(born October 18, 1985) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, currently signed to

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...

, where he is a former one-time

GHC Tag Team Champion The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...

, three-time

GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion The is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg) wrestlers. It was created ...

and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his time in

Osaka Pro Wrestling Osaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin. The promotion held a major flagship event called the Osaka Hurricane each year from 2003 to 2012 and also hosted the fourth edition of the Sup ...

, where he was part of the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

with

Daisuke Harada (born November 13, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He’s a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Harada is also known for his ti ...

. Kotoge and Harada are former three-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions and have also worked together for various other promotions across Japan and for

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

–based Chikara in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Professional wrestling career

Osaka Pro Wrestling (2005–2012)

Kotoge made his debut for

on April 29, 2005, at the promotion's sixth anniversary show, facing Kabuto Beetle in a losing effort. After a rocky first year, which saw Kotoge feuding with La Uchida, without much success, the summer of 2006 saw him starting a new feud with

, during which he also began picking up victories and showing improvement in his in–ring work. In November 2006, Kotoge and Harada ended their feud and decided to partner up instead. After working as a tag team for over a year, Kotoge and Harada were finally granted a shot at the

Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. The title was established in 2001 when Daio Quallt and Gamma won a seven-team round-robin tournament to win the inaugural titles. Being a prof ...

on January 5, 2008, but were unsuccessful in their attempt at dethroning the defending champions Bad Force ( Gaina and Zero). Just a month later on February 11, the team came to an abrupt end, when Kotoge turned heel and joined the Bad Force stable, which, beside Gaina and Zero, also included Condor, Hideyoshi, Kazushi and

Masamune , was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...

. Meanwhile, Harada formed rival group Blood & Guts with

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

and

Tadasuke , known mononymously as is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is best known for his work in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he is a former one-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion, three-time Osaka Pro Wrestl ...

. The feud between Bad Force and Blood & Guts would last for the next three months, before Bad Force was dissolved, when Condor, Gaina and Zero jumped to splinter promotion Okinawa Pro Wrestling, after which Kotoge reunited with Harada by joining his stable. In June, Blood & Guts sent two teams into the 2008 Osaka Tag Festival, with Kotoge teaming with Tadasuke and Harada with Zeus. Both teams made it to the finals, where Harada and Zeus were victorious. Kotoge spent the rest of the year teaming with Harada and on November 15, the two unsuccessfully challenged

Black Buffalo The black buffalo (''Ictiobus niger'') is a North American species of freshwater fish in the Catostomidae or sucker family.* . At 56 years old for one specimen's age, it is one of the longest-lived catostomids. Found in the Mississippi Basin a ...

and

Tigers Mask is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He previously worked for Osaka Pro Wrestling under the ring name . His ring name and original wrestling attire were inspired by the Hanshin Tigers baseba ...

for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Momo no Seishun Tag

In March 2009, Kotoge entered the Indie Junior Challenger Determination tournament, defeating tag team partner Daisuke Harada in his first round match. The finals of the tournament on April 4 was a three-way match between stablemates Kotoge, Harada and Tadasuke, with Harada once again being victorious. On June 6, 2009, Tadasuke, considered the lowest ranking member of Blood & Guts, turned on the stable and joined rival group LOV (Legion of Violence). The turn built to a

Hair vs. Hair match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on July 25, where Kotoge was defeated by Tadasuke. With Zeus out of Osaka Pro, Kotoge and Harada disbanded the Blood & Guts stable, renamed their tag team Momo no Seishun Tag and concentrated on chasing the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. On January 16, 2010, Kotoge and Harada defeated

Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon name ...

and Tadasuke to become the number one contenders to the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship and finally, on February 11, defeated Hideyoshi and Masamune to win the Tag Team Championship for the first time. On May 9, Kotoge and Harada teamed with Takoyakida to defeat

Tokyo Gurentai is a professional wrestling stable, currently made up of Fujita, Kikuzawa, Mazada, and Nosawa Rongai. The group was formed in 2000 by Kikuzawa, Mazada and Nosawa and has since appeared for Japan's four biggest promotions; All Japan Pro Wrest ...

(

Fujita Fujita (written: , or ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese handball player *, Japanese long-distance runner *Aya Fujita (born 1987), Japanese shogi player *Emi Fujita (born 1963), Japanese singer *, Japanes ...

Mazada (born May 23, 1975) is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler, mostly known for his ring name Mazada (written in all capitals). He is one of the founding members of the renowned Stable (professional wrestling), stable Tokyo Gurentai a ...

and

Nosawa Rongai , better known by his ring names Nosawa and , (born December 17, 1976) is a Japanese freelance professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling and various independent promotions. Career Early career (19952004) Nos ...

) for the

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various pr ...

. They would hold the Trios Championship for a month, before losing it to Ebessan, Kanjyouro Matsuyama and

Kuishinbo Kamen is a Japanese professional wrestler better known as , a masked clown character. Kuishinbo Kamen is Japanese for "Gluttonous Mask". For a while he was forced to give up the Kuishinbo Kamen character, instead he worked as "Super Robo K", a futuri ...

. On July 17, Momo no Seishun Tag lost the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship to

Don Fujii (born July 6, 1970), better known by his ring name Don Fujii, is a Japanese wrestler who currently works for Dragon Gate. He was one-half of the inaugural Open the Owarai Twin Gate Champions and is also a former two-time Open the Twin Gate Champ ...

and

Masaaki Mochizuki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah. Mochizuki is a former FIP World Champion and three-time Open the Dream Gate Champion. Professional wrestling career Early years A former karatek ...

, representing rival promotion Dragon Gate. Atsushi Kotoge

On October 15, 2010, Kotoge and Harada made their debuts for

to take part in the 2010 Nippon TV Jr. Heavyweight Tag League. After one victory and three losses, Kotoge and Harada finished last in their block. Upon their return to Osaka Pro, Momo no Seishun Tag defeated Fujii and Mochizuki on October 31 to regain the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Their second reign would last less than two months as they lost the title to Joker (Kuuga and Orochi) on November 28. On January 15, 2011, Kotoge and Harada returned to Noah to unsuccessfully challenge

Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two ...

and

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), ...

for the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight wrestlers. It was created on July 16, 2003 when Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji defeated Jushin Thunder Liger ...

. On March 6, Momo no Seishun Tag wrestled Joker representatives Orochi and Tadasuke to a draw in an Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship number one contenders' match and afterwards agreed to a three-way match for the title. The title match took place on March 19, when Orochi and Tadasuke defeated Momo no Seishun Tag and previous champions, Big Guns (Zeus and The Bodyguard) to become the new Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. On April 21 Momo no Seishun Tag returned to Noah, where they defeated

GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion The is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg) wrestlers. It was created ...

Kotaro Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . He is currently working as a freelancer, mainly for promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Pro Wrestling Noah (2001-2013) Suzuki was the last person remaining of a grueling th ...

and

Shane Haste Shane Veryzer (born 24 September 1985) is an Australian professional wrestler best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Shane Thorne. He is also known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah under the Shane Haste ring ...

in a tag team match. On July 18 Momo no Seishun Tag defeated the teams of Joker (Orochi and Tadasuke) and Takoyakida and Ultimate Spider Jr. in a three-way match to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship for the third time. Four days later Kotoge and Harada returned to Pro Wrestling Noah to take part in the 2011 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League. After two victories and two losses, Kotoge and Harada finished third in their block, missing the finals of the tournament. On October 30, Momo no Seishun Tag lost the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship to the Joker team of Hayata and Kuuga. On November 27, the members of Momo no Seishun Tag faced off in the first round of the 2011 Tenno-zan tournament, with Harada eliminating Kotoge and advancing to the second round, eventually going on to win the entire tournament. On December 18, Momo no Seishun Tag returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, where they teamed with Shane Haste to defeat Atsushi Aoki, Kotaro Suzuki and

Taiji Ishimori is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he wrestles as part of the Bullet Club. He is the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in his third reign, and is also a one-time NEVER Openweight ...

in a six-man tag team match, afterwards challenging Aoki and Suzuki to a match for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On January 22, 2012, Momo no Seishun Tag failed to capture the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Aoki and Suzuki. On April 7, Kotoge announced that he would be leaving Osaka Pro at the end of the month. Momo no Seishun Tag wrestled their final match together on April 21, when they battled Hideyoshi and Masamune to a thirty-minute draw. On April 29, Kotoge, Daisuke Harada and Tadasuke defeated Billyken Kid, Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask in Kotoge's final Osaka Pro match. Following the match, Kotoge announced Pro Wrestling Noah as his new home promotion.

Chikara (2010–2011)

In April 2010, Kotoge along with Harada and their former Blood & Guts partner Tadasuke traveled to the

to represent Osaka Pro in Chikara's 2010 King of Trios tournament. In their first round match in the tournament on April 23, Team Osaka Pro defeated The UnStable (

Colin Delaney Colin Matthew Delaney (born September 7, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE on its ECW brand, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and has performed extensively on the independent circuit for promotio ...

, Stigma and

Vin Gerard Vince Gerard Durling (born February 4, 1986) is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in Chikara, where he was a one time Young Lions Cup Champion. Currently he is the owner/operator of Indiewrestling.tv. Pro ...

). While Kotoge and Harada worked the tour as

faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

, Tadasuke worked as a heel, and in the following day's quarterfinal match, used his heel antics to eliminate the reigning King of Trios, F.I.S.T. ( Chuck Taylor,

Gran Akuma Gran Akuma (born December 20, 1974) is a retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Chikara. He has also worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Dragon Gate USA and Full Impact Pro (FIP). In Chikara, he was a member of The Kings ...

and Icarus), from the tournament by pinning Taylor, while holding his tights, thus sending Team Osaka Pro to the semifinals of the tournament. On April 25, Team Osaka Pro was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant and Soldier Ant). Despite failing to win the tournament, Team Osaka Pro's strong showing had made them instant crowd favorites in Chikara. Team Osaka Pro and The Colony

On March 1, 2011, Chikara announced that Kotoge and Harada would be returning to the promotion for the 2011 King of Trios, this time teaming with the reigning Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Champion Ultimate Spider Jr. On April 15, Team Osaka Pro defeated the Throwbacks (

Dasher Hatfield A Very Good Professional Wrestler (born 1983 or 1982), formerly known by his ring name Dasher Hatfield, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Chikara and its sister promotion Wrestling is Fun!. Professional wrest ...

Matt Classic Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same d ...

and Sugar Dunkerton) in their first round match. However, the following day, Team Osaka Pro was eliminated from the tournament by F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Icarus and

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name Johnny Gargano. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is best known for his time in NXT, wh ...

), when Taylor pinned Spider Jr., while grabbing a hold of his tights, much like how Tadasuke had pinned him in the tournament the previous year. On April 17, the final day of the tournament, Kotoge and Harada entered a ten tag team gauntlet match. They entered the match as the eighth team, facing the Roughnecks (

Brodie Lee Jonathan Huber (December 16, 1979 – December 26, 2020) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Luke Harper (later simply Harper) from 2012 to 2019, and in All E ...

and Grizzly Redwood), whom they eliminated when Kotoge pinned Redwood. After Kotoge also scored the pinfall, which eliminated team number nine, 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews), he and Harada faced off with representatives from rival promotion Dragon Gate, Kagetora and

Super Shisa Yoshiyuki Saito (born April 9, 1970) is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by his ring name Super Shisa, currently wrestling for Dragon Gate. His gimmick is inspired by the Ryukyuan Shisa. He claimed to be a student of Toryumon alumni ...

. In the end, Kotoge was able to score his third pinfall of the day, winning the match for Momo no Seishun Tag, while also earning the team their third point, which guaranteed them a shot at the '' Campeonatos de Parejas'', which was at the time held by

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

and

Mike Quackenbush Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976), is an American podcaster, author, professional wrestling trainer, professional wrestling promoter, and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Mike Quackenbush. He has hosted several ...

. On August 25, Chikara announced that Momo no Seishun Tag would return to cash their points on October 7, challenging brand new Campeones de Parejas, F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano), in a rubber match. On October 7 in Burlington, North Carolina, Momo no Seishun Tag failed to capture the Campeonatos de Parejas as they were defeated by Taylor and Gargano two falls to one, following interference from Icarus. The following day, Kotoge and Harada were defeated by Fire Ant and Soldier Ant at a show in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Pro Wrestling Noah

Junior heavyweight (2012–2016)

On May 1, 2012, Kotoge appeared at a press conference, where he was officially presented as Pro Wrestling Noah's newest signee. Kotoge wrestled his first match under a Noah contract on May 6, when he was defeated by

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...

. On May 13, Kotoge pinned GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...

in a tag team main event, where he teamed with

GHC Heavyweight Champion The is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the Pro Wrestling Noah brand division. It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alon ...

Takeshi Morishima (born October 15, 1978) is a Japanese former professional wrestler. Morishima is best known for his work with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has also performed for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the Un ...

and Kanemaru with

Maybach Taniguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur backg ...

. The following day, Kotoge was named the number one contender to Kanemaru's title. Kotoge received his title shot on June 3, but was defeated by Kanemaru. On July 22, Kotoge wrestled one of the biggest matches of his career, when he was defeated by

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

representative

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...

in a singles match. After losing to

Muhammad Yone , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in 2 ...

on July 29, Kotoge was accepted into the Brave stable, which in addition to Yone also included leader

Ricky Marvin Ricardo Fuentes Romero (born January 8, 1980) is a second-generation Mexican professional wrestler, known by his ring name Ricky Marvin, and is most known for his work in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Between 2005 and 2007, he also ...

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...

and Taiji Ishimori, who agreed to team with Kotoge in the upcoming 2012 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League. On August 9, Kotoge wrestled another big match, where he was defeated by the recently returned

Kenta Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

. At the end of the two-week-long NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, Kotoge and Ishimori won their round-robin block with three wins and one loss, advancing to the finals, where, on September 22, they defeated

Daichi Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is a former two-time BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion and three-time BJW Tag Team Champion. He is the son of Shiny ...

and

Ikuto Hidaka (born August 5, 1972) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Hidaka was the regular partner of Minoru Fujita, with whom he has held the Zero1-Max International Lightweight Tag Team and Intercon ...

to win the tournament and become the number one contenders to the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Kotoge and Ishimori received their title shot on October 8, but were defeated by the defending champions, Ricky Marvin and Super Crazy. On December 16, Kotoge made a special return to Osaka Pro, teaming with Ishimori, Billyken Kid, Tigers Mask and Tsubasa in a ten-man tag team match, where they defeated the Joker team of Hideyoshi, Masamune, Orochi, Quiet Storm and Spider J, with Kotoge pinning Spider J for the win. On January 27, 2013, Kotoge represented Noah in an interpromotional match with

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...

(NJPW), teaming with

Yoshinari Ogawa (born November 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" from the English-speaking Puroresu fanbase due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting his ...

in a tag team match, where they were defeated by

Jyushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

and

Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...

. On March 10, Kotoge received another shot at the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Taiji Ishimori. In April, Kotoge got to take part in his first

Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...

, when he replaced an injured Naomichi Marufuji and became Takashi Sugiura's new partner for the tournament. While the tournament was still ongoing, Kotoge and Ishimori received another shot at the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on April 21, but were defeated by the defending champions,

Genba Hirayanagi , better known by his ring name , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for working for Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Hirayanagi was a competitor in amateur wrestling in high school. In June 2004 he entered the Pro Wrestling N ...

and Suwa. Kotoge and Sugiura finished the Global Tag League on April 28 with a record of two wins and two losses. Despite failing to make the finals, they were awarded the Technique award. On May 12, Kotoge wrestled in a singles match, where he defeated former tag team partner Daisuke Harada, who had just joined Noah from Osaka Pro. From July 11 to 28, Kotoge and Ishimori took part in the 2013 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, contested for the vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, where they made it all the way to the finals, before losing to Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask. On August 24, Kotoge returned to the ring with Daisuke Harada, when he was pinned by his former partner in a tag team match, where he and Ishimori faced Harada and Hitoshi Kumano. After Harada and Kumano had failed to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Liger and Tiger Mask, Kotoge and Ishimori received another shot at the title on October 5, but were again defeated by the NJPW representatives. Kotoge and Ishimori finally won the title on March 21, 2014, when they defeated Yoshinari Ogawa and

Zack Sabre Jr. Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outsid ...

Afterwards, Kotoge announced he was planning on becoming a double junior heavyweight champion, challenging GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, former partner Daisuke Harada. Kotoge and Ishimori's reign as GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions lasted only 22 days, before they lost the title back to Ogawa and Sabre in their first defense on April 12. On April 19, Kotoge also failed in his attempt to capture the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship from Harada. On July 5, Kotoge and Ishimori regained the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Ogawa and Sabre. They lost the title to

Hajime Ohara is a Japanese professional wrestler. Ohara worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico for several years as part of his training, mixing the ''lucha libre'' style of Mexico with the Japanese Puroresu style of wrestling. In Japan, ...

and

Kenoh (born January 1, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist, better known by the ring name . He currently wrestles in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC National Champion and a former two-time GHC Heavyweight Champio ...

on October 12. On December 6, Kotoge won his first singles title, when he defeated former partner Daisuke Harada for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. He made his first successful title defense in a rematch with Harada on January 24, 2015. He lost the title to

Taichi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...

in his second defense on March 15, following repeated outside interference from Taichi's Suzuki-gun stablemates El Desperado and

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for t ...

. Kotoge received a rematch for the title on May 10, but was again defeated following outside interference from El Desperado and a steel chair shot from Taichi. On May 24, Kotoge represented Noah in

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Antonio Peña Promotions, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Commonly referred to as simply ...

Lucha Libre World Cup The ''Lucha Libre'' World Cup was an annual professional wrestling tournament and event organized by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) from 2015 until 2017. The first two tournaments, which featured three-man ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Team Noah, made up of Kotoge, Taiji Ishimori and

Yoshihiro Takayama is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and ...

was defeated in the first round of the tournament by the Dream Team ( Myzteziz, El Patrón Alberto and

Rey Mysterio Jr. Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest profe ...

). Back in Noah, Kotoge made it to the finals of the 2015 Global Junior Heavyweight League, but was defeated there on August 5 by Daisuke Harada. On August 22, Kotoge and Harada announced they were reuniting for the 2015 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, which would mark their first matches together as a tag team in four years. On September 22, Kotoge and Harada finished their round-robin block in the tournament with a record of three wins and one loss, winning their block and advancing to the finals. Later that same day, they defeated the reigning GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado and Taka Michinoku in the finals to win the tournament. This led to a match on October 4, where Kotoge and Harada defeated El Desperado and Taka Michinoku to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, becoming the first Noah wrestlers to reclaim one of the four GHC titles from the Suzuki-gun stable. Afterwards, Kotoge and Harada continued feuding with Suzuki-gun by successfully defending their title against members of the stable; first defeating El Desperado and Michinoku in a rematch on December 23, then defeating Taichi and Michinoku on January 31, 2016, and finally defeating Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on February 19. On March 19, Kotoge and Harada lost the title to Hajime Ohara and Kenoh. Kotoge and Harada regained the title in a rematch on April 5. They then went back to defending the title against Suzuki-gun, defeating El Desperado and Taka Michinoku for their first successful defense on April 30, before defeating Ohara and Kenoh in a title rematch on May 28. On June 12, Kotoge and Harada won a three-way match, defeating the Suzuki-gun team of Michinoku and Taichi as well as Gedo and Jado, to make their third successful title defense. The following month, Kotoge and Harada made it to the finals of the 2016 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, but were defeated there by

A. C. H. Albert Christian Hardie Jr. (born December 7, 1987), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently known by his ring name A. C. H. He has wrestled for several American promotions, like Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor Wrestl ...

and Taiji Ishimori. This led to a title match on August 21 at a NJPW show, where Kotoge and Harada defeated ACH and Ishimori for their fourth successful title defense, afterwards nominating Gedo and Jado as their next challengers. On September 23, Kotoge defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On October 8, Kotoge and Harada lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Gedo and Jado. Kotoge made his first successful defense of the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship on October 23, defeating Kanemaru in a rematch. On November 22, Kotoge made his second successful title defense against his tag team partner Daisuke Harada. On December 2, Kotoge defeated Taichi for his third successful title defense. On December 24, Kotoge and Harada regained the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Gedo and Jado. Following the win, Kotoge stated he wanted to join the heavyweight division in 2017. On December 26, Noah held a press conference to officially announce Kotoge's transition into the heavyweight division, resulting in him relinquishing both the GHC Junior Heavyweight and GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

Heavyweight (2017–2019)

Kotoge's heavyweight debut took place on January 7, 2017, when he and Naomichi Marufuji unsuccessfully challenged Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi for the GHC Tag Team Championship. The following day, Kotoge defeated Rionne Fujiwara for his first win as a heavyweight. Momo no Seishun Tag formally disbanded on February 14, after Kotoge defeated Harada in a singles match. In May, Kotoge and Go Shiozaki advanced to the finals of the

2017 Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...

, after finishing their block with a record of five wins and two losses. On May 4, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by reigning GHC Tag Team Champions Maybach Taniguchi and Naomichi Marufuji. On June 4, Kotoge defeated Kenoh to become the number one contender to the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Kotoge received his title shot on June 25, but was defeated by

Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...

. On August 26, Kotoge won his first title as a heavyweight, when he and Go Shiozaki defeated Maybach Taniguchi and Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Muhammad Yone and Quiet Storm on October 1. On March 11, he teamed with Naomichi Marufuji to defeat Akitoshi Saito and Shiro Koshinaka and later that night challenged Takashi Sugiura, who had just defeated Kenoh for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, to a title match, then busted him open with a headbutt. During the Global Tag League in April, he managed to pin the champion in a tournament match. Kotoge received his title match on April 29, but was defeated by Sugiura.

Return to Junior heavyweight (2019–Present)

In 2019, Kotoge joined Stinger and started feuding with

and his Ratel's stable. Kotoge challenged Daisuke Harada for IPW Junior Heavyweight Championship when Harada defeated Chris Ridgeway. At 16 September Kotoge defeated Harada making him IPW UK Junior Heavyweight Champion for 1st time in his career.

Personal life

Kotoge got married in August 2017. Atsushi Kotoge charge

Championships and accomplishments

* Dragon Gate **

Open the Triangle Gate Championship The Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling trios title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was created on November 7, 2004 when The Italian Connection faction of Milano Collection A.T., Anthony W. Mori and Yossino ...

( 1 time) – with Daisuke Harada and Yo-Hey * International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom ** IPW:UK Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

( 3 times) – with

( 1 time) – with Daisuke Harada and Takoyakida *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 165 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

in 2022 *

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg) wrestlers. It was created ...

( 3 times) **

( 11 times, current) – with

(2), Daisuke Harada (4),

(1),

Yo-Hey , better known by his ring name Yo-Hey (stylised in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Fujita started his career in Dragon Gate (DG) under the ring name Ryoma (stylised in ...

(1) and

Seiki Yoshioka , previously known as Seiki (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, and a member of the ''Stinger'' stable, led by Yos ...

(2, current) ** GHC Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televi ...

(

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

) – with Taiji Ishimori **

( 2015) – with Daisuke Harada **Tsukigi Seikotsuin Cup (2014) **Global Tag League Technique Award (2013) – with

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

Pro Wrestling Noah profile

Osaka Pro Wrestling profile

Official blog
*
Purolove profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotoge, Atsushi 1985 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Osaka Prefecture People from Kaizuka, Osaka 21st-century professional wrestlers GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions GHC Tag Team Champions UWA World Trios Champions Open the Triangle Gate Champions