| Takashi Sugiura | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Takashi Sugiura |
| Billed height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 98 kg (220 lb) |
| Born | May 31, 1970 |
| Resides | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan |
| Trained by | All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo Yoshihiro Takayama Tamon Honda |
| Debut | December 23, 2000 |
Takashi Sugiura (杉浦 貴 Sugiura Takashi) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah. Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined NOAH's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler to make his pro wrestling debut in NOAH. He has also competed in mixed martial arts with a notable victory over Giant Silva. Sugiura wrestled as a junior heavyweight in his earlier pro career and is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion. Sugiura moved up to heavyweight and became the second longest reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion, having held the title for 581 days between December 2009 and July 2011.
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Sugiura was an accomplished judoka in high school. And narrowly missed the cut representing Japan at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He then became an Self Defense Instructor & was recruited to the All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo by Tamon Honda, who (along with Yoshihiro Takayama) oversaw all of Sugiura's training.
Initially a low-card wrestler, Sugiura's American Wrestling influenced style became popular with fans. And eventually he formed an tag team with Yoshinobu Kanemaru nicknamed "SugiKane". Within a few months the two defeated Marufuji and Kenta for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ending the team's long & historic run. Sugiura owns the distinction of being the only wrestler in Pro Wrestling Noah to have been a double champion on two separate occasions. In recent years, he has made a name for himself in the heavyweight division receiving a title shot against then GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima in a highly regarded match & winning the GHC Tag Team Championship along with Naomichi Marufuji from the bigger & stronger team of D'lo Brown & Bull Buchanan. At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom III he pushed New Japan Pro Wrestling representative Shinsuke Nakamura to his limit in a cross promotional tag team match with Mitsuharu Misawa and Hirooki Goto as their respective partners, but came up short and tapped out to Nakamura's Cross Armbar finish. Nakamura then stated that there would be a singles match between them soon, as he felt he was embarrassed by a wrestler below his standards. The two met again later in the year in a cross-promotional match, this time Sugiura teamed with blue-chip prospect Go Shiozaki & Nakamura teamed with then-RISE stablemate Milano Collection AT, who was also returning from injury. Shiozaki/Sugiura picked up the win & Nakamura demanded a rematch against the 2 with Hirooki Goto as his tag team partner.
Sugiura has also dabbled in mixed martial arts, given his amateur background. His largest victory ever in an MMA match was against Giant Silva. He participated in the Pancrase Heavyweight Championship Tournament but was eliminated by Ryuta Noji.
On July 20, he faced Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first ever NJPW vs. NOAH match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After 24 minutes and 2 High Fly Flows, Tanahashi retained the Championship.
Sugiura also participated in the 2009 G1 Climax. With his rival Nakamura in his block, a long anticipated singles match came to pass. Although he lost the match he still managed to finish second in his block & advanced to the semi-finals losing to the tournament eventual winner Togi Makabe. On December 6, 2009 Sugiura pinned Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship. On January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Sugiura successfully defended the title against Hirooki Goto.On 28 February,he retained his title against Togi Makabe and then on 10 July against Yoshihiro Takayama.[1] On October 1, 2010, Sugiura travelled to Tamaulipas, Mexico to defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chessman at Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) event Héroes Inmortales IV.[2] Sugiura returned to New Japan on January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, where he and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match.[3][4] On May 15, 2011, Sugiura defeated Claudio Castagnoli in Oberhausen, Germany[5] to make his fourteenth successful GHC Heavyweight Championship defense, breaking the record for most defenses, set by Kenta Kobashi. On July 10, Sugiura lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Go Shiozaki, ending his reign at 581 days. On January 4, 2012, Sugiura returned to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he was defeated by Hirooki Goto.[6]
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