Taku Iwasa
Encyclopedia
Taku Iwasa is a Japanese
professional wrestler
who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate
.
Following this, he joined forces with Raimu Mishima, who had been exiled from M2K for losing too many matches and general weakness. They petitioned to form their own unit, but were unable to do so. They then left for America to undergo "Warrior Training".
The Florida Brothers were a comedy team. Their routine involved spoof
ing American southern style wrestling, and winning matches by DQ. Iwasa carried a folding chair painted in a stars and stripes pattern to the ring, and the Floridas would throw the chair to their opponents, then fake having been hit with it. The referee would then DQ their opponents, and the Floridas would leap to their feet and put their hands over their hearts as The USA Nation Anthem played. Later, they would add Takayuki Yagi
to their shtick. Yagi portrayed a partial referee, dressing in an American Flag motif shirt and wearing oversized sunglasses that he required to see.
Kensuke Sasaki
joined the Floridas as a part time member after losing to them via DQ, and called himself Kenskee whenever he teamed with them.
The Florida Brothers gimmick had run its course in 2006, and Iwasa and Mishima put the gimmick on the line in a match against Stalker Ichikawa. Ichikawa won the match. Iwasa and Mishima went their separate ways. Mishima would leave the company very shortly after, while Iwasa joined the cram school stable Tozawa-juku.
had earlier announced his intention to open a cram school based stable, Tozawa-juku, for wrestlers to get polish and become men. Iwasa was one of his first recruits.
The character change greatly improved Iwasa's rank within Dragon Gate. Instead of returning to the submission style he used as Takamichi Iwasa, he became a power wrestler and renamed himself Taku Iwasa. Later, when Keni'chiro Arai
joined Tozawa-juku, he and Iwasa began teaming regularly. The two managed to win the WAR I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Titles on September 22, 2007 from Ryo Saito
& Susumu Yokosuka, but lost them on October 12 to Naruki Doi
& Masato Yoshino
in a match that was also to determine the inaugural Open the Twin Gate
Champions. On February 8, 2008, Iwasa & Arai would beat Doi & Yoshino for the Open the Twin Gate Titles, and they successfully defended them twice before losing them to Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka on May 5. He would find championship success again the following month, when he, Arai, and newest member Shinobu defeated Shingo Takagi
, YAMATO
and Gamma on June 28 to capture the latter trio's Open the Triangle Gate
Titles. However, they lost the titles in their first defense the month after that, to Yasushi Kanda, YAMATO and Gamma.
On November 16, Tozawa selected him and Arai to challenge Masaaki Mochizuki
, Don Fujii
& Magnitude Kishiwada
for the Open the Triangle Gate titles, but agreed with the champions to end Tozawa-juku if they failed to beat them. Mochizuki and company got the win, bringing about the end of the unit, and he and the other stablemates were given a graduation ceremony.
During this rivalry, he and Tozawa started teaming with Shingo Takagi
in the weeks following the unit's demise, and on December 19, he agreed to the formation of a new unit with Tozawa and Takagi. On December 28, he fought Mochizuki for a second time, but lost to him again. Then, later in the night, when Naruki Doi won the Open the Dream Gate Title from Takagi on December 28, Iwasa came to him demanding a title shot, but was initially turned down because, according to Doi, he had not won anything in singles competition. However, on January 11, 2009, Iwasa was given the title shot for February 8, and the unit he was in was finally given a name: KAMIKAZE. Despite a valiant effort against Doi, he was not able to win the Dream Gate from him, but a week later, he, Shingo Takagi & Dragon Kid would win the Open the Triangle Gate titles from Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Magnitude Kishiwada, where he pinned Mochizuki, gaining a measure of revenge on him. He, Takagi, and Dragon Kid would lose the titles to CIMA, Gamma & KAGETORA on April 15.
In mid-2009, Iwasa abruptly announced his retirement. His stablemates protested and Iwasa relented, but still decided to take an undisclosed amount of time off to heal. He has not set a timetable for his return. He made a one shot appearance in May 2010 where he appealed to Takagi to not secede from KAMIKAZE and helped the various members of the stable reconcile their differences.
On March 1, 2011, Iwasa announced that he would be making a return from his 18 month hiatus on March 20, which was later postponed to April 12. In his return match Iwasa and Cyber Kong
were defeated by Don Fujii and Super Shisa
. In May, Takagi disbanded KAMIKAZE.
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
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...
who currently wrestles 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,...
.
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 scouted by the famous Crazy MAX stable, and they gave him a ten match trial series. CMAX was never truly interested in Iwasa, though, and he lost all 10 matches.Following this, he joined forces with Raimu Mishima, who had been exiled from M2K for losing too many matches and general weakness. They petitioned to form their own unit, but were unable to do so. They then left for America to undergo "Warrior Training".
The Florida Brothers
Upon returning to Toryumon, Iwasa and Mishima proclaimed themselves to be Americans. They changed their first names to Michael and Daniel respectively.The Florida Brothers were a comedy team. Their routine involved spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
ing American southern style wrestling, and winning matches by DQ. Iwasa carried a folding chair painted in a stars and stripes pattern to the ring, and the Floridas would throw the chair to their opponents, then fake having been hit with it. The referee would then DQ their opponents, and the Floridas would leap to their feet and put their hands over their hearts as The USA Nation Anthem played. Later, they would add Takayuki Yagi
Takayuki Yagi
-Wrestler:Yagi joined the Toryumon system as a part of the T2P class. He started his career under his real name, and his initial gimmick was that of a fisherman who carried a large flag with a sea-oriented design to the ring...
to their shtick. Yagi portrayed a partial referee, dressing in an American Flag motif shirt and wearing oversized sunglasses that he required to see.
Kensuke Sasaki
Kensuke Sasaki
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for various promotions through his own agency, Kensuke Office. He is the first of two men ever to hold all 3 of puroresu's major heavyweight titles , the other being Yoshihiro Takayama.-Early years :Kensuke Sasaki...
joined the Floridas as a part time member after losing to them via DQ, and called himself Kenskee whenever he teamed with them.
The Florida Brothers gimmick had run its course in 2006, and Iwasa and Mishima put the gimmick on the line in a match against Stalker Ichikawa. Ichikawa won the match. Iwasa and Mishima went their separate ways. Mishima would leave the company very shortly after, while Iwasa joined the cram school stable Tozawa-juku.
Tozawa-juku
Akira TozawaAkira Tozawa
, is a Japanese professional wrestler, mainly performing for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one half of the Open the Twin Gate Champions...
had earlier announced his intention to open a cram school based stable, Tozawa-juku, for wrestlers to get polish and become men. Iwasa was one of his first recruits.
The character change greatly improved Iwasa's rank within Dragon Gate. Instead of returning to the submission style he used as Takamichi Iwasa, he became a power wrestler and renamed himself Taku Iwasa. Later, when 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...
joined Tozawa-juku, he and Iwasa began teaming regularly. The two managed to win the WAR I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Titles on September 22, 2007 from 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:...
& Susumu Yokosuka, but lost them on October 12 to 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:...
in a match that was also to determine the inaugural Open the Twin Gate
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...
Champions. On February 8, 2008, Iwasa & Arai would beat Doi & Yoshino for the Open the Twin Gate Titles, and they successfully defended them twice before losing them to Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka on May 5. He would find championship success again the following month, when he, Arai, and newest member Shinobu defeated Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi is a former Japanese bodybuilder, turned professional wrestler. Shingo is currently competing for the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate and American promotion Dragon Gate USA...
, 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 Gamma on June 28 to capture the latter trio's Open the Triangle Gate
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 &...
Titles. However, they lost the titles in their first defense the month after that, to Yasushi Kanda, YAMATO and Gamma.
On November 16, Tozawa selected him and Arai to challenge 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...
, 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...
& Magnitude Kishiwada
Magnitude Kishiwada
, better known under his current stage name Magnitude Kishiwada is a Japanese wrestler.-Career:...
for the Open the Triangle Gate titles, but agreed with the champions to end Tozawa-juku if they failed to beat them. Mochizuki and company got the win, bringing about the end of the unit, and he and the other stablemates were given a graduation ceremony.
KAMIKAZE
Iwasa began a rivalry with Masaaki Mochizuki after swearing revenge on him for causing the end of Tozawa-juku. They faced off in a second round match in the King of Gate Tournament in December, where Mochizuki had promised that he would show Iwasa's one "fundamental flaw." Mochizuki won, and afterwards, he told Iwasa that his "fundamental flaw" was that he had been a tag team wrestler for so long that he had forgotten how to wrestle on his own, and would have to re-learn how.During this rivalry, he and Tozawa started teaming with Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi is a former Japanese bodybuilder, turned professional wrestler. Shingo is currently competing for the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate and American promotion Dragon Gate USA...
in the weeks following the unit's demise, and on December 19, he agreed to the formation of a new unit with Tozawa and Takagi. On December 28, he fought Mochizuki for a second time, but lost to him again. Then, later in the night, when Naruki Doi won the Open the Dream Gate Title from Takagi on December 28, Iwasa came to him demanding a title shot, but was initially turned down because, according to Doi, he had not won anything in singles competition. However, on January 11, 2009, Iwasa was given the title shot for February 8, and the unit he was in was finally given a name: KAMIKAZE. Despite a valiant effort against Doi, he was not able to win the Dream Gate from him, but a week later, he, Shingo Takagi & Dragon Kid would win the Open the Triangle Gate titles from Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Magnitude Kishiwada, where he pinned Mochizuki, gaining a measure of revenge on him. He, Takagi, and Dragon Kid would lose the titles to CIMA, Gamma & KAGETORA on April 15.
In mid-2009, Iwasa abruptly announced his retirement. His stablemates protested and Iwasa relented, but still decided to take an undisclosed amount of time off to heal. He has not set a timetable for his return. He made a one shot appearance in May 2010 where he appealed to Takagi to not secede from KAMIKAZE and helped the various members of the stable reconcile their differences.
On March 1, 2011, Iwasa announced that he would be making a return from his 18 month hiatus on March 20, which was later postponed to April 12. In his return match Iwasa 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:...
were defeated by Don Fujii and Super Shisa
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...
. In May, Takagi disbanded KAMIKAZE.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Noshigami (Gory bomb)
- Signature moves
- Kegon (Fisherman buster with the opponent's free leg wrapped around Iwasa's neck)
- Gouwan (Crooked arm lariat)
- Jigokuguruma (Wrist-clutch implant DDT)
- Kuroneko (Leg trap backslide)
- Kiseki (Gory special transitioned into a backslide)
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 I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Keni'chiro AraiKeni'chiro AraiKeni'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...
- 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 &...
(2 times) - with Keni'chiro Arai and Shinobu (1), and Shingo TakagiShingo TakagiShingo Takagi is a former Japanese bodybuilder, turned professional wrestler. Shingo is currently competing for the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate and American promotion Dragon Gate USA...
and Dragon KidDragon KidDragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...
(1) - Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate ChampionshipDragon 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) - with Keni'chiro Arai
- Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Keni'chiro Arai