is a Japanese

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 ...

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, incorpo ...

best known for his work in

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 ...

(DDT). Irie has also 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 ...

(AJPW),

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, ...

(BJW), and a number of North American independent promotions in the past.

Early life

Irie was born in Osaka. He began his initial pro wrestling training in 2002 at the age of 15, training alongside

Atsushi Kotoge (born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweigh ...

with

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 ...

(OPW). Irie eventually decided to pursue MMA, competing in a number of amateur fights, including some in

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

. Irie resumed training in 2007 with Dera Pro Wrestling in Nagoya and made his debut in April 2008 against Shota Takanashi.

Professional wrestling career

DDT Pro Wrestling (2008–present)

Beginning in May 2008, Irie began sporadically appearing for

(DDT), primarily teaming with other rookies against established wrestlers. In August 2010, Irie defeated

Soma Takao is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Takao has taken part in every edition of DDT's flagship annual event, Peter Pan, where he had a series of 13 stra ...

to win a special one day tournament. DDT owner

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 ...

became a fan of Irie after watching him compete and offered him more regular bookings with DDT as a result. Representing DDT, Irie debuted for

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) in 2011, teaming with fellow DDT rookie

Keisuke Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Ishii also competes for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career DDT (2008–p ...

in a loss to NJPW's

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 ...

and freelancer

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 Ja ...

. Irie began to achieve more success in 2011, beginning on May 21 when he defeated established DDT veteran

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 ...

, eliminating him from the 2011 King of DDT tournament. The next month, Irie formed a tag team with

Munenori Sawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Sawa was trained by and spent his entire career in the Battlarts promotion, adopting the promotion's "Bati Bati" wrestling style, known for its stiff strikes and submission-based shoot wrestling, but ...

, and the duo defeated Gentaro and Yasu Urano to win the

KO-D Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The title was established in 2001. In its early days, DDT occasionally referred to the title as the . It is currently the only tag te ...

, but lost the titles just days later to

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-ti ...

and Michael Nakazawa. Irie participated in a falls count anywhere match the following month, teaming up with Takagi and SeXXXy Eddy in a loss to Omega, Ibushi and Nakazawa. On October 10, Irie captured the KO-D Tag Team Championship once again, this time teaming with Keisuke Ishii to defeat

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 ...

and

Danshoku Dino , better known by his ring name , also written Danshoku Dieno, is a Japanese professional wrestler. Dino has spent most of his career competing for DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), where he plays an overly exaggerated homosexual character. His ring name ...

. They dropped the championship to Urano and

Yuji Hino , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed by Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). One of the most well-travelled heavyweights in Japan, Hino was trained by Taka Michinoku and made his debut for his Kaientai ...

on December 31 and unsuccessfully challenged them in a rematch on February 11. On April 1, 2012, Irie unsuccessfully challenged

(AJPW) competitor Kenny Omega for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. On May 4 at a Union Pro Wrestling event, Irie teamed up with

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 ...

to capture the

BJW Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title defended in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship has been the leading tag team championship in the promotion since 1997. There have been a total of 57 reigns shared ...

, defeating Shinobu and Yoshihito Sasaki. They dropped the titles to Shinobu and

Yuji Okabayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He has been working in BJW since his debut in June 2008. He is best known as part of a tag team with Daisuke Sekimoto, with whom ...

on July 15. Irie and Ishii teamed up with Soma Takao as Team Dream Futures to enter the tournament for the vacant

KO-D 6 Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) promotion. The title was first announced during DDT's year-end event on December 23, 2012, becoming the promotion's fifth active title. The first champions were ...

and captured the titles by defeating Oishi, Akito and Takagi in the final on January 12. The trio lost the championship to Monster Army (Yuji Hino, Antonio Honda and

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 Champi ...

) on January 27. Irie won the right 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 tit ...

on February 24 and defeated Kenny Omega on March 20 to win the championship for the first time. He lost the championship to

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 current ...

on August 18. On January 26, 2014, Irie unsuccessfully challenged Harashima in a rematch for the championship. Irie, Ishii and Soma Takao successfully captured the KO-D 6 Man Championship once again in February 2014, defeating

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, prim ...

, Danshoku Dino and Makoto Oishi, but dropped them to Ibushi, Omega and Sasaki in April. Im August 2014, Irie, Ishii and Takao captured the KO-D 6 Man Tag Team Championship once again, defeating Shuten-dōji (Yukio Sakaguchi,

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 Kudo). They dropped the championship to T2Hii (Takagi,

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 Champion and two time KO-D Tag Team Champion. Professional wrestling career Initial ...

and Kazuki Hirata) on September 28. On March 1, 2015, Irie, Ishii and Takao defeated Shuten-dōji to once again become KO-D 6 Man Champions, but dropped the championship back to them in their first defence. Team Dream Futures defeated Shuten-dōji on April 11 to regain the championship and successfully defended them until September when they lost to #OhkaTeikoku (Ken Ohka, Danshoku Dino and Super Sasadango Machine). Team Dream Futures once again captured the KO-D 6 Man Championship in May, defeating Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki and Shunma Katsumata. In his farewell match, Irie teamed with Yukio Sakaguchi to defeat Harashima and Keisuke Ishii. In April 2018, Irie defeated Konosuke Takeshita to once again become

KO-D Openweight Champion 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 tit ...

. Irie would lose the championship to

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...

on August 1, 2018. On September 25, 2018, Irie announced his departure from DDT.

International promotions (2016present)

Irie debuted in the United States on July 24 for GALLI Lucha Libre (GALLI), unsuccessfully challenging Marshe Rockett for the GALLI Junior Heavyweight Championship. Irie again competed for GALLI on July 29, teaming with Gringo Loco and Skayde Jr. to defeat

Zema Ion Michael Paris (born October 5, 1986) is a American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Smackdown brand, under the ring name Joaquin Wilde. He is a member of Legado Del Fantasma. Paris began his career in 2004, ...

, GPA and Matt Knicks. Irie debuted for

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...

(IWA Mid-South) on August 4, losing to Reed Bentley. Two days later he debuted for Hoosier Pro Wrestling (HPW), defeating JKO. He wrestled his final match before returning to Japan on September 6 for IWA Mid-South, losing to Chris Hero in a triple threat match also featuring Kongo Kong. Irie has also competed in various other American indy promotions including WCWO, AAW, Pro Wrestling Blitz, Freelance Wrestling, Resistance Pro Wrestling, MIAW, UPW, AIW, Global Force Wrestling, AWS, and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. Irie defeated Silas Young to become the new MIAW Heavyweight Champion on September 6 in Milwaukee. Irie also won the WCWO Young Guns Tournament featuring the top 12 prospects of the mid-west area held on October 5, 2016 in Indianapolis. Irie returned to the west on January 10, debuting for Canada-based Canadian Wrestling's Elite (CWE) defeating Jacob Creed. Irie made his UK debut for

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

, challenging Walter at Chapter 81 for the Progress World Championship. In 2019, he also challenged

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). Outside ...

for the British Heavyweight championship in

Revolution Pro Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro/RPW) is a British professional wrestling promotion founded on 26 August 2012 by Andy Quildan after separating from International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. Revolution Pro Wrestling currently has partnershi ...

, and Lionheart for the ICW World Heavyweight championship in

Insane Championship Wrestling Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Mark Dallas in 2006. It mixes elements of traditional sports entertainment with hardcore wrestling; thus admittance is restricted to ...

. Irie won UK's SOUTHSIDE WRESTLING's World Heavyweight Championship from Rob Lynch on 3 March 2019 in St. Neots. Irie participated in wXw promotion's "Ambition 10" tournament in Oberhausen, Germany on 9 March. Irie defeated Laurance Roman in 1st round, Chris Ridgeway in semi-final, then Rico Bushido in the final. Irie has appeared in 5 shows during 2019 Mania Week in NY.

Championships and accomplishments

Active Advance Pro Wrestling 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 is the predominant style of profes ...

:*2AW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Andrew "King" Takuma *

Gaora TV Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. On August 28, 2012, AJPW and Gaora TV announced that AJPW would introduce a new championship called the Gaora TV Championship. A tournament for t ...

(1 time) :*

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

(1 time) – with

:* Saikyo Tag League (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) – with

(3 times) :*

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 ...

(2 times) :*

KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) promotion. The title was first announced during DDT's year-end event on December 23, 2012, becoming the promotion's fifth active title. The first champions were c ...

(6 times) – with Keisuke Ishii and

(6) :*

(3 times) – with

(1), Keisuke Ishii (1) and

Kazusada Higuchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–present) Higuchi made his professional wrestling ...

(1) *Midwest Independent Association of Wrestling :*MIAW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) * Oriental Wrestling Entertainment :* OWE Openweight Championship ( 1 time, current) *''

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. 283 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 *

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed by wrestlers loyal to Mutoh, who lef ...

Wrestle-1 Tag League The Wrestle-1 Tag League was a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Wrestle-1. It was created in 2014. Originally known as the Tag League Greatest in 2014. The tournament was given its current name in June 2017. The inau ...

(

) – with T-Hawk *Southside Wrestling Entertainment :* SWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)https://www.cagematch.net//?id=5&nr=1817 *

Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its eve ...

:*Ambition 10 (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irie, Shigehiro 1988 births Living people 21st-century professional wrestlers Japanese male professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions Gaora TV Champions Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions KO-D Tag Team Champions KO-D Openweight Champions BJW Tag Team Champions