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Yuji Nagata
Nagata in 2011
Born	(1968-04-24) April 24, 1968 (age 56) Togane, Chiba, Japan
Spouse(s)	Chieko Yuji (m. 2002)
Children	1
Family	Katsuhiko Nagata (brother)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Maybach Blue Justice Super Strong Machine Justice Yuji Nagata
Billed height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Billed weight	108 kg (238 lb)
Trained by	NJPW Dojo Kazuo Yamazaki
Debut	September 14, 1992

Yuji Nagata (Japanese: 永田 裕志, Nagata Yūji, born April 24, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, and former mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Considered one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers of all time, he is the fifth longest-reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion with a reign of 392 days, and formerly held the record for most successful title defenses with 10, until Hiroshi Tanahashi broke the record at Wrestle Kingdom VI. He is the only wrestler to have won Japanese professional wrestling's three biggest singles tournaments; New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax (in 2001), All Japan Pro Wrestling's Champion Carnival (in 2011) and Pro Wrestling Noah's Global League (in 2013). In addition, he is the only man to have held all four major heavyweight championships in Japanese professional wrestling, the IWGP, World, GHC and Triple Crown heavyweight championships, making him the only "Grand Slam" champion.

Nagata debuted and has worked for NJPW since 1992, where he was recognised as company ace in the early 2000s and is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight Champion in addition to having won the New Japan Cup in 2007 and 2011, the G1 Tag League in 2000 and 2010, and the G1 Climax in 2001. Outside of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he has held the World Heavyweight Championship in Zero1, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the GHC Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah, making him a five-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2018.

Amateur wrestling career

Before turning professional, Nagata was a successful amateur wrestler. Nagata met future professional wrestling rival Minoru Suzuki in the amateur wrestling circles. In 1986, when they both were seniors, Suzuki beat Nagata first in a Tokyo high school tournament and again at the Japanese sectionals. Competing in the Greco-Roman style, Nagata represented Japan in the Asian Championships twice, placing fifth in 1993 and placing fourth in 1994, in one World Cup at the Espoir level in 1988, and in the 1991 World Championships, placing twenty-first.

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–1997)

Nagata joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling in April 1992 and trained in the NJPW Dojo. He debuted on September 14 of that year, facing Hiroyoshi Yamamoto. Nagata increased in stature during the 1995 inter-promotional angle pitting NJPW loyalists against UWF International wrestlers. Taught the shoot-style by Kazuo Yamazaki, who had returned to NJPW after leaving UWFI, Nagata learned the style that has been his trademark ever since.

World Championship Wrestling excursion (1997–1998)

Nagata joined the American World Championship Wrestling promotion in February 1997 as an arrogant villain. He was managed by Sonny Onoo, who also acted as his translator. He began feuding with Último Dragón, with Nagata repeatedly injuring Dragon's shoulder. The two rivals faced one another at Halloween Havoc on October 26, with Nagata forcing his smaller opponent to submit with an arm submission hold. They faced one another in a rematch at World War 3 on November 23, with the added stipulation that, should Dragon win, he would receive five minutes alone in the ring with the interfering Onoo. Nagata was able to pin Dragon following a distraction by Onoo, thus ending their feud.

In 1998, Nagata teamed with Kensuke Sasaki and entered a tournament for the number one contendership for the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Nagata and Sasaki won the tournament, but were unable to win the titles in their subsequent title match. Nagata left WCW in August 1998 and returned to New Japan.

Return to NJPW (1998–present)

Main event run (1998–2010)

Upon his return, Nagata began challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On September 23, 1998, Nagata fought Scott Norton for the vacant title (the previous champion, Masahiro Chono, had suffered a neck injury) in Yokohama, but was defeated.

On August 28, 1999, in Tokyo, Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tatsutoshi Goto and Michiyoshi Ohara for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They held the title until July 20, 2000, when they lost to Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Nagata and Nakanishi feuded with Kojima and Tenzan for several months, but were unable to regain the title. On January 4, 2000, his mentor Kazuo Yamazaki retired and Nagata served as his final opponent, winning the match.

In March 2000, Nagata formed an ill-fated stable known as Fighting Club G-EGGS, with all the stable member having legitimate sporting backgrounds. The stable included Manabu Nakanishi, Nagata's tag team partner and co-IWGP Tag Team Champion at the time, Masakazu Fukuda, Yutaka Yoshie and Brian Johnston. Fukuda died in April 2000 from a brain hemorrhage suffered during a match with rookie Katsuyori Shibata, and was honored with a ten-bell salute and a tribute show in September of that year. Johnston's participation in the group was largely limited after he suffered a stroke, and Nagata eventually disbanded G-EGGS on June 16, 2001.

In August 2001, Nagata won the eleventh annual G1 Climax tournament, defeating Keiji Mutoh in the finals by submission. Nagata had entered the tournament twice before, but was eliminated in semi-final matches on both instances. Nagata challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship once again after it was vacated by the injured Kazuyuki Fujita on January 4, 2002, but lost to Tadao Yasuda on February 16, 2002, in a tournament final. Nagata defeated Yasuda for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on April 5, 2002, in the Nippon Budokan. Immediately following his victory, Nagata was attacked by Pro Wrestling Noah mainstay Yoshihiro Takayama. He held the title for thirteen months (setting a record for most successful title defenses in the process) before losing to Takayama on May 2, 2003, in the Tokyo Dome.

On January 4, 2004, he defeated Kensuke Sasaki after 12 minutes of intense action at the Tokyo Dome. In April 2005, Nagata formed "Team JAPAN", a group of former amateur wrestlers with a grudge against the younger generation of wrestlers in NJPW. On December 11, 2005, Nagata challenged Brock Lesnar for his IWGP 3rd Belt Championship but was defeated.

On June 28, 2006, Nagata was announced as a participant in the 2006 G1 Climax, his eighth appearance in the tournament. Nagata challenged for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship at the January 4 Dome Show entitled Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome against the current Triple Crown champion, Minoru Suzuki. Nagata lost after Suzuki applied the Saka-otoshi. He did not submit, but was knocked-out by the hold.

On March 21, 2007, he won the third annual New Japan Cup, becoming the first man to win both the New Japan Cup and the G1 Climax Tournaments. On April 13, 2007, Nagata defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, marking his second reign, and the first time he has held the belt since April 2002. On October 8, 2007, Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yuji Nagata at Tokyo Sumo Hall to win the IWGP title. In January 2008 Yuji faced Kurt Angle for the IGF version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and lost by submission.

Nagata returned from an undisclosed injury in the Summer of 2008 to lead New Japan against Zero1 as New Japan's ace. Yuji feuded particularly with World Heavyweight Champion Masato Tanaka and on October 13, on a New Japan event, Nagata defeated Tanaka to win the World Heavyweight Title following two Backdrop Drivers. He recently defended the belt successfully against Kohei Sato. Nagata made his V2 title defense on December 16 against Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

Following this victory, it was announced Nagata would defend the belt at the January 4 Dome Show entitled Wrestle Kingdom III. At the event, Nagata again overcame Tanaka to make his third defense of the title in 11:41 after a Backdrop Suplex Hold.

On February 15, Nagata defeated Hirooki Goto at New Japan's ISM tour in a match that was supposed to happen at last year's ISM tour show. Nagata lost the World Heavyweight Title on February 27 to Shinjiro Otani after a Dragon Suplex Hold. The following day, Nagata and Hiroshi Tanahashi would defeat Masahiro Chono and Goto. After the match, Nagata announced his participation in the New Japan Cup and intended on winning so he could challenge the winner of the Tanahashi-Angle IWGP Title match. Nagata would make his way to the semifinals of the tournament, before losing to Hirooki Goto. In the fall of 2009 Nagata formed the stable Seigigun ("Blue Justice Army") with Wataru Inoue, Mitsuhide Hirasawa and Super Strong Machine. Yuji had started mentoring both Inoue & Hirasawa, and Strong Machine was entering the role of head trainer at New Japan's dojo.

Later years and role as trainer (2010–present)

On May 3, 2010, at Wrestling Dontaku 2010 Nagata and Wataru Inoue defeated No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) and Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) in a three-way match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On June 19 at Dominion 6.19, Nagata and Inoue lost the Tag Team Championship to Bernard and Anderson in a three-way elimination match, which also included No Limit. In September Mitsushide Hirasawa left for a learning excursion to Puerto Rico and his spot in Seigigun was given to newcomer King Fale, who was also trained by Nagata & Strong Machine. On October 22, 2010, Nagata and Inoue entered the 2010 G1 Tag League. After four wins and a loss, Nagata and Inoue won their block and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, where, on November 7, they defeated the IWGP Tag Team Champions, Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson. In the finals of the tournament Nagata and Inoue defeated Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi to win the 2010 G1 Tag League, ten years after the first time Nagata had won the tournament. As a result of their victory, Nagata and Inoue received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship on December 11, 2010, but were defeated by the defending champions, Bad Intentions. The following day Minoru Suzuki returned to New Japan and re–ignited his old feud with Nagata by attacking him after a match. On January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Nagata defeated Suzuki in a grudge match. On March 13, Nagata entered the 2011 New Japan Cup, defeating Giant Bernard in his first round match. On March 19 Nagata defeated Masato Tanaka in the semifinals of the tournament and finally, on March 20, Shinsuke Nakamura in the finals to win the 2011 New Japan Cup and become the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Nagata received his shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on April 3, but was defeated by the defending champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi. The following week Nagata entered All Japan Pro Wrestling's 2011 Champion Carnival and on April 13, defeated Seiya Sanada in the finals to win the tournament, becoming only the fourth man to have won both the Champion Carnival and G1 Climax tournaments. On June 18, Seigigun member Mitsuhide Hirasawa, now working under the ring name Hideo Saito, returned from his Puerto Rican excursion, turning on Nagata and joining Chaos. The following day Nagata received the shot at Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship he had earned by winning the Champion Carnival, but was defeated by the defending champion, Suwama. In August, Nagata took part in the 2011 G1 Climax and after picking up five victories, he went to the final day of the tournament with a chance of reaching the finals. However, a loss to former protégé, Hideo Saito, who had lost all eight of his previous matches in the G1 Climax, eliminated him from the running for a spot in the finals. On September 19, Nagata seemingly wrapped up his rivalry with Saito by defeating him in a singles match, but was then attacked by his CHAOS stablemate, Toru Yano. On October 10 at Destruction '11, Nagata defeated Yano by rolling him up for the three count. Following the main event, Nagata came out to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. However, after Tanahashi had accepted the challenge, he was attacked by Yano, who proceeded to steal the championship belt. After Tanahashi had defeated Yano for the title, he successfully defended it against Nagata on December 4, tying his record of ten successful defenses in the process.

On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Nagata teamed with Wataru Inoue in a tag team match, where they were defeated by the All Japan Pro Wrestling team of Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono. During the match, Nagata broke Funaki's orbital bone, sidelining him from in-ring action for an estimated six months. Afterwards, Nagata began making more regular appearances for All Japan, feuding with Funaki's protégé, Kono, in anticipation of Funaki's return in the summer. In April and May, Nagata took part in All Japan's 2012 Champion Carnival, suffering his only round-robin loss against Kono. On May 7, Nagata was defeated in the semifinals of the tournament by Taiyō Kea, who went on to win the entire tournament. On July 29, Nagata was defeated by Masakatsu Funaki in a grudge match. On September 9, Nagata celebrated his 20th anniversary in professional wrestling with an event, which saw him, Jun Akiyama and Masaaki Mochizuki defeat Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Yujiro Takahashi in the main event, with Nagata pinning Takahashi for the win. From November 20 to December 1, Nagata and Mochizuki took part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League, finishing with a record of four wins and two losses, narrowly missing advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.

On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki in another chapter of their long rivalry. Afterwards, Nagata started a new rivalry with Kazushi Sakuraba, which led to them forming a brief tag team together in October to feud with Chaos. Nagata defeated Chaos' Takashi Iizuka (Nagata's former tag partner) via disqualification when Toru Yano interfered on November 6, 3 days before Nagata & Sakuraba would take on Iizuka & Yano. At Power Struggle, they defeated Iizuka & Yano when Sakuraba submitted Iizuka. After winning Noah's Global League, Nagata worked most dates on NJPW's World Tag League tour, although due to Noah commitments, he took a break from the tournament itself. On the first day of the tour, he again faced Iizuka one on one, and again won via disqualification, this time after Iizuka used a microphone cord to choke Nagata. Nagata & Sakuraba would team up once again on the final day of the tour to take on Iizuka & his Chaos stablemate, Yoshi-Hashi. Sakuraba submitted Yoshi-Hashi in just under 9 minutes to get him and Nagata the win.

On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, Nagata and Sakuraba teamed up to take on Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie, with Nagata getting the win after Daniel illegally used his sleeve to choke Nagata. At The New Beginning in Hiroshima, Nagata and Sakuraba once again took on Chaos' Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka, this time with Chaos getting the win after Sakuraba used Iizuka's iron glove on him. At The New Beginning in Osaka, they took on the Gracies again, this time under Brazilian jiu-jitsu exhibition rules. Rolles defeated Sakuraba to get the Gracies the win. Nagata took part in the 2014 G1 Climax, where he scored four wins and six losses in what is the largest field in the history of the G1 with 22 participants. Nagata's wins came over Tomoaki Honma, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Katsuyori Shibata & Shelton 'X' Benjamin. Kazushi Sakuraba had joined Chaos at point, so at Destruction in Okayama in September, Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi reformed their tag team to challenge Tencozy for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Tencozy retained when Kojima pinned Nagata after a Lariat. After again competing in Noah's Global League, Nagata returned to New Japan for the World Tag League 2014 tour, this time participating. Nagata teamed with Nakanishi in the league for the first time since 2007, and the duo scored three wins and four losses, with their biggest win being over tournament winners 'Meiyu Tag' (Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata), when Nagata performed a 'Backdrop Hold' (Bridging High Angle Belly-to-Back Suplex) on Shibata.

Nagata started his 2015 without a match on the January 4 Tokyo Dome show, but he won the pre-show's New Japan Rumble, pinning Yoshi-Hashi with a Backdrop Driver to win. The next night, Nagata again pinned Yoshi-Hashi in a six-man tag team match featuring IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. Nagata challenged Nakamura after the match. On February 14, 2015, Nagata returned to the singles title picture in his home promotion, when he unsuccessfully challenged Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at The New Beginning in Sendai. Nagata took part in the 2014 New Japan Cup, losing in the first round to Hirooki Goto after a 'Shouten-Kai' (Vertical Suplex Side Slam). From July 23 to August 15, Nagata took part in the 2015 G1 Climax. Though finishing with a record of only three wins and six losses, Nagata closed his tournament with a big win over now-reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Hirooki Goto. Nagata would again team with Nakanishi in the World Tag League. In the 2015 tournament, the duo scored two wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals, but Nagata scored a win over former tag team partner Kazushi Sakuraba with the Backdrop Driver.

Nagata was again in the New Japan Rumble on Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome's pre-show, but he was unsuccessful this time, being eliminated by King Haku. Nagata participated in the 2016 New Japan Cup, once again being eliminated in the first round by Hirooki Goto, this time with the 'Goto Shiki' pin. After the tour, Nagata started feuding with former tag partner Sakuraba. The feud culminated at Invasion Attack 2016 when Nagata, Kojima & Jyushin Thunder Liger defeated Sakuraba, Yano & Yoshi-Hashi when Nagata pinned Yoshi-Hashi with the Backdrop Hold. Later that show, Nagata, Kojima & Nakanishi cornered Tenzan for his NEVER Openweight Championship challenge against Shibata. After Tenzan's loss, Nagata challenged Shibata for the belt. On May 3, 2016, at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, Nagata won his first NJPW singles title in nine years, when he defeated Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. He lost the title back to Shibata on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall. From July 22 to August 13, Nagata took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of three wins and six losses. He won his first three matches, the most notable, his first one against recent IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito. At Destruction in Tokyo in September, Nagata & Nakanishi teamed up to defeat Hunter Club (Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan) when Nagata pinned Captain after an 'Exploder of Justice' (Exploder Suplex). The duo would come up short when taking on reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) at Destruction in Kobe as O'Reilly would submit Nakanishi with an armbar. Also at this show, Captain New Japan would betray Yoshitatsu for Bullet Club. For the 2016 World Tag League, Nagata teamed with Shibata. This pairing would prove more successful for Nagata as the duo scored four wins and three losses, including a win over tournament winners G・B・H (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma).

In 2017, Nagata again wrestled on the Wrestle Kingdom pre-show. He was again unsuccessful in the New Japan Rumble as he was eliminated by NJPW legend Hiro Saito. Nagata participated in the 2017 New Japan Cup replacing a severely injured Tomoaki Honma. He defeated Tanga Loa with a Backdrop Driver in the first round before losing to Evil. Around this time, Nagata transitioned into a much smaller role, focusing on his mentoring and training of New Japan's young prospects. He took part in his final G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of one win and eight losses. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote that Nagata had "probably his best in-ring tournament even though he was booked to lose eight of his nine matches", adding that many had him as the tournament MVP. After losing his final G1 match to Bad Luck Fale, Fale showed him respect by bowing down to him and leaving the ring immediately after. Nagata reformed his team with Nakanishi to participate in the 2017 World Tag League, scoring two wins and five losses. Nagata scored a win over former tag team partner Takashi Iizuka with a Backdrop Driver, while Nakanishi scored a submission victory over Nagata's trainee Fale's team when he submitted Chase Owens with an Argentine Backbreaker.

Nagata would spend 2018 working mostly with Young Lions. He again competed in the New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 12, this time eliminated by Nakanishi, Chase Owens & Katsuya Kitamura all at once. The following night, at New Year Dash!!, he teamed up with fellow 'third generation' wrestlers Tenzan, Kojima & Nakanishi to defeat the 4 Young lions in training at the time, Tomoyuki Oka, Shota Umino, Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ren Narita, all of whom Nagata had a hand in training. On February 3, Nagata and Jun Akiyama defeated Naoya Nomura & Ryoji Sai to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship at All Japan Pro-Wrestling's Yokohama Twilight Blues Special. The duo first defended against a reunited 'Wild Child' (Nakanishi & Takao Omori) on March 25, and then against 'Nextream' (Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi) on June 12. Nagata took part in Super Strong Machine's Retirement Event, performing as 'Strong Machine Justice' alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi (Strong Machine Ace), Strong Machine Buffalo (Hiroyoshi Tenzan), Strong Machine Don (Manabu Nakanishi) & Strong Machine 69 (Ryusuke Taguchi) to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito, Eviil, Sanada, Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi). Nagata & Akiyama would lose their tag belts a month later to Nextream at AJPW's 'Summer Action Series' on July 29. Nagata & Nakanishi once again teamed for the World Tag League, scoring three wins and ten losses in the 2018 tournament.

At Wrestle Kingdom 13's pre-show, Nagata replaced Michael Elgin in a gauntlet match to determine number one contenders to the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships teaming with Jeff Cobb and David Finlay, but were unsuccessful. The next day at New Years Dash!!!, Nagata began a feud with Tomohiro Ishii. The feud would end in the first round of the New Japan Cup, with Ishii defeating Nagata after a Vertical Drop Brainbuster. Nagata & Nakanishi, in the 2019 World Tag League, teamed up in what would be Nakanishi's last Tag League. The duo finished their final tournament together with two wins and thirteen losses, coming last. In December 2019, Nagata announced his contract renewal with NJPW to confirm he would continue wrestling in 2020.

At Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Nagata was again on the pre-show, this time in a tag team match alongside Nakanishi to take on Tencozy, which they lost. This would be Nakanishi's final match in the Dome. On February 22, Nagata teamed up with Nakanishi & Tencozy in Nakanishi's retirement match. They faced Chaos' Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto, and NJPW's Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi in a losing effort when Nakanishi was pinned by Tanahashi following a 'High Fly Flow' (Frog splash). In June 2020, Nagata entered the 2020 New Japan Cup, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, defeating long time rival Minoru Suzuki in round one, before losing to Kazuchika Okada in the second round. Suzuki angered by the loss, declared war on Nagata, with Suzuki eventually beating him in a singles match on Day 4 of New Japan’s Summer Struggle series, ending their feud. With Nakanishi retired and a smaller field in the 2020 World Tag League, Nagata didn't make it into the tournament.

At Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome in January 2021, Nagata wrestled on the pre-show. He entered the New Japan Rambo, where he and Suzuki, who were brawling, were eliminated over the top rope simultaneously by Toa Henare. 2 nights later, at New Year Dash!!, Nagata defeated Young Lion, Gabriel Kidd via submission in 7 minutes and 59 seconds with the 'Nagata Lock II' (Arm-Trap Crossface).

On April 5, Jon Moxley–who wrestles for both NJPW and American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a company which NJPW shares a partnership with–challenged Nagata to a match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On April 29, the match was set between the two for the May 12 episode of AEW's television show Dynamite. Moxley won the match and they bowed to each other in respect afterwards.

In the leadup to Resurgence, Jon Moxley teased that he would be joined by a mystery tag team partner in his match against The Good Brothers. On August 14, at the event, Nagata was revealed to be the mystery partner. The Good Brothers defeated Moxley and Nagata in 10 minutes and 33 seconds.

On September 21, Tetsuya Naito was forced to withdraw from the G1 Climax 31 due to a knee injury suffered during his match with Zack Saber Junior. As a result, the remainder of Naito's matches were forfeited and replaced with Special Singles Matches. Nagata will be wrestling two of these, taking on Tanga Loa on September 23 and Shingo Takagi on September 26.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2012–2015)

In November 2012, Nagata took part in Pro Wrestling Noah's 2012 Global League, where he won four out of his six matches, with a loss to GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima on the final day, costing him a spot in the finals. From late October 2013 to early November, Nagata took part in Pro Wrestling Noah's 2013 Global League, defeating Takeshi Morishima in the finals on November 10 to win the tournament and become the first wrestler to have won the G1 Climax, the Champion Carnival and the Global League. As a result of his Global League win, Nagata received a shot at the GHC Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Kenta, on December 7. Nagata received another shot at the title on February 8, 2014, and defeated Takeshi Morishima to become the new champion. He lost the title to Naomichi Marufuji in his fifth defense on July 5.

In August 2015, Nagata, performing as 'Maybach Blue Justice', teamed with Maybach Taniguchi and Manabu Nakanishi (performing as 'Maybach Don') in the Arukas Cup Six-Man Tag Team Tournament. They won the tournament, defeating Suzuki-gun's Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & El Desperado in the final.

As a trainer

Wrestlers trained

• Yuma Anzai
• Shota Umino
• Great-O-Khan
• Master Wato
• Jay White
• Yoh
• Sho
• Bad Luck Fale
• Kazuchika Okada
• Yoshi Tatsu

Mixed martial arts career

Nagata has also participated in two mixed martial arts bouts, losing in 21 seconds to Mirko Cro Cop at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001 (which was Cro Cop's third mixed martial arts fight), and in 1 minute, 2 seconds to Fedor Emelianenko at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003.

Personal life

Nagata is married to a woman named Chieko, with whom he has a son named Yusei, who trains in amateur wrestling.

His brother, Katsuhiko, is a former Olympic wrestler, who won silver in the 69kg Greco-Roman event at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Katsuhiko has also appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he was defeated by his brother in an amateur wrestling exhibition at Wrestling World 2005.

Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jun Akiyama
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kendo Kashin
  • Champion Carnival (2011)
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Manabu Nakanishi (1) and Wataru Inoue (1)
  • NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time)
  • G1 Climax (2001)
  • G1 Tag League (2000) – with Takashi Iizuka
  • G1 Tag League (2010) – Wataru Inoue
  • New Japan Cup (2007, 2011)
  • New Japan Rumble (2015)
  • WCW World Tag Team Title Contenders League (1998) – with Kensuke Sasaki
  • Naeba Prince Hotel Cup Tag Tournament (2001) – with Jushin Thunder Liger
  • Samurai! TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament (2005) – with Hirooki Goto
  • MVP Award (2002)
  • Outstanding Performance Award (2001)
  • Singles Best Bout (2001) – vs. Keiji Mutoh on August 12
  • Singles Best Bout (2002) – vs. Masahiro Chono on October 26
  • Tag Team Best Bout (2000) – with Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima on October 9
  • Tag Team Best Bout (2001) – with Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh on October 8
• Nikkan Sports
  • Match of the Year (2001) – with Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh on October 8
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2012)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 8 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the "PWI 500" in 2002
  • Ranked No. 218 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
• Pro Wrestling Noah
  • GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Arukas Cup 6-Man Tag Tournament (2015) – with Maybach Don and Maybach Taniguchi
  • Global League (2013)
  • Global League Fighting Spirit Award (2014)
• Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Tokyo Sports
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2001, 2011)
  • Match of the Year Award (2001) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita on June 6
  • Match of the Year Award (2002) vs. Yoshihiro Takayama on May 2
  • Technique Award (1998, 1999)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2018)

References

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2. "鈴木軍がGHC王座戦で4連勝！ 永田裕志が"マイバッハ・ブルージャスティス"として登場！【5月10日（日）ノア横浜大会・試合結果】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
3. "Yuji Nagata (first reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion - 10 defenses". Puroresufan.com. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
4. Meltzer, Dave (January 15, 2007). "Wrestling Observer Newsletter". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California. p. 7. ISSN 1083-9593.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 13, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Nagata, Yuji (JPN)". whatsmat.uww.org. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
7. Flores, Manuel (May 3, 2010). "Jushin Liger, nuevo campeón mundial medio del CMLL – Nakamura pierde el título IWGP" (in Spanish). Super Luchas Magazine. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
8. "(Results) New Japan "DOMINION 6.19", 6/19". Strong Style Spirit. June 19, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
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External links

• Yuji Nagata's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile
• Professional MMA record for Yuji Nagata from Sherdog
• Yuji Nagata's profile at Cagematch.net , Internet Wrestling Database
• Yuji Nagata at IMDb
• Yuji Nagata on Twitter

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(Akebono and Ryota Hama) 2010s Voodoo Murders (TARU and Big Daddy Voodoo) Manabu Soya and Seiya Sanada Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka Hikaru Sato and Hiroshi Yamato Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru Team Dream Futures (Keisuke Ishii and Shigehiro Irie) Xceed (Kotaro Suzuki and Kento Miyahara) Mitsuya Nagai and Takeshi Minamino Último Dragón and Yoshinobu Kanemaru Yankii Nichokenju (Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto) Evolution (Atsushi Aoki and Hikaru Sato) Atsushi Onita and Masanobu Fuchi Black Tiger VII and Taka Michinoku Nextream (Naoya Nomura and Yuma Aoyagi) Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata Sweeper (Jake Lee and Koji Iwamoto) Ryuichi Kawakami and Kazumi Kikuta 2020s Purple Haze (Zeus and Izanagi) StrongHearts (El Lindaman and T-Hawk) Total Eclipse (Yusuke Kodama and Hokuto Omori) Voodoo Murders (Minoru and Toshizo) Evolution (Dan Tamura and Hikaru Sato) Tajiri and Yoshitatsu Gungnir of Anarchy (Masao Hanahata and Yusuke Kodama) Masao Inoue and Takao Omori Kendo Kashin and Nosawa Rongai Atsushi Onita and Yoshitatsu Burning (Jun Akiyama and Kotaro Suzuki) Eruption (Hideki Okatani and Yukio Sakaguchi) Atsushi Onita and Toy Kojima Musashi and Seiki Yoshioka ELPIDA (Yuma Anzai and Rising Hayato) (current) Other recognized champions Champions recognized by New Japan Pro-Wrestling Seiji Sakaguchi and Strong Kobayashi Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda v t e AJPW World Tag Team Champions 1980s Gorin Konbi (Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu) Fuchin Gyorai (Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy) Ryuugenhou (Genichiro Tenryu and Ashura Hara) Ryukanhou (Stan Hansen and Genichiro Tenryu) 1990s Satsujin Gyorai (Terry Gordy and Steve Williams) Jumbo Tsuruta and The Great Kabuki Stan Hansen and Danny Spivey Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue) Stan Hansen and Ted DiBiase Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi Stan Hansen and Gary Albright Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama) Steve Williams and Johnny Ace G.E.T. (Kenta Kobashi and Johnny Ace) T.O.P. (Steve Williams and Gary Albright) Burning (Jun Akiyama and Kenta Kobashi) Johnny Ace and Bart Gunn No Fear (Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama) Untouchables‎ (Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa) Taiyō Kea and Johnny Smith 2000s Vader and Steve Williams Genichiro Tenryu and Yoji Anjo BATT (Keiji Muto and Taiyō Kea) KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) Kojikaz (Satoshi Kojima and Kaz Hayashi) Keiji Muto and Arashi Kendo Kashin and Yuji Nagata Roughly Obsess and Destroy (Jamal and Taiyō Kea) Toshiaki Kawada and Taiyō Kea Voodoo Murders (Satoshi Kojima and Taru) Keiji Muto and Joe Doering Gurentai (Taiyō Kea and Minoru Suzuki) 2010s Keiji Muto and Masakatsu Funaki Partisan Forces (Taiyō Kea and Akebono) Voodoo Murders (Joe Doering and Kono) The Great Muta and Kenso The Black Family (Dark Cuervo and Dark Ozz) Get Wild (Takao Omori and Manabu Soya) Joe Doering and Seiya Sanada Burning (Jun Akiyama and Go Shiozaki) Evolution (Suwama and Joe Doering) Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori) Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie Xceed (Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara) The Big Guns (Zeus and The Bodyguard) Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi) Kai and Kengo Mashimo Nextream (Naoya Nomura and Jake Lee) Violent Giants/Evolution (Suwama and Shuji Ishikawa) Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu Sweeper (Dylan James and Ryoji Sai) Zeus and Ryoji Sai 2020s Nextream (Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi) Runaway Suplex (Shotaro Ashino and Suwama) Twin Towers (Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato) Gungnir of Anarchy (Ryuki Honda and Shotaro Ashino) Voodoo Murders (Kono and Suwama) Kento Miyahara and Takuya Nomura Yuma Aoyagi and Naoya Nomura Kongo (Kenoh and Manabu Soya) Zen Nisshin Jidai (Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi) Saito Brothers (Jun Saito and Rei Saito) (current) Hideki Suzuki and Suwama v t e Champion Carnival winners 1973: Giant Baba 1974: Giant Baba 1975: Giant Baba 1976: Abdullah the Butcher 1977: Giant Baba 1978: Giant Baba 1979: Abdullah the Butcher 1980: Jumbo Tsuruta 1981: Giant Baba 1982: Giant Baba 1991: Jumbo Tsuruta 1992: Stan Hansen 1993: Stan Hansen 1994: Toshiaki Kawada 1995: Mitsuharu Misawa 1996: Akira Taue 1997: Toshiaki Kawada 1998: Mitsuharu Misawa 1999: Vader 2000: Kenta Kobashi 2001: Genichiro Tenryu 2002: Keiji Muto 2003: Satoshi Kojima 2004: Keiji Muto 2005: Kensuke Sasaki 2006: Taiyō Kea 2007: Keiji Muto 2008: Suwama 2009: Minoru Suzuki 2010: Minoru Suzuki 2011: Yuji Nagata 2012: Taiyō Kea 2013: Jun Akiyama 2014: Takao Omori 2015: Akebono 2016: Daisuke Sekimoto 2017: Shuji Ishikawa 2018: Naomichi Marufuji 2019: Kento Miyahara 2020: Zeus 2021: Jake Lee 2022: Yuma Aoyagi 2023: Shotaro Ashino 2024: Kento Miyahara v t e GHC Heavyweight Champions 2000s Mitsuharu Misawa Jun Akiyama Yoshinari Ogawa Yoshihiro Takayama Kenta Kobashi Takeshi Rikio Akira Taue Naomichi Marufuji Takeshi Morishima Kensuke Sasaki Go Shiozaki Takashi Sugiura 2010s Kenta Yuji Nagata Minoru Suzuki Katsuhiko Nakajima Eddie Edwards Kenoh Kaito Kiyomiya 2020s Keiji Muto Kazuyuki Fujita Satoshi Kojima Jake Lee El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (current) v t e GHC Tag Team Champions 2000s Scorpio and Vader Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa No Fear (Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama) Wild II (Takeshi Morishima and Takeshi Rikio) Jun Akiyama and Akitoshi Saito Burning (Tamon Honda and Kenta Kobashi) Yuji Nagata and Hiroshi Tanahashi Scorpio and Doug Williams Naomichi Marufuji and Minoru Suzuki Takeshi Morishima and Muhammad Yone Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio RO&D (D'Lo Brown and Buchanan) Team Ikko/Brave (Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura) (current) Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith Kensuke Sasaki and Takeshi Morishima Disobey (Takeshi Rikio and Muhammad Yone) 2010s Bison Smith and Keith Walker Takuma Sano and Yoshihiro Takayama Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) Magnus and Samoa Joe No Mercy (Kenta and Maybach Taniguchi) Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) Special Assault Team (Akitoshi Saito and Go Shiozaki) The Mighty Don't Kneel (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) Choukibou-gun (Maybach Taniguchi and Takeshi Morishima) Dangan Yankies (Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) Naomichi Marufuji and Toru Yano Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya Maybach Taniguchi and Naomichi Marufuji Atsushi Kotoge and Go Shiozaki 50 Funky Powers (Muhammad Yone and Quiet Storm) The Aggression (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya) Go-Kai (Go Shiozaki and Kaito Kiyomiya) Naomichi Marufuji and Akitoshi Saito Axiz (Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima) Hooligans (Maybach Taniguchi and Yuji Hino) Sugiura-gun (Kazma Sakamoto and Takashi Sugiura) 2020s Naomichi Marufuji and Masaaki Mochizuki Sugiura-gun International (El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and René Duprée) Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba) Kaito Kiyomiya and Masa Kitamiya M's Alliance (Keiji Muto and Naomichi Marufuji) Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura and Hideki Suzuki) Michael Elgin and Masa Kitamiya Sugiura-gun (Timothy Thatcher and Hideki Suzuki) TakaKoji (Takashi Sugiura and Satoshi Kojima) Daiki Inaba and Masa Kitamiya Takashi Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi Real (Timothy Thatcher and Saxon Huxley) Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris and Anthony Greene) v t e Global League/N-1 Victory winners Yoshihiro Takayama (2010) Takeshi Morishima (2011) Kenta (2012) Yuji Nagata (2013) Takashi Sugiura (2014) Naomichi Marufuji (2015) Minoru Suzuki (2016) Kenoh (2017, 2019) Kaito Kiyomiya (2018, 2022, 2024) Katsuhiko Nakajima (2020, 2021) Go Shiozaki (2023) v t e IWGP Heavyweight Champions 1980s Antonio Inoki Tatsumi Fujinami Big Van Vader Salman Hashimikov 1990s Riki Choshu The Great Muta/Keiji Muto Shinya Hashimoto Nobuhiko Takada Kensuke Sasaki/Power Warrior Masahiro Chono Scott Norton Genichiro Tenryu 2000s Kazuyuki Fujita Tadao Yasuda Yuji Nagata Yoshihiro Takayama Hiroyoshi Tenzan Shinsuke Nakamura Bob Sapp Satoshi Kojima Brock Lesnar Hiroshi Tanahashi Manabu Nakanishi 2010s Togi Makabe Kazuchika Okada A.J. Styles Tetsuya Naito Kenny Omega Jay White 2020s Evil Kota Ibushi Other recognized champions Original champions recognized by New Japan Pro-Wrestling Hulk Hogan Antonio Inoki Champions recognized by Inoki Genome Federation Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle Shinsuke Nakamura v t e IWGP Tag Team Champions 1980s Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido Keiji Muto and Shiro Koshinaka Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada Kazuo Yamazaki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara Masa Saito and Riki Choshu George Takano and Super Strong Machine Riki Choshu and Takayuki Iizuka Masa Saito and Shinya Hashimoto 1990s Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki Hiro Saito and Super Strong Machine Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Muto Big, Bad, and Dangerous (Big Van Vader and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow) Scott Norton and Tony Halme Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior) Jurassic Powers (Hercules Hernandez and Scott Norton) Cho-Ten (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono) Junji Hirata and Shinya Hashimoto Kazuo Yamazaki and Takashi Iizuka Kensuke Sasaki and Riki Choshu Bull Powers (Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima) Kazuo Yamazaki and Kensuke Sasaki Genichiro Tenryu and Shiro Koshinaka Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) Kensuke Sasaki and Shiro Koshinaka The Mad Dogs (Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto) Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata 2000s Osamu Nishimura and Tatsumi Fujinami BATT (Keiji Muto and Taiyō Kea) Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Osamu Nishimura Minoru Suzuki and Yoshihiro Takayama Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura Wild Child (Manabu Nakanishi and Takao Omori) RISE (Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko) The Most Violent Players/Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Toru Yano) Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams) 2010s No Limit/Chaos (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) Seigigun (Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata) Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) Killer Elite Squad/Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) Bullet Club (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) Meiyu Tag (Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata) The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) Guerrillas of Destiny/Bullet Club (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil and Sanada) The Young Bucks/Bullet Club (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) 2020s FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) Golden☆Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi) Dangerous Tekkers/Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito and Sanada) Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) United Empire (Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb) General's Jewel/Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens) FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo and Hikuleo) Bullet Club (Kenta and Chase Owens) TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) United Empire (Great-O-Khan and Henare) (current) v t e MSG Tag/IWGP Tag Title/Japan Cup Tag/Super Grade Tag/G1 Tag/World Tag League winners 1980s Antonio Inoki and Bob Backlund (1980) André the Giant and Rene Goulet (1981) Antonio Inoki and Hulk Hogan (1982, 1983) Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami (1984) Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami (1985, 1987) Antonio Inoki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara (1986) 1990s Big Van Vader and Tatsumi Fujinami (1991) Riki Choshu and Shinya Hashimoto (1992) Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Muto (1993, 1994) Cho-Ten (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono) (1995) Scott Norton and Shinya Hashimoto (1996) Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono (1997) Keiji Muto and Satoshi Kojima (1998) Keiji Muto and Scott Norton (1999) 2000s Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Nagata (2000) Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) (2001, 2008) Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Osamu Nishimura (2003) Masahiro Chono and Shinsuke Nakamura (2006) RISE (Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko) (2007) Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) (2009) 2010s Seigigun (Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata) (2010) Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki) (2011) Sword & Guns (Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson) (2012) Bullet Club (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) (2013) Meiyu Tag (Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata) (2014) Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) (2015, 2016) Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil and Sanada) (2017, 2018) FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) (2019) 2020s Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (2020) Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) (2021, 2022, 2023) v t e NEVER Openweight Champions 2010s Masato Tanaka Tetsuya Naito Tomohiro Ishii Yujiro Takahashi Togi Makabe Katsuyori Shibata Yuji Nagata Evil Hirooki Goto Minoru Suzuki Michael Elgin Taichi Kota Ibushi Will Ospreay Jeff Cobb Kenta 2020s Shingo Takagi (current) Hiroshi Tanahashi Jay White Tama Tonga Karl Anderson David Finlay Henare v t e New Japan Cup winners 2005: Hiroshi Tanahashi 2006: Giant Bernard 2007: Yuji Nagata 2008: Hiroshi Tanahashi 2009: Hirooki Goto 2010: Hirooki Goto 2011: Yuji Nagata 2012: Hirooki Goto 2013: Kazuchika Okada 2014: Shinsuke Nakamura 2015: Kota Ibushi 2016: Tetsuya Naito 2017: Katsuyori Shibata 2018: Zack Sabre Jr. 2019: Kazuchika Okada 2020: Evil 2021: Will Ospreay 2022: Zack Sabre Jr. 2023: Sanada 2024: Yota Tsuji Category v t e New Japan Pro-Wrestling personnel Wrestlers Heavyweight Bad Dude Tito Bad Luck Fale Boltin Oleg Chase Owens David Finlay Dax Harwood El Phantasmo Evil Fred Rosser Gabe Kidd Great-O-Khan Henare Hikuleo Hirooki Goto Hiroshi Tanahashi Hiroyoshi Tenzan Jeff Cobb Jon Moxley Jorel Nelson Juice Robinson Katsuyori Shibata Kenta Kenny Omega Lance Archer Mikey Nicholls Minoru Suzuki Ren Narita Royce Isaacs Ryohei Oiwa Sanada Satoshi Kojima Shane Haste Shingo Takagi Shota Umino Taichi Tetsuya Naito Togi Makabe Tom Lawlor Tomoaki Honma Tomohiro Ishii Toru Yano Yoshi-Hashi Yota Tsuji Yuji Nagata Yujiro Takahashi Yuya Uemura Zack Sabre Jr. Junior heavyweight Alex Zayne Bushi Chris Bey Clark Connors Dick Togo The DKC Douki Drilla Moloney El Desperado Francesco Akira Gedo Hiromu Takahashi Jado Kevin Knight Kosei Fujita Kushida Lio Rush Mascara Dorada Master Wato Robbie Eagles Rocky Romero Ryusuke Taguchi Sho Taiji Ishimori Taka Michinoku Tiger Mask Titán TJP Volador Jr. Wheeler Yuta Yoh Yoshinobu Kanemaru Young Lions Oskar Leube Women's division Mayu Iwatani Mercedes Moné Staff Hiro Saito Jushin Thunder Liger Kazuo Yamazaki Kuniaki Kobayashi Milano Collection A. T. Red Shoes Unno Seiji Sakaguchi Tony Kozina Super Strong Machine Takaaki Kidani Tiger Hattori Wataru Inoue Stables and tag teams Bullet Club Chaos G・B・H Guerrillas of Destiny Los Ingobernables de Japon Just 5 Guys Tencozy The Mighty Don't Kneel United Empire West Coast Wrecking Crew v t e World League/MSG League/International Wrestling Grand Prix/World Cup Tournament/G1 Climax winners 1974: Antonio Inoki 1975: Antonio Inoki 1976: Seiji Sakaguchi 1977: Seiji Sakaguchi 1978: Antonio Inoki 1979: Antonio Inoki 1980: Antonio Inoki 1981: Antonio Inoki 1982: André the Giant 1983: Hulk Hogan 1984: Antonio Inoki 1985: André the Giant 1986: Antonio Inoki 1987: Antonio Inoki 1988: Antonio Inoki 1989: Riki Choshu 1991: Masahiro Chono 1992: Masahiro Chono 1993: Tatsumi Fujinami 1994: Masahiro Chono 1995: Keiji Muto 1996: Riki Choshu 1997: Kensuke Sasaki 1998: Shinya Hashimoto 1999: Manabu Nakanishi 2000: Kensuke Sasaki 2001: Yuji Nagata 2002: Masahiro Chono 2003: Hiroyoshi Tenzan 2004: Hiroyoshi Tenzan 2005: Masahiro Chono 2006: Hiroyoshi Tenzan 2007: Hiroshi Tanahashi 2008: Hirooki Goto 2009: Togi Makabe 2010: Satoshi Kojima 2011: Shinsuke Nakamura 2012: Kazuchika Okada 2013: Tetsuya Naito 2014: Kazuchika Okada 2015: Hiroshi Tanahashi 2016: Kenny Omega 2017: Tetsuya Naito 2018: Hiroshi Tanahashi 2019: Kota Ibushi 2020: Kota Ibushi 2021: Kazuchika Okada 2022: Kazuchika Okada 2023: Tetsuya Naito 2024: Zack Sabre Jr. Category v t e Zero1 World Heavyweight Champions 2000s Masato Tanaka Yuji Nagata Shinjiro Otani Ryouji Sai Toshiaki Kawada 2010s Kohei Sato Bambikiller Daisuke Sekimoto The Sheik Kamikaze Akebono James Raideen Masakatsu Funaki Hideki Suzuki Yusaku Obata Yuji Hino 2020s Chris Vice Hayato Tamura Takashi Sugiura Akitoshi Saito Go Shiozaki (current)

• 1968 births
• 20th-century male professional wrestlers
• 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers
• 21st-century male professional wrestlers
• 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers
• Heavyweight mixed martial artists
• New World Order (professional wrestling) members
• Japanese male mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling
• Japanese male professional wrestlers
• Japanese male sport wrestlers
• Living people
• Masked wrestlers
• Nippon Sport Science University alumni
• People from Tōgane
• Professional wrestlers from Chiba Prefecture
• IWGP Heavyweight champions
• NEVER Openweight champions
• IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
• GHC Heavyweight Champions
• GHC Tag Team Champions
• All Asia Tag Team Champions
• World Tag Team Champions (AJPW)
• Triple Crown Heavyweight Champions
• World Tag League (NJPW) winners
• Global League/N-1 Victory winners
• G1 Climax winners
• Champion Carnival winners
• Zero1 World Heavyweight Champions
• New Japan Cup winners
• 20th-century Japanese sportsmen