Gleat (stylized as GLEAT) is a Japanese professional wrestling and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

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 ...

founded in 2020 by former

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 ...

parent company Lidet Entertainment after the acquisition of Noah and

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 ...

CyberAgent is a Japanese digital advertising company, which was founded in 1998 by Susumu Fujita and headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is owned by Susumu Fujita with 20.50% interest; Fujita is representative director, while Yusuke Hidaka is executive vice ...

. The promotion is overseen by Hiroyuki Suzuki and former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

and

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 ...

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of ...

. The promotion emphasizes the use of the

UWFi Union of Professional Wrestling Force International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newb ...

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

s-based wrestling style.

History

In November 2018, Japanese advertising company Lidet Entertainment began investing in various business ventures in the professional wrestling industry including

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestle ...

's Power Hall show in December 2018. On January 29, 2019, Lidet Entertainment bought 75% shares of

, with the goal of transforming the promotion into the second largest promotion in Japan after

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling 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 Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW). A year later due to Noah's financial struggles, Lidet Entertainment sold all shares of Pro Wrestling Noah to internet advertising company

. Lidet's President Hiroyuki Suzuki wanting to continue to be involved with professional wrestling met with

several days after the sale of Noah. Suzuki later announced the formation of a new promotion, Gleat – it was additionally revealed that

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 heavyweigh ...

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 ...

would become the Gleat Chief Technical Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, respectively. Gleat promotes shows via its two sub-brands – G Prowrestling, a traditional

puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's act ...

brand, and Lidet UWF, a

-inspired

shoot style Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

brand. Gleat held its inaugural event, "Gleat Ver. 0", on October 15, 2020, which

aired Air is the name given to the atmosphere of Earth. Air or AIR may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art *Air (Maillol), ''Air'' (Maillol), a sculpture by Aristide Maillol *Air (painting), ''Air'' (painting), a painting by Jan van Kess ...

Fighting TV Samurai Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

on October 22, with the main event pitting Noah's Sugiura-gun (

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 ...

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for his ...

and

Kendo Kashin Tokimitsu Ishizawa (''Ishizawa Tokimitsu'', born August 5, 1968), better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin (ケンドー・カシン, ''Kendō Kashin''), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan P ...

) against

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Shuhei 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 ...

, and

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 ...

. The participation of Noah wrestlers on Gleat events would cease after Nosawa Rongai resigned from his positions at Gleat to focus on his role as Noah booker. Following the end of the Noah partnership, Gleat would see the participation of wrestlers from other Japan-based wrestling promotions such as

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 ...

from NJPW and

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the ...

and Masato Tanaka from

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

. In February 2021, shoot style veterans Minoru Tanaka and

Daijiro Matsui is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor since 1998, he has competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, DEEP, Pancrase, and King of the Cage. Professional wrestling career Afte ...

were signed by the company, shortly after Tanaka was given the UWF Rule Technical Officer executive role. In May, it was announced that Cima, El Lindaman, T-Hawk, and Issei Onitsuka would be leaving

Oriental Wrestling Entertainment Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE) () is a Chinese-based professional wrestling promotion founded in 2017. OWE shows normally combine wrestling with musical performances by the C-pop all-girls group SNH48. The promotion currently promotes o ...

and

Ryuichi Kawakami is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Gleat and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) and DDT Pro Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2009-p ...

would be leaving

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 Nagasaki, ...

to join Gleat. Gleat also operates a developmental division, with Yu Iizuka, Soma Watanabe, and

Takanori Ito is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Gleat. He is best known for working for Wrestle-1, where he is a two-time Wrestle-1 Result Champion and a one-time Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion, alongside Masayuki Kono. He also won ...

being the promotion's inaugural trainees. In December 2021, Gleat announced a 12-man tournament would be held from January 26 to February 22, 2022 to crown the inaugural G-Rex Champion. The tournament and championship were won by El Lindaman. In July 2022, Gleat announced the creation of the

G-Infinity Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship in the Japanese promotion Gleat. The title is the first tag team title to be created by the promotion and the second overall. The title is currently vacant. History Gleat was founded in 2020 ...

for its G Prowrestling brand. A four-team tournament was held from August 20, 2022, to August 24 to crown the inaugural champions. The tournament was won by Bulk Orchestra (

Kazma Sakamoto Kazma Parmar Sakamoto (born 1 October 1982) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He originally started his career working for Kaientai Dojo in Japan, where he became a one-time Strongest-K Champion and a three-time Strongest-K Tag Team Champi ...

and

). On December 14, Gleat promoted its first

(MMA) event, "Gleat MMA Ver. 0".

Personnel

Background

Gleat divides their roster based on its two sub-brands, G Prowrestling and Lidet UWF. Gleat also recognizes a third roster division, "M" – these wrestlers have legitimate mixed martial arts experience and may wrestle on either G Prowrestling or Lidet UWF events. * G – Wrestlers affiliated to G Prowrestling, Gleat's sub-brand that promotes matches using regular professional wrestling rules. * U – Wrestlers affiliated to Lidet UWF, Gleat's sub-brand that promotes matches using UWFi-inspired shoot style rules. *M – Wrestlers that have mixed martial arts experience; these wrestlers may be affiliated with either Gleat sub-brand.

Wrestlers

Contracted

Regular outsiders

Other personnel

Notable alumni/guests

Abdullah Kobayashi , is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by his ring name after Abdullah the Butcher, who was one of his trainers. Professional wrestling career He began his career in 1995 as one of the main wrestlers in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) i ...

* Akane Fujita * Atsuki Aoyagi * Bandido *

Chihiro Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling, where she is the current five time Sendai Girls World Champion. Hashimoto was trained in the Sendai Girls' dojo under Meiko Satomura, and made her debut in Octo ...

Drew Parker Drew Jacob Parker (born 29 December 1997) is a Welsh professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), and for his time in the British independe ...

Flamita Flamita (born November 30, 1994) is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' or masked professional wrestler. In addition to working for promotions such as Ring Of Honor, (ROH) Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, (AAA) and Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) i ...

* Jake Lee *

*Jun Masaoka *

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 World Junior Heavyweight Championship (AJPW), AJP ...

Komander Komander (born December 15, 1998 in Reynosa, Tamaulipas) is a Mexican Lucha libre, luchador, a masked professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently working with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He made his debut for the promotion in S ...

* Kota Sekifuda *

Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), ...

* Masato Tanaka *

Mochi Miyagi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer. She previously had tenures with the Japanese promotions Ice Ribbon and Pro Wrestling Wave. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2010–present) As a freelance ...

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 inde ...

Takuya Nomura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the professional wrestling promotions Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) and Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). Professional wrestling career Indep ...

Tomoaki Honma is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a two-time World Tag League winner with Togi Makabe. Professional wrestling career Big Jap ...

* Thekla

Championships

References

External links

Lidet Entertainment official website
{{MMA organizations Entertainment companies established in 2020 Sports organizations established in 2020 2020 establishments in Japan Japanese professional wrestling promotions Mixed martial arts in Japan Mixed martial arts organizations Sports organizations of Japan