J. R. Kratos (born June 20, 1982) is an American

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 appearing for the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA), where he is a former NWA United States Tag Team Champion (with Odinson) and a former

NWA World Tag Team Champion The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA Worl ...

. He also makes sporadic appearances for

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 ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Kratos' early career started in the

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

pro 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 ...

scene where he debuted for Supreme Pro Wrestling. From 2012-2019, Kratos wrestle for All Pro Wrestling on a constant basis. He has also competed in several GCW Bloodsport events after he attended a seminar held by Josh Barnett with Timothy Thatcher and Jeff Cobb.

All Japan Pro-Wrestling

Kratos competed for

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, ...

during their Excite Series tour in February 2020 in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

National Wrestling Alliance

On November 11, 2020, Aron Stevens and Kratos defeated Eli Drake and

James Storm James Allen Cox (born June 1, 1977) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name James Storm. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling. He started his career in 1997 and after working on several independent pr ...

to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. On June 6, at When Our Shadows Fall, Stevens and Kratos successfully defended their titles in a

three-way 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 ma ...

against The War Kings (

Jax Dane Jackson Dane Laymon (born April 10, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jax Dane. He is known for his tenure with various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member promotions. He is a former NWA World Hea ...

and

Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...

) and Strictly Business (

Thom Latimer Thomas Raymond Latimer (born 6 August 1986) is an English Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He currently competes for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as a member of Strictly Business (professional wrestling), Strict ...

and Chris Adonis). On August 29, at the

NWA 73rd Anniversary Show The NWA 73rd Anniversary Show (also simply known as NWA 73) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that was held on August 29, 2021, as the second of two PPV events to take place from th ...

, they lost the titles to La Rebelión (

Bestia 666 Leornardo Carrera Lizarraga (born May 14, 1989) is a Mexican ''luchador'' or professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bestia 666. He is currently working for various promotions across Mexico, while also performing in the United State ...

and

Mecha Wolf 450 John Jesús Yurnet (born June 21, 1987), better known by his ring name Mecha Wolf 450, is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling ...

). On December 4, at

Hard Times 2 Hard Times 2 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It took place on December 4, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the GPB Studios. It is the second event in the Hard Times chronology. ...

, Stevens and Kratos failed to beat

The OGK The OGK is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, which currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and their sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The team was first formed in ROH, as part of the large ...

( Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. In 2023, Kratos began teaming up with Odinson, dubbed ''The Immortals''. Having been named to the

Crockett Cup The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (also known simply as the Crockett Cup) is a professional wrestling event produced every April by the professional wrestling promotion, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The event features a ...

tournament, The Immortals reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they had lost to the Midnight Riders. On October 28, at Samhain, they defeated Daisy Kill and Talos to win the

NWA United States Tag Team Championship The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used for several secondary tag team championship used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1958. There are eleven different versions of the NWA United States Tag Team Champ ...

. On April 16, 2024 episode of ''NWA Powerrr'', Kratos and Odinson vacated the titles in order to challenge for the NWA World Tag Team Championship at

NWA Hard Times NWA Hard Times is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professiona ...

, which they were unsuccessful at winning.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

On November 6, 2020 episode of NJPW Strong, Kratos made his NJPW debut teaming with Rust Taylor to defeat Jeff Cobb and Rocky Romero. During the match Tom Lawlor was spotted by Kevin Kelly. Before Lawlor's match with Fred Rosser, it was confirmed that he aligned himself with Kratos and Taylor forming the New Japan version of Team Filthy. Lawlor stated that he teamed up with Kratos and Taylor because he was looking for a fight team that would be the strongest ever seen. Just one week after their formation,

Danny Limelight Daniel Luis Rivera (born September 2, 1991), better known by his ring names Danny Limelight, Danny Rivera and Rivera, is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler, currently performing for United Wrestling Network's Championship Wrestling fr ...

would turn on Romero and join Team Filthy. Together, Team Filthy was victorious against Cobb, Romero, Rosser, and

P. J. Black Phillip Paul Lloyd (born 3 March 1981) is a South African-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black. A second-generation w ...

in an eight-man tag team match. On the October 16, 2021 episode of Strong, Kratos entered a long-running feud with Alex Coughlin spurred on, in part, by his victory against him in Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 4. Kratos would lose against Coughlin twice at the January 29, 2023 episode of NJPW Strong and 2023's

Battle in the Valley Battle in the Valley was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on November 13, 2021, at San Jose Civic in San Jose, California. Production Background In October 2019, NJPW an ...

respectively. During his time on Strong, Kratos also revived a title shot against Fred Rosser for the Strong Openweight Championship on the November 22, 2022 episode of Strong. Kratos had his first NJPW event in Japan at '' NJPW Independence Day'' events at

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...

Discography

Music videos

Championships and accomplishments

* All Pro Wrestling ** APW Universal Heavyweight Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *Gold Rush Pro Wrestling **GRPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **GRPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Colt Stevens **Golden Thrones Tournament (2016) – with Nicole Savoy *

( 1 time) – with Odinson ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Aron Stevens *Premier Wrestling **Premier Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Pro Wrestling Revolution **PWR World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Supreme Pro Wrestling **SPW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) *'' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **Ranked No. 124 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kratos, J. R. 1982 births Living people People from Pacifica, California American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from California 20th-century American people 21st-century American people NWA World Tag Team Champions Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century male professional wrestlers