Shin Takagi (鷹木 信, Takagi Shin; born November 21, 1982), known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, Takagi Shingo), is…
Shin Takagi (鷹木 信, Takagi Shin; born November 21, 1982), known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, Takagi Shingo), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Unbound Co. stable and a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He is also former five-time NEVER Openweight Champion and is a former member of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable. Takagi first became known for his work with Dragongate, where he competed from his debut in 2004 up until 2018. Known during his tenure as the "Pumping Hawk", he was recognized as the promotion's top heel for many years and incantations, and went on to become one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company's history, winning the Open the Dream Gate Championship, the top championship in the promotion, four times in eight years. He was also known as the leader of the New Hazard, Real Hazard, KAMIKAZE, -akatsuki-, VerserK and ANTIAS stables in Dragongate, and for his long-lasting rivalry with BxB Hulk, with whom he faced off against in several prominent events. He had his last contracted Dragongate match on October 7, 2018, where he would lose to BxB Hulk. During his time in Dragongate, he also spent an extended amount of time with American promotions such as Full Impact Pro, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor (ROH); In ROH, he became a ROH World Tag Team Champion alongside then-stablemate Naruki Doi in 2007. On October 8, 2018, Takagi made his surprise debut in NJPW as the foreshadowed sixth member ("pareja") of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable as "The Dragon" (not to be confused with fellow NJPW wrestler Tatsumi Fujinami, who was also known as "The Dragon"). Originally performing in the Junior Heavyweight division, he went on to be undefeated as a singles competitor and overall unpinned and unsubmitted until the BOSJ 2019 final. He also held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once with fellow Ingobernables member Bushi from January to March 2019. Takagi moved to the Heavyweight division in June 2019, debuting at G1 Climax 29. From February to August 2020, Takagi held both the NEVER Openweight Championship and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (with Bushi and Evil), making him the first person to hold both NEVER titles at the same time. After losing the NEVER Title in August, he regained it in November for a second time. He won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall in 2021. Takagi has been praised for his wrestling abilities in both NJPW and Dragongate, to which has garnered him numerous accolades. He was recognized and voted as the "Rookie of the Year" in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards in 2005. In 2021, he notably placed 9th on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "PWI 500" list, received the MVP Award at the Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards, and was ranked as the "Most Outstanding Wrestler" and Japanese wrestling's most valuable player by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Famous People from Yamanashi Prefecture
Yamanashi Prefecture: 5 people
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (金丸義信, Kanemaru Yoshinobu; born September 23, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler and…
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (金丸義信, Kanemaru Yoshinobu; born September 23, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler and backstage producer. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of House of Torture. Trained at the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, Kanemaru left the promotion to join Pro Wrestling Noah. Across two stints with Noah, he is a seven-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and won the 2009 Global Junior Heavyweight League and the 2009 Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League. In NJPW, he is a six-time Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and won the 2021 Super Junior Tag League. In AJPW, he is a one-time World Junior Heavyweight Champion and a two-time All Asia Tag Team Champion. Stable wise, Kanemaru was a member of the first and third incarnations of AJPW's Burning. He later joined NJPW's Suzuki-gun during an invasion storyline, and remained with the stable until its disbandment in 2022. He was then a member of Just 5 Guys, before turning on the stable to join House of Torture, which was a sub-group of Bullet Club at the time.
Masao Inoue (井上雅央, Inoue Masao; born March 6, 1970 in Chūō, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese professional…
Masao Inoue (井上雅央, Inoue Masao; born March 6, 1970 in Chūō, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah as a freelancer. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1991, before jumping to Pro Wrestling Noah during a mass exodus in 2000. Inoue spent the next 12 years with Noah before returning to AJPW in 2012. Since then, he has competed regularly for both promotions as a freelancer.
Keiji Muto (武藤 敬司, Mutō Keiji; born December 23, 1962) is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and…
Keiji Muto (武藤 敬司, Mutō Keiji; born December 23, 1962) is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego The Great Muta (グレート・ムタ, Gurēto Muta) in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the 1980s and 1990s. He is also known for his runs in both All Japan Pro-Wrestling (AJPW) between 2001 and 2013, and his run in Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) from 2020 to 2023. He was the president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 2002 to 2013 and representative director of Wrestle-1 (W-1) from 2013 until its closure in 2020. Considered one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time, Muto is one of the first Japanese wrestlers (puroresura) to gain an international fanbase in the 1990s and beyond, thanks in large part to his Great Muta gimmick. The gimmick is one of the most influential in puroresu, emulated by many wrestlers, and seen as the most prevalent of Muto's alter ego's. Many wrestlers copied or modified some of the moves that he popularized or innovated, such as the Shining Wizard, Moonsault (also known as the Rounding Body Press), Muta Lock, and the Dragon-screw leg-whip. He took part in what was generally considered to be one of the bloodiest professional wrestling matches at the time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the "Muta scale", which rates the bloodiness of matches relative to this one's 1.0 value. Muto is one of the five wrestlers to win the three major championships of puroresu (AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship) with Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Satoshi Kojima, and Yuji Nagata. He also held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, making him an overall nine-time world champion. He is also a 13-time world tag team champion with five AJPW World Tag Team Championships, six IWGP Tag Team Championships, one GHC Tag Team Championship, and one WCW World Tag Team Championship. In total, he held 32 championships throughout his 38-year career. In 2013, Muto founded W-1, where he also wrestled semi-regularly. He made special appearances for the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, renamed Impact Wrestling in 2017) from 2014 to 2019, as part of a talent exchange with W-1. In June 2022, Muto announced that he would retire in 2023. His retirement matches occurred on February 21, 2023, in the Tokyo Dome during Noah's Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling "Last-Love" event, first against his scheduled opponent Tetsuya Naito, and second in an impromptu double-retirement match against Masahiro Chono. In April 2023, Muto was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田 友美, Tsuruta Tomomi; March 25, 1951 – May 12, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo…
Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田 友美, Tsuruta Tomomi; March 25, 1951 – May 12, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta (ジャンボ鶴田, Janbo Tsuruta), was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the NWA United National Championship, and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, and unifying the three titles. He is also known for being one-half of the first World Tag Team Champions with Yoshiaki Yatsu, having won the NWA International Tag Team Championship and the PWF Tag Team Championship, and unifying the two titles.