Yutaka Yoshie

Yutaka Yoshie (吉江 豊, Yoshie Yutaka, born January 5, 1974),[1][2] is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer in Japan, performing most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Tag Team Champion. He has previously worked for promotions such as New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former IWGP Tag Team Champion, Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he is currently in his second reign as one half of the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champions.

Yutaka Yoshie
Yoshie in October 2011
Born (1974-01-05) January 5, 1974[1][2][3]
Maebashi, Gunma, Japan[1][3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)4L Blazer[4]
Great Kabuki[4]
Pink Strong Machine[5]
Y2P 150kg[4]
Y2P–160kg[4]
Yoshie–chan[4]
Yutaka Yoshie[4]
Billed height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1][2][3]
Billed weight150 kg (331 lb)[1]
Trained byAnimal Hamaguchi[4]
DebutDecember 9, 1994[1][2][3]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1994–2006)

Yoshie, who had a background in judo, joined New Japan Pro Wrestling's (NJPW) dojo in February 1994 and made his professional wrestling debut on December 9, 1994, in a match against Satoshi Kojima.[3] In only his second match Yoshie broke his leg and was sidelined until December 1995.[3] After spending years on the undercards of NJPW events, Yoshie wrestled his first major match on January 4, 1998, at Final Power Hall in Tokyo Dome, where he was one of the five men selected to face Riki Choshu in his Riki Road Final Message 5 series, set to end his retirement tour.[3] The following year Yoshie picked up major victories over wrestlers such as Tatsuhito Takaiwa and El Samurai, before leaving for a learning excursion to Germany in August to compete for Catch Wrestling Association (CWA).[3] While in Europe, Yoshie bulked up and when he returned to Japan in March 2000, he was a completely different wrestler, basing his new style on sumo wrestling, and was quickly recruited by Yuji Nagata into his stable, Fighting Club G-EGGS.[3] Later that year Yoshie defeated former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima in singles matches.[3] However, Yoshie's climb was cut short, when Nagata disbanded Fighting Club G-EGGS in June 2001, sending him back down the card.[3] On June 13, 2003, Yoshie won his to date only title in NJPW, when he teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi to defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[2] They would hold the title for six months, before losing it to Tenzan and Osamu Nishimura.[2] After years of being unable to break through into the main fold of NJPW, Yoshie decided not to re-sign with the promotion in January 2006 and instead became a freelancer.[2][3]

Freelancer (2006–present)

After leaving NJPW, Yoshie made his debut for Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he, under the ring name Y2P–160 kg, formed a tag team called the P–Force Men with Steve Corino.[6] On February 25, 2006, Yoshie and Corino defeated Skull and Bones (Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita) to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[6] They would hold the title for four months, before losing it to Kohei Sato and Ryouji Sai on June 20, 2006.[6] Yoshie spent most of the rest of 2006 working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he in April participated in his first Champion Carnival.[2] In late 2006 Yoshie also made his debut for Tatsumi Fujinami's and Osamu Nishimura's Muga World Pro Wrestling, for which he wrestled most of 2007.[2] On December 13, 2007, Yoshie defeated Fujinami in the finals of a tournament to win Muga's Dragon Cup.[7] On January 4, 2008, Yoshie made his return to NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome, where he, Masato Tanaka, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Katsushi Takemura defeated Takashi Iizuka, Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi in an eight-man tag team match, when Yoshie pinned Taguchi.[8] Later that year Yoshie teamed with Manabu Nakanishi to take part in NJPW's G1 Tag League, where the team, named Big Mountain, reached the semifinals before losing to the eventual winners of the entire tournament, TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima).[9] On December 6, 2008, Yoshie and Nakanishi unsuccessfully challenged The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe and Toru Yano) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[10]

On February 6, 2010, Yoshie made his debut for Pro Wrestling Noah in a match, where he defeated Shuhei Taniguchi.[11] In June Yoshie made another return to NJPW to compete in the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, where, under a mask and the ring name Pink Strong Machine, he teamed with Super Strong Machine and Tonga Strong Machine. The team was eliminated in the second round by Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi and Hirooki Goto.[5] In April 2012, Yoshie entered AJPW's 2012 Champion Carnival, however, an ankle fracture on April 23 forced him to pull out of the tournament.[1][12] Yoshie returned to the ring at an AJPW event on January 20, 2013, when he teamed with Kenso to defeat Mazada and Sushi in a tag team match.[13] The following month, Yoshie formed the Momokuro-gun tag team with Black Tiger V.[14] On February 24, Yoshie returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, defeating Masao Inoue in a singles match.[15] On January 26, 2014, Yoshie formed a super heavyweight tag team with Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Akebono.[16] The team won AJPW's World Tag Team Championship on March 22, 2015, by defeating Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori.[17] They lost the title to Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara on May 6.[18]

On November 23, 2017, Yoshie and Shogun Okamoto won Zero1's 2017 Furinkazan Tag Tournament, defeating Yuko Miyamoto and Yusaku Obata in the finals.[19][20] On January 1, 2018, Yoshie and Okamoto defeated Hideki Suzuki and Kohei Sato to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[21]

Yoshie executing a Karuizawa over Commander An Jo

Championships and accomplishments
Yoshie (right) in the ring with frequent tag team partner Akebono
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References
  1. 吉江　豊. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  2. "Yutaka Yoshie profile". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  3. "Yutaka Yoshie profile". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  4. "Yutaka Yoshie profile". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  5. "(Results) New Japan 6/29/10". Strong Style Spirit. 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  6. "NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  7. "Dragon Cup 2007". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  8. Adamson, Matt (2008-01-12). "Destiny 1.12.08: New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom II Thoughts". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  9. "(Results) New Japan, 11/5/08". Strong Style Spirit. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  10. "(Results) New Japan, 12/6/08". Strong Style Spirit. 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  11. "NOAH Navigation In Differ". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  12. 吉江豊選手欠場、およびそれに伴うカード変更のお知らせ. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2012-04-24. Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  13. 2013　新春シャイニング・シリーズ. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  14. 吉江と黒虎が「ももクロ軍」結成. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  15. 2013年2月24日(日). Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  16. 合計３６０キロ！曙と吉江が正式合体. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  17. "【3.22】 2015 ドリームパワーシリーズ　福岡大会". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  18. 【5.6】 2015 スーパーパワーシリーズ　開幕戦・後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  19. Zero1　ドリームシリーズ　　後楽園大会. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  20. 【ゼロワン】岡本＆吉江組が風林火山タッグＴ初優勝！来年１月ＮＷＡインタコンチ王座挑戦. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  21. 小幡が世界ヘビー、岡本＆吉江はインター―コンチ獲得、Sugiは入団＆政宗とライトタッグ奪取、ブードゥに朱崇花加入…1・1後楽園リポート！. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  22. "Yutaka Yoshie profile". Purolove (in German). Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  23. "Muga 2007 Vacation Family Pro-Wrestling". Cagematch. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  24. "2000 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
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