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Funky Future
is a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The group was formed the night after Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 5, 2017. Starting out as a trio, the stable named Ryusuke Taguchi as their leader, and have gone on to primarily feud with ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' over the IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP Junior Heavyweight, and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships. The group was formed by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi, and later came to include Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin and Ricochet. The stable initially found its roots as a tag team consisting of Tanahashi and Elgin, who had teamed with Robinson in the past. After an eye injury suffered by Elgin, Tanahashi teamed with Nakanishi and Taguchi to capture the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship from ''Los Ingobernables de Japón''. Once Elgin was healed, he was invited into the stable, along with Juice Robinson and Ricochet, the latt ...
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Hiroshi Tanahashi
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a record three reigns as IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, two reigns as IWGP Intercontinental Champion, three reigns as IWGP Tag Team Champion, one reign as NEVER Openweight Champion and three reigns as NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. All totaled, Tanahashi has won 22 championships in NJPW. He has also won NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax, on three occasions (2007, 2015 and 2018) and won the New Japan Cup twice, in 2005 and 2008, and is recognised as the fourth wrestler to accomplish NJPW's Triple Crown and the second to accomplish its Grand Slam, making him one of the most decorated wrestlers in NJPW. Through NJPW's working agreements with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Pro Wrestlin ...
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IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the championship. NJPW currently controls two junior heavyweight championships: the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The weight-limit for the title is . History The title was introduced on February 6, 1986, at a NJPW show. From August 5, 1996, until November 5, 1997, the title was part of the J-Crown, or J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship. The J-Crown was an assembly of eight different championships from several different promotions. It was created on August 5, 1996, when The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions ...
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Kenny Omega
Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-time AEW World Champion, one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion, and was one-third of the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions. Prior to joining AEW, Omega was known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), during which he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, as well as several other titles. Also known for his video games-inspired persona, he was a member of the Bullet Club stable, later serving as the group's leader. Throughout his career, Omega has also performed as part of independent promotions worldwide, including DDT Pro-Wrestling, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, as well as larger national and international ...
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Bullet Club
(stylised as BULLET CLUB), sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In the United States, the group currently appears on NJPW events run by the company's subsidiary, NJPW of America, as well as U.S. partner promotion Impact Wrestling. The group was formed in May 2013, when Irish wrestler Prince Devitt betrayed his Japanese partner Ryusuke Taguchi and came together with American wrestler Karl Anderson and Tongan wrestlers Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga to form a villainous stable of foreigners, which they subsequently named Bullet Club. Before the end of the year, the stable was also joined by three other Americans, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and Doc Gallows. Wrestlers from the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion have also worked tours of NJPW as members of Bullet Club, which led to the formation of an offshoot group named Bullet Club Latinoamerica ...
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Dave Meltzer
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has also written for the ''Oakland Tribune'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', Yahoo! Sports, SI.com, and ''The National Sports Daily''. He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993 and currently covers the sport for SB Nation. He has been called "the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism" by Frank Deford of ''Sports Illustrated''. He is also a frequent lecturer on many aspects of the business of MMA, professional wrestling, and boxing at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Early life Meltzer lived in upstate New York, later moving with his family to San Jose, California. Meltzer earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and started out as a sportswriter for the ''Wichita Falls Time ...
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G1 Climax
The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners from two pools wrestling in the final to decide that year's winner. In its current format, the tournament lasts four weeks. The winner of each pool is determined by a points system; two points for a victory, one point for a draw (time limit only), and zero points for a loss, no contest or double decision. Tournament history NJPW had an annual tournament since 1974 under various names: the (1974–1977, based on the World (Big) League tournament from the old Japanese Wrestling Association held between 1959 and 1972); the (1978–1982); the (1983–1988), "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix (インターナショナル・レスリング・グラン・プリ, ''intānashonaru resuringu ...
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Ring Of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. After a deal was struck in March 2022, ROH was officially sold to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) founder, co-owner, president, and CEO Tony Khan two months later. Throughout the 2010s, Ring of Honor was considered a major wrestling promotion in the United States, alongside WWE and Impact Wrestling. Under Sinclair Broadcast Group's ownership, ROH began talent-sharing deals with wrestling companies outside the U.S., expanded their television visibility through Sinclair's broadcast stations, and eventually established its own streaming service in 2018 called Honor Club. But as time went on and the industry saw the creation and subsequent rise of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), ROH would be seen as a smaller promotion ...
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter is often considered the first "dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication which covers the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as ...
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Raymond Rowe
Raymond Rowe Sr. (born August 21, 1984) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Erik. He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he and his tag team partner Hanson (collectively known as War Machine in ROH) are former ROH World Tag Team Champions and IWGP Tag Team Champions. Professional wrestling career Early career (2003–2013) Rowe was trained by Josh Prohibition and Lou Marconi. He debuted on the independent circuit in May 2003. On June 9, 2006, episode of ''Smackdown!'', Rowe competed against Mark Henry in a losing effort. Ring of Honor (2013–2017) Rowe made his Ring of Honor debut on June 1, 2013 in a losing effort against Bobby Fish. Following this, he returned to ROH on January 4, 2014, as part of that year's Top Prospect Tournament and defeated Kongo in a first round match. After managing to advance to the finals, Rowe ultimately lost the Tournament to Hanson. ...
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Hanson (wrestler)
Todd James Smith (born March 3, 1984) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Ivar. He is also known under the ring name Hanson, which he used from 2013 to 2019. Smith and Raymond Rowe (now known as Erik), have been a regular tag team since 2014, initially under the name War Machine, then later War Raiders, The Viking Experience, and The Viking Raiders. Smith and Rowe have held tag team championships on two continents, being two times IWGP Tag Team Champions in Japan and having won the ROH World Tag Team Champion, the NXT Tag Team Championship and the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship in the United States. Professional wrestling career Early career (2001–2013) Trained by Killer Kowalski, Smith made his debut in 2001. For the next several years, he worked for a number of independent professional wrestling promotions throughout New England, most notably New England Championship Wrestling and Chaotic W ...
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War Machine (professional Wrestling)
The Viking Raiders are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Erik and Ivar, and are managed by Valhalla. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. Erik and Ivar were previously known as War Machine and went by the names Raymond Rowe and Hanson respectively. They are known for their time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) under the names, where they won the IWGP Tag Team Championship and the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Outside of Ring of Honor, they have also worked for multiple independent promotions in the United Kingdom and United States, including Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Progress Wrestling (Progress) and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). War Machine have also competed in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). They signed with WWE in 2018 as War Raiders and began performing on the NXT brand where they won the NXT Tag Team Championship once. In April 2019, they ...
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Katsuya Kitamura
was a Japanese professional wrestler, bodybuilder and an amateur wrestler trained by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the winner of the 2017 Young Lion Cup. Amateur wrestling career Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Kitamura was a highly accomplished amateur wrestler, known for being one of the largest wrestlers in all of Japan. Because of his size and physique, he earned the nickname "Wrestling Monster". He attended Senshu University, where he was a part of their wrestling team. In 2006, he won the All Japan Wrestling Championship in the 120 kg category, and later on in the same year represented Japan in the World Championships. Throughout his amateur career, Kitamura would go on to win three national championships and represent Japan on a global level twice. As well as amateur wrestling, Kitamura took part in the 2015 Ganryū-jima fighting tournament, where he defeated a Mongolian Sumo wrestler. Steroids and ban On June 13, 2011, Kitamura was b ...
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