Francesco Begnini (born November 12, 1999), better known by his ring name Francesco Akira is an Italian

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 ...

, working for 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 ...

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), where he is a member of the

United Empire , originally , is a professional wrestling faction, performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and RevPro, the faction is led by Will Ospreay. The group was formed in October 2020 by Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chao ...

stable and a current IWGP Junior Tag Team Champion. Begnini has also wrestled for All Japan Pro-Wrestling (AJPW) where he was a former AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Begnini debuted as a

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

wrestling circuit, working for the Italian Championship Wrestling, the promotion where he trained, for the Rising Sun Wrestling Promotion, ASCA Wrestling, and also for Irish and British promotions such as

Over the Top Wrestling Over the Top Wrestling, commonly abbreviated to OTT, is an Irish professional wrestling promotion based in Dublin, Ireland, that was founded in 2014. The promotion mixes elements of traditional pro wrestling, comedy and sports entertainment. Ove ...

and

Attack! Pro Wrestling Attack Pro Wrestling (stylized as ATTACK! Pro Wrestling) is a British professional wrestling promotion owned and operated by wrestler Mark Andrews Although ATTACK was originally established in 2011 by wrestler Pete Dunne and ring announcer Jim ...

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2019–2022)

Begnini made his debut in

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 ...

at ''AJPW Excite Series 2019'' on February 7, where he teamed up with Black Menso-re, Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu in a losing effort to Evolution (

Hikaru Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name . Sato started his MMA career in February 2000, fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. During the next eight years, Sato fought, on average, five time ...

, Suwama and Yusuke Okada). He continued his tenure with the company, working for various events such as ''AJPW Chiba Extra Dream In Narita'' on July 15, 2019, where he teamed up with

, Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Okada to defeat

Atsushi Maruyama 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 baseb ...

, Black Menso-re, Keiichi Sato and

Koji Iwamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Iwamoto has previously competed for DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Heat Up. He is a former four time AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion, as well ...

in an

eight-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 ...

. On the first night of the ''AJPW New Year Wars 2020'' on January 2, where he participated in a 13-man battle royal also involving Jake Lee,

Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...

Osamu Nishimura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer. Nishimura formerly worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and MUGA World Pro Wrestling (MUGA). Professional wrestling career Early years (1991–1998) Nishimura debuted ...

and others. Begnini is known for competing in the

AJPW Junior League The Junior League is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling, to decide the promotion's top junior heavyweight wrestler, as well as the #1 contender to the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. It ...

. He made his first appearance at the 2019 edition of the event, placing himself in the Block A and scoring a total of two points after competing against

, Yusuke Okada, Tajiri,

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

. At the 2021 edition of the event, he came out champion after defeating Tajiri in the first round,

Takuya Sugi is a Japanese professional wrestler from Shizuoka. He currently works in Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) as Sugi (stylized in all capital letters), but he has used many aliases, most commonly Yoshitsune and Sugi, through his career in many Japanese ...

in the second round,

Tatsuhito Takaiwa (born Go Yong-Il (Hangul: 고 용일), July 5, 1972) is a Zainichi-Korean professional wrestler. Takaiwa is one of the more well-traveled junior heavyweights in Japan, having wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Pro Wrestling Zero1, ...

in the semi-finals and El Lindaman in the finals on June 3, 2021. Another signature event of the promotion in which Begnini took part is the

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 heavyweigh ...

, making his first appearance at the 2019 edition of the event, where he teamed up with Hokuto Omori and scored a total of three points after competing against the teams of Keiichi Sato and

, Banana Senga and Tsutomu Oosugi,

and Black Menso～re,

and Yusuke Okada, and Kagetora and Yosuke♥Santa Maria. At the 2020 edition, he teamed up with Takayuki Ueki and fell short to Jin (

and Fuminori Abe) in the first round from December 27.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022–present)

On March 28, 2022, a video, titled 'BRUCIARE' ("Burn" in Italian) was posted by

which showed

leader

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

on a unknown location walking over pictures of the junior division wrestlers of New Japan on the floor, declaring the division wasn't the same since he graduated, and that he would rebuild her with a then unknown protegé, that would join him soon. On April 9, Begnini made his NJPW debut at Hyper Battle '22, after the

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion 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 ho ...

ship match, where El Desperado successfully defended his belt against

Sho Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (su ...

, where Begnini unveiled a United Empire shirt, thus joining the group and announcing he would compete in the Best of the Super Jrs. tournament in May. On May 1, Akira was announced to be competing in the A Block, where he would finish it with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses, finishing with 8 points, therefore failing to advance to the finals. On the finals day, Akira and

stablemate

T. J. Perkins Theodore James Perkins (born September 3, 1984) is an American professional wrestler of Filipino descent, better known by the ring name T. J. Perkins (or simply TJP) currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a member of the Unite ...

defeated IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Master Wato and

Ryusuke Taguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, seven-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and three-time NEVER ...

in a non-title match. On June 20, Akira and Perkins would beat the duo of Taguchi and Wato to win the titles, that being Akira's first championship in NJPW.

Championships and accomplishments

*Adriatic Special Combat Academy **ASCA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gravity *

** World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** AJPW Junior League (2021) *Italian Championship Wrestling **ICW Italian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gravity **ICW Cartoomics 24/7 Championship (1 time) *

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. 306 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 2021 *Rising Sun Wrestling Promotion **Rising Championship (2 times) *

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Juni ...

( 1 time, current) – with TJP

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco, Akira 1999 births Living people 21st-century professional wrestlers Italian male professional wrestlers IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sportspeople from Bergamo World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW)