Genki Horiguchi
Encyclopedia
, is a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 professional wrestler. He is currently a full time wrestler and booker for Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling,...

, where he is currently a member of the Blood Warriors stable. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X
Wrestling Society X
Wrestling Society X was a short-lived professional wrestling-based television series produced in 2006 by Big Vision Entertainment. The weekly television series formerly aired on MTV, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, and over a dozen other MTV outlets throughout the world...

 and Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...

.

When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began to chant H-A-G-E (Japanese for 'bald') at him. He managed to use this to gain a sort of cult popularity, and his catchphrase, "Who has called me hage?", is one of the best known in Japan.

Hiromi Horiguchi, a wrestler currently working for Toryumon Mexico, was thought for some time to be Genki's brother, but the relationship was only a gimmick.

Toryumon

Horiguchi debuted in Toryumon as a face wrestler with a surfer gimmick. In 2001, he began to lose his hair, and in November he turned heel, cast away his surfer gimmick, and joined the original M2K as a replacement for Chocoflake K-ICHI. He was the last wrestler to be added to the group.

During his days in the M2K stable, he held the NWA World Welterweight Title twice, defeating Ryo Saito to win it, vacating the title after a no-contest match with Dragon Kid, defeating Ricky Marvin to win it again, and finally losing it to M2K stablemate Darkness Dragon. As part of Do FIXER, he won the UWA World Trios Titles with Susumu Yokosuka and Ryo Saito.

He was responsible for bringing in Magnum TOKYO to lead the remnants of M2K after the name was sealed. In 2002, he would team with Magnum TOKYO and Darkness Dragon in a three-way trios tag team match against Ryo Saito, Masaaki Mochizuki
Masaaki Mochizuki
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Dragon Gate, where he is the current Open the Dream Gate Champion in his second reign and the leader of the Junction Three stable...

 & Dragon Kid
Dragon Kid
Dragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...

 and CIMA
Nobuhiko Oshima
, better known by his ring name Cima , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA...

, Don Fujii
Don Fujii
, is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, best known by his ring name Don Fujii. He was one-half of the inaugural Open the Owarai Twin Gate Champions and a former Open the Twin Gate Champion with Masaaki Mochizuki. He was previously in the Crazy MAX and Blood Generation stables.-Biography:He was...

 & Yoshikazu Taru
Yoshikazu Taru
Yoshikazu Taru is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name TARU. He works for All Japan Pro Wrestling and El Dorado Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...

 and was pinned by CIMA.

In December 2003, he scored a series of upset wins, most of them via backslide. This led to the rise of his finisher, the Backslide from Heaven.

Dragon Gate

While in Do FIXER, he formed a friendship with Ryo Saito
Ryo Saito
, is a Japanese professional wrestler . he wrestled for Dragon Gate, where he was a member of the Blood Warriors stable. His name is sometimes abbreviated as SaiRyo, so as not to confuse him with Toryumon/DG alumni SAITO.-Toryumon:...

 that would endure for several years. He teamed with Saito to defeat The Florida Brothers at the 2004 Revolucion ppv event on January 31, 2004. He, Saito and Dragon Kid would win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship three times while teaming together in Do FIXER. The three of them would travel to Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...

 to take part in a match against Blood Generation's CIMA
Nobuhiko Oshima
, better known by his ring name Cima , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA...

, Naruki Doi
Naruki Doi
is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi, as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

 & Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...

, which would be given a rare five-star rating by famous wrestling columnist Dave Meltzer
Dave Meltzer
David A. Meltzer is the editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Sports Illustrated senior writer Frank Deford has praised Meltzer's work, saying that "Meltzer, I believe, is the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism." Meltzer has written for the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles...

.
In January 2007, he betrayed Saito and Do FIXER to join heel stable Muscle Outlaw'z
Muscle Outlaw'z
Muscle Outlaw'z, or MO'z for short, were a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed on April 23, 2006. It was founded by former Blood Generation members Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Naoki Tanisaki, and Gamma, intending to compete with CIMA's faction...

. He underwent a radical transformation in appearance, and added blue mist to his arsenal. This turn lead him to an Open the Brave Gate title run, and a pinfall victory over CIMA in an 8 man elimination match (incidentally not his first direct win over CIMA). He feuded with gaijin Matt Sydal
Matt Sydal
Matthew Joseph Korklan is an American professional wrestler, also known as Matt Sydal and Evan Bourne. He is signed with WWE and wrestles on its Raw brand under the ring name Evan Bourne, where he is currently one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Kofi Kingston as Air Boom.Before signing...

 over the title before dropping it to Yasushi Kanda
Yasushi Kanda
Hiroyuki Kanda, better known as Yasushi Kanda, born on August 29, 1978 in Inage-ku, Chiba, Japan, is a Japanese wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion in Japan. He is considered one of Toryumon's greatest heel characters, and was a founding member of the M2K stable...

. After dropping the title, his push was not maintained. He began wrestling mainly early on the cards, taking the falls in multi-person matches, and was winless during all of March 2008. He began to develop kleptomania, stealing Tozawa-juku's pants and Anthony W. Mori's ring costume.

During the unit turmoil in the early parts of 2008, Horiguchi remained firmly on the heel side of Muscle Outlaw'z, and followed them to Real Hazard. He acted as secretary to the Brave Gate belt commissioner Yoshito Sugamoto, which was actually the Brave Gate champion (and his fellow MO'z stablemate) Gamma himself, enforcing the outrageous rules randomly put in place by him that allowed Gamma to win title matches or retain his title if he lost the match.

On July 27, 2008, Horiguchi defeated m.c.KZ to win the vacant Open the Brave Gate title for a second time. Despite the title win, his push was not increased, as he did not score any wins over any wrestler in higher standing than he had been previously. He defended it twice before losing it to Masato Yoshino on October 12, and then went right back to taking the falls in most multi-person matches for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009.

When Ryo Saito turned heel in February 2009 and joined Real Hazard, he and Horiguchi began teaming again. On May 5, they won the Open the Twin Gate Championship
Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
The Open the Twin Gate Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate had used the WAR IJ Tag Team Championship since 2006, until 2007 when Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino introduced the new Twin Gate after winning the Summer Adventure Tag League...

 from Susumu Yokosuka & Gamma in a Three-Way Match, which included fellow Real Hazard stablemates Keni'chiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda. They would hold them until September 17, when they lost them to Shingo Takagi & YAMATO. Afterwards, Horiguchi was relatively quiet again. He unsuccessfully challenged Naoki Tanisaki
Naoki Tanisaki
Naoki Tanisaki is a Japanese wrestler currently competing for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions.-Toryumon/Dragon Gate :...

 in the fall of 2009 for the Open the Brave Gate Championship.

On January 10, 2010, Horiguchi put out a blog where he stated that Real Hazard would win more matches via teamwork instead of illegal tactics and weapons play in 2010. He would prove to be a man of his word that day when he stopped Yasushi Kanda from using a blue box in a tag team match they had. Though they still won, his actions caused him and Kanda to begin bickering. The bickering intensified the following day, when Kanda made him lose a tag team match by accidentally hitting him. Five days later, Horiguchi would be backed up by Susumu Yokosuka and K-ness in his quest for clean matches, after they all refused help from Kanda in a six-man tag match they were involved in. However, the new clean fight trio suddenly found themselves winless in every match they were in, with Horiguchi taking the fall every time. Also, their mission caused a divide to slowly form in Real Hazard, with them on one side and Kanda, Kzy, and Takuya Sugawara
Takuya Sugawara
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently wrestling for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX and Dragon Gate.-Toryumon/Dragon Gate:He debuted in the 9th term of T2P as Henry III Sugawara, a Prince character. He joined with and eventually with Anthony W. Mori and Phillip J. Fukumasa, forming the Royal...

 on the other. (Keni'chiro Arai and KAGETORA remained neutral).

Tensions finally boiled over on February 10, after KAGETORA accidentally cost Sugawara a shot at becoming the next challenger for the Open the Dream Gate Title. Horiguchi left Real Hazard, along with Susumu and K-ness, and was put in a match against Sugawara, scheduled for March 3. However, K-neSuka and Horiguchi decided to not team together anymore, since they all did not like how he was losing constantly, and they all agreed that this was preventing K-neSuka from getting to the top of the tag team division. Genki remained a lone wolf up until the 27th, when Dragon Kid suggested him to CIMA and Gamma as a new member of the WARRIORS stable, and he was welcomed into the fold. On May 13, 2010, Horiguchi, CIMA and Gamma defeated Don Fujii, Masaaki Mochizuki
Masaaki Mochizuki
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Dragon Gate, where he is the current Open the Dream Gate Champion in his second reign and the leader of the Junction Three stable...

 and Akebono
Akebono Taro
is a retired American born-Japanese sumo wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining the professional sport in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian sumo wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990...

 to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship. On October 25, 2010, Horiguchi, CIMA and Gamma lost the Open the Triangle Gate Championship to Naoki Tanisaki, Yasushi Kanda and Takuya Sugawara.

Horiguchi turned heel on January 14, 2011, along with the rest of WARRIORS, when they attacked Masato Yoshino and WORLD-1, and joined forces with Naruki Doi's unnamed group. On January 18 the new group was named Blood Warriors. On February 6, 2011, Horiguchi and his Blood WARRIORS stablemate Ryo Saito defeated Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship. They would lose the title to rival group Junction Three representatives, Dragon Kid and PAC, on June 19, 2011.

Outside the Dragon System

Appearing in Aja Kong's "Yo! All the Members Set" 20th anniversary card, he teamed with Ryo Saito and Naoki Tanisaki
Naoki Tanisaki
Naoki Tanisaki is a Japanese wrestler currently competing for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions.-Toryumon/Dragon Gate :...

 against CIMA, Naruki Doi
Naruki Doi
is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi, as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

 and Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...

 at Korakuen Hall
Korakuen Hall
is an arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many boxing, professional wrestling and mixed martial arts matches. Part of Tokyo Dome City, it is one of Tokyo's biggest attractions. It opened on April 16, 1962 and has a capacity of approximately 1,800 people. The venue hosted the boxing...

 in Tokyo, Japan on August 21, 2005.

At the beginning of 2007, he was briefly affiliated with the Wrestling Society X
Wrestling Society X
Wrestling Society X was a short-lived professional wrestling-based television series produced in 2006 by Big Vision Entertainment. The weekly television series formerly aired on MTV, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, and over a dozen other MTV outlets throughout the world...

 company that was run by MTV. He and Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...

 were a tag team known as Team Dragon Gate, despite the fact the two were in rival stables at the time; Horiguchi was still aligned with face stable Do FIXER while Yoshino was in heel stable Blood Generation. They would only win an exploding cage timebomb deathmatch in their time in this promotion.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
  • Backslide From Heaven (Backslide pin)
  • Backslide From Hell (Low blow followed by a backslide pin)
  • Beach Break (Back to belly piledriver)

  • Signature moves
  • Asian mist
  • GH Lock (Modified headscissors armbar)
  • Hot Spicy (Wrist-clutch sleeper suplex)
  • Topé Toubiou (Somersault topé)

Championships and accomplishments

  • Dragon Gate
    Dragon Gate
    is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling,...

  • Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Championship
    Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Championship
    The Open the Brave Gate Championship is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate; it has a weight limit of , though it has been defended against heavier wrestlers in the past. It can be considered the secondary singles title in Dragon Gate and is more of a light heavyweight...

     (2 times)
  • Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship
    Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship
    The Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling trios title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was created on November 7, 2004 when The Italian Connection faction of Milano Collection AT, Anthony W. Mori & YOSSINO defeated Aagan Iisou's Shuji Kondo, Takuya Sugawara &...

     (5 times) – with Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito
    Ryo Saito
    , is a Japanese professional wrestler . he wrestled for Dragon Gate, where he was a member of the Blood Warriors stable. His name is sometimes abbreviated as SaiRyo, so as not to confuse him with Toryumon/DG alumni SAITO.-Toryumon:...

     (3) and CIMA
    Nobuhiko Oshima
    , better known by his ring name Cima , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA...

     and GAMMA (2)
  • Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
    Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
    The Open the Twin Gate Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate had used the WAR IJ Tag Team Championship since 2006, until 2007 when Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino introduced the new Twin Gate after winning the Summer Adventure Tag League...

     (2 times) – with Ryo Saito

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...

  • PWI ranked him #104 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006

  • Toryumon Mexico
  • NWA World Welterweight Championship
    NWA World Welterweight Championship
    The NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de...

     (2 times)
  • UWA World Trios Championship
    UWA World Trios Championship
    The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995....

     (1 time) – with Susumu Yokosuka and Ryo Saito
  • Young Dragons Cup (1998)

  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • 5 Star Match (2006) with Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito vs. CIMA
    Nobuhiko Oshima
    , better known by his ring name Cima , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA...

    , Naruki Doi
    Naruki Doi
    is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi, as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

     and Masato Yoshino
    Masato Yoshino
    Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...

     
  • Match of the Year with Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito vs. CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK