 Aoki in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1977-09-25)September 25, 1977[2] |
| Died | June 3, 2019(2019-06-03) (aged 41) Tokyo, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Atsushi Aoki Strong Jūsō[1] |
| Billed height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 82 kg (181 lb)[2] |
| Trained by | Jun Akiyama[2] Pro Wrestling Noah[2] |
| Debut | December 24, 2005[2] |
Atsushi Aoki (青木 篤志,Aoki Atsushi; September 25, 1977 – June 3, 2019) was a Japaneseprofessional wrestler who worked forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo.
Aoki began his career inPro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two-time winner of theGlobal Junior Heavyweight Tag League and hold theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice during his 7-year run with the promotion. Aoki jumped toAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in December 2012 where he became the top star of the junior heavyweight division, winning theAJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship four times and theAll Asia Tag Team Championship 3 times.
Aoki was killed in a motorcycle accident on June 3, 2019, at the age of 41. At the time of his death, he was the reigning World Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Aoki beganwrestling in high school, winning the 69 kg (152 lb) weight division in 2000.[2] He joined theJapan Ground Self-Defense Force as part of the Aomori 5th General Division Regiment in 2000 where he continued to wrestle, and won the National Open Wrestling Championship in the 69 kg weight class. In 2005, he applied to join thePro Wrestling Noah dojo and was accepted.
Aoki began training underJun Akiyama in thePro Wrestling Noah Dojo in May 2005.[2] His professional wrestling debut came on December 24, 2005, during NOAH's NOAHful Gift in Differ '05 teaming up with Yoshiniro Ota, losing to NOAH founderMitsuharu Misawa and Japanese wrestling legendAkira Taue.[2] Aoki spent most of 2006 gaining hard earned experience in the ring, mostly on the losing side of matches. He would also make appearances for other Japanese promotions such asZero-1 MAX andDragon Gate.[3][4] A month later Aoki undertook a "learning excursion" to Europe where he wrestled for such promotions as Real Quality Wrestling and International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom in the United Kingdom andWestside Xtreme Wrestling inGermany for the two months the excursion lasted.[2] Following his return to NOAH he teamed up with AmericanRocky Romero to participate in the2007 Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League. The team ended up with just two points, winning only one match out of five when the team defeatedBryan Danielson andDavey Richards.[5] On September 3, 2007, Aoki teamed up with Ippei Ota for a match at anAAA / Pro Wrestling Noah co-promoted show calledTripleSEM. The team wrestled in the third match of the night and lost to AAA representativesReal Fuerza Aerea (Laredo Kid andSuper Fly) in 08:15.[6] In November, 2007 Aoki took part in NOAH's Mauritius Cup tournament, earning 8 points in total by defeating Ippei Ota, Tsutomu Hirayanagi and Akihiko Ito while wrestling to a draw against Shuhei Taniguchi andTaiji Ishimori. Despite not losing a single match in the tournament Shuhei Taniguchi managed to score 9 points to take the Mauritius Cup.[7]
Aoki teamed up with Akihiko Ito to participate in the2008 Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League. The team earned only three points, one point more than Aoki's previous Nippon TV Cup league as the team only managed to defeatKento Miyahara andNaomichi Marufuji and wrestle to a time-limit draw againstEddie Edwards andRicky Marvin.[8] He was invited to be part ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) 2009Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Aoki earned eight points, ending in second place in "Block A" with victories overAKIRA,Black Tiger V,Jado andMilano Collection A.T. and only losing to "Block A" winnerPrince Devitt (Block winner) andTiger Mask IV. In the semi-final of the tournament he was defeated by eventual tournament winnerKoji Kanemoto.[9] Unlike the 2007 and 2008 version of the Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League Aoki's2009 participating alongsideKota Ibushi was much more successful as the team won all three round robin matches, defeating the teams ofKenta andTaiji Ishimori,Genba Hirayanagi andKikutaro and the team of Bryan Danielson andRoderick Strong. In the semi-final match they defeated Eddie Edwards and Ricky Marvin but lost toKotaro Suzuki andYoshinobu Kanemaru in the finals of the tournament.[10] In December, 2009 NJPW invited Aoki back, this time to compete in the 2009Super J-Cup. Aoki did not make it past the first round as he was defeated by Prince Devitt.[11]
On December 23, 2007, Aoki took on a "10 match challenge" designed to push him to the limit and earn experience against very experienced wrestlers. The first match was against his mentor Jun Akiyama which he lost. The match series was called the "Shining Magic 10 Match Series" and would stretch out over the next two and a half years.[2] In his second match he defeated Davey Richards, but went on to lose against Kenta, Bryan Danielson,Yoshinari Ogawa andKaz Hayashi.[2] The Seventh match in the series took place on November 14, 2008, and saw Aoki lose to Yoshinobu Kanemaru.[12] In his eight Shining Magic 10 Match Aoki lost toJunior Heavyweight legendJyushin Thunder Liger.[13] In his penultimate Sining Magic match Atsushi Aoki lost to Naomich Marufuji on December 6, 2009, almost two years after the 10 Match series begun.[14] His tenth and final match in the Shining Magic 10 Match series took place on February 28, 2010, which saw Aoki lose toMinoru Suzuki ending the series with one victory and nine defeats.[15]
On October 30, 2010, Aoki and Kenta defeated Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards in the finals of a tournament to win the2010 Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League.[16] As a result, Aoki and Kenta received a shot at theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the champions, New Japan Pro Wrestling representatives Koji Kanemoto and Tiger Mask IV, on November 23, 2010.[17] On December 24, 2010, Aoki and Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kanemoto and Tiger Mask IV to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Aoki's first title in Noah.[18] Aoki and Marufuji were stripped of the title on April 29, 2011, after Marufuji suffered an injury. On July 30, Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki defeated Kenta and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the2011 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, making both of them two-time winners of the tournament. On October 16, 2011, Aoki and Suzuki defeated Kenta and Kanemaru to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Ricky Marvin andSuper Crazy on July 22, 2012. On December 19, Noah announced that Aoki would be leaving the promotion, after refusing to re-sign following the firing ofKenta Kobashi.[19][20][21] In his final match for the promotion on December 24, Aoki was defeated by Mr. Christmas, portrayed by his trainer Jun Akiyama.[22][23]
On May 23, 2010, Aoki teamed up withGo Shiozaki to defeat the team ofTakeshi Morishima andTaiji Ishimori to win theAAA World Tag Team Championship, which was Aoki's first wrestling title.[24][Note 1] AtTriplemanía XVIII, Aoki and Shiozaki defended the championship againstBeer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode andJames Storm),La Hermandad 187 (Nicho el Millonario andJoe Líder) andLos Maniacos (Silver King andÚltimo Gladiador) in a four-way elimination match; they were the first team eliminated when Líder pinned Shiozaki, which meant that they lost the AAA Tag Team championship 14 days after winning it.Los Maniacos (Silver Cain and Último Gladiador) won the match and the championship.[25]
On January 26, 2013, Aoki, Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama,Kotaro Suzuki andYoshinobu Kanemaru, all of whom had quit Noah at the same time, announced that they had joinedAll Japan Pro Wrestling, forming the "Burning" stable.[26] Aoki and Suzuki received their first shot at theAll Asia Tag Team Championship on March 17, but were defeated by the defending champions,Koji Kanemoto andMinoru Tanaka.[27] On April 7, Aoki and Suzuki defeatedHikaru Sato andHiroshi Yamato to win the2013 Junior Hyper Tag League and earn another shot at Kanemoto and Tanaka.[28] On April 25, Aoki and Suzuki defeated Kanemoto and Tanaka in a rematch to become the new All Asia Tag Team Champions.[29] On May 11, Aoki made a one night return to Noah to take part in Kenta Kobashi's retirement event,Final Burning in Budokan, during which he and Suzuki defeatedKentaro Shiga andTamon Honda in a tag team match.[30] On July 5, following a mass exodus led byKeiji Mutoh, it was announced that Aoki, along with the rest of Burning, had signed an exclusive contract with All Japan.[31] On October 29, Aoki and Suzuki quit Burning in order for Suzuki to challenge Kanemaru for theWorld Junior Heavyweight Championship.[32][33] On November 21, Aoki and Suzuki, along with Kento Miyahara, joined Go Shiozaki's newXceed stable.[34] On January 26, 2014, Aoki and Suzuki lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship to former Burning stablemates Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.[35] On February 5, Aoki announced he was quitting Xceed to go solo.[36] On May 29, Aoki defeatedÚltimo Dragón to become the new World Junior Heavyweight Champion.[37] On July 27, Aoki joined theEvolution stable, after a successful title defense against one of its members,Hikaru Sato.[38] In October, Aoki and Sato won the2014 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory.[39] On March 27, 2015, Aoki lost the World Junior Heavyweight Championship to Kotaro Suzuki.[40] On October 23, Aoki and Hikaru Sato won their secondJr. Tag Battle of Glory in a row by winning the round-robin tournament with a record of three wins and one loss.[41][42] On January 1, 2016, Aoki was appointed the president of talent relations.[43] On February 21, 2016, Aoki defeated tag team partner Hikaru Sato in the finals to win the2016 Jr. Battle of Glory and the vacant World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[44] He went on to lose the title to Sato on June 19.[45] On July 24, Aoki and Sato defeatedIsami Kodaka andYuko Miyamoto to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship.[46] On November 17, Aoki and Sato won their thirdJr. Tag Battle of Glory in a row by defeating Soma Takao andYuma Aoyagi in a playoff match.[47] On November 27, Aoki and Sato lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship toAtsushi Onita andMasanobu Fuchi.[48] Aoki and Sato regained the title from Onita and Fuchi on June 20, 2017.[49] They lost the title toBlack Tiger VII andTaka Michinoku on August 27.[50] In early 2018, still using his birth name, Aoki began working under a mask and regained the World Junior Heavyweight Championship fromTajiri on February 3 in Yokohama.[51] Aoki held the title until August, when he dropped it to Koji Iwamoto.[51] In April 2019, Aoki competed in theChampion Carnival once again as a last minute replacement forKengo Mashimo. Aoki competed in A Block and managed to finish with 8 points, but was unable to advance to the final.[52] Aoki regained the World Junior Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time on May 20, 2019, defeating Iwamoto. His last match took place on June 2, teaming with Hikaru Sato and Yusuke Okada in a loss to Jake Lee, Koji Iwamoto, and Nobe Bryant. At the time of his death, Aoki was scheduled to defend his title against Hikaru Sato on June 18. Despite his death, AJPW announced he would be recognized as champion until November 2019, allowing his 6-month defence clause to expire before crowning a new champion.
On June 3, 2019, Aoki was killed in a motorcycle accident when he collided with the side wall around the expressway ofKitanomaru Park in theChiyoda ward of Tokyo. He was 41 years old.[53]
In a press conference in the days after the accident, All Japan Pro Wrestling president at the time, Jun Akiyama announced that the World Junior Heavyweight Championship was to be vacated at the end of the title'smandatory defence period, allowing Aoki to reign asde facto champion in honor of his contributions until late 2019, when the title would have been vacated for lack of defences.
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