Ryo Saito
Encyclopedia
, is a 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 professional wrestler
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...

 . he wrestled 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 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
Super Shisa
Yoshiyuki Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by his ring name Super Shisa, currently wrestling for Dragon Gate. His gimmick is inspired by the Ryukyuan Shisa...

.

Toryumon

Ryo debuted in 1999 as a fourth term student. He fought in that year's Young Dragons Cup, but lost in the finals to the newly-heel 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...

.

In 2000, he would divide his time between Japan and Mexico, and in Japan he adopted the gimmick of a bicycling enthusiast, wearing a professional bicycler’s outfit, helmet, and glasses and coming to the ring on a bicycle. He became something of a jobber, losing nearly 20 opening matches in a row to Keni'chiro Arai
Keni'chiro Arai
Keni'chiro "AraKen" Arai is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate.-Biography:Keni'chiro Arai, also known as AraKen, is a second term graduate of Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon Japan group, and has been a mainstay on the roster ever since. He participated in FMW before joining Toryumon...

. He also participated in that year's Young Dragons Cup, and made it to the finals again, but lost to the man who would become his greatest foil, Milano Collection A.T. When he returned to Japan, his bicycle was stolen by Sumo "Dandy" Fuji 2000
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...

, starting up a feud between them that led into 2001. Ryo eventually managed to win his bicycle back, and he and the now-renamed Big Fuji would start teaming on and off as the Bicycle Brothers for the next couple of years.

2001 was also the year when Ryo finally broke out of his small role and achieved some championship success. On August 14, he teamed with Magnum TOKYO and Dragon Kid
Dragon Kid
Dragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...

 to win the UWA World Trios Championship from 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...

, SUWA
Takahiro Suwa
, better known by his ring name Suwa , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, formerly of Pro Wrestling Noah.-Toryumon and Dragon Gate:...

, and Big Fuji of Crazy MAX, and on September 30, he beat Susumu Mochizuki
Susumu Mochizuki
Susumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...

 for the NWA World Welterweight Title. However, his momentum came to a halt in the fall when the T2P class arrived in Japan, and he would spend the next few months losing to Milano Collection A.T. and feuding with the newly-heel Genki Horiguchi
Genki Horiguchi
, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently a full time wrestler and booker for Dragon Gate, where he is currently a member of the Blood Warriors stable. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor....

. It was during this time that he would form a close friendship with T2P student Anthony W. Mori.

In 2002, Ryo began to make a heel turn. He, along with Dragon Kid, aligned with Darkness Dragon after he lost a mask vs. mask match to Dragon Kid on September 8 and was booted out of M2K, joining the Do FIXER unit that Darkness created. On October 28, Magnum TOKYO sealed M2K after Yasushi Kanda retired, and later that night he revealed that he and the other members were the real Do FIXER, along with the newly re-named K-ness. K-ness had been sent into the home army as a spy to cause problems within it, and it worked in that Ryo was not welcomed back into the home army. Because of this, he decided to actively pursue gaining membership into Do FIXER. He abandoned his bicyclist character, smashing up his bike with a chair, but he could not pass leader Magnum TOKYO's dance test and was denied entrance. That all changed in December when he debuted his own personal and bizarre dance called the "SaiRyo Dance", and Magnum TOKYO – pleased with it – allowed him to join should he pass one more test, which was a match on December 20 where he and the other Do FIXER members would face 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...

, Kenichiro Arai, Raimu Mishima, Takamichi Iwasa
Taku Iwasa
Taku Iwasa is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Early:Iwasa graduated as part of the Toryumon T2P class. He initially portrayed Takamichi Iwasa, a Satanic character. Injuries derailed his career, and he soon ended up as a jobber to the stars. He was briefly...

, and Anthony W. Mori in an elimination match. Towards the end, Magnum eliminated himself, leaving just Ryo and his friend Mori as the final two. Ryo proved his allegiance to Do FIXER by betraying Mori, smacking him with a black box and winning the match. 2003 went by quite uneventfully for Ryo. He acted as the main H-A-G-E call cheerleader for stablemate Genki Horiguchi, and he was derailed by injuries.

Dragon Gate

2004 was also another injury-plagued year, but he began to turn face again, aiding his old friend Mori in his feud with 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...

. He helped him overcome the shock of Sugawara's betrayal, and when Mori lost a hair vs. hair match, Ryo took the haircut for him.

2005 brought about a major resurgence in his career. He opened the first show of the year on January 9 by pinning CIMA in a six-man tag match. Then, when he appealed for a shot at the Open the Dream Gate title, held by Masaaki Mochizuki, he was given a January 14 singles match with Milano Collection A.T. as a hurdle, and he defeated Milano after four years of losses to him. However, he failed to win the Open the Dream Gate title in the February 6 match. He spent the remainder of the year garnering high profile victories, as well as two Open the Triangle Gate title reigns with Genki Horiguchi and Dragon Kid, and when Magnum began to move down a different path with his Renaissance project, he named Ryo the new leader of Do FIXER. Ryo would then win a feud with CIMA, and in December he won the inaugural King of Gate
King of Gate
King of Gate is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling singles tournament held in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It is the successor to El Numero Uno, previously held in Dragon Gate and Toryumon, although Uno was a round-robin tournament, as opposed to the single-elimination...

 Tournament. His momentum continued right into February 2006, when he beat Magnitude Kishiwada
Magnitude Kishiwada
, better known under his current stage name Magnitude Kishiwada is a Japanese wrestler.-Career:...

 to win the Open the Dream Gate title and became the ace of the promotion.

However, his quick ascent to the top was not entirely accepted by the fans, and thus his career went downhill after his title victory. He dropped the title to Susumu Yokosuka in his first defense, and though he had a third Open the Triangle Gate title reign with Genki and Dragon Kid, things were quiet for him for the rest of the year. He made it to the finals of that year’s King of Gate Tournament again, but lost to Masaaki Mochizuki.

In February 2007, Genki Horiguchi betrayed Do FIXER to join the 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...

, so Ryo decided to end Do FIXER activity and follow the only other remaining member Dragon Kid into CIMA's Typhoon stable. In Typhoon, he reunited with Susumu Yokosuka to form the RyoSuka team. Despite achieving some success in the tag ranks, most notably winning the WAR I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in July from Jado and Gedo
Keiji Takayama
Keiji Takayama better known as Gedo , is a long time professional wrestler. He formed a long-lasting tag team with Jado...

 and two more reigns as Open the Triangle Gate champion with CIMA and Susumu, Ryo continued to slide further in rank.

In 2008, Ryo began to regain rank in the promotion. He took offense to CIMA putting down the Open the Brave Gate title after he challenged for it, causing some strife within Typhoon. It resulted in Ryo challenging CIMA for the Open the Dream Gate title on April 27, and though Ryo lost, their issues were reconciled afterwards. On May 5, Ryo and Susumu achieved further success with their team when they won the Open the Twin Gate titles from Kenichiro Arai and Taku Iwasa of Tozawa-juku. They would drop the belts to inaugural champions Speed Muscle - Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino - on September 26.

On December 28, he would be without a unit after he, Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka lost a Unit Split Survival Three-Way Six-Man Tag Match to teams from WORLD-1 and Real Hazard, ending Typhoon. He continued to team with Susumu, and also made attempts to form his own unit. On February 15, 2009, he ended up joining a unit instead, turning heel and aligning with Real Hazard after turning on Susumu during an attempt on the Open the Twin Gate titles held by 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:...

 and 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:...

.

Upon joining Real Hazard he reformed his tag team with Genki Horiguchi, and 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...

 on May 5, 2009 in a Three-Way Match, which included Real Hazard stablemates Keni'chiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda. On June 26, when YAMATO defected from Real Hazard, he assumed the leadership role in the stable. His title reign with Horiguchi ended on September 17, when they lost the belts to Shingo Takagi & YAMATO. On December 3, Susumu Yokosuka turned heel and joined Real Hazard, and they reformed their team, but their reunion plans were quickly derailed when Saito sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon, sidelining him. On February 27, 2010, Genki Horiguchi joined up with the WARRIORS stable after leaving Real Hazard two weeks earlier, and as a condition of him joining, Saito was brought out of Real Hazard and into WARRIORS.

Saito 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 group. On January 18 the new group was named Blood Warriors. On February 6, 2011, Saito and his Blood Warriors stablemate Genki Horiguchi defeated 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...

 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.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
  • Double Cross (Straight jacket piledriver)
  • Premium Bridge (Bridging wrist–lock dragon suplex)

  • Signature moves
  • Bridging dragon suplex
  • Dancing Yahoo (Hammerlock single leg Boston crab)
  • Diving splash
  • Fisherman Express (Rolling fisherman suplexes followed into either a fisherman buster or a spinebuster)
  • Frankensteiner
  • German suplex, sometimes from a pop-up
  • Messenger's Delivery (Modified inside cradle)
  • Overhead belly-to-belly suplex
  • Shrimp (Fisherman suplex lift into a spinebuster or powerbomb
    Powerbomb
    A 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...

    )
  • Top-rope fisherman buster

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,...

  • Open the Dream Gate Championship
    Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate Championship
    The Open the Dream Gate Championship is the top professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. The wrestler who holds it is considered the top singles wrestler in Dragon Gate. It was created on July 4, 2004 when CIMA was awarded the title as a result of being the last Último Dragón...

     (1 time)
  • 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
    Dragon Kid
    Dragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...

     and Genki Horiguchi
    Genki Horiguchi
    , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently a full time wrestler and booker for Dragon Gate, where he is currently a member of the Blood Warriors stable. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor....

     (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 Susumu Yokosuka
    Susumu Mochizuki
    Susumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...

     (2)
  • I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Susumu Yokosuka
    Susumu Mochizuki
    Susumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...

  • 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...

     (3 times) – with Susumu Yokosuka
    Susumu Mochizuki
    Susumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...

     (1) and Genki Horiguchi
    Genki Horiguchi
    , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently a full time wrestler and booker for Dragon Gate, where he is currently a member of the Blood Warriors stable. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor....

     (2)
  • King of Gate
    King of Gate
    King of Gate is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling singles tournament held in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It is the successor to El Numero Uno, previously held in Dragon Gate and Toryumon, although Uno was a round-robin tournament, as opposed to the single-elimination...

     (2005)

  • Toryumon Japan
  • 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...

     (1 time)
  • 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....

     (2 times) – with Magnum Tokyo and Dragon Kid (1) and Susumu Yokosuka and Genki Horiguchi
    Genki Horiguchi
    , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently a full time wrestler and booker for Dragon Gate, where he is currently a member of the Blood Warriors stable. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor....

     (1)

  • westside Xtreme wrestling
  • Golden Pineapple Tournament (2007) – with 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...


  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 5 Star Match (2006)
  • Match of the Year (2006)

External links

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