 Tsuji in November 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Yota Tsuji (1993-09-08)September 8, 1993 (age 32)[2][1] |
| Alma mater | Nippon Sport Science University[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Yota Tsuji Yota Mascara Kantansu Tomato |
| Billed height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in)[1][2] |
| Billed weight | 227 lb (103 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Yokohama, Japan[2][1] |
| Trained by | NJPW Dojo Hiroshi Tanahashi Ultimo Guerrero Tetsuya Naito |
| Debut | April 10, 2018[2][1] |
Yota Tsuji (辻 陽太,Tsuji Yōta; born September 8, 1993[3]) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler. He is signed toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the currentIWGP Global Heavyweight Champion in his record-tying second reign. Tsuji is the winner of the2024New Japan Cup and is a one-timeNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion withBushi andHiromu Takahashi. He has also made appearances for partner promotionRevolution Pro Wrestling (Revpro) andConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Before wrestling, Tsuji had playedbaseball,American football and had donetaekwondo.[1][3][2]In March 2012, he graduated from Yokohama Tateno high-school.[1][3] In March 2016, Tsuji graduated fromNippon Sport Science University.[1][3]
In April 2017, Tsuji was signed toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under New Japan's "young lion" system.[1][3] A year later, Tsuji as well as fellow young lion,Yuya Uemura, made their pro-wrestling debuts atLion's Gate Project 11 where Tsuji was defeated byTomoyuki Oka.[4][5][6] In his second match, he was defeated byRen Narita.[7] During night one ofWrestling Dontaku 2018, Tsuji andShota Umino were defeated byBullet Club (Chase Owens andYujiro Takahashi).[8] AtLion's Gate Project 12, Tsuji and Uemura went to a time-limit draw.[9] AtLion's Gate Project 13, Tsuji and Uemura wrestled to a draw.[10] On September 5, at Aichi, Tsuji teamed with Narita to defeat Uemura and Umino, winning for the first time.
After three years, New Japan reported that Tsuji would be going on overseas excursion along with Uemura as of August 1, 2021. On that day, Tsuji wrestled his last match as a young lion, facingTetsuya Naito, with whom he had a minor feud, in a losing effort. He then joinedRevolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) in England where we remained for 14 months before joiningConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico.
Tsuji returned toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in May 2023 atWrestling Dontaku 2023, attackingIWGP World Heavyweight ChampionSanada and the remainder of theJust 5 Guys stable, whilst challenging Sanada for the title.[11] The title match was made official forDominion. On June 3 at the press conference the day before the event, Tsuji officially joinedLos Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ).[12] The day after at the event, Tsuji unsuccessfully challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.[13]
In July, Tsuji made his debut in the annualG1 Climax tournament, competing in the A Block.[14] Tsuji finished the tournament with 7 points, narrowly missing out on qualifying to advance to the quarter-final round.[15] On August 13, Tsuji pinned reigningIWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight ChampionWill Ospreay in an eight-man tag team match, leading Tsuji to held the IWGP United Kingdom Championship over the fallen Ospreay, setting up at title match atDestruction on September 24, which Tsuji failed to win the title from Ospreay.[16] In October, Tsuji returned to the UK atRoyal Quest III, defeating Luke Jacobs.[17] The following month, Tsuji participated in theWorld Tag League, teaming withZandokan Jr. of CMLL. The duo finished with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.[18] Following the tournament, Tsuji renewed a feud with former Young Lion dojo stablemateYuya Uemura, who had joined Just 5 Guys, which started after Uemura pinned Tsuji in a tag-team match. Due to this, a singles match atWrestle Kingdom 18 was set.[19] On January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom, Tsuji was defeated by Uemura.[20]
Tsuji and Uemura continued their feud further into the new year. This culminated on February 24, atThe New Beginning in Sapporo, where Tsuji defeated Uemura in aHair vs. Hair match, forcing Uemura to shave his hair.[21] Tsuji attempted to use his momentum, by entering theNew Japan Cup, the following month.[22] Tsuji defeatedJeff Cobb,El Phantasmo andRen Narita, in the first 3 rounds.[23] In the semi-finals, he defeatedEvil, to advance to the tournament finals.[24] In the New Japan Cup final, Tsuji defeated three-time cup winner,Hirooki Goto, to win the 2024 New Japan Cup, his first major accolade in NJPW. After the match, Tsuji claimed he was the face of a new era in NJPW, before being joined in the ring by LIJ leader and stablemate,Tetsuya Naito. Tsuji's New Japan Cup win has earned him a shot at Naito's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship atSakura Genesis, on April 6.[25] At Sakura Genesis, Tsuji was defeated by Naito. On June 9 atDominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji teamed with fellow LIJ membersBushi andHiromu Takahashi to defeatHiroshi Tanahashi,Oleg Boltin, andToru Yano to win theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This would be Tsuji's first ever championship in NJPW. They dropped the titles back to them seven days later at New Japan Soul. Tsuji participated in the G1 Climax, competing in the B Block. Tsuji finished with 10 points, and was able to qualify for the playoff stage, where he defeatedKonosuke Takeshita in the quarter-final,David Finlay in the semi-final, but lost toZack Sabre Jr. in the grand finals.
On January 4, 2025, atWrestle Kingdom 19, Tsuji defeated Finlay to win theIWGP Global Heavyweight Championship,[26] his first NJPW singles title and became the first Japanese holder of the title. The next night atWrestle Dynasty, Tsuji successfully defended the title againstJack Perry.[27] On February 11 atThe New Beginning in Osaka, Tsuji defended his title againstGabe Kidd, where the match ended in adouble knockout.[28] On April 4 atSakura Genesis, Tsuji successfully defended his title against Evil.[29] On June 15 atDominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji lost his title to Gabe Kidd, ending his reign at 162 days.[30] On October 13 atKing of Pro-Wrestling, Tsuji regained the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship from Kidd after a submission victory.[31]
On foreign excursion from New Japan, Tsuji joinedRevolution Pro Wrestling and wrestled his first match overseas in a losing effort againstKyle Fletcher on September 4, 2021. He andShota Umino formed a tag team called The Legion that competed in the Great British Tag League tournament. Tsuji wrestled for RevPro until going to Mexico in November 2021. He returned to RevPro in October 2024 to wrestleMascara Dorada on RevPro Global Wars UK.
Tsuji debuted for Mexican promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), on November 11, 2022, now under the mononymous name ofYota, accompanied byVincent andEl Mesías, where they defeatedEl Valiente,Blue Panther andSoberano Jr..[32] On May 14, 2023, Yota lost toGran Guerrero for theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship.[33] On 24 July 2024, he was announced as a participant in the 2024 Grand Prix.[34] On August 24, 2024, Yota, Titan andZandokan Jr. defeated Los Infernales (Averno, Euforia & Mephisto) by DQ.[35] On August 25, 2024, Yota and Akira defeated Los Guerreros Laguneros (Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.)[36] On August 26, 2024, Yota was defeated by Averno in a Lightning Match at the Arena Puebla.[37] On August 27, 2024, Yota lost toGran Guerrero for theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship by DQ at the Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara.[38]
Tsuji has a twin brother named Shota, who appeared during Night 13 of the 2023G1 Climax disguising himself as Yota to baitGabe Kidd during his entrance.[39] Shota is a professionalstuntman.[40]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yota Tsuji (hair) | Yuya Uemura (hair) | Sapporo,Japan | The New Beginning in Sapporo: Night 2 | February 24, 2024 | [43] |
