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Ryusuke Taguchi (田口 隆祐 Taguchi Ryusuke, born April 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Pursuing several sports in high school, Taguchi competed in 76 kg (170 lb) class amateur wrestling in college before entering the NJPW dojo in March 2002 and debuting in November of that year at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo,[1] wrestling in New Japan's famous junior heavyweight division. Taguchi's gimmick is akin to a disco dancer, often sporting a short afro and colorful, flamboyant attire and celebrating victories with a post-match dance, encouraging his partners to join in during tag team matches. This has earned Taguchi the nickname Funky Weapon.
[edit] Career[edit] 2002-2004During high school, Taguchi dabbled in many athletic pursuits, including baseball, soccer, and track and field, before entering the 76 kg (170 lb) class in amateur wrestling at Tōkai University.[2] He enrolled in the New Japan dojo in March 2002, passing the promotion's notoriously tough entry test,[2] before debuting on November 22, 2002 in a losing effort against Toru Yano.[1] Taguchi continued to wrestle in minor matches through early 2003, before being entered into the tenth annual Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ) tournament by default after Heat pulled out.[2] Taguchi finished in last place with zero points, losing all of his matches.[3] In November 2003, Ryusuke Taguchi and fellow New Japan graduate Hirooki Goto won a 4-team tournament to decide the number one contenders to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, defeating Wataru Inoue and El Samurai in the semifinals and Masahito Kakihara and Masayuki Naruse in the finals.[4] When the title was vacated just days later due to injury,[5] Taguchi and Goto instead faced Gedo and Jado (who had won a separate tournament) on November 29, 2003 to decide the new champions; Gedo and Jado won the match and the title.[6] On December 27, 2003, Taguchi defeated Naofumi Yamamoto to gain a spot on the card for New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, Wrestling World.[7] He went on to defeat Akiya Anzawa at the event on January 4, 2004 in under five minutes.[8] On March 21, 2004, Taguchi and Goto received their second opportunity at the junior tag titles, falling to champions American Dragon and Curry Man.[9] On the April Strong Energy tour, Taguchi was entered into the eight-man round-robin Young Lion Cup (YLC) tournament, earning nine points in the group stage and defeating Hirooki Goto and Michinoku Pro's Kazuya Yuasa in the semifinals and final, respectively.[10] Winning the tournament earned Taguchi his first singles title opportunity, as he unsuccessfully challenged U-30 (under 30) Openweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi on May 13, 2004.[8] Taguchi once again competed in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in June 2004, finishing with 4 points by wrestling to 20-minute time limit draws with El Samurai and American Dragon, and defeating Jushin Liger in 45 seconds.[11] Taguchi again finished in last place for his block. In October and November 2004, Taguchi competed in the 7-man, single-elimination Young Lion Toukon Tournament, a sort of "sequel" to the Young Lion Cup;[12] he received a bye to the semifinals as a result of winning that tournament, defeating Hiroshi Nagao and Katsuhiko Nakajima in his two matches to punctuate his YLC victory.[12] [edit] 2005-2006On January 6, 2005, Taguchi announced that he would be going on a learning excursion to Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), a common practice for young Japanese juniors, wrestling simply as "Taguchi".[13] He competed in two farewell matches in New Japan, losing to Wataru Inoue in the first and teaming with Taiji Ishimori to defeat Tiger Mask IV and El Samurai in the second.[14] Taguchi made his CMLL debut on February 11, 2005 in the Arena México, teaming with Black Tiger IV and Shigeo Okumura to defeat Negro Casas, Felino and Safari.[15] Taguchi also wrestled in Último Dragón's Toryumon Mexico, teaming with Hiromi Horiguchi to win the 4-team Yamaha Cup tournament on February 27, 2005.[16] Taguchi continued to compete in CMLL throughout much of 2005, often teaming with fellow New Japan alumni Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi. He returned to Japan on October 7, 2005[17] and wrestled his official return match on October 22, 2005, teaming with Masahito Kakihara to defeat Sangre Azteca and Hirooki Goto.[18] On February 19, 2006, Ryusuke Taguchi and veteran junior El Samurai defeated heel faction CTU's (Counter Terrorist Unit) Minoru and Hirooki Goto to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, giving Taguchi his first title.[19] They made their first defense on March 19, 2006, defeating another veteran-young lion duo in Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue,[20] followed by three-time title holders Gedo and Jado on May 7, 2006 in a match that lasted over 30 minutes.[21] Taguchi again competed in the BOSJ in June 2006, finishing in fourth place out of seven in his block with seven points, defeating Jushin Liger, Sangre Azteca and Fuego, and wrestling to a double count out with Jado.[22] Taguchi and Samurai faced Gedo and Jado in a title rematch on July 8, 2006, losing the belts to their challengers in another 30-minute match.[23] On September 3, 2006, Taguchi made his debut in New Japan's WRESTLE LAND brand, teaming with Pegasus Kid II to defeat Milano Collection AT and Makai Rey Cobra #3; he also wrestled in a brief "bonus track" match later in the night, winning a 14-man tag team match along with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tanaka, Jado, Gedo, Pegasus Kid and Gran Naniwa against Toru Yano, Milano, and five members of the Makai Club.[24] Taguchi continued to participate in WRESTLE LAND through 2006 and 2007. On September 24, 2006, Taguchi made his first attempt at a major singles junior title by challenging Tiger Mask for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, losing in 13 minutes.[25] [edit] 2007At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome event on January 4, 2007, Taguchi teamed with El Samurai and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Masanobu Fuchi to defeat Kikutaro, Nobutaka Araya and Akira Raijin, pinning Kikutaro after the Dodon.[26] Four days later on January 7, 2007, Taguchi suffered a right eye injury in a tag team match with Tiger Mask against Jushin Liger and Milano Collection AT, forcing him out of action for two months. He had been scheduled to compete in a four-man tournament to decide the number one contender to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was removed as a result of the injury;[27] Taguchi returned on March 3, 2007. On March 11, 2007, Taguchi was introduced as the first member of El Samurai's new Samurai Gym faction, and was later joined by Yujiro on March 18, 2007.[28] On April 13, 2007, Taguchi challenged Minoru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in his first shot at the title, albeit unsuccessfully.[29] Minoru also stole the Samurai Gym signboard after the match, carrying it as a trophy for the next several months.[30][31] Taguchi entered the 14th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament in June 2007, having his strongest showing to date, winning five out of six group stage matches by defeating Tetsuya Naito, Koji Kanemoto, El Samurai, Dragon Gate's BxB Hulk, and junior champion Minoru, finishing in first place for his block with 10 points. Taguchi lost in the semifinals however, to eventual winner Milano Collection AT.[32] As a reward of sorts for beating Minoru in the tournament, Taguchi was granted a second shot at the Junior Heavyweight title on July 6, 2007, defeating Minoru once more to win his first singles championship, and retrieving the Samurai Gym signboard.[33][34] He made his first defense of the title on September 24, 2007, defeating Tiger Mask.[35] He defended the championship once again on October 7, 2007 at independent promotion Pro Wrestling KAGEKI's tenth anniversary show, defeating the company's founder Azteca;[36] the following day, Taguchi again defended the title, defeating Minoru once more.[37] On October 28, 2007, Taguchi defended the title for the third time in one month, defeating 5-time champion Koji Kanemoto in Kobe, Kanemoto's hometown.[38] Taguchi lost the title in his fifth defense on December 8, 2007, falling to Wataru Inoue.[39] [edit] 2008On January 4, 2008 at Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome, Taguchi teamed with Takashi Iizuka, Koji Kanemoto and Tiger Mask to face the "Alliance" of Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX's Masato Tanaka and Tatsuhito Takaiwa, and DRADITION's Katsushi Takemura and Yutaka Yoshie; the Alliance won the encounter, Yoshie pinning Taguchi.[40] Taguchi faced Wataru Inoue in a rematch for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on January 27, 2008, losing to Inoue once more.[41] On February 1, 2008, it was announced that El Samurai would be leaving NJPW due to his contract expiring, effectively ending Samurai Gym.[42] In March and April 2008, Taguchi represented NJPW in several interpromotional matches with the newly renamed Pro Wrestling ZERO1; on March 30, 2008 at New Dimension, Taguchi and Koji Kanemoto defeated ZERO1's Masato Tanaka and Tatsuhito Takaiwa.[40] On the following New Japan Brave tour, Taguchi defeated Takaiwa in a singles match. He then teamed with Kanemoto and Manabu Nakanishi in three tag team matches in late April, he and Nakanishi defeating ZERO1's Takao Ōmori and Osamu Namiguchi, he and Kanemoto again defeating Tanaka and Takaiwa, and he and Kanemoto losing to Tanaka and Shinjiro Otani.[29] On April 29, 2008, Taguchi faced his former partner and generation rival, Hirooki Goto, who had since graduated to the heavyweight division. The match, which took place in Goto's hometown of Kuwana, was won by Goto in just under 15 minutes.[40] In June of that year, Taguchi once again entered the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing in first place for his six-man block with eight points, losing only to Tatsuhito Takaiwa in a rematch of their April meeting, and defeating the man who won the Junior title from him, Wataru Inoue. Taguchi advanced to the semifinals as a result, losing to Koji Kanemoto.[43] On July 5, 2009, at Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul Taguchi and Prince Devitt defeated The Motor City Machineguns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. [edit] In wrestling
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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