1. Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah.
23 Facts About Takashi Sugiura
1. 2.
Takashi Sugiura has competed in mixed martial arts with a notable victory over Giant Silva.
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Takashi Sugiura wrestled as a junior heavyweight in his earlier pro career and is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion.
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Takashi Sugiura moved up to heavyweight and became the second longest reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion, having held the title for 581 days between December 2009 and July 2011.
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Takashi Sugiura was an accomplished judoka in high school and narrowly missed the cut representing Japan at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
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Takashi Sugiura then became a self-defense instructor and was recruited to the All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo by Tamon Honda, who oversaw all of Sugiura's training.
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Takashi Sugiura made his debut on December 23,2000, when he partnered Masao Inoue and Takeshi Rikio in a tag team match against Takeshi Morishima, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Kentaro Shiga.
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Takashi Sugiura owns the distinction of being the only wrestler in Pro Wrestling Noah to have been a double champion on two separate occasions.
9.
On December 6,2009, Takashi Sugiura pinned Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
10.
On January 4,2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Takashi Sugiura successfully defended the title against Hirooki Goto.
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Takashi Sugiura returned to New Japan on January 4,2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, where he and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match.
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On May 15,2011, Takashi Sugiura defeated Claudio Castagnoli in Oberhausen, Germany to make his fourteenth successful GHC Heavyweight Championship defense, breaking the record for most defenses, set by Kenta Kobashi.
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On January 4,2012, Takashi Sugiura returned to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he was defeated by Hirooki Goto.
14.
On December 23,2015, Takashi Sugiura turned on Noah and joined the villainous Suzuki-gun stable.
15.
In January 2017, Takashi Sugiura formed an alliance with Kaito Kiyomiya, almost serving as a mentor.
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Takashi Sugiura then participated in the 2018 Global League, where he finished with a record of four wins and three losses, including one to eventual tournament winner Kaito Kiyomiya.
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Takashi Sugiura participated in the 2019 Global Tag League, teaming with Kazma Sakamoto where they went on to win the tournament.
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Takashi Sugiura dabbled in mixed martial arts, given his amateur background.
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Takashi Sugiura's first fight was against the Brazilian rookie Daniel Gracie, which saw Takashi giving a strong impression.
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Takashi Sugiura eventually tossed Gracie to the ground with an amateur throw and held top position over the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist.
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Takashi Sugiura's second fight was against another pro wrestler, Giant Silva, who had a 160lbs weight advantage over him.
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However, Takashi Sugiura dominated the bout, taking him down and throwing knee strikes until the referee brought the stoppage.
23.
Takashi Sugiura participated in the Pancrase Heavyweight Championship Tournament but was eliminated by Ryuta Noji.