Yota Tsuji

Yota Tsuji
Tsuji in November 2023
Personal information
BornYota Tsuji
(1993-09-08) September 8, 1993[2][1]
Yokohama, Japan[2][1]
Alma materNippon Sport Science University[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Yota Tsuji
Yota
Mascara Kantansu Tomato
Billed height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1][2]
Billed weight227 lb (103 kg)[1]
Billed fromYokohama, Japan[2][1]
Trained byNJPW Dojo
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Ultimo Guerrero
Tetsuya Naito
DebutApril 10, 2018[2][1]

Yota Tsuji (辻 陽太, Tsuji Yōta; born September 8, 1993[3]) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a double champion as the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and the current IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion in his record-tying second reign and is the member of the Unbound Co. stable. Tsuji is the winner of the 2024 New Japan Cup and is a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi. He has also made appearances for partner promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (Revpro) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).

Early life

Before wrestling, Tsuji had played baseball, American football and had done taekwondo.[1][3][2] In March 2012, he graduated from Yokohama Tateno high-school.[1][3] In March 2016, Tsuji graduated from Nippon Sport Science University.[1][3]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017–present)

Young lion (2017–2021)

In April 2017, Tsuji was signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under New Japan's "young lion" system.[1][3] A year later, Tsuji as well as fellow young lion, Yuya Uemura, made their pro-wrestling debuts at Lion's Gate Project 11 where Tsuji was defeated by Tomoyuki Oka.[4][5][6] In his second match, he was defeated by Ren Narita.[7] During night one of Wrestling Dontaku 2018, Tsuji and Shota Umino were defeated by Bullet Club (Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi).[8] At Lion's Gate Project 12, Tsuji and Uemura went to a time-limit draw.[9] At Lion's Gate Project 13, Tsuji and Uemura wrestled to a draw.[10] On September 5, at Aichi, Tsuji teamed with Narita to defeat Uemura and Umino, winning for the first time.

After three years, New Japan reported that Tsuji would be going on overseas excursion along with Uemura as of August 1, 2021. On that day, Tsuji wrestled his last match as a young lion, facing Tetsuya Naito, with whom he had a minor feud, in a losing effort. He then joined Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) in England where we remained for 14 months before joining Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico.

Joining Los Ingobernables de Japon and championship reigns (2023–2025)

Main article: Los Ingobernables de Japon

Tsuji returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in May 2023 at Wrestling Dontaku 2023, attacking IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada and the remainder of the Just 5 Guys stable, whilst challenging Sanada for the title.[11] The title match was made official for Dominion. On June 3 at the press conference the day before the event, Tsuji officially joined Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ).[12] The day after at the event, Tsuji unsuccessfully challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.[13]

In July, Tsuji made his debut in the annual G1 Climax tournament, competing in the A Block.[14] Tsuji finished the tournament with 7 points, narrowly missing out on qualifying to advance to the quarter-final round.[15] On August 13, Tsuji pinned reigning IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay in an eight-man tag team match, leading Tsuji to held the IWGP United Kingdom Championship over the fallen Ospreay, setting up at title match at Destruction on September 24, which Tsuji failed to win the title from Ospreay.[16] In October, Tsuji returned to the UK at Royal Quest III, defeating Luke Jacobs.[17] The following month, Tsuji participated in the World Tag League, teaming with Zandokan Jr. of CMLL. The duo finished with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.[18] Following the tournament, Tsuji renewed a feud with former Young Lion dojo stablemate Yuya Uemura, who had joined Just 5 Guys, which started after Uemura pinned Tsuji in a tag-team match. Due to this, a singles match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 was set.[19] On January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom, Tsuji was defeated by Uemura.[20]

Tsuji and Uemura continued their feud further into the new year. This culminated on February 24, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, where Tsuji defeated Uemura in a Hair vs. Hair match, forcing Uemura to shave his hair.[21] Tsuji attempted to use his momentum, by entering the New Japan Cup, the following month.[22] Tsuji defeated Jeff Cobb, El Phantasmo and Ren Narita, in the first 3 rounds.[23] In the semi-finals, he defeated Evil, to advance to the tournament finals.[24] In the New Japan Cup final, Tsuji defeated three-time cup winner, Hirooki Goto, to win the 2024 New Japan Cup, his first major accolade in NJPW. After the match, Tsuji claimed he was the face of a new era in NJPW, before being joined in the ring by LIJ leader and stablemate, Tetsuya Naito. Tsuji's New Japan Cup win has earned him a shot at Naito's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis, on April 6.[25] At Sakura Genesis, Tsuji was defeated by Naito. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji teamed with fellow LIJ members Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Oleg Boltin, and Toru Yano to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This would be Tsuji's first ever championship in NJPW. They dropped the titles back to them seven days later at New Japan Soul. Tsuji participated in the G1 Climax, competing in the B Block. Tsuji finished with 10 points, and was able to qualify for the playoff stage, where he defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the quarter-final, David Finlay in the semi-final, but lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in the grand finals.

On January 4, 2025, at Wrestle Kingdom 19, Tsuji defeated Finlay to win the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship,[26] his first NJPW singles title and became the first Japanese holder of the title. The next night at Wrestle Dynasty, Tsuji successfully defended the title against Jack Perry.[27] On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tsuji defended his title against Gabe Kidd, where the match ended in a double knockout.[28] On April 4 at Sakura Genesis, Tsuji successfully defended his title against Evil.[29] On June 15 at Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji lost his title to Gabe Kidd, ending his reign at 162 days.[30] On October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Tsuji regained the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship from Kidd after a submission victory.[31]

IWGP Heavyweight Champion (2026–present)

See also: Unbound Co.

On January 4, 2026, at Wrestle Kingdom 20, Tsuji defeated Konosuke Takeshita in a Winner Takes All match to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, he declared himself as the "IWGP Heavyweight Champion" rather than the World Heavyweight Champion, and was attacked by Jake Lee shortly after. After Wrestle Kingdom 20, at New Year Dash!!, Tsuji announced the dissolution of Bullet Club and Unaffilated, replacing the alliance with Unbound Co., which was a complete merger.[32] Also at New Year Dash!!, Tsuji revealed the V4 design of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Per his wishes and the blessing of President Hiroshi Tanahashi, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt was revived, the lineage combined into the World Heavyweight Championship's, and Tsuji recognized as the 87th IWGP Heavyweight Champion.[33] On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tsuji successfully defended the Heavyweight Championship against Jake Lee.[34]

Revolution Pro Wrestling/RevPro (2021-2024)

On foreign excursion from New Japan, Tsuji joined Revolution Pro Wrestling and wrestled his first match overseas in a losing effort against Kyle Fletcher on September 4, 2021. He and Shota Umino formed a tag team called The Legion that competed in the Great British Tag League tournament. Tsuji wrestled for RevPro until going to Mexico in November 2021. He returned to RevPro in October 2024 to wrestle Mascara Dorada on RevPro Global Wars UK.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2022–present)

Tsuji debuted for Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), on November 11, 2022, now under the mononymous name of Yota, accompanied by Vincent and El Mesías, where they defeated El Valiente, Blue Panther and Soberano Jr..[35] On May 14, 2023, Yota lost to Gran Guerrero for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.[36] On 24 July 2024, he was announced as a participant in the 2024 Grand Prix.[37] On August 24, 2024, Yota, Titan and Zandokan Jr. defeated Los Infernales (Averno, Euforia & Mephisto) by DQ.[38] On August 25, 2024, Yota and Akira defeated Los Guerreros Laguneros (Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.)[39] On August 26, 2024, Yota was defeated by Averno in a Lightning Match at the Arena Puebla.[40] On August 27, 2024, Yota lost to Gran Guerrero for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship by DQ at the Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara.[41]

Personal life

Tsuji has a twin brother named Shota, who appeared during Night 13 of the 2023 G1 Climax disguising himself as Yota to bait Gabe Kidd during his entrance.[42] Shota is a professional stuntman.[43]

Championships and accomplishments

  • ESPN
    • Ranked No. 23 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30 in 2023[44]

Luchas de Apuestas record

See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Yota Tsuji (hair) Yuya Uemura (hair) Sapporo, Japan The New Beginning in Sapporo: Night 2 February 24, 2024 [46]

Notes

  1. ^ When Tsuji won the title, it was known as the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship but is reverted to IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Yota Tsuji". NJPW1972. New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Yota Tsuji". Cagematch. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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  4. ^ "LION'S GATE PROJECT11". njpw.co.jp (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  5. ^ "LION'S GATE PROJECT11". njpw.co.jp (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  6. ^ "NJPW Lion's Gate Project11". Cagematch. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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  11. ^ Thompson, Andrew (May 3, 2023). "Yota Tsuji returns to NJPW at Wrestling Dontaku, takes out Just 5 Five Guys". POST Wrestling. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
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  15. ^ Rueter, Sean (2023-08-09). "New Japan's G1 Climax 33 quarterfinals are set". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
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