Muscle Outlaw'z
Encyclopedia
Muscle Outlaw'z, or MO'z for short, were a professional wrestling
stable in the Japan
ese 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. Other members included Genki Horiguchi, Magnitude Kishiwada
, Yasushi Kanda
, Kinta Tamaoka, Cyber Kong
, and YAMATO
.
MO'z started when Magnitude Kishiwada got injured in February 2006 and had to take some time off, but he promised his stablemates in Blood Generation that "a friend" would come and take his place while he recuperated. On March 19, that "friend" turned out to be his old Osaka Pro Wrestling
running buddy Gamma. Gamma and the stable's leader CIMA took a dislike to each other almost immediately, and their constant butting of heads prompted CIMA to kick him out of the faction on April 12. However, Gamma would be joined in his departure by Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and the newly-recruited Naoki Tanisaki. Doi and Gamma then defeated CIMA and Don Fujii
on April 23 in a tag match, winning full rights to the Blood Generation name, but they immediately renounced the name, instead establishing the "Muscle Outlaw'z". Their roster was bolstered when Kishiwada joined them when he returned from his injury, and when Genki Horiguchi defected from Do FIXER on February 4, 2007. Referee Kinta Tamaoka also joined their ranks in May 2006, acting as their own personal referee. He allowed the MO'z members to break the rules and he used fast counts when they pinned their opponents, and he also refused to count pinfalls done to MO'z members and would sometimes even attack opponents.
The group became the refuge for any heel wrestler visiting Dragon Gate, their membership list including Pentagon Black, Kevin Steen
, Muscle Gang, and Arik Cannon
. This has caused their membership to become the highest in Dragon Gate history.
Kishiwada would become more of a part-time member, spending increasing amounts of time away from Dragon Gate, and Naoki Tanisaki would eventually leave the group and the promotion altogether in late 2006 to become a freelancer, with the El Dorado Wrestling
promotion as his main haunt.
Masato Yoshino and Genki Horiguchi competed in MTV2
's Wrestling Society X
as "Team Dragon Gate". They began on a losing streak, until they were "reprogrammed" by Sakoda. They returned with a new dark edge and won their last two matches before WSX was canceled by MTV. Team Dragon Gate was active while Horiguchi was still aligned with Do FIXER in Dragon Gate.
As September 2007 approached, Kinta's relationship with the other members of MO'z began to deteriorate after he cost the group several matches due to misaimed protein powder attacks. After he took the fall in a tag match where he and Gamma lost their hair to CIMA and Dragon Kid, Gamma had had enough, and challenged Kinta to a match on September 22 where the loser would be banished from MO'z. Gamma lost the match after all of the MO'z members surprisingly aided Kinta, and so he was banished from the group, and then he had his contract with Dragon Gate annulled the next day. A month later, on October 21, when the MO'z stormed the ring after a tag match between Typhoon and New Hazard
and assaulted both stables, Gamma rushed to the ring to save the day and joined with Typhoon. This, however, was short-lived, as he quickly gave CIMA, Typhoon's leader, a Tombstone Piledriver and rejoined MO'z, and then the group mobbed Kinta and booted him out. This culminated in a six-man tag match later that night between Genki Horiguchi, Masato Yoshino, and Gamma against all three referees of Dragon Gate with Yasushi Kanda as the special referee. MO'z would go on to win the match after Kanda interfered on the Outlawz' behalf, hitting Kinta with a blue box right before he could hit his finisher. He was then revealed as the latest MO'z member.
Championship success abounded in the group. They dominated the Open the Triangle Gate title scene, winning the belts four times. Masato Yoshino and Genki Horiguchi won the Open the Brave Gate title on separate occasions in 2007. Naruki Doi would win the ROH World Tag Team Titles with an unaligned Shingo Takagi in March 2007. The group’s greatest success came from the tandem of Doi and Yoshino. Dubbed "Speed Muscle", an amalgamation of their nicknames Speed Star (Yoshino) and Bosou Muscle (Doi), the duo would become the first Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Champions in 2007, and later in the year they would add the WAR I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to their collection.
On April 17, 2008, New Hazard's YAMATO joined MO'z after attacking his tag partner Naoki Tanisaki (who had recently returned but didn't re-align with MO'z) in a match against Gamma and Genki Horiguchi. On May 5, after weeks of dissension, Doi and Yoshino split from the Outlaw'z, turning face after costing Yasushi Kanda his hair in a Mascara contra Cabellera (Mask vs. Hair) Cage Survival Six-Way Match. Nine days later, Shingo Takagi and Cyber Kong turned on BxB Hulk, ending New Hazard, and they proceeded to join with the remaining heel members of Muscle Outlaw'z to form Real Hazard, effectively ending Muscle Outlaw'z after two years of activity. Dr. Muscle, however, has vowed to carry on the MO'z name until the end of time.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
stable in the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
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,...
, formed on April 23, 2006. It was founded by former Blood Generation members 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:...
, 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 :...
, and Gamma, intending to compete with 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...
's faction. Other members included Genki Horiguchi, Magnitude Kishiwada
Magnitude Kishiwada
, better known under his current stage name Magnitude Kishiwada is a Japanese wrestler.-Career:...
, 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...
, Kinta Tamaoka, Cyber Kong
Cyber Kong
Takashi Yoshida is a Japanese wrestler better known by his ring name, Cyber Kong. He currently wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Biography:...
, and YAMATO
Masato Onodera
is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, known by his ring name Yamato , who competes for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA.-Dragon Gate:...
.
History
At one time the main heel and largest faction in Dragon Gate, the Muscle Outlaw'z are one of the most successful factions in Dragon Gate history, with several championships to their credit. Being heels, they mainly utilized dirty and underhanded tactics to win their matches, and though they specialized in group tactics, they could hold their own in singles competition.MO'z started when Magnitude Kishiwada got injured in February 2006 and had to take some time off, but he promised his stablemates in Blood Generation that "a friend" would come and take his place while he recuperated. On March 19, that "friend" turned out to be his old Osaka Pro Wrestling
Osaka Pro Wrestling
Osaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin.-Current champions:-External links:**...
running buddy Gamma. Gamma and the stable's leader CIMA took a dislike to each other almost immediately, and their constant butting of heads prompted CIMA to kick him out of the faction on April 12. However, Gamma would be joined in his departure by Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and the newly-recruited Naoki Tanisaki. Doi and Gamma then defeated CIMA and 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...
on April 23 in a tag match, winning full rights to the Blood Generation name, but they immediately renounced the name, instead establishing the "Muscle Outlaw'z". Their roster was bolstered when Kishiwada joined them when he returned from his injury, and when Genki Horiguchi defected from Do FIXER on February 4, 2007. Referee Kinta Tamaoka also joined their ranks in May 2006, acting as their own personal referee. He allowed the MO'z members to break the rules and he used fast counts when they pinned their opponents, and he also refused to count pinfalls done to MO'z members and would sometimes even attack opponents.
The group became the refuge for any heel wrestler visiting Dragon Gate, their membership list including Pentagon Black, Kevin Steen
Kevin Steen
Kevin Steen is a Canadian professional wrestler, currently performing for various promotions on the independent circuit, most notably California-based Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor.-Professional wrestling career:...
, Muscle Gang, and Arik Cannon
Arik Cannon
Arik Cannon is a professional wrestler known for competing in companies such as Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, IWA Mid-South, All American Wrestling and Wrestling Society X.-Career:...
. This has caused their membership to become the highest in Dragon Gate history.
Kishiwada would become more of a part-time member, spending increasing amounts of time away from Dragon Gate, and Naoki Tanisaki would eventually leave the group and the promotion altogether in late 2006 to become a freelancer, with the El Dorado Wrestling
El Dorado Wrestling
El Dorado was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion that was seen as the evolution of dragondoor. Most of El Dorado's wrestlers were graduates from Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion was based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers,...
promotion as his main haunt.
Masato Yoshino and Genki Horiguchi competed in MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
's 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...
as "Team Dragon Gate". They began on a losing streak, until they were "reprogrammed" by Sakoda. They returned with a new dark edge and won their last two matches before WSX was canceled by MTV. Team Dragon Gate was active while Horiguchi was still aligned with Do FIXER in Dragon Gate.
As September 2007 approached, Kinta's relationship with the other members of MO'z began to deteriorate after he cost the group several matches due to misaimed protein powder attacks. After he took the fall in a tag match where he and Gamma lost their hair to CIMA and Dragon Kid, Gamma had had enough, and challenged Kinta to a match on September 22 where the loser would be banished from MO'z. Gamma lost the match after all of the MO'z members surprisingly aided Kinta, and so he was banished from the group, and then he had his contract with Dragon Gate annulled the next day. A month later, on October 21, when the MO'z stormed the ring after a tag match between Typhoon and New Hazard
New Hazard
New Hazard was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed in April 2007. It was founded by former Typhoon and Muscle Outlaw'z members BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong, intending to compete with the two opposing factions. Shingo Takagi and Yamato, who were on tours of the...
and assaulted both stables, Gamma rushed to the ring to save the day and joined with Typhoon. This, however, was short-lived, as he quickly gave CIMA, Typhoon's leader, a Tombstone Piledriver and rejoined MO'z, and then the group mobbed Kinta and booted him out. This culminated in a six-man tag match later that night between Genki Horiguchi, Masato Yoshino, and Gamma against all three referees of Dragon Gate with Yasushi Kanda as the special referee. MO'z would go on to win the match after Kanda interfered on the Outlawz' behalf, hitting Kinta with a blue box right before he could hit his finisher. He was then revealed as the latest MO'z member.
Championship success abounded in the group. They dominated the Open the Triangle Gate title scene, winning the belts four times. Masato Yoshino and Genki Horiguchi won the Open the Brave Gate title on separate occasions in 2007. Naruki Doi would win the ROH World Tag Team Titles with an unaligned Shingo Takagi in March 2007. The group’s greatest success came from the tandem of Doi and Yoshino. Dubbed "Speed Muscle", an amalgamation of their nicknames Speed Star (Yoshino) and Bosou Muscle (Doi), the duo would become the first Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Champions in 2007, and later in the year they would add the WAR I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to their collection.
On April 17, 2008, New Hazard's YAMATO joined MO'z after attacking his tag partner Naoki Tanisaki (who had recently returned but didn't re-align with MO'z) in a match against Gamma and Genki Horiguchi. On May 5, after weeks of dissension, Doi and Yoshino split from the Outlaw'z, turning face after costing Yasushi Kanda his hair in a Mascara contra Cabellera (Mask vs. Hair) Cage Survival Six-Way Match. Nine days later, Shingo Takagi and Cyber Kong turned on BxB Hulk, ending New Hazard, and they proceeded to join with the remaining heel members of Muscle Outlaw'z to form Real Hazard, effectively ending Muscle Outlaw'z after two years of activity. Dr. Muscle, however, has vowed to carry on the MO'z name until the end of time.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- PowerbombPowerbombA powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted up and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a standing headscissors position...
/ Springboard diving clothesline combination - Backslide From Bakatare (Bakatare Sliding Kick by Doi followed by a Backslide From Heaven by Horiguchi)
- Signature moves
- Flapjack lifted and dropped into a bulldog
Championships and accomplishments
- Dragon GateDragon Gateis 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 Triangle Gate ChampionshipDragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate ChampionshipThe 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) - Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate ChampionshipDragon Gate Open the Brave Gate ChampionshipThe 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...
(4 times) - Open the Twin GateDragon Gate Open the Twin Gate ChampionshipThe 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...
(1 time) Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino - GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipThe Global Honored Crown Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight wrestlers. It was created on July 16, 2003 when Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji defeated Jushin Liger...
(1 time) - Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino
- Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship