 Sekimoto in 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1981-02-09)February 9, 1981 (age 44)[3] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Daisuke Sekimoto Shibata Katsuie[1] Superman Sekimoto[2] |
| Billed height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3] |
| Billed weight | 120 kg (260 lb)[3] |
| Billed from | Tosa, Japan Osaka, Japan |
| Trained by | Ryuji Yamakawa Tomoaki Honma |
| Debut | August 10, 1999 |
Daisuke Sekimoto (関本 大介,Sekimoto Daisuke) (born February 9, 1981) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler, currently signed toBig Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances inPro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-timeBJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion, while also being a former one-time NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Champion, one-timewXw Unified World Wrestling Champion and a two-timeZero1 World Heavyweight Champion. Other major singles championships include theBJW Heavyweight Championship, theKO-D Openweight Championship and theStrongest-K Championship. Also a successful tag team wrestler, he has held theAJPW World Tag Team Championship three times, theAll Asia Tag Team Championship two times, theBJW Tag Team Championship twelve times and theKO-D Tag Team Championship two times with his most successful tag team combination being withYuji Okabayashi.
Sekimoto played on the baseball team atMeitoku Gijuku High School [ja], and has been labeled as one of the "Matsuzaka Generation" of players, even though he did not go on to become a professional baseball player.[4] He was at the team's 1998Summer Koshien semifinal loss against Yokohama High School, described as a "miracle comeback" for Yokohama, which won despite trailing 6–0 in the top of the eighth inning. Sekimoto has cited the moment thatDaisuke Matsuzaka came on as a reliever for Yokohama in that game as a source of inspiration as well as a reminder to stay humble in his own wrestling career — even as a high schooler, Matsuzaka's celebrity commanded such a response from the crowd that "the atmosphere in the ballpark changed completely" when he took the field.[4]
Sekimoto decided to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a professional wrestler after graduating from high school, joiningBig Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) on a recommendation from his baseball coachShirou Mabuchi [ja].[4]
Daisuke Sekimoto made his professional wrestling debut for BJW on August 10, 1999 by losing toRyuji Ito.[5] As is customary in professional wrestling, especially in Japan, Sekimoto lost the majority of his matches in his early career. Sekimoto would win his first match ever on March 27, 2000 when he teamed up with Daikokubo Benkei to defeat Guerrero del Futuro and Ryuji Ito.[6] On January 28, 2001, Sekimoto teamed up withMEN's Teioh and defeated Kamikaze andAbdullah Kobayashi to become theBJW Tag Team Champions, this was the first championship Sekimoto ever held.[7] This combination of Sekimoto and Teioh would prove to be extremely successful, along with the BJW Tag Team Championship, the pair would go on to defeatKintaro Kanemura andRyuji Yamakawa for theFMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship and would hold it for over one hundred days before losing the titles toJun Kasai and The Winger on March 21, 2002.[8] While still holding the BJW Tag Team Championship, Sekimoto challenged Daikokubo Benkei for theBJW Heavyweight Championship and on August 18, 2002 defeated him for the title which was the first singles honour of his career.[9] Holding both the BJW Heavyweight Championship and the BJW Tag Team Championship, Sekimoto was on top of Big Japan but this would last only a short time. Cracks started to show in the relationship between Sekimoto and Teioh and on September 15, 2002 they lost the BJW Tag Team Championship to Benkei Daikokuboh & Abdullah Kobayashi.[7] After losing the titles, Teioh turned on Sekimoto which led to a match between the two for the BJW Heavyweight Championship which took place on September 23 which Teioh won.[9]
With 2003 and 2004 being mostly uneventful for Sekimoto, he started 2005 with a bang by winning the New Generation Battle Tournament by defeating HERO! in the final on January 9. Over the years, Sekimoto would compete in numerous variations of hardcore matches including barbed wire board tag team death match, Fluorescent Lighttubes tag team death match and prison hall Death match, he also competed atRIKI-PRO andApache Pro Wrestling (Apache Pro) frequently. On October 14, Sekimoto teamed up with Abdullah Kobayashi to win his second BJW Tag Team Championship.[7] 2006 would start on a low point as Sekimoto and Kobayashi lost the titles toMammoth Sasaki andShadow WX on January 27.[7] Sekimoto and Tomohiko Hashimoto took part in the WEW Tag Team Title Tournament but wouldn't go past the first round.[10] On December 3, 2006, Sekimoto and Yoshihito Sasaki defeated Mammoth Sasaki and Shadow WX for his third BJW Tag Team Championship.[7] During their four hundred plus days as champions, Sekimoto took on Mammoth Sasaki for theWEW Heavyweight Championship in February 2007.[11] On March 2, Sekimoto and Sasaki lost the BJW tag Team Championship toKengo Mashimo and Madoka at aPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) event.[7] With this loss, Sekimoto teamed up with Katsumasa Inoue to take onGAINA andZero for theOsaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship but lost.[12] Sekimoto and Inoue teamed up once again and took on Handsome Joe andTaka Michinoku for theStrongest-K Tag Team Championship.[13] During a joint event between Big Japan and El Dorado Pro Wrestling, Sekimoto teamed up withShuji Kondo and defeatedKAGETORA andTakashi Sasaki to win the Thanksgiving Day Tag Tournament.[14] On July 13, 2008, Sekimoto and Mammoth Sasaki defeatedKengo Mashimo andMadoka for the BJW Tag Team Championship, however, on March 7, 2009, Saksaki was injured in an auto mobile accident and vacated the championship.[7] In the Maximum Tag League 2009, Sekimoto andMasato Tanaka finished top of block B but would lose to Takashi Sasaki andYuko Miyamoto in the semifinal. On July 27, 2009, Sekimoto andYuji Okabayashi defeatedIsami Kodaka andMasashi Takeda to win his fifth BJW Tag Team Championship.[7] A month later, Sekimoto won the Eight Man Tag Team Tournament with Shinya Ishikawa, Yoshihito Sasaki and Yuji Okabayashi.[15] On December 13, 2009, Sekimoto and Okabayashi lost the titles to Yoshihito Sasaki and Shinya Ishikawa. 2010 kicked off with a loss atOsaka Pro Wrestling when Sekimoto and Okabayshi lost Hideyoshi &Masamune in a match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship.[16] On February 28, 2010, Sekimoto defeatedShuji Ishikawa for theKO-D Openweight Championship.[17] After several defences, he lost the title toHarashima on July 25.[17] He would return next year in the same month to take part in a four-way elimination match for theKO-D Tag Team Championship and teamed withMasa Takanashi and won. They would lose the title on August 28 toDanshoku Dino andKota Ibushi.[18] Sekimoto began teaming with Yoshihito Sasaki to take part in the BJW Tag Team Championship Tournament and reached the final, which took place on April 28, 2010, and lost toJaki Numazawa andJun Kasai.[19] On October 10, Sekimoto and Sasaki defeated Numazawa and Kasai to become a six time BJW Tag Team Championship but would lose the title to Numazawa and Kasai.[7] Sekimoto and Kazuki Hashimoto took part in a year long tag tournament called Dainichi-X 2011 but would not gain enough points to progress to the semifinal.[20] Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi took part in the Big Japan Tag League 2011 and won.[21] In March 2012, Sekimoto participated in the Ikkitousen Strong Climb Tournament in block A and reached the final before losing to Yoshihito Sasaki.[22] On August 22, Sekimoto defeatedKengo Mashimo for theStrongest-K Championship and lost it toYuji Hino on November 13.[23] On September 8, 2013, Sekimoto worked theinaugural event of theWrestle-1 (W-1) promotion, whichKeiji Mutoh formed after leaving All Japan. Teaming with his regular partner Yuji Okabayashi, the two defeatedKaz Hayashi andShuji Kondo in a tag team match.[24]
On October 5, 2004, Sekimoto made his American debut, defeatingIan Rotten at an IWA East Coast event.[25] Two days later on October 7, Sekimoto made his debutIWA Mid-South, defeating Nate Webb at an event inNew Albany, Indiana.[26]
In October 2008, Sekimoto made hisChikara debut, participating in the promotion's Global Gauntlet weekend.[27] In April 2010, Sekimoto, along with Kankuro Hoshino and Yuji Okabayashi, to take part in Chikara'sKing Of Trios tournament as Team Big Japan, reaching the semifinals before being eliminated byBruderschaft des Kreuzes, who went on to win the tournament.[27] In April 2011, Sekimoto reached the semifinal ofCombat Zone Wrestling's (CZW) Best Of The Best X tournament but was eliminated bySami Callihan.[27]
On November 27, 2017, it was announced that Sekimoto would participate atEvolve's WrestleMania weekend events.[28]
Sekimoto debuted forPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) by taking part in theFire Festival 2001 where he gained no points and there could not progress further.[29] He returned in 2006, once again participating in theFire Festival but would do a little better by defeatingKohei Sato which left Sekimoto with two points.[30] On March 8, 2007, Sekimoto defeatedRyouji Sai to become theNWA United National Heavyweight Champion.[31] As champion he participated inFire Festival 2007 and once again fared poorly, gaining three points.[32] On November 13, Sekimoto lost the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship to Yoshihito Sasaki.[33] In block B of theFire Festival 2008, Sekimoto gained three points and therefore didn't progress further and in next yearsFire Festival 2009 gained five points, he was joint top in block B with Masato Tanaka andRyouji Sai and therefore a decision three-way match took place which Sai won.[34]
The next few years would prove to be very eventful for Sekimoto, he started out competing in theFire Festival 2010 and would once again fall at the first hurdle. However, shortly after the tournament, Sekimoto defeatedBambikiller to win theWorld Heavyweight Championship on September 9.[35] Sekimoto would enter his firstFurinkazan when he teamed up with Masato Tanaka, the team would reach the final where theNWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was also up for grabs, however, they would lose to KAMIKAZE and Kohei Sato.[36] On March 6, 2011, Sekimoto lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Ryouji Sai.[35] Sekimoto would enter theFire Festival 2011 and would come out on top in the tournament which meant he also became the first NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship.[37][38] On May 16, 2012, Sekimoto took onAkebono in a unification match between the NWA Pan-Pacific Premium Heavyweight Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, which Akebono won. He would take part in that yearsFire Festival and gained five points thus meaning he could not progress further.
On March 6, 2009, Sekimoto took part inWestside Xtreme Wrestling's (wXw) 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2009 and reached the quarterfinal before being eliminated by Steve Douglas.[39] Next year, Sekimoto and Okabayashi defeated Oberhausen Terror Corps to become the number one contenders for the wXw World Tag Team Championship and would lose their championship match to the champions The Switchblade Conspiracy.[39] On January 15, 2012, Sekimoto defeatedBig van Walter for thewXw Unified World Wrestling Championship and would lose the championship back to him on March 3.[40] On October 3, 2013, Sekimoto returned to wXw to take part in the 2013 World Triangle League. Three days later, he defeatedJonathan Gresham andZack Sabre Jr. in the finals to win the tournament.[41] In 2015 at the 15th Anniversary Tour Finale, Sekimoto unsuccessfully challengedKarsten Beck for the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship.[42]
Sekimoto and Okabayashi debuted forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) on January 3, 2011, defeatingRyota Hama andYasufumi Nakanoue.[43] For the first few months, Sekimoto and Okabayashi would perform for All Japan sporadically and on March 21, they defeatedManabu Soya andSeiya Sanada for theAll Asia Tag Team Championship.[44] They held the championship for three months before losing it to Soya and Sanada once again.[45] On October 23, Sekimoto and Okabayashi defeated Soya and Sanada becoming two-time All Asia Tag Team Champions.[45] They also participated inWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League 2011 and gained ten points but not enough to progress to the semifinals.[46] During their second title regain they would defend the title at both All Japan and Big Japan. Sekimoto also took part inChampion Carnival 2012 and gained six points therefore not progressing to the semifinal.[47] On July 1, Sekimoto and Okabayashi lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship toAkebono andRyota Hama. They returned next month to take on Manabu Soya and Takao Omori for the same title but lost. Sekimoto and Okabayashi returned to All Japan to take part in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League 2012.
Sekimoto returned to AJPW in early 2016, winning the 2016 Champion Carnival.[48] After failing to win theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship fromKento Miyahara on May 25,[49] Sekimoto and Okabayashi won theWorld Tag Team Championship on June 15.[50]
In 2006, Sekimoto appeared as himself alongsideRyuji Ito,Abdullah Kobayashi, Takashi Sasaki andJaki Numazawa inDirty Sanchez: The Movie. Sekimoto and the other wrestlers perform wrestling moves on the three main cast members.[51]
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