| Name | Yuji Nagata |
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| Names | Yuji Nagata"HH" Nagata |
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| Height | |
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| Weight | |
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| Birth date | April 24, 1968 |
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| Birth place | Togane, Chiba, Japan |
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| Trainer | NJPW Dojo |
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| Debut | September 14, 1992 |
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Yuji Nagata (永田裕志
Nagata Yūji, born April 24, 1968) is a
Japanese
professional wrestler. He was known for his perennial
tweener status, currently a solid fan favorite, and his
stiff,
shoot style wrestling technique.
A two time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion, Nagata is the third longest-reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion with a reign of 392 days. He also holds the record for most successful title defenses, with 10.
Amateur wrestling career
Before turning professional, Nagata was a successful
amateur wrestler. 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 New Japan 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 (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
WCW 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.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (1998-present)
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 Shiro Koshinaka and Kensuke Sasaki 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 AJPW 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 Zero-1 as New Japan's ace. Yuji feuded particularly with Zero-1 World Heavyweight Champion Masato Tanaka and on October 13, on a New Japan event, Nagata defeated Tanaka to win the Zero-1 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 in Tokyo Dome 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 ZERO1 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 Blue Justice Army with Wataru Inoue, Mitsushide Hirasawa and Super Strong Machine.
On May 3, 2010, at Wrestling Dontaku 2010 Nagata and Wataru Inoue defeated No Limit (Yujiro Takahashi and Tetsuya Naitō) and Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) in a three-way match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On June 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 the Blue Justice Army was given to newcomer King Fale. On October 22, 2010, Nagata and Inoue entered the 2010 G1 Climax 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 Naitō and Yujiro Takahashi to win the 2010 G1 Climax 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.
Mixed martial arts career
Nagata has also participated in two mixed martial arts fights, losing in 21 seconds to
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at the 2001 Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye Festival (which was Filipović's third Mixed Martial Arts fight), and in 1 minute, 2 seconds to
Fedor Emelianenko at the 2003 Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye Festival.
MMA record
In wrestling
Finishing moves
*Backdrop Suplex (Bridging belly to back suplex)
*Drive Screw (Vertical suplex lifted and dropped into a snap swinging neckbreaker)
*Nagata Lock (Reverse figure four leglock)
*Nagata Lock II (Crossface)
*Nagata Lock III (Crossface / Scissored armbar combination)
*Nagata Lock IV (Modified arm trap crossface)
*Thunder Death Driver (Twisting brainbuster)
Signature moves
Crucifix armbar
*Enzuigiri
*Guillotine choke
*Lifting DDT
*Multiple suplex variations
**Bridging / Release exploder, sometimes while applying a wrist clutch
**Bridging / Release northern lights
**Overhead belly to belly
**Release belly to back
*Roundhouse kick
*Seated Armbar
*Shining wizard
*Sleeper hold
*Spinning wheel kick
Managers
Sonny Onoo
Nicknames
*Blue Justice
*Mr. IWGP
*Mr. Saikyo
*Killer Nagata
Theme music
*Warp
*"Insane" by Centaur
*Mission Blow (various mixes)
Championships and accomplishments
All Japan Pro Wrestling
:*
AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (
1 time) – with
Kendo Kashin
New Japan Pro Wrestling
:*
IWGP Heavyweight Championship (
2 times)
:*
IWGP Tag Team Championship (
2 times) – with
Manabu Nakanishi (1) and
Wataru Inoue (1)
:*
G1 Climax(
2001)
:*
G1 Climax Tag League (
2000,
2010) – with
Takashi Iizuka (2000) and Wataru Inoue (2010)
:*SAMURAI! TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament Winner (2005)- with
Hirooki Goto
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him #8 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2002
Pro Wrestling Noah
:*
GHC Tag Team Championship (
1 time) – with
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
*ZERO1-MAX World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
References
External links
Yuji Nagata at NJPW.co.jp (Japanese)
Nagata wins G1 Climax
Solie's title histories (NJPW)
Yuji Nagata at Online World of Wrestling
Yuji Nagata at Puroresufan.com
Yuji Nagata at Wrestling101.com
Category:1968 births
Category:Japanese sport wrestlers
Category:Japanese professional wrestlers
Category:Japanese mixed martial artists
Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists
Category:Living people
Category:People from Chiba Prefecture
Category:Nippon Sport Science University alumni
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