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 Takaiwa in February 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Go Yong-Il (고용일) (1972-07-05)July 5, 1972 (age 53) Kyoto, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Black Tiger (V) Tatsuhito Takaiwa |
| Billed height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 97 kg (214 lb) |
| Trained by | NJPW Dojo |
| Debut | July 21, 1992 |
Tatsuhito Takaiwa (高岩竜一,Takaiwa Tatsuhito; bornGo Yong-Il;Korean: 고용일; July 5, 1972) is aKorean-Japaneseprofessional wrestler. He has wrestled forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW),Pro Wrestling Zero1,All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), andPro Wrestling Noah.
Known for his work as a tag team specialist, Takaiwa has won theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship a number of times alongsideShinjiro Otani.
While attendingvocational school, Takaiwa passed theNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) entry exam and began training with the promotion in 1992. Takaiwa was part of the same trainee class asShinjiro Otani and the two became frequent opponents and tag team partners when they eventually debuted. Takaiwa debuted on July 21, 1992, losing toSatoshi Kojima.[1] In 1993, Takaiwa took part in theYoung Lions Cup, finishing last with zero wins and zero points.[2] During the early years of his career, Takaiwa primarily competed in opening matches, usually on the losing end as is customary for young wrestlers in Japan. Beginning in 1997, Takaiwa began to create more of a name for himself, competing in that year'sBest of the Super Juniors tournament and finishing with four points.[3] In 1998, Takaiwa teamed up with Otani to take part in the league to crown the inauguralIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, with the two of them defeatingKoji Kanemoto andDr Wagner Jr in the finals to become the first ever holders of the belts.[4] In December 1998, Takaiwa received his first shot at theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, unsuccessfully challengingJushin Thunder Liger.[5] Days later on December 11, Takaiwa and Otani travelled toWrestle Association R where they defeatedMasaaki Mochizuki andMasao Orihara to win the vacantInternational Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, making themselves double champions.[6] Their days as double champions didn't last long, however, as they would lose the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship toKendo Kashin and Dr Wagner Jr atWrestling World 1999.[7] Later in the year they would regain the championships, defeating Jushin Thunder Liger andThe Great Sasuke in July.[8] In 2000, both Otani and Takaiwa took part in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, with both men winning their blocks and reaching the final, where, on June 9, Takaiwa defeated Otani to win the 2000 Best of the Super Juniors.[9] Later in the month after just under a year as champions, Otani and Takaiwa lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to theJunior Stars (Koji Kanemoto andMinoru Tanaka).[10] After losing the titles, Takaiwa began focusing more on his singles career, winning theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career in July, defeating Jushin Thunder Liger.[11] Takaiwa eventually lost the championship toMinoru Tanaka in October.[12]
AfterShinya Hashimoto was fired by New Japan Pro-Wrestling in November 2000, he and Shinjiro Otani went on to announce the formation of their own promotion,Pro Wrestling Zero1, and Takaiwa was one of the first wrestlers to sign with the promotion after its formation. At the promotion's first show on March 2, 2001, Takaiwa teamed withAlexander Otsuka in a loss to No Fear (Yoshihiro Takayama andTakao Omori). Rather than follow in Otani's footsteps and graduate to the heavyweight division, Takaiwa opted to remain a junior and spent Zero1's formative years building up the division. In 2004, Takaiwa took part in the Tenkaichi Junior Tournament, making it to the final where he defeatedTomohiro Ishii to win it. After winning the tournament, Takaiwa revealed to the fans inKorakuen Hall that he was actuallyZainichi Korean, and said that while he was proud to be Korean, he was also proud to be able to say he was born and raised in Japan, which prompted loud cheers from the audience.[13] On May 16, Takaiwa defeated Tony Stradlin to win theInternational Junior Heavyweight Championship.[14] Shortly after, Takaiwa formed a tag team with Ishii, and the two defeatedLeonardo Spanky andLow-Ki to win theNWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship.[15] Ishii and Takaiwa continued to defend the championships until September, when they were defeated by Spanky andKaz Hayashi.[16] Despite losing the tag team championships, Takaiwa continued to successfully defend the Junior Heavyweight Championship throughout 2004, defeating the likes ofMinoru Fujita,Jun Kasai,Super Crazy and Spanky. On October 17, Takaiwa's match againstNaohiro Hoshikawa was stopped early after Hoshikawa was legitimately knocked unconscious and fell into a coma after taking a powerbomb from the top of the cage by Takaiwa.[17][18] Takaiwa would go on to hold the championship until December, when he was defeated by Super Crazy.[19] On June 24, 2006, Takaiwa defeatedKatsuhiko Nakajima to win theWWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, and on July 27 defeatedTakuya Sugawara to unify both the WWA and International Junior Heavyweight titles.[20][21] In February 2007, while simultaneously holding the WWA, International and GHC Junior titles, Takaiwa beat Ikuto Hidaka to win theAWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[22] After 7 years with the promotion, Takaiwa announced he was leaving Pro Wrestling Zero1 Max to become a freelancer on December 17, 2008.
Takaiwa competed in his firstBest of the Super Juniors tournament since 2000 in June 2008, finishing with four points and failing to advance.[23] After going freelance in December 2008, Takaiwa debuted as the fifthBlack Tiger on February 15, 2009, breaking the Black Tiger tradition of foreigners under the mask, by attackingTiger Mask. On June 20, 2009, atDominion 6.20 Tiger Mask defeated him in a mask vs. mask match and afterwards Takaiwa revealed his identity by removing his mask.[24] Takaiwa lost his mask as Black Tiger V for the second time on May 14, 2011, when he was defeated at aToryumon Mexico event byÚltimo Dragón.[25] Despite losing his mask twice, Takaiwa continues to make appearances as Black Tiger V.[26]
Shortly after the formation of Zero1, Takaiwa also began making appearances inPro Wrestling Noah, and in October 2001 defeatedYoshinobu Kanemaru to win theGHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.[27] Takaiwa held on to the title until December, when he dropped it to Naomichi Marufuji.[28] Takaiwa returned to Noah in 2003 to take part in the Differ Cup, a tag team tournament featuring junior heavyweights. Teaming with Zero1 trainee Yoshihito Sasaki, they made it to the finals where they were defeated byToryumon representativesUltimo Dragon andYossino.[29] On December 23, 2006, Takaiwa won the championship a second time, defeatingTakashi Sugiura at a SEM event.[30] He held the title until April 2007, dropping it toMushiking Terry.[31] Takaiwa returned to Noah again in 2011, taking part in theNTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League with his trainee Osamu Namiguchi. The two performed poorly, earning just two points and failing to advance.[32] Takaiwa made another one-off return to Noah in December 2013, unsuccessfully challengingTaiji Ishimori for the GHC Junior title.[33]
Originally aiming to step away from pro wrestling after leaving Zero1 and doing one last run inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, Takaiwa got a job at a building maintenance company in late 2009 and began competing more sparingly on the independent scene in early 2010, primarily working forJun Kasai's Freedoms. He was also named head coach ofBig Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW)'s dojo, and made occasional appearances inKensuke Office as Black Tiger. Takaiwa left his second job in 2012 and returned to Zero1 for the first time in four years to take part in the Tenkaichi Junior Tournament, though he was unsuccessful, losing toJonathan Gresham in the semi-final.[34] In May 2013, he took part in Freedoms' tournament to crown the first ever King of Freedom World Champion, beating Keizo Matsuda,Brahman Shu,Minoru Fujita to reach the final where he lost to Takashi Sasaki.[35] In March 2014 he partnered up with Sasaki in the King of Freedom Tag Title tournament. The two were successful and reached the final where they were unable to defeatGreat Kojika and The Winger.[36] In September, he took part in Zero1 and Noah's joint show, briefly reviving his old team withShinjiro Otani to beatAkitoshi Saito andMasa Kitamiya.[37] In September 2015, they reformed for good, and captured theNWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship fromTakuya Sugawara andBrother Yasshi.[38] Otani and Takaiwa held the belts until April 2016, when they were defeated byFujita "Jr." Hayato andIkuto Hidaka.[39] On March 26, 2017, Takaiwa officially re-signed with Zero1 after almost 8 years as a freelancer. In his return match, he was defeated by Shinjiro Otani.[40] Takaiwa continues to make regular appearances in Zero1 to this day.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger Mask IV (mask) | Black Tiger (mask) | Osaka,Japan | Dominion 6.20 | June 20, 2009 | [24] |
| Último Dragón (mask) | Black Tiger (mask) | Mexico City,Mexico | "Dragonmania VI" | May 14, 2011 | [25] |
