Shinjiro Otani

Shinjiro Otani
Born July 21, 1972
Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Resides Tokyo, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Achichi
Mr. Otani
Shinjiro Otani
Billed height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Billed weight 102 kg (225 lb)[1]
Trained by Animal Hamaguchi
Hiroshi Hase
Kensuke Sasaki
Debut June 25, 1992

Shinjiro Otani (ć€§è°·æ™‹äșŒéƒŽ, born July 21, 1972)[2] is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted to Pro Wrestling Zero1. Otani is also the acting President of the company.

Career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–2001)

Otani was the first WCW World Cruiserweight Champion, defeating Wild Pegasus in a tournament final to be crowned champion on March 20, 1996. This was the start of his push as a legitimate junior heavyweight contender. Over the years, Otani earned the J-Crown[1] and was also part of the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions with Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

In 2000, New Japan booker Riki ChƍshĆ«, eager to push his protĂ©gĂ© Kensuke Sasaki above everyone else, downgraded the junior heavyweight members to mere jobbers for the heavyweights. Otani protested and was sent abroad to bulk up. Returning in 2001 as a full-fledged heavyweight, Otani challenged Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but failed.[1]

Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (2001–present)

He then joined Shinya Hashimoto in creating their own promotion, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, where he became one of the top stars after Hashimoto's departure in 2004 and subsequent death. During the company's relaunch following Hashimoto's death it was renamed to Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. In ZERO1 he formed a tag team with Masato Tanaka called Emblem;[1] Team Emblem (as they were later known) would appear in the US promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling, and include Keiji Sakoda. This tag team has formed, disbanded, and reformed numerous times during Otani's time in ZERO1. EMBLEM would go on to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (ZERO1's top Tag Team Title Belt) two times. (Otani has held that title 4 times) Otani has won ZERO1's annual round-robin tournament the Fire Festival three separate times (2001, 2002, 2005). On January 22, 2006, Otani defeated Steve Corino for the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.[3] On December 24, 2007 it was announced by ZERO1's parent company FIRST ON STAGE that Otani would become the President of ZERO1. Otani took office officially on January 23, 2007, replacing previous President Yoshiyuki Nakamura who became Director of FIRST ON STAGE. He defeated Yuji Nagata on February 27, 2009, to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Otani made a special return to New Japan, when he replaced an injured Daichi Hashimoto in a tag team match, where he and Keiji Mutoh were defeated by Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima.[4]

In wrestling

Otani in a HUSTLE match with Monster C.

Wrestlers trained

Championships and accomplishments

Otani stomping on Tajiri.

1The championship was won in Tokyo, Japan as part of an interpromotional card between New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Pro Wrestling llustrated 500 – 2004 :87 Shinjiro Ohtani". Pro Wrestling Illustrated (Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC). October 2004. p. 27. December 2004.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  3. ↑ Brady, Hicks. "2006: The year in wrestling". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts (2007 ed.) (Kappa Publications). p. 17.
  4. ↑ "Wrestle Kingdom 7 Evolution in 東äșŹăƒ‰ăƒŒăƒ " (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=605&page=14
  6. ↑ http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/hustle/tournaments.html#sixman
  7. ↑ http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/newjapan/miscjr.html#sg
  8. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=2332
  9. ↑ http://www.puroresumission.com/tournaments/zero1_firefestival.html
  10. ↑ "Independent Wrestling Results – November 2002". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-06.

External links