 Kawabata as Kiyoshi at anMPW event in October 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Akira Kawabata (1978-07-17)July 17, 1978 (age 47)[7] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Akira Raijin[1] Akira Thunder Raijin[2] Kaminari[2] Kawabata[3] Kowabata[4] Kiyoshi[1] Suicide[5] Sushi[6] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[7] |
| Billed weight | 231 lb (105 kg)[7] |
| Billed from | Osaka, Japan[8] |
| Trained by | Masanobu Kurisu[1] Animal Hamaguchi[1] Arashi[1] Kaz Hayashi[1] Scott D'Amore[1] Shigeo Okumura[1] Keiji Mutoh[9] |
| Debut | February 1, 1998[7] |
Akira Kawabata (川畑 顕,Kawabata Akira) (born July 17, 1978)[7] is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler, working under thering nameSushi (stylized asSUSHI). He is a two-time holder of theGaora TV Championship. He is best known for his work inAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under the ring nameAkira Raijin (雷陣 明,Raijin Akira) and is also known for working in North America for theTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion under the ring namesKiyoshi andSuicide.
Akira Kawabata was born on July 17, 1978, inTakarazuka,Hyōgo.[7]
Trained by former junior heavyweight contender Masanobu Kurisu, Kawabata made his debut in 1998, using the ring name Akira Raijin, working primarily on the Japanese independent circuit.
On August 28, 2004, Raijin debuted forAll Japan Pro Wrestling losing toRyuji Hijikata. His early years with All Japan would be mostly uneventful which is normal for a new wrestler in a Japanese promotion. On June 17, 2005, Raijin teamed withNobukazu Hirai in a tournament to determine the number one conders for theAll Asia Tag Team Championship but lost toKatsuhiko Nakajima andTomoaki Honma. In November, Raijin andKohei Suwama participated in the2005 Real World Tag League but would not pass the round robin stage. On January 4, 2007, Raijin along withKikutaro and Nobutaka Araya took on, and lost to,El Samurai,Masanobu Fuchi andRyusuke Taguchi atNew Japan Pro-Wrestling'sWrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome. On May 13, All Japan said farewell to Raijin along with Brute Issei, who both went on overseas training excursions.
Raijin returned to All Japan on June 22, 2008, but just three months later it was announced that he would be travelling back to North America, to work forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), who had signed him to a contract.[10] On October 11 Raijin lost to Suwama in his All Japan farewell match.[10]
On September 13, 2009, Raijin made a one-night return to All Japan, teaming up with Great Muta in a winning effort against Suwama andShuji Kondo.[10]
On March 21, 2010, Raijin made another return to All Japan, now using his TNA ring name Kiyoshi, he teamed up withBushi to defeat the tag team ofChessman andDark Ozz.[11] On April 3 Kiyoshi entered All Japan's 2010Champion Carnival. He defeatedRené Duprée and Suwama, but lost toTaiyō Kea andMasakatsu Funaki in the round robin stage of the tournament, finished third in his block and did not advance to the semifinals.[12][13][14][15][16] On April 11, the final night of the tournament, Kiyoshi teamed withSatoshi Kojima to defeat Gurentai (Nosawa Rongai and Taiyō Kea) in a tag team match.[17][18]
Raijin left Japan to live inWindsor, Ontario, Canada withScott D'Amore to gain "learning experience" inNorth America.[10] Raijin would go on to work for various promotions within Canada and eventually branched off into the United States. Raijin wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, teaming with Brute Issei and losing toHavok andMartyr in a tryoutdark match on July 15, 2007, prior to theVictory Roadpay-per-view.[19] On August 12, 2007, Raijin appeared atJuggalo Championship Wrestling's premier show,Bloodymania. He teamed with Brute Issei in the 8 TeamTag Team Elimination match for theJCW Tag Team Championship, becoming the fifth team eliminated in the match. On August 18, atChikara, Raijin took onMike Quackenbush in a losing effort for theNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[20] On April 23, 2008, Raijin took part in JCW's "Slam TV Tour 2008". He debuted as Kowabata, being managed by "The Guidance Counselor"Scott D'Amore.[4] After a series of singles victories, Kowabata was put into a stable alongside Scott D'Amore andConrad "Lights Out" Kennedy.[21] D'Amore proclaimed that the team of Kowabata and Kennedy would reform JCW. At the following show, Kowabata and Kennedy defeated fan favorites The Ring Rydas.[22] Raijin took part in twoBSE Pro tournaments which included Adrenaline Cup and the Sudbury Scramble Cup, both of which he did not win. Kowabata was set to appear at the 2008Hallowicked After Party, but was signed to TNA weeks prior to the event, resulting in him having to cancel the appearance.
While part of TNA, Raijin continued to wrestle on the independent circuit. On December 20, Kowabata took onJCW Heavyweight ChampionCorporal Robinson atBig Ballas X–Mas Party '08 in a losing effort. Raijin would mostly appear forBorder City Wrestling and even had a shot at theBCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship which he lost. On March 13, 2010, Raijin took onKevin Steen for the Capital City Championship Combat Championship and lost. Raijin, as Kowabata, returned to JCW on May 4, 2011, at theSt. Andrews Brawl internet pay-per-view, where he defeated Bill Martel in a singles match.[23] At the June 30 pay-per-view Kawabata defeatedJimmy Jacobs in a singles match.[3] His final match in North America came on January 28, 2012, when he lost toJosh Alexander at Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW).
In the later half of 2008, Kawabata signed a two-year deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling after an appearance onBorder City Wrestling's (BCW) 15th anniversary show. He was given a heelgimmick,Kiyoshi, which resembled his mentor Great Muta, together with similarface paint andmannerisms. In his debut match on December 18, 2008, he defeatedConsequences Creed with amoonsault to advance to the semifinals in a tournament for the vacantTNA X Division Championship.[24] On December 25, he lost toChris Sabin, failing to advance into the finals of the tournament.[25]
On the March 5, 2009, episode ofTNA Impact!, Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag teamNo Limit (Yujiro andNaito), was unable to defeat theTNA X Division ChampionAlex Shelley in a match for the title.[26] On the March 14 edition ofTNA Xplosion, Kiyoshi defeatedShark Boy with his signatureLightning Flash. On the March 26, 2009, episode ofImpact!, Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag team of No Limit, unsuccessfully challengedSuicide for theTNA X Division Championship.[27] Kiyoshi and No Limit then aligned themselves withSheik Abdul Bashir.
After No Limit left the company in May 2009, the duo of Kiyoshi and Bashir went on to form an alliance withThe British Invasion ofDoug Williams,Brutus Magnus andRob Terry as well asEric Young, known asWorld Elite. The members represented anti–American faction of countries, with Williams, Magnus and Terry representing Great Britain, Bashir representing Iran, Young representing Canada, Kiyoshi representing Japan andHomicide, who joined the group later, representing Puerto Rico. During the summer of 2009, Kiyoshi gradually faded out his Great Muta look and debuted a new look, complete with new ring attire and altered hair style. The World Elite split in early 2010, with Kiyoshi wrestled his last match so far for TNA on February 16, 2010, in an X Division three-way match, taped forXplosion, where he and Homicide were defeated byAmazing Red.[28] Kawabata spent the next four months wrestling part-time in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Kawabata returned to TNA on June 14, 2010, now under a mask portraying theface character ofSuicide, losing to Magnus in a match taped forXplosion.[5][29] At the July 12 tapings ofXplosion, Kawabata picked up his first victory as Suicide, defeating Eric Young.[30]
After Kawabata's original two–year contract with TNA expired, it was announced on September 28, 2010, that he had signed a two–year contract extension with the promotion.[31] On the October 8, 2010, edition ofXplosion Kawabata returned without the Suicide gimmick, working as Kiyoshi and forming a new tag team with compatriotOkada. They were defeated in their first match together byInk Inc. (Jesse Neal andShannon Moore).[32] On October 13, Suicide's profile was removed from TNA's official website, seemingly signaling the end of the gimmick. Kiyoshi and Okada had a rematch with Ink Inc. at the December 7 tapings ofXplosion, but were once again defeated.[33] Shortly afterwards, Kiyoshi's profile was also removed from TNA's official website.
On February 29, 2012, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Raijin would be returning to the promotion from his American excursion on March 20.[34] In his return match, Raijin teamed withKaz Hayashi andMinoru Tanaka in a losing effort against the team of Gillette,Hiroshi Yamato andKai, with Gillette pinning Raijin for the win.[35] On April 1, Kawabata debuted as the masked character Sushi, when he entered the2012 Junior Tag League alongside Bushi.[36] Sushi and Bushi made it all the way to the finals of the tournament on April 14, where they were defeated by Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo.[37] In July, Sushi took part in the2012 Junior Hyper League, where he finished with a record of three wins and two losses, failing to advance from his round-robin block.[38] Following Bushi's departure from All Japan, Sushi formed a new partnership with rookieAndy Wu, with the two taking part in theJunior Hyper Tag League in early 2013, where they failed to advance to the finals.[39][40][41] On April 26, Kawabata as Sushi received his first shot at theWorld Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending championYoshinobu Kanemaru.[42] Sushi re-entered the title picture on October 12 by pinning Kanemaru in a six-man tag team main event.[43] Sushi received his title shot on October 27, but was again defeated by Kanemaru.[44]
Afterwards, Sushi began petitioning for All Japan to restore theGaora TV Championship, which had been quietly sidelined earlier in the year.[45] After its restoration, Sushi entered a four-man tournament for the vacant title, defeatingHikaru Sato in his semifinal match on November 21.[46] Three days later, Sushi defeatedDramatic Dream Team (DDT) representativeKeisuke Ishii in the finals to win the tournament and become the third Gaora TV Champion.[47] Sushi made his first successful title defense on January 3, 2014, against another DDT representative, Soma Takao.[48] On February 23, Sushi, alongsideMenso～re Oyaji, received his first shot at the All Asia Tag Team Championship. The two were, however, defeated by the defending champions,Burning (Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru).[49] On May 17, Sushi lost the Gaora TV Championship toKotaro Suzuki in his second defense.[50] On December 14, Sushi put his mask on the line in a tag team match, where he and "Mr. Christmas" facedÚltimo Dragón andMasked Burning #2. Though Sushi was pinned for the win by Dragón and was per stipulation supposed to unmask himself, Mr. Christmas instead offered to unmask in his place, revealing himself as Jun Akiyama.[51] On June 4, 2015, Sushi defeatedKenso to win the Gaora TV Championship for the second time.[52] On August 15, Sushi fractured his jaw in a match, which sidelined him indefinitely and forced him to forfeit the Gaora TV Championship.[53] He made his return to in-ring action on November 1.[54] On January 15, 2017, AJPW announced that Sushi would be leaving the promotion at the end of the month and becoming afreelancer.[55] On January 28, Sushi was defeated by Jun Akiyama in his final AJPW match.[56]
After becoming a freelancer, Kawabata continued working under a mask as Sushi, but also resumed working unmasked as Kiyoshi.[57][58]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multifacético (mask) | Kaminari (hair) | Naucalpan, Mexico State | Live event | February 17, 2008 | [2] |
| Último Dragón (mask) | Sushi (mask) | Tokyo, Japan | Live event | December 14, 2014 | [Note 1][51] |
