kobune and Naruki Doi on December 22, 2019. As is customary for most professional wrestlers, Kamei spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Kamei some in-ring, televised, experience. Throughout the year, Kamei often faced off against fellow rookie Madoka Kikuta, with both men trading victories in both singles and tag team competition, before eventually forming a team. On November 15, at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Dragon Gate's biggest show of the year, Kamei and Kikuta faced Team Boku (Bokku R Shimizu and Ryo Saito) in a winning effort. Their team disbanded on December 2, after Kikuta turned on Kamei to join R.E.D.

#### Natural Vibes (2021–Present)

On January 17, 2021, Natural Vibes held an audition to determine the newest members of the stable, with Kamei, Don Fujii, Dragon Kid, Punch Tominaga, and U-T. At the end, Kamei and U-T managed to win the audition, after impressing Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka, becoming the newest members of the stable. Later that month, Kamei suffured a shoulder injury, which sidelined him for almost three months. Kamei returned from injury on April 22, renaiming himself to **Funky "Jacky" Kamei** as a resemblance to movie actor and martial artist Jackie Chan, due to Kamei's addition into the Natural Vibes stable. On October 16, Kamei last eliminated U-T to win the *Royal Sambo* battle royal, becoming the number one contender to the Open The Brave Gate Championship. The following day, Kamei received his title match, unsucessfully challenging SB KENTo for the Open The Brave Gate Championship. On October 18, Kamei renamed himself to **Jacky "Funky" Kamei** to reflect the lyrics of his new theme song. On December 1, Kamei once again unsucessfully challenged SB KENTo for the Open The Brave Gate Championship.

On February 20, 2022, Kamei, Kzy and U-T first defeated High-End's Ben-K, Dragon Kid and YAMATO in the semifinals and then Z-Brats' BxB Hulk, H.Y.O and Shun Skywalker in the finals to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Gold Class (Kaito Ishida, Kota Minoura and Naruki Doi) on March 5 at Champions Gate in Osaka. In May, Kamei took part in the 2022 King of Gate, being eliminated in the second round to Shuji Kondo. On July 30 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Kamei and Natural Vibes stablemate Jason Lee defeated Diamante and Shun Skywalker to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Dragon Dia and Madoka Kikuta on September 19 at Dangerous Gate.

In February 2023, Kamei and Lee took part in the 2023 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one draw, and two losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On May 20, Kamei, Kzy and Big Boss Shimizu defeated Gold Class (Ben-K, BxB Hulk and Kota Minoura) to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Gold Class (Kota Minoura, Minorita and Naruki Doi) at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival on July 2. On December 6, Kamei unsucessfully challenged Hyo for the Open The Brave Gate Championship. Afterwards, Hyo stated that he felt something from Kamei and that he was wasting his time in Natural Vibes. On December 19, Luís Mante, who was alligned with Hyo, and D'Courage's Madoka Kikuta tried to convince Kamei to join them, but he refused stating that he was part of Natural Vibes. In January, Mante and Shun Skywalker continued pressuring Kamei to join one of their stables.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Jacky Knife* (Running jackknife pin)
	+ *Project A* (Wheelbarrow victory roll driver) - 2022-present; signature from 2019-2021
	+ *Torbellino Crucifix* (Spinning headscissors takedown twisted into a single arm DDT, transitioned into a crucifix pin) – adopted from Masato Yoshino; 2021-present
* **Signature moves**
	+ Arm trap single leg Boston crab
	+ Corkscrew roundhouse kick
	+ Corkscrew plancha
	+ Forearm smash
	+ Multiple chop variations
		- Knife edge
		- Open-handed
	+ Multiple dropkick variations
		- Missile, sometimes from the second rope
		- Standing
	+ Satellite hurricanrana
	+ Springboard bulldog
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Funky"**
	+ "Jacky"
	+ **"Pa Ri Pi Pow! Pow!"**
	+ **"JFK (J! F! K!)"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Dragon Storm 2019 (Instrumental Version)" by Dragon Gate
	+ "Party Anthem 〜Come back sound〜" by Masako Honjo (feat. Kzy)
	+ **"JACKY FUNKY BABY"** by Ayaman Japan

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Dragon Gate**
	+ Open The Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – with Jason Lee
	+ Open The Triangle Gate Championship (2 times) – with Kzy and U-T (1), Kzy and Big Boss Shimizu (1)
	+ Royal Sambo (2021)