      NJPW 1/4/02 Tokyo Dome COMPLETE Edition
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Title History:
IWGP Heavyweight Title (1):
Tournament History: None won.
Signature Moves:
- Knee strikes
Notes: A big amateur wrestling star at high school, he almost made it to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta ... Made his debut for New Japan on 11/1/96, against a man he would face under different circumstances years later, Yuji Nagata ... Began his slow ascent up the ranks, often opening shows and gaining knowledge from more experienced wrestlers ... Defeated junior heavyweight, Kendo Ka Shin, in the opening match of New Japan's Nagoya Dome show on 8/10/97 ... Was one of the wrestlers selected to face Riki Choshu in his retirement road at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4/98, and managed to take the legend almost 4 minutes before losing ... Teamed with the returning Yuji Nagata on the 8/8/98 Osaka Dome show, losing to Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi when Kojima lariated him for the victory ... Opened the 1/4/99 Tokyo Dome show, losing to Manabu Nakanishi, but taking the rising star over 11 minutes ... On the 4/10/99 Tokyo Dome show, he teamed with Kazuo Yamazaki to defeat BattlARTS' Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka ... Suffered a serious injury in May, 1999, that would keep him out for around three months ... Returned in style on the 8/28/99 show at Jingu Stadium, defeating former UFC fighter, Brian Johnston, in just 3:55 ... Teamed with top star, Kensuke Sasaki, on the G1 CLIMAX TAG LEAGUE 1999 tour, the duo only finishing with two wins ... Scored another big win as his ascent continued, defeating Sean McCully in 2:35 at the Tokyo Dome on 10/11/99 ... Lost to former UFC fighter, Kimo, by DQ on the 1/4/00 Tokyo Dome after an accidental vital part strike ... Decided to change his career course after this match, leaving New Japan and beginning a trek into the shoot fighting world that would skyrocket his career to new heights ... Debuted for MMA company PRIDE on 1/30/00, defeating Hans Nyman in the opening round of the PRIDE GP ... Scored the biggest win of his career on PRIDE's 5/1/00 Tokyo Dome show, defeating Mark Kerr via unanimous decision and advancing in the PRIDE GP ... Was forced to forfeit his semi final round match against Mark Coleman later that night, due to a leg injury ... Scored another big win on 8/27/00 at PRIDE 10, TKO'ing another pro wrestler, Ken Shamrock ... His next appearance was at PRIDE 12 on 12/23/00, where he defeated Gilbert Yvel by decision ... Made a triumphant return to New Japan at the Osaka Dome on 4/9/01, destroying Scott Norton in just 6:43 and winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title ... In a bloody and brutal war on 5/27/01 at PRIDE 14, he TKO'd Pro Wrestling NOAH's Yoshihiro Takayama ... Made his first defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Title on New Japan's 6/6/01 PPV, defeating the man he debuted against so long ago, Yuji Nagata, in an exciting battle ... His second defense was at the Sapporo Dome on 7/20/01 against a man who once made short work of him, Don Frye ... This time it was different as he used a front neck lock to choke out Frye and make his second defense of the title ... Suffered a major loss at K-1's 8/19/01 show, losing to Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic after just 39 seconds due to massive bleeding from his left eye, which caused a doctor stoppage ... Bounced back on 10/8/01 at the Tokyo Dome, TKO'ing the returning Kensuke Sasaki in 6:36 ... Was forced to vacate the IWGP Heavyweight Title in 12/01 after suffering a serious achilles tendon injury, which also kept him off Antonio Inoki's 12/31/01 super-show.
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