| Yuji Yasuraoka | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1971-01-28)January 28, 1971 (age 54)[1] Yachiyo, Chiba, Japan[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Yuji Yasuraoka |
| Billed height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 91 kg (201 lb)[1] |
| Trained by | Genichiro Tenryu SWS Dojo[1] |
| Debut | January 4, 1992[1] |
| Retired | June 20, 1999[1] |
Yuji Yasuraoka (安良岡裕二Yasuraoka Yuji) (born January 28, 1971) is a retired Japaneseprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his work inWrestle Association R, where he became aone-timeTenry Project International Junior Heavyweight Champion and afour-timeTenryu Project International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion.
Yasuraoka was trained for a professional wrestling career byGenichiro Tenryu and made his professional wrestling debut for Tenryu'spromotionSuper World of Sports (SWS) on January 4, 1992, by competing against Toshiyuki Nakahara in a losing effort. Yasuraoka picked up his first win of his career against Tetsuya Yamanaka on June 18. Yasuraoka competed in several matches in SWS until the promotion closed down a few months later on June 19.
Yasuraoka was soon hired by Tenryu for his new promotionWrestling and Romance (WAR), which was a successor to SWS. He competed in WAR's debut show on July 14, 1992, againstNobukazu Hirai in a losing effort. He wrestled Koji Inomata in several matches during the early days of WAR including a win against Inomata at aWAR/WWF interpromotional event on September 15. Yasuraoka mainly wrestled as ajunior heavyweight and lost the majority of the early matches of his career. He also made a few appearances forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling during this time as a partnership between NJPW and WAR. At the promotion's1st Anniversary of Revolution, Yasuraoka teamed with Nobukazu Hirai in a loss toBlack Cat andOsamu Nishimura.
AtRevolution, Yasuraoka teamed with Nobukazu Hirai to defeatTatsuhito Takaiwa andYuji Nagata. AtLive War Rise, Yasuraoka teamed withÚltimo Dragón to defeat the team ofArashi andYaiba. He lost a match to Masanobu Kurisu at2nd Anniversary of Revolution. On August 28, 1994, Yasuraoka received his first title shot against Último Dragón for theUWA World Middleweight Championship, where he failed to capture the title. He then suffered a loss against Masanobu Kurisu atMega Power. On March 26, 1995, Yasuraoka entered a tournament to crown the inauguralInternational Junior Heavyweight Champion, where he lost toGedo in the quarter-final round. AtBattle Angel, Yasuraoka teamed with Último Dragón to defeatMasao Orihara and Ultimate Dragon. At3rd Anniversary Show, Yasuraoka teamed with Hiroshi Itakura and Osamu Tachihikari to defeat Fukumen Taro, Kamikaze andMasayoshi Motegi in asix-man tag team match.
On February 23, 1996, Yasuraoka teamed withLance Storm to participate in a tournament for the newInternational Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, defeatingGran Naniwa andMasaaki Mochizuki in the semi-final before losing toGedo andLion Do in the final. Yasuraoka and Storm defeated Gedo and Lion Do in a rematch on March 27 to win the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, marking Yasuraoka's first championship win of his career. After making successful title defenses against Masaaki Mochizuki andÚltimo Dragón on May 26 andEl Samurai andNorio Honaga atNew Japan Pro-Wrestling'sSkydiving J, Storm and Yasuraokadropped the titles to El Samurai andJushin Thunder Liger at4th Anniversary Show. The following night, atSuper Summer Wars, Lance Storm,Rey Misterio, Jr., Último Dragón and Yuji Yasuraoka defeated Gedo, Jushin Thunder Liger,Juventud Guerrera and Lion Do.
AtOsaka Crush Night, Yasuraoka teamed withKoki Kitahara againstArashi and Masaaki Mochizuki in a losing effort. On November 9, Storm and Yasuraoka regained the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship by defeating El Samurai and Jushin Thunder Liger. The following month, atRyogoku Crush Night, Storm and Yasuraoka made their first title defense againstTiger Mask and Masaaki Mochizuki. The duo would lose the titles to Battle Ranger and Masaaki Mochizuki on February 12, 1997. The duo received a rematch against Ranger and Mochizuki for the titles at the following month'sBattle Angel, in which they lost. Shortly after, Yasuraoka had a brief stint withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he debuted as avillain introduced bySonny Onoo on the May 17 episode ofSaturday Night, where he defeatedenhancement talentJulio Sanchez. After the match, Yasuraoka continued to assault Sanchez until Rey Misterio, Jr. made the save, leading to a match between the two atSlamboree, which Misterio won. Yasuraoka then returned to WAR.
On June 6, 1997, Yasuraoka defeated theJ-Crown ChampionJushin Thunder Liger to win theInternational Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first and only singles championship. Due to Yasuraoka's win the International Junior Heavyweight Championship was removed from the J-Crown Championship. Yasuraoka made his first successful title defense againstMasao Orihara at5th Anniversary Show. He then successfully defended the title against the likes ofMasaaki Mochizuki and Battle Ranger. On October 12, Yasuraoka became a double champion as he teamed withTomohiro Ishii to defeat Masashi Aoyagi and Hirofumi Miura to win theInternational Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, beginning Yasuraoka's third reign with the title. The duo vacated the title only six days later on October 18.
In May 1998, Yasuraoka enteredNew Japan Pro-Wrestling's1998 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where he won only one match in his block against the eventual winnerKoji Kanemoto, while losing the rest of his matches in the tournament. In July, Yasuraoka teamed withKendo Kashin to participate in around robin tournament for the newIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which they failed to win as they won only one match in the tournament against eventual winnersShinjiro Otani andTatsuhito Takaiwa. On September 27, Yasuraoka and Yasha Kurenai entered theMixed Tag Team Tournament, which they won by defeating Masaaki Mochizuki andHarley Saito in the quarter-final,Nobukazu Hirai andNoriyo Tateno in the semi-final andKoki Kitahara and Eagle Sawai in the final.
On January 15, 1999, Yasuraoka lost the International Junior Heavyweight Championship to Masao Orihara, ending his reign at 588 days. On March 1, Yasuraoka and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa to win their second International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship as a team, while marking Yasuraoka's fourth tag team championship reign. At7th Anniversary Show, Yasuraoka teamed with Masaaki Mochizuki againstNaohiro Hoshikawa andSuper Delfin in a losing effort. Immediately after losing, Yasuraoka competed against Mochizuki in a match, which Yasuraoka lost. This would be Yasuraoka's last match as he announced his retirement from wrestling after the match, which led Yasuraoka and Ishii to vacate the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
A motorcycle enthusiast before entering pro wrestling, Yasuraoka became a motorcycle mechanic after ending his wrestling career.