Genki Horiguchi

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Hiromasa Horiguchi
An image of Hiromasa Horiguchi.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Genki Horiguchi
Billed height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Billed weight 183 lb (83 kg)
Born September 15, 1978 (1978-09-15) (age 29)
Kumamoto, Japan
Debut September 17, 1998

Genki Horiuchi (b. Hiromasa Horiguchi, September 15, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He has competed in Wrestling Society X, Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate, most notably as a member of the heel faction Muscle Outlaw'z.

When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began to chant H-A-G-E (Japanese for 'bald') at him. He managed to use this to gain a sort of cult popularity, and his catchphrase, "Who has called me hage?", is one of the best known in Japan. [1]

He has a younger brother named Hiromi Horiguchi who is currently working for Toryumon Mexico.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Toryumon

Horiguchi debuted in Toryumon with a surfer gimmick. Initially a face, he began losing hair in 2001. He dropped the surfer gimmick and joined the original M2K as a replacement for Chocoflake K-ichi. He was the last wrestler to be added to the group.

During his days in the M2K stable, he held the NWA Welterweight Title twice, defeating Ryo Saito to win it, vacating the title after a no-contest match with Dragon Kid, defeating Ricky Marvin to win it again, and finally losing it to M2K stablemate Darkness Dragon. As part of DoFixer, he won the UWA World Trios Tag Titles with Susumu Yokosuka and Ryo Saito.

He was responsible for bringing in Magnum Tokyo to lead the remnants of M2K after the name was sealed. In 2002, he would team with Magnum Tokyo and Darkness Dragon in a three-way trios tag team match against Ryo Saito, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid and CIMA, Don Fujii & Yoshikazu Taru and was pinned by CIMA. [2]

In December 2003, he scored a series of upset wins, most of them via backslide - this lead to the rise of the Backslide from Heaven.

[edit] Dragon Gate

While in DoFixer, he formed a friendship with Ryo Saito that would endure for several years. He teamed with Saito to defeat The Florida Brothers at the 2004 Revolucion ppv event on January 31, 2004. [3]. He, Saito and Dragon Kid would win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship twice while teaming together in DoFixer. The three of them would travel to Ring of Honor to take part in a rare match rated 5 stars by Dave Meltzer, taking on Blood Generation's CIMA, Naruki Doi, and Masato Yoshino.

In January 2007, he betrayed Saito and DoFixer to join heel stable Muscle Outlaw'z. This turn lead him to an Open the Brave Gate title run, and a pinfall victory over CIMA in an 8 man elimination match (incidentally not his first direct win over CIMA). He feuded with gaijin Matt Sydal over the title before dropping it to Yasushi Kanda. Since dropping the title, his push has not been maintained. He wrestles mainly early on the card, and is generally on the receiving end of falls in multiperson tag matches. He has begun to develop kleptomania, having stolen Tozawa-Juku's pants and Anthony W. Mori's ring costume.

As of May, Genki has had an uneventful 2008. During the unit turmoil, he remained firmly on the heel side of Muscle Outlaw'z, and as such followed them to Real Hazard.

[edit] Outside the Dragon System

Appearing in Aja Kong's "Yo! All the Members Set" 20th anniversary card, he teamed with Ryo Saito and Naoki Tanisaki against CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on August 21, 2005. [4]

At the beginning of 2007 he was briefly affliated with the Wrestling Society X company that was run by MTV. He and Masato Yoshino were a tag team known as Team Dragon Gate. They would however only win an exploding cage timebomb deathmatch in their time in this promotion. At the time the team was active, he and Yoshino were in rival stables, as he was still aligned with face stable DoFixer while Yoshino was in heel stable Blood Generation.

[edit] Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • PWI ranked him # 104 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006
  • 5 Star Match: with Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH – Supercard of Honor – March 31, 2006)
  • 2006 Match of the Year: with Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH – Supercard of Honor – March 31, 2006)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Do FIXER: Genki Horiguchi. DragonGate.com (2004). Archived from the original on 2006-10-31.
  2. ^ Keith, Scott (2003-12-27). The SmarK Rant For The Best Of Japan 2002 - Volume 4. InsidePulse.com.
  3. ^ Chedy, Jason (2004-09-28). Toryumon January 2004 Revolucion PPV Review. Wrestling101.com.
  4. ^ First matches announced for Aja's show. JoshiPuro.com (2005-07-11).

[edit] External links

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