From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hirooki Goto (後藤洋央紀 Gotō Hirooki, born June 25, 1979 in ) is a
. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for , where he is currently in his
as the , while also being a former
, one-time winner of the
(), two-time winner of the
( and ) and three-time winner of the
Goto attended Kuwana Kogyo High School in , where he was classmates with . Goto later attended , where he took part in
Upon graduating, Goto qualified to join
(NJPW), but left the promotion after incurring a shoulder injury. He returned to NJPW in November 2002 after healing and began training in the NJPW dojo. He debuted on July 6, 2003, in , wrestling . The two men competed in the , and teamed together the same year to try to take the vacant
in a tournament, but were defeated in the final by veterans
In early 2005, he won the NJPW , defeating Hiroyuki Itō in the tournament final. After
and joining 's "Control Terrorism Unit" ("C.T.U.") , Goto adopted the
"C.T.U Ranger Red". He won his first
on May 15, 2005, teaming with
for the . The duo held the titles for nine months, losing to
and Ryusuke Taguchi on February 19, 2006 in Tokyo.
In 2006, Goto joined the American
as a member of
(consisting of CTU members Goto, Jyushin Thunder Liger,
and Minoru), one of the four teams competing in the . He debuted in TNA on April 23, 2006 at , where he teamed with Black Tiger and Minoru against
and . Team Japan defeated USA when Black Tiger pinned Lethal. On the April 27, 2006, episode of , Goto and Minoru lost to Dutt and Shelley, giving a first round victory and two points to Team USA. On May 14, 2006 at , Goto and the other members of Team Japan accompanied Liger to ringside, assisting him in his victory over Team Canada captain . Later that night, all four members of Team Japan took part in a
that was won by Team Canada captain Petey Williams. The 2006 World X Cup was won by Team USA (with five points), with Team Japan coming last with three points.
On August 1, 2006, Goto left for a lengthy learning excursion to Mexico after losing in a farewell match at the CTU 2nd Anniversary Show. While in Mexico he wrestled primarily for
and for 's . During his time in Mexico he formed a rudo unit
In August 2007, Goto returned to New Japan after his almost one-year stay in Mexico. Upon his return, the now much more muscular Goto graduated from a Jr. heavyweight to a Heavyweight. Goto showed a great deal of promise and skill since last seen in July 2006. He showcased whole new moveset and he quickly tried to establish himself as one of the top Heavyweights in New Japan. Not that far into his return Goto join the Stable "" with , ,
and fellow former CTU team mates Minoru, , and . On November 11, he challenged
for the , but after a long and hard fought match, Tanahashi would win with the Texas Cloverleaf. Shortly after that Goto entered the
with Milano Collection AT, but the pair would finish in third place.
In 2008 Goto wrestled one of his childhood idols,
at New Japan's annual . Although having a good showing, Goto would fall to Muta.
Goto's progress was good through 2008, as he joined Shinsuke Nakamura's
faction. But a surprise victory in New Japan's prestigious G1 Climax in August surpassed everyone's expectations. Goto earned 8 points in Block B, tied for first with Nakamura, but he advanced to the final due to a direct win over the former IWGP champion and RISE leader. Meeting
in the final, Goto overcame outside interference and blood loss to defeat the leader of the
(G.B.H.) faction, pinning him with the Shouten.
In March 2009 Goto defeated , Shinsuke Nakamura,
and Giant Bernard to win the
and earn a shot at Hiroshi Tanahashi's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3, 2009, at , Tanahashi defeated Goto to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
On January 4, 2010, at ,
successfully defended his
against Goto. In March, Goto defeated ,
and Togi Makabe to win the
for the second year in a row. Goto went on to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on April 4, but would once again fail in his attempt to win the title. On June 28, 2010, Goto, teaming up with Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi entered the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament. Two days later the trio defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi,
in the finals to win the tournament. During August's
Goto debuted a new finishing maneuver, a
, which earned him pinfall victories over former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Yuji Nagata and Shinsuke Nakamura, but a loss to eventual G1 winner
on the final day of the tournament dropped him fourth in his block, narrowly missing the finals. On October 11 Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to earn the right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. However, the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima vetoed the result of the match and named Nakamura his first challenger for the belt. On December 11, while Kojima successfully defended his title against Nakamura, Goto was derailed from his quest to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with a loss against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The following day Kojima defeated Goto in a non–title match, ending Goto's dream of main eventing . Instead, Goto teamed with the returning
in a tag team match, where they were defeated by
representatives
and . On March 6 Goto began his quest to win his third
in a row, but was defeated in the first round by Shinsuke Nakamura. On March 20, the final day of the tournament, Goto turned heel by abandoning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi during a tag team match against Satoshi Kojima and . This marked Goto's final appearance for New Japan, before leaving for his second excursion to Mexico.
Goto in June 2011
Goto made his return to CMLL on March 25 and would, for the next month, work for the promotion as a heel, culminating in a match on April 29 at 's 55th anniversary show, where he unsuccessfully challenged
in a . Goto returned to New Japan on May 3, when he teamed with Tama Tonga to defeat Takashi Sugiura and
in a tag team match. Later in the event, Goto attacked and declared a war on Hiroshi Tanahashi after he had successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Goto would once again fail in his IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge on June 18, 2011. After the match, Goto and Tanahashi seemingly made peace with each other, with Tanahashi suggesting that they go for the
together. On June 23, Goto, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi won their second J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in a row by defeating the team of Giant Bernard, Jyushin Thunder Liger and Karl Anderson in the finals of the three-day-long tournament. On July 3 Goto and Tanahashi failed in their attempt to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson. On August 1, Goto entered the , where he went on to win six out of his nine matches, but a loss to
on the final day of the tournament dropped him to second place in his block, causing him to narrowly miss the finals of the tournament. In the , Goto teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi as "The Billion Powers". After picking up two wins and two losses in their first four matches in the group stage of the tournament, Goto and Tanahashi defeated the Beast Combination (Satoshi Kojima and Togi Makabe) on November 4 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On November 6, Goto and Tanahashi were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by . On November 12 at , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Masato Tanaka for the . On January 4, 2012, at , Goto reignited his rivalry with Pro Wrestling Noah's Takashi Sugiura, defeating him in a singles match.
On February 12 at , Goto defeated Masato Tanaka to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the first time. Goto made his first title defense on March 11, defeating Yujiro Takahashi. On April 1, Goto entered the . After victories over Yujiro Takahashi,
and Togi Makabe, Goto defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi on April 8 in the finals to win the tournament for the third time and earn another shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3 at , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 20, Goto made his second successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against . On July 22, Goto lost the title to Shinsuke Nakamura in his third defense. On October 8 at , Goto received a rematch for the title, but was again defeated by Nakamura. On November 11 at , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the . From November 20 to December 1, Goto took part in the round-robin portion of the , alongside Karl Anderson under the team name "Sword & Guns". The team finished with a record of four wins and two losses, finishing second in their block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 2, Goto and Anderson defeated
( and Satoshi Kojima) to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they defeated the reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions,
( and ), to win the tournament. Sword & Guns received their shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2013, at , but were defeated in a rematch by K.E.S.
In February 2013, Goto made a challenge towards former high school classmate Katsuyori Shibata, which led to a tag team match on February 10, where he and Wataru Inoue were defeated by Shibata and . Afterwards, Goto and Shibata had a heated confrontation, building to a future singles match between the two. In March, Goto once again made it to the finals of the , before losing to Kazuchika Okada. Goto and Shibata finally faced off in a singles match on May 3 at , which ended in a draw. A rematch between the two took place on June 22 at , where Shibata was victorious. A third match between the two on July 20 ended in another draw. During early August, Goto participated in the . On August 8, however, it was revealed that Goto had suffered a fractured jaw and was pulled from the tournament. He was leading the A block with four wins (which included a big win over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada) and two losses and had three matches left when he was pulled from the G1.
Goto in July 2015
Goto returned on December 8, challenging Katsuyori Shibata to a match at . On January 4, 2014, Goto defeated Shibata in his return match. The match ended the rivalry between Goto and Shibata and led to the two forming a tag team. The following day, Goto scored the pinfall in an eight-man tag team main event against , after which he challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On February 11 at , Goto received his seventh shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but was yet again unsuccessful in capturing the title. Afterwards, Goto and Shibata entered the IWGP Tag Team Championship picture, defeating the reigning champions,
( and Karl Anderson), in a non-title match at New Japan's 42nd anniversary event on March 6. They received their title shot on April 6 at , but were defeated by Gallows and Anderson. From July 21 to August 8, Goto took part in the , where he finished with a record of four wins and six losses. During the tournament final event on August 10, Goto and Shibata faced off in another singles match, where Shibata was victorious. Goto then entered a storyline, where he started leading a counterattack against the Bullet Club and Chaos stables, with the goal of revitalizing the New Japan Seikigun ("regular army"), which he represented alongside the likes of Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi. On November 8 at , Goto received his first shot at the , but was defeated by the defending champion, Tomohiro Ishii. Later in the month, Goto and Shibata entered the , where they opened with a three match losing streak, only to come back and win their four remaining matches, winning their block and advancing to the finals. On December 7, Goto and Shibata defeated Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in the finals to win the 2014 World Tag League. This led to a rematch between the two teams on January 4, 2015, at , where Goto and Shibata defeated Anderson and Gallows to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. Goto and Shibata's reign ended in their first defense on February 11 at , where they were defeated by Anderson and Gallows.
On March 8, Goto and Shibata once again faced off in the second round of the
in a match, where Goto was victorious. Goto eventually made it to the finals of the tournament on March 15, where he was defeated by . On May 3 at , Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the second time. Goto made his first title defense on July 5 at , defeating Nakamura in a rematch. From July 23 to August 15, Goto took part in the . After six victories, one of which came over reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Goto entered the final day with a chance to advance from his block, but was eliminated after suffering his third loss of the tournament against Yuji Nagata. Through NJPW's working relationship with the
(ROH) promotion, Goto returned to the United States on August 21, teaming with
in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Okada,
and . Goto's Intercontinental Championship reign ended on September 27 at , when he was defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura in another title rematch.
Goto in February 2016
After defeating
on January 4, 2016, at , Goto received his eighth shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but yet again failed to win the title, being defeated by the defending champion, Kazuchika Okada, on February 11 at . Goto went into the match with new attire, painting his body white and covering himself with script. Following the match, Okada offered Goto a spot in the Chaos stable. Over the next several events, Okada tried to shake hands with Goto and get him to join Chaos on multiple occasions, but was turned down each time. In March, Goto made it to the finals of the , but was defeated there by Tetsuya Naito. After the final match, Goto finally agreed to shake hands with Okada, after he saved him from a post-match assault by Naito and his
stable, and joined Chaos. From July 18 to August 12, Goto took part in the round-robin portion of the , where he won his block, besting both Hiroshi Tanahashi and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, with a record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On August 14, Goto was defeated in the finals by . At the end of the year, Goto took part in the , teaming with Chaos stablemate Tomohiro Ishii. The two finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals due to losing to block winners Togi Makabe and
in their final round-robin match.
On January 4, 2017, at , Goto defeated
to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the first time. Goto made his first successful title defense on February 5 at
against . His second defense took place at the NJPW and ROH co-produced
event, where he defeated ROH wrestler . On April 9 at , Goto made his third successful defense against , despite outside interference from Sabre's
stablemates
and . Afterwards, Goto brawled with Suzuki, setting up his next title defense. On April 27, Goto lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Suzuki. On June 11 at , he failed to reclaim the title in a rematch against Suzuki in a Lumberjack Deathmatch. The following month, Goto entered the , where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses, failing to advance from his block. At the end of the year, Goto teamed with
in the . Finishing with a record of four wins and three losses, the team failed to qualify for the finals, after losing to
in their final round-robin match. On January 4, 2018, Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki in a
to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, forcing Suzuki to have his head shaved bald. Then the next night at New Year's Dash, he was challenged to a title match by , which he accepted. He then went on to defeat him at
to make his first successful title defense of the NEVER Openweight Title. Then, 13 days later, he went on to make his second successful title defense against
wrestler, Beer City Bruiser.
Goto made his acting debut in 2016 with a cameo appearance as a gangster in the Indonesian action film .
Goto performing the GTR on
Finishing moves
Goto Shiki ( ) – 2010–present, used rarely
Goto Ni Shiki () – 2016
into a ) – 2016–present
Jigoku Kuruma / Go to Heaven () –
Kaiten ( ) –
Shouten () –
Shouten Kai () – , used rarely thereafter
Shoryu Kekkai ()
Signature moves
, sometimes to the back of an opponent's head
Headshot ( )
Muramasa ( to a cornered opponent)
Reverse Ushigoroshi ( dropped into a )
to the chest of a kneeling or oncoming opponent
Tokko Lariat ( )
into a ) – 2017–present
Ura Shouten ( or an
lifted and spun out into a
) – Innovated
Ushigoroshi ()
floated over into a
Double-team finishing moves
Gattai Reverse Ushigoroshi ( by Goto into a
by Shibata)
Double-team finishing moves
"Aramusha"
"Shin Nihon Puroresu Aramusha" ( for "Fierce Warrior of New Japan Pro-Wrestling")
"Konton no Aramusha" (Japanese for "Fierce Warrior of Chaos")
"Rock Me Wild" by Yonosuke Kitamura ()
"Hadou" by Kazsin (2012–present)
"Hadou (Long Prologue Ver.)" by Kazsin
Goto in August 2015, during his second reign as the
Goto in February 2017, during his first reign as the
() – with
() – with
() – with
() – with Katsuyori Shibata
J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament () – with
Samurai! TV Openweight Tag Tournament (2005) – with
Jr. Heavyweight Tag MVP Award (2005) with Minoru
PWI ranked him #35 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the
Yamaha Cup (2007)
Winner (wager)
Loser (wager)
Hirooki Goto (hair)
January 4, 2018
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