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 currently wrestlers 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 ...

as a freelancer. Kodama is best known for his time with

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 ...

(W-1), where he is a former two time

UWA World Trios Champion The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various pr ...

, two time Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champion and one time

Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion 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 ...

with

Shotaro Ashino is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was trained by and best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he was a former two time Wrestle-1 Champion. Early life Ashino was an amateur wrestler t ...

Professional wrestling career

Smash (2010–2012)

Yusuke Kodama was trained by Tajiri and was set to debut in Hustle in September 2009; unfortunately, Hustle was forced to cancel all the upcoming shows due to economic issues, so Kodama followed Tajiri to the newborn Smash. Kodama made his professional wrestling debut on April 23, 2010, at Smash.2, against

Hajime Ohara is a Japanese professional wrestler. Ohara worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico for several years as part of his training, mixing the ''lucha libre'' style of Mexico with the Japanese Puroresu style of wrestling. In Japan, ...

and lost. As is customary for most professional wrestlers, Kodama spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Kodama some in-ring, televised, experience. Kodama would take on some of Japan's great wrestlers such as

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for t ...

, Akira and

Último Dragón (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the " A ...

. On August 24, 2010, Kodama made his

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 ...

debut teaming up with fellow debutante Kazuhiro Tamura and were defeated by

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 ...

and

Taichi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...

at '' Never.1''. At Smash.8, on September 24, Kodama picked up his first win ever against Atchii, another young wrestler. In 2011, Kodama would begin to win more matches, including defeating experienced veteran

Akira Shoji Akira Shoji (小路晃) (born January 31, 1974) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is most known as being a regular in almost all the beginning Pride Fighting Championship Shoji was in Pride 1 to Pride 7, an ...

. At Smash.18, on June 9, Kodama participated in the Smash Championship tournament but would be eliminated in the first round by Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Shinya Ishikawa. Kodama would go on a three match winning streak in early 2012 which was ended at Smash.Final, on March 14, when Smash's biggest success,

Kushida is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestling. He is best known for his tenure in NJP ...

returned and defeated Kodama. Smash closed after the event.

Wrestling New Classic (2012–2014)

On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash,

Wrestling New Classic was a Japanese '' puroresu'' or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012. History On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to a ...

(WNC), which would hold its first event on April 26. Prior to WNC's first show, Kodama returned to New Japan to participate in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament and was eliminated in the first round by

Black Tiger A black tiger is a rare colour variant of the tiger, and is not a distinct species or geographic subspecies. Description There are reports and one painting (now lost) of pure black non-striped tigers (true melanistic tigers). Most black mammal ...

. At WNC Before the Dawn, Kodama teamed up with Lin Byron to defeat Aki Shizuku and Koji Doi. In May, Kodama went on his first tour of Mexico, wrestling under a mask as 14K. 14K debuted for

International Wrestling Revolution Group International Wrestling Revolution Group (Grupo Internacional Revolución in Spanish; the Spanish name is used for the promotion while the English initials are used for the title governing body) is a Lucha Libre promotion based in Naucalpan, S ...

on May 13, teaming up with Douki and Secret Sasuke and losing to

Argenis ''Argenis'' is a book by John Barclay (poet), John Barclay. It is a work of historical allegory which tells the story of the religious conflict in France under Henry III of France and Henry IV of France, and also touches on more contemporary Engli ...

, Fénix and Super Fly. He also participated in Copa High Power Internacional Torneo Cibernetico which was a 16-man Mexico vs Japan match which Mexico won. At WNC Starting Over, Kodama and Byron teamed up with

to defeat Josh O'Brien,

Tomoka Nakagawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underwent ...

and Yoshiaki Yago. On May 26, Kodama teamed up with

Yo-Hey , better known by his ring name Yo-Hey (stylised in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Fujita started his career in Dragon Gate (DG) under the ring name Ryoma (stylised in ...

to take on the reunited Unholy Alliance (Tajiri and

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a trainer, and global ambassador. He is best known for his career ...

) in a hardcore match which the Unholy Alliance won. Kodama would return to his

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

status, continuing to lose to more experienced opposition to gain experience. In the semi final of the Kito Cup 2012, Kodama teamed up with

Daisuke Harada (born November 13, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He’s a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Harada is also known for his ti ...

and Hoshito Takahashi to lose to

Jiro Kuroshio is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is perhaps best known for his work in the Wrestle-1 promotion, where he was a former two-time UWA World Trios Championship holder before leaving the promotion in January ...

, Lin Byron and Tsubasa. With Ohara and Akira turning their back on WNC, Tajiri and

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most p ...

requested the aid of Kodama for a short period of time in August. Tajiri and Kana would continue to lose at the hands of Akira and his followers, with Kodama often losing the fall, and therefore replaced him with Mikey Whipwreck. On November 26, Kodama entered the WNC Championship

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, but was defeated in his first round match by

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) prom ...

. In mid-2013, Kodama turned on Tajiri and the WNC Seikigun and jumped to Akira's Synapse stable. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Effective July 1, six former WNC wrestlers, Kodama included, transferred over to the

promotion.

Wrestle-1

Various alliances (2014–2017)

Kodama made his Wrestle-1 (W-1) debut on June 27, 2014, defeating Hiroki Murase in a singles match. The following month, Kodama came together with three other former WNC wrestlers; Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Rionne Fujiwara, to form the Novus stable. In September, Kodama took part in the Wrestle-1 Championship

, where he made it to the second round, before losing to

Masayuki Kono is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently working as a freelancer. He is best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he is a former two-time Wrestle-1 Champion. Career All Japan Pro Wrestling (2003� ...

. In November, Kodama and Doi represented Novus in the First Tag League Greatest, a tournament to determine the inaugural

Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions 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 ...

. The two finished last in their block with a record of one draw and three losses. Novus was effectively dissolved on December 22, when Doi turned on the stable to jump to the Desperado stable, while

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 ...

took Kuroshio under his wing. During the same event, Kodama ended his rivalry with

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 ...

, leading to the two forming a tag team together. On April 30, 2015, Kodama announced he was leaving for an indefinite learning excursion in North America, starting with a three-month stay in Canada with

Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...

. Kodama later relocated to the Northeastern parts of the United States, wrestling for such promotions as Pro Wrestling Rampage, Squared Cirlce Wrestling and

House of Hardcore House of Hardcore (HOH) is an American wrestling promotion founded by professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer. Its slogan is "No Politics, No BS, Just Wrestling." In its history, HOH has run events in twelve states and three countries. History O ...

. Kodama returned to Wrestle-1 on July 1, 2016. On August 11, Kodama defeated

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 ...

to win his first title, the

Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship The is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) Professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title is meant for Cruiserweight (professional wrestling), cruiserweight wrestlers ...

. On December 7, Kodama,

Andy Wu is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name who worked for Wrestle-1 until its closure in 2020. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–2013) Andy Wu debuted for All Ja ...

, Daiki Inaba,

Seiki Yoshioka , previously known as Seiki (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, and a member of the ''Stinger'' stable, led by Yos ...

, Koji Doi, Kumagoro and Kohei Fujimura formed a stable named New Era (stylised in all caps). On December 9, Kodama lost the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship to Mazada. On January 8, 2017, Kodama and Inaba unsuccessfully challenged Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion's

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

. On February 22, Kodama, Inaba and Fujimura defeated

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 ...

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 ...

and

Shuji Kondo is a Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played rugby. After starting his career in Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became one of the promotion's top junior heavyweig ...

to win the

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various pr ...

s. The trio lost them on April 9 to Hayashi, Kondo and

Enfants Terribles (2017–2020)

On July 12, Kodama turned on his tag team partner Ganeski Tanaka allowing Seigo Tachibana and

to pick up the win. In the ensuing aftermath, Kodama attacked Daiki Inaba, cementing his heel turn and defection from New Era. The trio of Kodama, Ashino and Tachibana would go on to be known as Enfants Terribles. At Pro-Wrestling Love In Yokohama 2017, Kodama lost to Inaba. From September 24 until October 2, Kodama teamed with Ashino to take part in the Wrestle-1 Tag League, missing out on a semi-final berth with only one win. On October 21, the Enfants Terribles trio defeated New Era's Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Kumagoro to win the UWA World Trios Championships. The trio made two successful defences before losing the titles to another New Era trio in Doi, Kumagoro and Takanori Ito on December 2. On June 13, 2018, Kodama defeated Seiki Yoshioka to win Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship for the second time. After a successful title defence against El Hijo del Pantera in July, Yoshioka challenged Kodama to a rematch following a pin fall win over Kodama. At Pro Wrestling Love in Yokohama 2018, Kodama successfully defended the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship against Yoshioka. After two further title defences against Andy Wu and El Hijo del Pantera again, Kodama lost the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship to Andy Wu on April 20, 2019. At 311 days, Kodama’s second Cruiser Division Championship reign was the longest in history; Kodama also holds the record for combined days and defences as champion. On August 8, Kodama and Ashino won the vacant

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 ...

s after defeating

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 ...

and

. At Pro Wrestling Love in Yokohama 2019, Kodama and Ashino successfully defended their titles against Strong Hearts’ El Lindaman and Shigehiro Irie. Kodama and Ashino made two further title defences before losing the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championships to Daiki Inaba and Koji Doi. On February 29, 2020, Wrestle-1 announced that they would be holding their final event on April 1, with all members of the roster being released from their contracts the day prior. At said event, Kodama defeated Takuro Niki and unsuccessfully competed in a battle royal featuring the entire Wrestle-1 roster.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2020–present)

Kodama made his

(AJPW) debut on April 30, 2020, when he teamed with

as a mystery partner in a winning effort against

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 ...

and Hokuto Omori. The following week, Kuma Arashi also joined All Japan and the trio quickly established Enfants Terribles as a force to be reckoned with; they would later be joined by Hokuto Omori and Koji Doi. Although Kodama is a regular for All Japan, he remains a freelancer and appears for various independent promotions. On May 24, Kodama debuted for

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) teaming with

Kazuki Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), competing in the Strong J division, where he is a former BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Hashimoto enrolled in Animal Ham ...

to defeat Kosuke Sato and Kota Sekifuda. On June 30, Kodama lost to

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 a World Junior Heavyweight Championship number one contendership match, his first pinfall loss in All Japan. In the summer, Kodama participated in the

BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship BJW may refer to: * the IATA code for Bajawa Soa Airport, Indonesia * 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 ...

Next Challenger Tournament; losing to Shinobu in the semi finals on August 10. On September 30, Kodama defeated Koji Doi to win Asuka Pro Wrestling's Best of Asuka Tournament having defeated

and Minoru Tanaka in the previous rounds. On December 27, he teamed with Omori to participate in the Jr. Tag Battle of Glory, losing to eventual winners Dan Tamura and

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 ...

in the semi final. On January 9, 2021, he won 666's Tag Team Tournament with Koju Takeda. On February 23, Kodama and the other members of Enfants Terribles turned on Ashino during a six man tag team match. In the post match beatdown, Jake Lee also attacked Ashino and turned on his tag partner Iwamoto with the five men leaving together. On March 6, Kodama, alongside Jake Lee, Hokuto Omori, Koji Doi, Kuma Arashi and Tajiri, debuted as Total Eclipse. They defeated Ashino, Iwamoto, Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato and Suwama in a ten man tag team elimination match which didn't include Arashi.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

( 2 times) – with

Hokuto Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling where he is a former All Asia Tag Team Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2018� ...

(1) and Masao Hanahata **

AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. The championship was introduced on December 13, 2020, when Black Menso-re, Carbell Ito and Takao Omori defeated Daimonji So, R ...

( 1 time) – with Tajiri and

** Jr. Tag Battle of Glory (

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) – with Hokuto Omori *Asuka Pro Wrestling **Best of Asuka Tournament (2020) *Darkness Pro-Wrestling Organization 666 **Tag Team Tournament (2021) – with Koju Takeda *

( 2 times) – with

Daiki Inaba is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently competes as a freelancer, majorly for Pro Wrestling Noah. He's best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he was a two-time Wrestle-1 Champion, and the winner of the 2019 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix. ...

and Kohei Fujimura (1), and

Seigo Tachibana is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Wrestle-1 and All Japan Pro Wrestling where he currently wrestles under the ring name . Professional wrestling ...

and

(1) **

( 2 times) **

( 1 time) – with

References

External links

Wrestle-1 profileWrestling New Classic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodama, Yusuke 1987 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Okayama Prefecture 21st-century professional wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers All Asia Tag Team Champions International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champions Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions