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 or ...

currently working as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

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 ...

and

Kaientai Dojo Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion and training facility originally owned and promoted by Taka Michinoku. The promotion places emphasis on a style of puroresu that combines high-flying, technical wr ...

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2002–present)

As a freelancer, he is known for working with various promotions. At the ''5th Anniversary of NEO Women's Pro Wrestling'' on May 5, 2005, Nira took part in one of the longest matches in

professional wrestling 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 ...

history, a 55-person battle royal in which he competed against notable opponents such as the winner

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue performed in the World Wrestling Federation at Survivor Series 1995 in an all ...

Yuki Miyazaki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Wave. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1995-present) Miyazaki made her professional wrestling debut on Jan ...

Kayoko Haruyama is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. Having made her debut in January 1998, Haruyama worked for the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion her entire career, becoming not only one of the promotion's most accomplished singles wrestlers, with one JWP ...

Tetsuhiro Kuroda is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently competing as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. He is best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily competed from 1993 until the promotion's cl ...

Command Bolshoi is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She debuted for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) in November 1991 and worked for its follow-up promotion JWP Joshi Puroresu from 1992 until its folding in 2017, also serving as its final president. D ...

and many others. On the second night of the ''

Differ Cup The Differ Cup is a cross-promotional professional wrestling tournament in Japan, contested among several teams of junior heavyweight tag teams, each typically representing a particular promotion. It was originally held biennially, first in 2003, t ...

2005'' of

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 ...

, Nira teamed up with

Stalker Ichikawa , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate. Professional wrestling career A member of Último Dragón's Toryumon Dojo second class gifted with an extensive amateur wrestling b ...

and got defeated by

Awesome Kong Kia Stevens (born September 4, 1977) is an American actress and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also worked with Ri ...

in a 2-on-1 handicap match. At ''AJPW/RO&D RO&D Festival'', an event promoted by

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

on September 11, 2005, Nira teamed up with

Kikutaro (born November 17, 1976), better known as his wrestling persona and formerly , is a freelance Japanese professional wrestler. Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylized ...

and Eggman in a losing effort to

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 ...

(

Chuck Palumbo Charles Palumbo (born June 15, 1971) is an Italian-American television personality, motorcycle and automotive designer/fabricator, home designer/builder, and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional w ...

Johnny Stamboli Jonathan Hugger (born April 20, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny the Bull, for World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Johnny ...

and Taru) as a result of a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

Kaientai Dojo (2002–2017)

Nira made his professional wrestling debut on April 20, 2002, at ''K-DOJO First Impression'', an event promoted by

where he teamed up with

Apple Miyuki (born June 14, 1985) is a female professional wrestler, who currently works for Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling. She is better known under her previous ring name , under which she worked mainly for the Kaientai Dojo and Osaka Pro Wrestling promotio ...

and Maya to unsuccessfully challenge Psycho in a 3-on-1 handicap match. At ''K-DOJO Club-K Free'' on November 3, 2004, he competed in a 28-man battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the

Strongest-K Championship The Strongest-K Championship was the top singles title in Kaientai Dojo and was established in 2004. The holder of the title was referred to as the "Champion of Strongest-K". There have been a total of 27 reigns and one vacancy shared between ...

also involving Gentaro,

Hi69 is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hi69 (pronounced as Hiroki). He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Since debuting in 2000, Tanabe has frequently worked for Kaientai Dojo, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Apache P ...

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 the ...

Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

and others.

DDT Pro-Wrestling (2004–present)

Nira is best known for his tenure with

. He often wrestled in unusual matches such as the 34-person tag team match from ''DDT New Year's Gift Special 2015'' where he teamed up with sixteen tag partners among which were

Daisuke Sasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), where is a former two-time DDT Universal Champion. In addition to that, in DDT, he is also a former three-time KO-D Openweight Champion, one-time DDT Extreme Champion ...

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 ...

Michael Nakazawa , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler and judoka signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Early life Nakazawa attended Tokai University before studying abroad in the United States were he obtained an MSc Sports Scienc ...

Saki Akai is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Japanese idol, idol, model, and Television personalities in Japan, tarento, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) ...

and

Super Sasadango Machine is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name and is currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Dramatic Dream Team/DDT Pro Wrestling (2002� ...

to defeat the likes of

Makoto Oishi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). Oishi started his career in Kaientai Dojo, where he became a Strongest-K Tag Team, Independent World Junior Heavyweight and UWA World Middleweight Champion, ...

Shuji Ishikawa is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, World Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 2017 Champion Carnival. Ishikawa is also known f ...

Konosuke Takeshita is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to both All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in the United States and DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) in Japan. Takeshita was named the Rookie of the Year by ''Tokyo Sports'' in 2013 and is the youngest KO-D O ...

Sanshiro Takagi , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Takagi's gimmick is that he is Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is known in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and around the micro-indy scene for his hilarious promos and natural charism ...

and

Shigehiro Irie is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Irie has also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), and a number of North American indep ...

. Another special match in which he worked was a drinking match at ''BJW/DDT/K-DOJO Sapporo Pro-Wrestling Festa 2013'', a cross-over event produced by

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

in partnership with Kaientai Dojo and

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasak ...

on October 14 where he teamed up with

Ryuji Ito (born April 8, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently competing in Big Japan Pro Wrestling in the Deathmatch division. He is well known for his death match style of wrestling. Career Big Japan Pro Wrestling (1999–present) It ...

to beat

Masa Takanashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Takanashi was trained by Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and has worked for the promotion since his debut in September 2003, becoming a one-time KO-D Openweight Champion, a two-time ...

and

Ryuichi Sekine is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his time in the professional wrestling promotion Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2008–present) Sekine i ...

. He worked in many of the promotion's signature events. One of them is

DDT Peter Pan is an annual Japanese professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The event has been held since 2009 and aired domestically on Fighting TV Samurai and later as an internet pay-per-view (iPPV) on DDT's streaming service Wr ...

, branch of events in which he wrestled most of the times in Rumble rules matches for the

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight in its DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand. Open to anyone, regardless of gender or DDT employment status, the championship is defended " 24/7", as i ...

. He made his first appearance at Peter Pan 2009 from August 23 where he competed in this kind of match also involving

Toru Owashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . He is best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Openweight Champion and two time KO-D Tag Team Championship, KO-D Ta ...

, Giru Nakano,

Yumiko Hotta is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Hotta was trained by and started her career in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion in June 1985. She worked for the promotion until 2003, becoming a three-time WWWA W ...

Riho is a Japanese professional wrestler and idol currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of nine. Sh ...

and others. Two years later at

Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2011 was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The event took place on July 24, 2011, in Tokyo at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The event featured nine matches, five of which were contested for championships. The event aired ...

on July 24, Nira competed in another rumble rules match again involving notable opponents such as

Yuzuki Aikawa is a Japanese gravure idol and retired professional wrestler. Starting her modeling career in 2003, Aikawa went on to become one of Japan's top gravure idols, earning the nickname "The Gravure Queen of the Next Generation" by appearing in variou ...

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid. Professional wrestling career All Jap ...

Emi Sakura , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler performing for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). After starting her career in International Wrestling Association of Japan in August 1995, Sa ...

and

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

. At

Budokan Peter Pan was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The event took place on August 18, 2012, in Tokyo at the Nippon Budokan. The event featured ten matches, three of which were contested for championships. The event aired on ...

on August 18, 2012, Nira defended the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship in the rumble match unsuccessfully in front of the winner

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wrest ...

Mio Shirai is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current professional wrestling referee. She started her career in March 2007, working alongside her sister Io Shirai on the Japanese independent circuit for promotions such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Jo ...

Tomomitsu Matsunaga is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), a Japanese promotion where he is a former Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2006-present) Matsunaga is known ...

Ken Ohka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Dramatic Dream Team (2001-present) Ohka made his professional wrestling debut on Dram ...

and others. As for the DDT Judgement branch of events, Nira made his first appearance at

Judgement 2009 Judgement 2009 was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). It took place on April 5, 2009, in Tokyo, Japan, at the Korakuen Hall. It was the thirteenth event under the Judgement name. The event aired domestically on Fi ...

on April 5, 2009, where he firstly defeated Mammoth Handa and Yoshiaki Yago in a

three-way 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 ...

to qualify in a #1 Conterdership Double Chance Battle Royal with a contract suspended above the ring to challenge for the

KO-D Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world openweight championship and the top singles accomplishment in the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand division. It is one of CyberFight's top major world title ...

, match which also involved the winner

Harashima Harashima (stylised in all capital letters) (born July 6, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling (formally Dramatic Dream Team), where he is a ten-time KO-D Openweight Champion and a curren ...

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

Poison Sawada Julie is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) under the ring name . Professional wrestling career DDT Pro Wrestling (1999–2012; 2022–present) Initially trained by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Sawa ...

Kazuhiro Tamura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling Heat Up where he is the owner of the company and the current Heat Up Universal Champion. Tamura also works for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) where he is a former Gaora TV ...

and others. At Judgement 2016: DDT 19th Anniversary on March 21, 2016, Nira teamed up with Dai Suzuki defeating

Seiya Morohashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1997-present) Morohashi made his professional wrestling debut in Inte ...

and

Hoshitango is an Argentine-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler. His highest rank was ''jūryō'' 3. Life and career A former swimming instructor, Salomon was spotted by a visiting Japanese coach at a gym in Bue ...

. Morohashi was the King of Dark Champion but Nira did not take the title off him due to the "loss meaning successful defense" of the title rule.

Championships and accomplishments

( 11 times) *

Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling , lead=yes, often referred to simply as Gatoh Move is a Japanese ''Joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 2012, by Emi Sakura. The promotion is most known for hosting shows in Tokyo at ''Ichigaya Chocolate Squar ...

IWA Triple Crown Championship The was a title used on the Japanese independent circuit. The title was the world heavyweight championship of the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan). It was later revived in the women's wrestling promotion Gatoh Move Pro W ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nira, D. J. Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers People from Niigata Prefecture Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century professional wrestlers Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (IWA Japan)