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 signed to

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 ...

(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 Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

with

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 ...

, with whom he has held 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 ...

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, ...

's (AJPW) World Tag Team and

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 founder ...

s 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 ...

(DDT)'s

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 tea ...

. As a singles wrestler, he is a former BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Okabayashi is a former member of the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

and had a sports background in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

and

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

, when he joined

(BJW) in 2008 for a new career 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 ...

. He made his debut for the promotion against Katsumasa Inoue on June 27, 2008. Okabayashi joined the promotion's non-

deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters a ...

division, Strong BJ, eventually becoming one of its cornerstones alongside the likes of

and Yoshihito Sasaki. Four months after his debut, Okabayashi made his

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

debut, when he, along with several other BJW wrestlers, took part in the Global Gauntlet events held by the Chikara promotion. Back in BJW, Okabayashi formed a

with Daisuke Sekimoto, which led to him winning his first title on July 27, 2009, when the two defeated

Isami Kodaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro-Wrestling Basara (Basara). He originally started his career in the Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) promotion in July 2002, but later left the promotion to become a freelancer, before signing wi ...

and

Masashi Takeda is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Mixed Martial Arts, mixed martial artist, primarily working for Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Deathmatch division. Takeda also competes as a freelancer for ...

for the

. After a five-month reign, they lost the title to Shinya Ishikawa and Yoshihito Sasaki. On January 9, 2010, Okabayashi made his debut for

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 Supe ...

, when he and Sekimoto unsuccessfully challenged Hideyoshi and

Masamune , was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...

for the

Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. The title was established in 2001 when Daio Quallt and Gamma won a seven-team round-robin tournament to win the inaugural titles. Being a prof ...

. The following April, Okabayashi returned to Chikara to represent BJW in the 2010 King of Trios tournament, where he formed a trio with Sekimoto and Kankuro Hoshino. They made it to the semifinals, before being eliminated by

Bruderschaft des Kreuzes Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (German for "Brotherhood of the Cross", commonly abbreviated to BDK) was a professional wrestling stable in the Chikara promotion. History Chikara Background (2007–2009) On May 27, 2007, at ''Aniversario?'' Mike Quac ...

(

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

Claudio Castagnoli Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club stable. Castagnoli also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Ho ...

and Tursas). At the end of 2010, ''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

'' named Okabayashi Japanese professional wrestling's Rookie of the Year. The following year, Okabayashi and Sekimoto began making appearances for

(AJPW), where they won the

twice. During the year, they also won the Big Japan Tag League. At the end of the year, ''Tokyo Sports'' named Okabayashi and Sekimoto the 2011 Tag Team of the Year. During 2012, Okabayashi set his sights on the

BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Japanese Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. It is one of two heavyweight championships promoted by BJW, the other being the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championshi ...

, a new title intended for the Strong BJ division. He received his first shot at the title on June 21, but was defeated by Yoshihito Sasaki. The following month, Okabayashi regained the BJW Tag Team Championship, this time teaming with Shinobu. After a four-month reign, they lost the title to Isami Kodaka and

Yuko Miyamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler. He originally started his career in Wrestling Marvelous Future in August 2003, but later left the promotion and in 2004, signed with Dark Pro-Wrestling 666 (666). Miyamoto has since appeared in Big Japan Pro W ...

in the finals of the 2012 Big Japan Tag League. On March 31, 2013, Okabayashi received another shot at the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship, unsuccessfully challenging longtime tag team partner Daisuke Sekimoto. Okabayashi missed most of 2014 with a left shoulder injury, which he suffered while wrestling in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in January. He returned from the injury on December 21. His first big match since his return took place on February 2, 2015, when he unsuccessfully challenged

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 ...

for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship. On February 15, Okabayashi and Sekimoto won another tag team title, when they defeated

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 ...

and Tetsuya Endo to win the

promotion's

. On July 20, Okabayashi scored his first-ever win over Sekimoto, when he defeated him to become the new BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion, winning the first singles title of his professional wrestling career. On August 23, Okabayashi and Sasaki lost the KO-D Tag Team Championship to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. On October 29, Okabayashi and Sekimoto defeated

Kohei Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted with Pro Wrestling Zero1. Sato is also a former mixed martial artist. Career A former judoka and amateur wrestler, Sato made his transition to mixed martial arts after meeting Kazunari Murakami and ...

and Shuji Ishikawa in the finals to win the 2015 Saikyo Tag League and the BJW Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Hideyoshi Kamitani and

Ryota Hama (born November 21, 1979) is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler, signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. Sumo career Hama joined sumo in July 1995, and he fought for the Hakkaku stable ...

on December 30. On June 8, 2016, Okabayashi won another tag team title, when he and

Yasufumi Nakanoue is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name , currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is the current BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion. He started his career in All Japan P ...

defeated

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

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 ...

for the

Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship The was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) promotion. The title was announced on September 22, 2014, in conjunction with the start of a tournament to crown the first Wrestle-1 Champion. In Japanese the t ...

. A week later, Okabayashi and Daisuke Sekimoto defeated

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

and

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

to win AJPW's

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...

. On July 24, Okabayashi lost the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship to Hideyoshi Kamitani in his fourth defense. On July 29, Okabayashi and Nakanoue lost the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to

Jun Kasai (born September 9, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, primarily competing for Pro Wrestling Freedoms. Dubbed the for his violent and often self-harmful style of hardcore wrestling, Kasai is considered a breakthrough talent in Japanese ...

and

Manabu Soya is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He previously lived in Canada training at the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, working regularly for the Maximum Pro Wrestling promotion. He is c ...

in their second defense. On October 31, Okabayashi and Sekimoto defeated Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto to win their second Big Japan Saikyo Tag League in a row. On November 27, Okabayashi and Sekimoto lost the AJPW World Tag Team Championship back to Bodyguard and Zeus. On December 14, Okabayashi and Sekimoto won their second Tag Team of the Year award from ''Tokyo Sports''. On January 2, 2017, Okabayashi and Sekimoto defeated Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa to win the BJW Tag Team Championship for the third time. They lost the title to

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) in ...

and

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 ...

in their fifth defense on July 17. On August 27, Okabayashi and Sekimoto defeated Kai and

Naoya Nomura Naoya Nomura (born October 26, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is former All Asia Tag Team and World Tag Team Champion. He also has a background in rugby. Early life Nomura started ...

to win the

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is th ...

AJPW World Tag Team Championship for the second time. They relinquished the title on October 16 after Okabayashi suffered a shoulder injury. It was later announced that Okabayashi would be undergoing surgery the following December, which would sideline him for up to a year. In October 2018, BJW announced that Okabayashi would be returning from injury at ''Ryōgokutan 2018''. On November 11, he lost Ryuichi Kawakami in his return match. On December 9, Okabayashi and Sekimoto unsuccessfully challenged

and

for the BJW Tag Team Championship. On January 13, 2019, they won the AJPW World Tag Team Championships for a third time, defeating

and Suwama. They defended their titles against Jake Lee and

Ryoji Sai (born Choi Young-ii June 3, 1980) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and promoter who currently owns and operates Pro Wrestling Land's End, where he is a former All Asia Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for working fo ...

on February 24 before losing the titles back to Ishikawa and Suwama on March 19. In April, Okabayashi won a tournament to determine the number one contender for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship by defeating

Daichi Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is a former two-time BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion and three-time BJW Tag Team Champion. He is the son of Shinya ...

in the finals on April 14. On May 5, for a second time, he defeated Sekimoto to win the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Kohei Sato on August 25 after two title defences. In November, he won the Zero1 Furinkazan Tag Tournament with

and the BJW Saikyo Tag League with

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 ...

. On January 1, 2020, he unsuccessfully challenged Hino for the

Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1. It is one of Zero1's top two singles titles, along with the United National Heavyweight Championship ...

. The following day, he also unsuccessfully challenged Daichi Hashimoto for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship. On January 13, he won the World Is Not Enough ~ Six Man Tag Team Tournament with Hino and Akira Hyodo. On March 3, Okabayashi and Irie unsuccessfully challenged Sekimoto and Sato for the BJW Tag Team Championship. On March 25, he won the 2AW Openweight Championship from Shu Asakawa. Also in March, Okabayashi had been entered into the 2020 Ikkitousen Strong Climb as part of the C Block; however, due to 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 ...

, several events scheduled to showcase the Ikkitousen Strong Climb were cancelled and all remaining matches were adjudged as draws, causing Okabayashi to miss out on the finals. On July 5, he lost the 2AW Openweight Championship to Ayato Yoshino. On October 21, Okabayashi won his third BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship by defeating Daichi Hashimoto. He lost the title to Yasufumi Nakanoue on January 2.

Personal life

Okabayashi married his partner of two years, Mika Mukai, in July 2012.

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 that combines high-flying, technical wr ...

**2AW Openweight Championship (1 time) *

(

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 ...

) – with

( 3 times) – with Daisuke Sekimoto *

( 6 times) – with Daisuke Sekimoto (5, current) and Shinobu (1) **

( 4 times) **

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. The title was created on August 4, 2012. As the name suggests, the title is usuall ...

(

) – with Kazuki Hashimoto and Takumi Tsukamoto (1) and Ryuichi Kawakami and Shinya Ishikawa (1) **8-Man 1 Day Tournament (2009) – with Daisuke Sekimoto, Shinya Ishikawa and Yoshihito Sasaki **Dainichi-X (2011) – with

**D-Dash Tag Tournament (2009) – with Atsushi Ohashi ** Saikyo Tag League (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) – with Daisuke Sekimoto **Saikyo Tag League (2019) - with

**World Is Not Enough ~ Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2020) – with Akira Hyodo and Yuji Hino *

(

) – with Daisuke Sekimoto (1) and

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 ...

(1) *Japan Indie Awards **Best Bout Award (2015) vs. Daisuke Sekimoto on July 20 **MVP Award (2015) *''

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 Publish ...

'' **Ranked No. 60 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 Publishi ...

in 2016 *

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. I ...

** Furinkazan (

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

*''

'' ** Best Tag Team Award (2011, 2016) – with Daisuke Sekimoto **

Fighting Spirit Award The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

(2015) ** Newcomer Award (2010) *Toshikoshi Puroresu **Toshiwasure! Shuffle Tag Tournament (2020) – with Harashima *

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, 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 ...

( 1 time) – with

References

External links

Big Japan Pro Wrestling profile

Wrestle-1 profile

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okabayashi, Yuji 1982 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Kōchi Prefecture Japanese male judoka Japanese male weightlifters Masked wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) KO-D Tag Team Champions Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers BJW Tag Team Champions BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champions Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions