Misplaced Pages

#797202

63-864: On February 17, 2008, Legend ( Akira and Jyushin Thunder Liger ) defeated Prince Prince ( Minoru and Prince Devitt ) to capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . Post-match, Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro entered the ring to nominate themselves as the first challengers of the new champions, dubbing themselves "No Limit" in the process. Naito and Yujiro were at the time relatively unestablished up-and-comers, who had wrestled some tag team matches together in 2007, but did not start teaming regularly until February 2008. After getting their team name, No Limit wrestled their first match together on March 15, defeating Karl Anderson and Mitsuhide Hirasawa . No Limit received their shot at

126-449: A storyline rivalry between not only No Limit and Bad Intentions, but also No Limit and Yuji Nagata 's Seigigun stable. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2010 , No Limit, Bad Intentions and Seigigun's Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue faced off in a three-way match, where Inoue pinned Anderson to capture No Limit's IWGP Tag Team Championship. A rematch under elimination rules took place on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 , where Bad Intentions captured

189-710: A "Mexico vs. Japan" eight-man tag team match, where they defeated Atlantis , Black Warrior , Héctor Garza and Último Guerrero . No Limit's run of victories continued later that month at the Gran Alternativa 2009 tag team tournament, which Yujiro won alongside Okumura and the following month in a Hair vs. Hair match, where Yujiro defeated Black Warrior, forcing him to have his head shaved. No Limit's stay in CMLL culminated in their first big loss on December 4 at Sin Salida , where they were defeated by El Terrible and El Texano Jr. in

252-685: A Hair vs. Hair match and were, as a result, forced to have their heads shaved. The following day, NJPW announced that No Limit's foreign excursion was over and that they were returning to their home promotion. Upon their return to NJPW, Naito and Yujiro transitioned from being junior heavyweights to being heavyweights, citing their successes working with heavyweight wrestlers in Mexico as a reason. Their return match took place on January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome , where they defeated Team 3D and Bad Intentions ( Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson ) in

315-997: A challenge for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . They received their title shot on September 27, but were defeated by Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru . Also in September, No Limit took part in American promotion Ring of Honor 's event in Tokyo , where they defeated Genba Hirayanagi and Kotaro Suzuki in the opening match. Meanwhile, back in NJPW, No Limit went on a win streak over teams like Mitsuhide Hirasawa and Taichi Ishikari , Kazuchika Okada and Nobuo Yoshihashi , Jyushin Liger and Yoshihashi, and Ishikari and Ryusuke Taguchi , which culminated in them defeating Prince Prince on October 13 at Destruction '08 to win

378-754: A four-way match to earn a trip to TNA to challenge The Motor City Machine Guns for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. No Limit received their title shot on March 31 in Orlando, Florida , but were again defeated by The Motor City Machine Guns. No Limit remained in TNA for the next two months, during which they also trained at Team 3D 's local dojo. During their foreign excursion, Naito worked under only his family name, while Yujiro continued working under his given name. During their stay in TNA, Naito and Yujiro worked several house shows with

441-406: A losing effort against the team of Gillette, Hiroshi Yamato and Kai , with Gillette pinning Raijin for the win. On April 1, Kawabata debuted as the masked character Sushi, when he entered the 2012 Junior Tag League alongside Bushi. Sushi and Bushi made it all the way to the finals of the tournament on April 14, where they were defeated by Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo. In July, Sushi took part in

504-616: A match for the WNC Championship. On March 31, Akira defeated Sitoci to make his first successful defense of the WNC Championship. On April 25 at WNC's one year anniversary event, Akira lost the WNC Championship to Osamu Nishimura in his second defense. A month later, Nishimura, along with Michael Kovac, joined Synapse. Akira disbanded the stable on February 27, 2014. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Effective July 1, six former WNC wrestlers, Akira and Tajiri included, transferred over to

567-422: A record of two wins, one draw and one loss, advancing to the semifinals. On November 30, new Wild order defeated Masayuki Kono and Tajiri to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they were defeated by Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo in the finals. On June 18, 2015, Jun Kasai and rookie Kumagoro joined Soya and Akira as the third and fourth members of new Wild order, turning it from

630-451: A rematch the following day in Osaka, with Akira this time pinning Tajiri for the win. In the second rematch on September 1, Whipwreck pinned StarBuck for the win, ending the villainous trio's win streak in the process. On September 20, Akira defeated Kana in an intergender match at Korakuen Hall. On October 24, Akira, StarBuck and Syuri named their stable "Synapse". Two days later, Akira entered

693-488: A series of singles victories, Kowabata was put into a stable alongside Scott D'Amore and Conrad "Lights Out" Kennedy . D'Amore proclaimed that the team of Kowabata and Kennedy would reform JCW. At the following show, Kowabata and Kennedy defeated fan favorites The Ring Rydas. Raijin took part in two BSE Pro tournaments which included Adrenaline Cup and the Sudbury Scramble Cup, both of which he did not win. Kowabata

SECTION 10

#1733093152798

756-906: A shot at the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship which he lost. On March 13, 2010, Raijin took on Kevin Steen for the Capital City Championship Combat Championship and lost. Raijin, as Kowabata, returned to JCW on May 4, 2011, at the St. Andrews Brawl internet pay-per-view, where he defeated Bill Martel in a singles match. At the June 30 pay-per-view Kawabata defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a singles match. His final match in North America came on January 28, 2012, when he lost to Josh Alexander at Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW). In

819-511: A spy for the villainous Desperado stable. However, after it was revealed that Soya had been wrong and Tajiri had been the spy, Akira and Soya formed a tag team on November 1. On November 5, the team was officially named "new Wild order". Later that same month, new Wild order took part in the First Tag League Greatest tournament, set to determine the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions , where they finished second in their block with

882-648: A tag team into a stable. On June 28, 2016, Akira announced he was leaving Wrestle-1 due to his contract with the company expiring. Akira Raijin Akira Kawabata ( 川畑 顕 , Kawabata Akira ) (born July 17, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler , currently working under the ring name Sushi (stylized as SUSHI ). He is a two-time holder of the Gaora TV Championship . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under

945-638: A tag team match. Raijin left Japan to live in Windsor, Ontario , Canada with Scott D'Amore to gain "learning experience" in North America . Raijin would go on to work for various promotions within Canada and eventually branched off into the United States. Raijin wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, teaming with Brute Issei and losing to Havok and Martyr in a tryout dark match on July 15, 2007, prior to

1008-473: A three-way hardcore match to capture the former's IWGP Tag Team Championship . During the match, Naito and Yujiro portrayed new villainous characters, stealing the winning pinfall from Team 3D. In victory, No Limit became the first ever team to have held both the junior heavyweight and heavyweight IWGP Tag Team Championships. Instantly after their win, No Limit offered a title match to their CMLL rival team of El Terrible and El Texano Jr. The title match between

1071-608: A trainer. After graduating from high school in 1984, Nogami was initiated into the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo . He debuted in October of that year against Keiji Mutoh . In April 1990, he left on an overseas learning excursion to Europe in Otto Wanz 's Catch Wrestling Association and returned to NJPW a year later. Showing a new wrestling style, he changed his name to Akira (stylized in all capital letters) and adopted

1134-484: The La Ola Amarilla ("The Yellow Wave") stable . No Limit's first big CMLL match took place on July 31 at Infierno en el Ring , where both members took part in a Hair vs. Hair steel cage match. Naito was the last person to escape the cage, winning the match and forcing Toscano to have his head shaved. At CMLL's 76th Anniversary Show on September 18, No Limit and Okumura teamed with the visiting Jyushin Liger in

1197-477: The 2005 Real World Tag League but would not pass the round robin stage. On January 4, 2007, Raijin along with Kikutaro and Nobutaka Araya took on, and lost to, El Samurai , Masanobu Fuchi and Ryusuke Taguchi at New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome . On May 13, All Japan said farewell to Raijin along with Brute Issei, who both went on overseas training excursions. Raijin returned to All Japan on June 22, 2008, but just three months later it

1260-482: The 2012 Junior Hyper League , where he finished with a record of three wins and two losses, failing to advance from his round-robin block. Following Bushi's departure from All Japan, Sushi formed a new partnership with rookie Andy Wu , with the two taking part in the Junior Hyper Tag League in early 2013, where they failed to advance to the finals. On April 26, Kawabata as Sushi received his first shot at

1323-706: The Best of the Super Juniors XV and gained four points and therefore not progressing to the semifinal. A month later, he would participate in IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament and got to the semifinals before being eliminated by Tiger Mask . In 2009, Akira gained six points in the Best of the Super Juniors XVI and gained two points in G1 Tag League when he teamed up with Chono. In

SECTION 20

#1733093152798

1386-839: The Victory Road pay-per-view . On August 12, 2007, Raijin appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling 's premier show, Bloodymania . He teamed with Brute Issei in the 8 Team Tag Team Elimination match for the JCW Tag Team Championship , becoming the fifth team eliminated in the match. On August 18, at Chikara , Raijin took on Mike Quackenbush in a losing effort for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship . On April 23, 2008, Raijin took part in JCW's " Slam TV Tour 2008". He debuted as Kowabata, being managed by "The Guidance Counselor" Scott D'Amore . After

1449-586: The WNC Championship tournament , defeating Adam Angel in his first round match. On November 28, Akira defeated Tommy Dreamer to advance to the finals of the tournament. On December 27, Akira defeated Tajiri to win the tournament and become the inaugural WNC Champion. In January 2013, Big Japan Pro Wrestling representative Shinya Ishikawa and Dutch wrestler Emil Sitoci became the fourth and fifth members of Synapse. However, Sitoci ended up turning on Akira on February 28 and afterwards challenged him to

1512-511: The World Junior Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated by the defending champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru . Sushi re-entered the title picture on October 12 by pinning Kanemaru in a six-man tag team main event. Sushi received his title shot on October 27, but was again defeated by Kanemaru. Afterwards, Sushi began petitioning for All Japan to restore the Gaora TV Championship , which had been quietly sidelined earlier in

1575-529: The Wrestle-1 promotion. Akira made his Wrestle-1 debut on July 21, 2014, teaming with Tajiri in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki . In September, Akira took part in the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament , where he made it to the second round, before losing to Funaki. In mid-2014, Akira entered a storyline, where Manabu Soya began accusing him of being

1638-636: The gimmick of a kumadori -wearing kabuki actor. Akira scored a big win over Jyushin Thunder Liger in August 1991 to begin his one and only reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion . After losing the title to Norio Honaga in November 1991, he graduated to the heavyweight division. In June 1992, he teamed up with Hiroshi Hase to participate in the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament, held by World Championship Wrestling . They defeated

1701-546: The All Asia Tag Team Championship. The two were, however, defeated by the defending champions, Burning ( Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru). On May 17, Sushi lost the Gaora TV Championship to Kotaro Suzuki in his second defense. On December 14, Sushi put his mask on the line in a tag team match, where he and "Mr. Christmas" faced Último Dragón and Masked Burning #2 . Though Sushi was pinned for

1764-491: The C.T.U farewell show. Akira and Liger would join up with Masahiro Chono's Legend stable. Legend would feud with multiple stables such as RISE and Great Bash Heel. On February 24, 2008, he and Liger defeated RISE members Minoru and Prince Devitt win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship , Nogami's first title in over 16 years. After holding the titles for just a few months, the pair lost them to Minoru and Devitt on July 21, 2008 in their rematch. Akira took part in

1827-696: The Headhunters in the first round, but Akira suffered an eye injury against Shinya Hashimoto on June 20, and was replaced by this latter for the remainder of the tournament. In September 1993, he formed the J-J-Jacks with Takayuki Iizuka . After proving that the team was no threat to the IWGP Tag Team Championship , the J-J-Jacks disbanded in March 1996, as Iizuka teamed up with Kazuo Yamazaki , with whom he won

1890-546: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the first time in their second title challenge. Later in the month, No Limit took part in their first G1 Tag League , where they finished with a record of two wins and three losses, failing to advance from their round-robin block. One of the losses against Gedo and Jado led to a rematch, No Limit's first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship defense, on December 7. Accompanied by NJPW Hall of Famer Kantaro Hoshino , No Limit retained their title, after Hoshino prevented

1953-468: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on April 13, but were defeated by Legend. Despite the loss, both Naito and Yujiro proclaimed that they were in the title picture to stay. In May, No Limit was put in their own match series, titled "No Limit Generation Smash", but lost all five of their matches. On September 6, 2008, No Limit made their debut for the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion to make

No Limit (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-606: The IWGP Tag Team Championship, defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Wataru Inoue on April 19 to become the new number one contenders. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2011 , No Limit failed in their attempt to recapture the title from Bad Intentions, after which an angered Takahashi stormed backstage, leaving Naito behind him in the ring. No Limit was finally broken up on May 26, when Takahashi turned on Naito, attacking him with Chaos stablemates Gedo, Jado and Masato Tanaka . Takahashi declared No Limit dead, before revealing that he

2079-452: The IWGP Tag Team Championship. A third and final three-way match took place on July 19 and saw Bad Intentions again emerge victorious, making their first successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship. In October, No Limit took part in the 2010 G1 Tag League , where they advanced from their round-robin block with a record of three wins and two losses. On November 7, No Limit defeated Muscle Orchestra ( Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man ) in

2142-625: The Japanese independent circuit. On August 28, 2004, Raijin debuted for All Japan Pro Wrestling losing to Ryuji Hijikata . His early years with All Japan would be mostly uneventful which is normal for a new wrestler in a Japanese promotion. On June 17, 2005, Raijin teamed with Nobukazu Hirai in a tournament to determine the number one conders for the All Asia Tag Team Championship but lost to Katsuhiko Nakajima and Tomoaki Honma . In November, Raijin and Kohei Suwama participated in

2205-793: The March 26, 2009, episode of Impact! , Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag team of No Limit, unsuccessfully challenged Suicide for the TNA X Division Championship . Kiyoshi and No Limit then aligned themselves with Sheik Abdul Bashir . After No Limit left the company in May 2009, the duo of Kiyoshi and Bashir went on to form an alliance with The British Invasion of Doug Williams , Brutus Magnus and Rob Terry as well as Eric Young , known as World Elite . The members represented anti–American faction of countries, with Williams, Magnus and Terry representing Great Britain, Bashir representing Iran, Young representing Canada, Kiyoshi representing Japan and Homicide , who joined

2268-482: The May 14 Impact , where they were defeated by Kevin Nash in a two-on-one handicap match . After leaving the United States, No Limit traveled to Mexico to work with another one of NJPW's affiliate promotions, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). They made their CMLL debut on May 29 and remained with the promotion until the end of the year. During their stay in CMLL, No Limit aligned themselves with Okumura as part of

2331-547: The challengers from cheating. No Limit's title reign ended in their second defense on January 4, 2009, at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome , where they were defeated by The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ), representing the American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion. On February 15, 2009, No Limit defeated Gedo and Jado, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi and Unione ( Milano Collection A.T. and Taichi Ishikari) in

2394-626: The first round of the Super J-Cup he lost to Masato Onodera . In February 2010, Akira left New Japan Pro-Wrestling, shortly after Chono's departure and therefore Legend was completely broken up, however, his return to the company was announced just two months later. He would participate in the Best of the Super Juniors and gained eight points but didn't progress to the semifinals. Since joining SMASH, Akira has sporadically appeared for New Japan with SMASH talent such as Kushida . Speaking of Kushida,

2457-597: The following two days by first defeating the trio of Kana, Tajiri and Yusuke Kodama in a main event in Osaka and then the trio of Hanzo, Kana and Seiki in a semi-main event in Hiroshima . On August 30, the trio main evented another WNC event in Korakuen Hall, defeating Mikey Whipwreck , Kana and Tajiri in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch , with Akira pinning Whipwreck for the win. Akira, StarBuck and Syuri were also victorious in

2520-432: The group later, representing Puerto Rico. During the summer of 2009, Kiyoshi gradually faded out his Great Muta look and debuted a new look, complete with new ring attire and altered hair style. The World Elite split in early 2010, with Kiyoshi wrestled his last match so far for TNA on February 16, 2010, in an X Division three-way match, taped for Xplosion , where he and Homicide were defeated by Amazing Red . Kawabata spent

2583-726: The junior heavyweight division and engaged in some classic matches. After failing to reach a new contract agreement with New Japan in 2004, Nogami declared himself a freelancer and began competing only part-time. Since leaving NJPW, Nogami has become a regular in Keiji Mutoh's All Japan Pro Wrestling where he has been a consistent threat to the juniors. He currently has a successful acting career that consumes much of his time, but still appears on numerous events each year always bringing with him exceptional skill, speed, and charisma. Nogami announced that he would be returning to New Japan to team up with Jyushin Thunder Liger against Jado & Gedo on

No Limit (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-410: The later half of 2008, Kawabata signed a two-year deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling after an appearance on Border City Wrestling 's (BCW) 15th anniversary show. He was given a heel gimmick , Kiyoshi , which resembled his mentor Great Muta, together with similar face paint and mannerisms . In his debut match on December 18, 2008, he defeated Consequences Creed with a moonsault to advance to

2709-436: The main event of WNC's first event. As a result, Akira earned the right to face final Smash Champion Dave Finlay at WNC's second event on May 24 in a match, which he went on to lose. On June 22, Akira turned heel , first bloodying Yusuke Kodama in a singles match and then attacking Tajiri after the main event. On July 15, Akira's former Smash rival StarBuck turned on his protégé Hajime Ohara and then announced that he

2772-510: The next four months wrestling part-time in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Kawabata returned to TNA on June 14, 2010, now under a mask portraying the face character of Suicide , losing to Magnus in a match taped for Xplosion . At the July 12 tapings of Xplosion , Kawabata picked up his first victory as Suicide, defeating Eric Young. After Kawabata's original two–year contract with TNA expired, it

2835-517: The number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Takahashi. Since then Naito and Takahashi have remained largely separated from one another, though their rivalry is sporadically brought up. Akira Nogami Akira Nogami ( 野上 彰 , Nogami Akira , born March 13, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor , currently working as Akira (occasionally stylised in all-capitals). He has also worked as

2898-583: The pair took part in the first ever Super J Tag League and gained only four points and not progressing any further. After leaving NJPW, Nogami found a new home in Yoshihiro Tajiri 's Smash promotion, where he worked as a member of the Smash Seikigun until the promotion folded on March 14, 2012. The following month, Nogami was announced as part of the roster of Wrestling New Classic , the follow-up promotion to Smash. On April 26, Akira defeated Tajiri in

2961-621: The promotion, while also being featured on the Impact! television program in a short-lived foreigner alliance with compatriot Kiyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir . Before the end of their stay, No Limit received another shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on April 19 at Lockdown , but were defeated by The Motor City Machine Guns in a three-way steel cage match , also involving The Latin American Xchange ( Hernandez and Homicide ). No Limit's final appearance for TNA took place on

3024-601: The ring name Akira Raijin ( 雷陣 明 , Raijin Akira ) and is also known for working in North America for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion under the ring names Kiyoshi and Suicide . Akira Kawabata was born on July 17, 1978, in Takarazuka , Hyōgo . Trained by former junior heavyweight contender Masanobu Kurisu, Kawabata made his debut in 1998, using the ring name Akira Raijin, working primarily on

3087-506: The semifinals in a tournament for the vacant TNA X Division Championship . On December 25, he lost to Chris Sabin , failing to advance into the finals of the tournament. On the March 5, 2009, episode of TNA Impact! , Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag team No Limit ( Yujiro and Naito ), was unable to defeat the TNA X Division Champion Alex Shelley in a match for the title. On the March 14 edition of TNA Xplosion , Kiyoshi defeated Shark Boy with his signature Lightning Flash . On

3150-557: The semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they were defeated by Nagata and Inoue. In early 2011, Naito began breaking out as a singles wrestler, most notably challenging Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome , which led to a storyline rift between him and Takahashi. However, on March 19, Naito and Takahashi seemingly made peace with each other and agreed to once more go after

3213-448: The tag team of Chessman and Dark Ozz . On April 3 Kiyoshi entered All Japan's 2010 Champion Carnival . He defeated René Duprée and Suwama, but lost to Taiyō Kea and Masakatsu Funaki in the round robin stage of the tournament, finished third in his block and did not advance to the semifinals. On April 11, the final night of the tournament, Kiyoshi teamed with Satoshi Kojima to defeat Gurentai ( Nosawa Rongai and Taiyō Kea) in

SECTION 50

#1733093152798

3276-519: The titles, while Nogami joined Shiro Koshinaka 's Heisei Ishingun. Nogami suffered another serious eye injury in 1998 and returned in February 1999, becoming a member of Masahiro Chono 's Team 2000 . Akira changed his appearance, giving up his kabuki makeup for sinister black facepaint and blond hair. During 2000, he had a recurring role in the TV show Kamen Rider Kuuga . From 2001 onward, he wrestled mainly in

3339-542: The two teams took place on February 14 and saw No Limit make their first successful defense through more cheating. Shortly thereafter, Yujiro began working under his full real name of Yujiro Takahashi. No Limit's villainous turn was completed on April 4, when they joined the Chaos stable by turning on Hiroshi Tanahashi in conjunction with Chaos' Toru Yano turning on stablemate Karl Anderson, and essentially took over Bad Intentions' spot as Chaos' chosen tag team. The betrayal led to

3402-507: The win by Dragón and was per stipulation supposed to unmask himself, Mr. Christmas instead offered to unmask in his place, revealing himself as Jun Akiyama. On June 4, 2015, Sushi defeated Kenso to win the Gaora TV Championship for the second time. On August 15, Sushi fractured his jaw in a match, which sidelined him indefinitely and forced him to forfeit the Gaora TV Championship. He made his return to in-ring action on November 1. On January 15, 2017, AJPW announced that Sushi would be leaving

3465-496: The win. Naito gained another measure of revenge on not only Takahashi, but also Masato Tanaka in the 2011 G1 Tag League in October, when he and Tomoaki Honma defeated Takahashi and Tanaka, costing them a spot in the semifinals of the tournament. When Naito suffered a legitimate knee injury in mid-2012, NJPW introduced a storyline, where Takahashi defeated Naito on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling via referee stoppage, after causing further damage to his knee. In storyline, Takahashi

3528-517: The year. After its restoration, Sushi entered a four-man tournament for the vacant title, defeating Hikaru Sato in his semifinal match on November 21. Three days later, Sushi defeated Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) representative Keisuke Ishii in the finals to win the tournament and become the third Gaora TV Champion. Sushi made his first successful title defense on January 3, 2014, against another DDT representative, Soma Takao. On February 23, Sushi, alongside Menso～re Oyaji , received his first shot at

3591-453: Was announced on September 28, 2010, that he had signed a two–year contract extension with the promotion. On the October 8, 2010, edition of Xplosion Kawabata returned without the Suicide gimmick, working as Kiyoshi and forming a new tag team with compatriot Okada . They were defeated in their first match together by Ink Inc. ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ). On October 13, Suicide's profile

3654-508: Was announced that he would be travelling back to North America, to work for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), who had signed him to a contract. On October 11 Raijin lost to Suwama in his All Japan farewell match. On September 13, 2009, Raijin made a one-night return to All Japan, teaming up with Great Muta in a winning effort against Suwama and Shuji Kondo . On March 21, 2010, Raijin made another return to All Japan, now using his TNA ring name Kiyoshi, he teamed up with Bushi to defeat

3717-504: Was blamed for Naito requiring surgery to his knee. Naito returned from his injury on June 22, 2013, defeating Takahashi in a grudge match at Dominion 6.22 . Afterwards, Naito's singles career took off with him first winning the 2013 G1 Climax and then defeating Masato Tanaka for the NEVER Openweight Championship . On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling , Naito successfully defended not only his title, but also his status as

3780-402: Was joining forces with Akira. They were also joined by Syuri , with all three feeling disgruntled by the supposed changes that had taken place since the transition from Smash. The three wrestled their first match as a unit on August 2, defeating Hajime Ohara, Kana and Tajiri in a six-person tag team main event, with Akira pinning Ohara for the win. The trio continued their winning ways during

3843-437: Was now the fourth member of Gedo, Jado and Tanaka's Chaos sub-group Complete Players. The two former members of No Limit had their first singles match against each other on June 18 at Dominion 6.18 , where Takahashi was victorious. The two had a rematch on August 1 during the first day of the 2011 G1 Climax , where Takahashi was once again victorious. A third match between the two took place on September 19 and saw Naito pick up

SECTION 60

#1733093152798

3906-562: Was removed from TNA's official website, seemingly signaling the end of the gimmick. Kiyoshi and Okada had a rematch with Ink Inc. at the December 7 tapings of Xplosion , but were once again defeated. Shortly afterwards, Kiyoshi's profile was also removed from TNA's official website. On February 29, 2012, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Raijin would be returning to the promotion from his American excursion on March 20. In his return match, Raijin teamed with Kaz Hayashi and Minoru Tanaka in

3969-431: Was set to appear at the 2008 Hallowicked After Party , but was signed to TNA weeks prior to the event, resulting in him having to cancel the appearance. While part of TNA, Raijin continued to wrestle on the independent circuit. On December 20, Kowabata took on JCW Heavyweight Champion Corporal Robinson at Big Ballas X–Mas Party '08 in a losing effort. Raijin would mostly appear for Border City Wrestling and even had

#797202