King

King (Japanese: キング Hepburn: Kingu) is the name of two characters in the Tekken fighting game series. The characters were inspired by the pro wrestler Satoru Sayama, as well as Mexican wrestler Fray Tormenta, a Catholic priest who became a masked wrestler in order to support an orphanage. One of the Kings has been in all the Tekken games to date, King I being in Tekken and Tekken 2, and King II being in the rest of the Tekken games from then on. King is a character that has more of a defensive approach rather than a full blown offensive one, despite popular belief. King has to be played carefully since he has a limited range and is very unsafe. King relies on quick strikes, good movement, and a very good view on punishment. In game he is known for his speed and has an arsenal of over 200 moves in his command list. Being a professional wrestler with lucha libre influences, King has many powerful throws at his disposal, and has a lot of strong counterattacks. King is notable for his chains throws, which he's had since Tekken 2, when he was one of the very few characters to have them. He also utilizes duck throws, ground throws and air throws, uncommon for characters in the Tekken series. As of Tekken 5, King seems to have drawn more wrestler-inspired moves into his repertoire, especially from superstars employed by the world-famous World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). For example, he has a stunner used by Stone Cold Steve Austin and a version of The Rock's People's Elbow and Rock Bottom. Additionally, King has been able to perform the Sharpshooter innovated by Riki Choshu, later used by Bret Hart and the Tombstone Piledriver made famous by Dynamite Kid, later used by The Undertaker and Kane since Tekken 2. One of his victory poses has him side-stepping in a manner characteristic of the original Tiger Mask. King is also seen in the opening FMV of Tekken 5 performing a tiger feint after being thrown across the wrestling ring by Craig Marduk, in order to prevent a collision to the outside of the ring. The maneuver is currently a trademark move of Rey Mysterio, although the original Tiger Mask pioneered its use during matches with the Dynamite Kid in the early 1980s. Other moves he uses include the Frankensteiner and Steiner Screwdriver made famous by Scott Steiner and Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer. Finally, King's Muscle Buster pays homage to Suguru Kinniku's "Kinniku Buster", which is also a finishing move of wrestler Samoa Joe. =Championships=