 Akira in March 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1999-11-12)November 12, 1999 (age 26) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Francesco Akira Francisco Junko |
| Billed height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 70 kg (154 lb) |
| Trained by | Alberto Copler |
| Debut | August 29, 2015 |
Francesco Akira Begnini (born November 12, 1999), better known by hisring nameFrancesco Akira,[a] is an Italianprofessional wrestler. He is currently signed to the Japanese promotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of theUnited Empire stable. Begnini has also wrestled forAll Japan Pro-Wrestling (AJPW), where he was a formerAJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion.[3]
Begnini debuted as a professional wrestler in the Italian wrestling circuit, working for the Italian Championship Wrestling, theprofessional wrestling promotion where he trained, for the Rising Sun Wrestling Promotion, ASCA Wrestling, and also for Irish and British promotions such asOver the Top Wrestling andAttack! Pro Wrestling.[4]
Begnini made his debut inAll Japan Pro Wrestling atAJPW Excite Series 2019 on February 7, where he teamed up withBlack Menso-re,Kento Miyahara andYoshitatsu in a losing effort to Evolution (Hikaru Sato,Suwama and Yusuke Okada).[5] He continued his tenure with the company, working for various events such asAJPW Chiba Extra Dream In Narita on July 15, 2019, where he teamed up withHikaru Sato, Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Okada to defeatAtsushi Maruyama,Black Menso-re, Keiichi Sato andKoji Iwamoto in aneight-man tag team match.[6] On the first night of theAJPW New Year Wars 2020 on January 2, where he participated in a13-man battle royal also involvingJake Lee,Takao Omori,Osamu Nishimura and others.[7]
Begnini is known for competing in theAJPW Junior League. He made his first appearance at the2019 edition of the event, placing himself in the Block A and scoring a total of two points after competing againstAtsushi Maruyama, Yusuke Okada,Tajiri,Kotaro Suzuki andKoji Iwamoto.[8] At the2021 edition of the event, he came out champion after defeatingTajiri in thefirst round,Takuya Sugi in the second round,Tatsuhito Takaiwa in the semi-finals andEl Lindaman in the finals on June 3, 2021.[9]
On June 26 he won theAJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Iwamoto, becoming the first European sinceDynamite Kid to stand atop AJPW's junior heavyweight division. Another signature event of the promotion in which Begnini took part is theAJPW Junior Tag League, making his first appearance at the2019 edition of the event, where he teamed up with Hokuto Omori and scored a total of three points after competing against the teams of Keiichi Sato andKoji Iwamoto,Banana Senga andTsutomu Oosugi,Atsushi Maruyama andBlack Menso～re,Hikaru Sato and Yusuke Okada, andKagetora andYosuke♥Santa Maria.[10] At the2020 edition, he teamed up with Takayuki Ueki and fell short to Jin (Koji Iwamoto andFuminori Abe) in the first round from December 27.[11]
On March 28, 2022, a video titled "BRUCIARE" ("Burn" in Italian) was posted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling and showed United Empire leaderWill Ospreay on an unknown location walking over pictures of the junior division wrestlers of New Japan on the floor, declaring the division wasn't the same since he graduated, and that he would rebuild it with a then unknown protegé that would join him soon. On April 9, Begnini made his NJPW debut atHyper Battle '22, after theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, whereEl Desperado successfully defended his belt againstSho, where Begnini unveiled a United Empire shirt, thus joining the group and announcing he would compete in theBest of the Super Jrs. tournament in May.[12] On May 1, Akira was announced to be competing in the A Block, where he would finish it with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses, finishing with 8 points, therefore failing to advance to the finals. On the finals day, Akira and United Empire stablemateT. J. Perkins defeatedIWGP Junior Tag Team ChampionsMaster Wato andRyusuke Taguchi in a non-title match.[13] On June 20, Akira and Perkins would beat the duo of Taguchi and Wato to win the titles, that being Akira's first championship in NJPW and making him the first Italian champion in NJPW history.[14]
Akira and TJP defended the championships against Wato and Taguchi atBurning Spirit.[15] The duo, now going under the name Catch 2/2, defended the titles once more againstLos Ingobernables de Japon'sBushi andTitán.[16] In November, the team entered theSuper Junior Tag League, although they failed to make it to the final, finishing with 12 points.[17] AtWrestle Kingdom 17, the duo defeated tournament winnersLio Rush andYoh.[18] Akira and TJP continued to defend the titles into the new year, defeating Douki andYoshinobu Kanemaru atThe New Beginning in Sapporo in February. In April, the duo lost the titles to Jet Setters (Kushida andKevin Knight), ending their reign at 311 days.[19] The following month, Akira entered theBest of the Super Juniors 30 tournament, competing in the B Block.[20] Akira finished his campaign with a total of 8 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.[21] On June 4 atDominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Catch 2/2 regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in a rematch against Jet Setters. After the match, the duo was confronted byClark Connors who berated the duo from the entrance ramp, only for the duo to be attacked from behind by United Empire stablemateDan Moloney, who defected toBullet Club alongside Connors.[22] Moloney and Connors received their title shot on July 4 on night 1 ofNJPW Independence Day, defeating Catch 2/2 to win the titles, ending Akira and TJP's second reign at 30 days.[23]
In August, Akira participated at theAll Star Junior Festival USA, competing in the All-Star Junior Festival USA tournament. In the first round, Akira was eliminated byMike Bailey.[24] AtMultiverse United 2, Catch 2/2 defeatedTMDK (Kosei Fujita andRobbie Eagles).[25] In October atRoyal Quest III, Akira teamed with United Empire stablemateGreat-O-Khan, but both men were defeated byRen Narita andShota Umino.[26] Later that month, Akira teamed with TJP once again in the annualSuper Junior Tag League, where the duo finished joint top of the block with 12 points, thus advancing to the tournament finals.[27] In the finals, Catch 2/2 defeatedHouse of Torture, to win their first Super Junior Tag League tournament, thus earning an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship rematch against Connors and Moloney atWrestle Kingdom 18.[28] Ahead of the match at Wrestle Kingdom, the two teams faced off in NJPW's first evercoffin match, which was won by Bullet Club, after they locked TJP in the coffin.[29] TJP remained out of NJPW programming including being absent at the Wrestle Kingdom 18 press conference, leaving Akira by himself. On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, TJP returned alongside Akira, wearing a monstrous mask with red eyes and using mist, in reference to theAswang, which are evil creatures in Filipino folklore. Ultimately at the event, Akira and TJP defeated Bullet Club's Connors and Moloney, to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for a third time,[30] only to lose it back to them a month later.
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