Katsuya Kitamura

Katsuya Kitamura
Born (1985-12-14) 14 December 1985[1][2]
Suginami, Tokyo, Japan[1][2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Katsuya Kitamura[1][2]
Billed height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1][2]
Billed weight 120 kg (265 lb)[1][2]
Trained by NJPW Dojo
Debut March 13, 2017[1][2]

Katsuya Kitamura (北村 克哉, Kitamura Katsuya, born December 14, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler trained by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the winner of the 2017 Young Lion Cup.[3]

Amateur wrestling career

Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Kitamura was a highly accomplished amateur wrestler, known for being one of the largest wrestlers in all of Japan. Because of his size and physique, he earned the nickname "Wrestling Monster".[4] He attended Senshu University, where he was a part of their wrestling team. In 2006, he won the All Japan Wrestling Championship in the 120 kg category, and later on in the same year represented Japan in the World Championships.[5] Throughout his amateur career, Kitamura would go on to win three national championships and represent Japan on a global level twice. As well as amateur wrestling, Kitamura took part in the 2015 Ganryū-jima fighting tournament, where he defeated a Mongolian Sumo wrestler.[6]

Steroids and ban

On June 13, 2011, Kitamura was banned from amateur wrestling for two years after testing positive for anabolic steroids, specifically, the illegal muscle building drug drostanolone. Kitamura was being tipped as a possible member of Japan's Olympic wrestling team for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but the ban ruled him out of participation. He did not appeal against the ban, but said that he "took them by accident after buying some supplements from abroad".[7]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015–2018)

Kitamura began training in the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) dojo in 2015. His first match in NJPW was not a traditional professional wrestling match, but rather a dark amateur wrestling exhibition at Lion's Gate Project 1, where he wrestled fellow trainee Tomoyuki Oka to a time limit draw.[8]

After undergoing further training, Kitamura wrestled his first ever professional match on September 1, 2016, at Lion's Gate Project 3, another dark match where he and Oka once again wrestled to a draw.[9] On March 13, 2017, he made his televised debut, teaming with Oka in a loss to the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).[9] The following day, Kitamura teamed with Katsuyori Shibata and Yuji Nagata in a loss to TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan) and Juice Robinson.[10] The day after that, he once again lost to Tonga and Loa, this time teaming with Nagata.[11]

On June 24, 2017, three months after his debut, Kitamura won the first match in his career when he teamed with Tomoyuki Oka to defeat Manabu Nakanishi and Tetsuhiro Yagi in a tag match. Kitamura and Oka continued teaming regularly, eventually dubbing their team "Monster Rage".[12] At the end of 2017, Kitamura took part in two tournaments held by NJPW; the 2017 World Tag League and the 2017 Young Lion Cup. In the World Tag League, Kitamura and fellow young lion David Finlay finished last in their block after losing all seven of their matches.[13] Meanwhile, in the Young Lion Cup, Kitamura emerged victorious after winning all five of his matches.[14] On January 5th at New Year's Dash, Katsuya began a Seven Trial series of matches where he would face seven different wrestlers. He lost his first of seven matches to Jay White at New Year Dash. At the New Beginning in Saporro he lost his second match of seven to Michael Elgin and his third the following day to Juice Robinson. At the Road to The New Beginning event from Korakuen Hall he lost his fourth match against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and the fifth against Manabu Nakanishi. At The New Beginning in Osaka on February 10, he lost match #6 against Yuji Nagata. At The New Beginning in Hiroshima he was scheuled to face Manabu Nakanishi, but he suffered a cerebral concussion. It was reported that the severity of the injury may force him to retire.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Katsuya Kitamura". Sp.njpw.jp. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Katsuya Kitamura – 北村克哉 - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Katsuya Kitamura Wins the NJPW Young Lion Cup 2017". Wrestling Culture. December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ "NJPW's powerful Young Lion Katsuya Kitamura debuts tonight! Tagging with Oka, he faces the deadly G.O.D.!". 13 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "NJPW's powerful Young Lion Katsuya Kitamura debuts tonight! Tagging with Oka, he faces the deadly G.O.D.!". 13 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "NJPW's powerful Young Lion Katsuya Kitamura debuts tonight! Tagging with Oka, he faces the deadly G.O.D.!". 13 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Doping-Japanese wrestler banned for steroid use". 13 June 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017 – via Reuters.
  8. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW Lion's Gate Project1 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW Lion's Gate Project3 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW New Japan Cup 2017 - Tag 4 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  11. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NJPW New Japan Cup 2017 - Tag 5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "ローソンチケット Presents G1 Climax 27". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Lion's Gate Project10". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 21, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.