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Ryuji Hijikata
(born May 17, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler also known under the ring name . Hijikata is best known for his tenure in Battlarts and All Japan Pro Wrestling since 2002 where he is a former World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career BattlARTS (1998–2002) After a judo career in high school, Hijikata joined professional wrestling promotion BattlARTS in 1998. He feuded with Junji Tanaka before rising through the ranks and wrestled extensively in Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Toryumon Mexico as part of working agreements. However, despite teaming up with his mentor and promotion ace Yuki Ishikawa at several points, he never reached top status. In 2001, Hijikata signed up full-time with AJPW. All Japan Pro Wrestling (2001–2017) Hijikata wrestled in AJPW as a junior heavyweight for years, with mixed success. In 2004, he adopted a mask and the name of Toshizo (歳三), inspired on the hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sayama
is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 149,826 in 69,859 households and a population density of 3100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Sayama is located in south-central Saitama Prefecture, on the alluvial lowland of the Iruma River, which flows through the city towards the northeast (toward Kawagoe) . The Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Iruma Air Base is located in the south of the city hall, 90% of which is in Sayama city area (and only 10% in Iruma city area). Surrounding municipalities Saitama Prefecture * Kawagoe * Hannō * Tokorozawa * Hidaka * Iruma Climate Sayama has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sayama is 14.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1485 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AJPW Junior Tag League
The Junior Tag League is an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament held by the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. The tournament is meant for wrestlers under the weight limit of , who are referred to in Japan as junior heavyweights. In 2013, the tournament was rebranded , following in the footsteps of the Junior League, which had been renamed "Junior Hyper League" the previous year. In 2014, the tournament was again rebranded after the singles Junior League, now taking the name . The tournament is contested in a single block round-robin format with all teams facing each other once. All matches have a thirty-minute time limit and in case of a time limit draw, both teams are awarded one point, while a win earns a team two points. In case of a draw through a double countout, the match is declared a no contest with neither team being awarded a point. After all teams have faced each other, the top two teams move onto the finals to determine the winner of the tournamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taichi Ishikari
(born March 19, 1980) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name , shortened from his previous ring name . He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Taichi is a former NEVER Openweight Champion, a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion (alongside Zack Sabre Jr). Throughout his career he has competed in various promotions including All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Hustle, Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Amateur wrestling career Wanting to be a pro-wrestler since high school he competed in amateur wrestling while in high school, and was ranked second in the 63 kg class in the 1997 Hokkaido high school championship conference. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2005) In December 2002, Ishikari made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He would pick up his first singles vict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobukazu Hirai
Nobukazu Hirai (born December 30, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for competing in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is the son of former Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance wrestler Mitsu Hirai. Professional wrestling career Super World Sports (1991–1992) Hirai originally trained in the SWS dojo under wrestling legend: Genichiro Tenryu and debuted for Super World Sports on April 25, 1991. During his time in SWS, Hirai was never pushed as he spent the time paying his dues and gaining experience. Hirai would remain with SWS until it folded in June 1992. WAR (1992–2000) After SWS folded, Hirai joined Tenryu's new promotion: WAR. In WAR, Hirai continued to remain in the midcard for most of the early-to mid 1990s. While working in WAR, Hirai also made appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In March 1994, Hirai took part in New Japan's Young Lion Cup defeating Tatsuhito Takaiwa in the first round but would unable to win the tournament with Satoshi Kojima eventually emergi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Team Japan
Team Japan is a professional wrestling group that was brought together as a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's World X Cup Tournament. History 2004 Team Japan started as six-man team as team captain Nosawa from All Japan Pro Wrestling teamed with Osaka Pro Wrestling's Ebessan and Kamen competed in non-tournament exhibition match. They lost to Elix Skipper, Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin. For the World X-Cup event in May 2008, Nosawa dropped Ebessan and Kamen and replaced them with Mitsu Hirai Jr., Ryuji Hijikata and Taichi Ishikari, all of whom were like Nosawa from All Japan. They enjoyed some success in exhibitions and singles matches not related to the tournament itself, but failed to have any significant success in the actual tournament and were quickly eliminated, leaving Team Canada, Team Mexico, and Team USA for the finals which were held under Ultimate X rules. After the X-Cup event, Nosawa teamed with fellow All Japan wrestler Kazushi Miyamoto for several months und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promotion was initially known as NWA: Total Nonstop Action (''NWA-TNA'') and was associated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though not an official member. In 2004, the promotion became known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), but it continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships as part of its agreement with the NWA. After the agreement ended in 2007, the company created its own TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its flagship, weekly television series. From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaz Hayashi
is a Japanese professional wrestler known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where in addition to being a wrestler for the promotion, he also served as the head booker for the company's junior heavyweight division. After leaving AJPW in 2013, Hayashi competed for Wrestle-1, where he also worked as a trainer. In April 2017, Hayashi took over as the new president of Wrestle-1, remaining in the position until the promotion's closure in 2020; he was also the promotion's final champion of the Wrestle-1 Championship. In August 2020, Hayashi joined Gleat as both an in-ring wrestler and the promotion's Chief Technical Officer. Professional wrestling career Early career (1992–1997) For much of his early career, Hayashi wrestled in Michinoku Pro Wrestling (Michinoku Pro/MPW) under a mask, using the ring name Shiryu (Growing Dragon in Japanese). As Shiryu, he was part of the memorable rudo group, Kaientai Deluxe, which waged war with Michinoku Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voodoo Murders
Voodoo-Murders (stylised in all capital letters), or more simply as VDM, is a professional wrestling stable and the main heel group in All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2005 and 2011. In 2013, the group was reformed in Diamond Ring. They perform violent actions and display a lack of respect for their opponents. History 2005–2007 After competing in All Japan Pro Wrestling briefly in the early 2000s, Taru returned to All Japan on January 3, 2005, teaming with Johnny Stamboli to defeat David Flair and Keiji Mutoh. The duo was later joined by Chuck Palumbo, Shuji Kondo, "brother" Yasshi and briefly Giant Bernard; proclaiming themselves as Voodoo-Murders with Taru as their leader. Although the phrase Voodoo Murders is thought to be Engrish by some fans, it seems to be a tribute to a pulp magazine called "The Voodoo Murders." Taru drastically changed his yakuza inspired gimmick from Toryumon into a more bizarre, sinister cult leader of Voodoo-Murders. VDM would regularly employ ill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoru Tanaka (wrestler)
is a Japanese professional wrestler. Tanaka first gained prominence in Fujiwara Gumi and Battlarts before moving on to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he became a four time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a five time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 2006 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. After leaving NJPW, he joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he found continued success in the junior heavyweight and tag team ranks upon winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship once and the All Asia Tag Team Championship twice. From 2013 to 2016, Tanaka worked for Wrestle-1. He is currently a freelancer, and primarily competes in Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he has held the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice. He is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, making him the second man (after Naomichi Marufuji) to hold all three major Japanese junior heavyweight singles titles as well as the only man to hold al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kohei Suwama
is a Japanese professional wrestler better known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former record eight-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the promotion's board of directors. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling Early days (2004–2006) Suwama was scouted and recruited to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) by Hiroshi Hase, particularly because of his amateur wrestling background. He joined the All Japan dojo on March 1, 2004, and teamed with AJPW president Keiji Mutoh early in his career, defeating many of his seniors. In 2005, he defeated Muto in the 2005 Champion Carnival. Voodoo Murders (2006–2008) Suwama aligned himself with the Voodoo Murders stable on January 8, 2006, following a Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship match between Satoshi Kojima and stable leader Taru. Upon joining the group, he officially changed his name to Suwama, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championship, with the NWA United National Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. The titles were unified on April 18, 1989, when NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta defeated the PWF World Heavyweight and NWA United National Champion Stan Hansen. Unlike most unified championships, the Triple Crown was originally represented through the continued use of the three individual championship belts. From 1989 to 2000, the holder of the Triple Crown was also presented by Nippon TV (AJPW's broadcaster at the time) with a large, globe-shaped trophy bearing the words "World Heavyweight Champion." The original title belts were returned to All Japan founder Giant Baba's widow Motoko in August 2013 and a new single titl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Asia Tag Team Championship
The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA founder Rikidōzan and Harold Sakata in a tournament final. Originally it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brought from the United States. It was abandoned in 1973 when the JWA closed, but was later revived in 1976 by AJPW in response to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announcing the creation of its own version of the title. It is currently one of two tag team titles in AJPW, along with the World Tag Team Championship. It is also the current oldest active title in Japan. There have been a total of 117 official reigns and 34 vacancies, with the first 27 reigns from the JWA also being recognized by AJPW. There have been a total of 85 teams consisting of 100 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
