There are plenty of promotions in Japan. Just like in the United States and the United Kingdom where people go straight to the bigger promotions. Some have their beginnings in something rather smaller promotions and there is one who has wrestled for four years. It is already considered for greatness. We are talking about the Master of Suplex himself, Shotaro Ashino.
Shotaro was born on May 25th, 1990, in Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In 2014, he graduated from the Nippon Sports Science University. He was even recommended to go to wrestling school by Hiroshi Hase.
Ashino would take his offer and wrestle at the Wrestle-1 Dojo. He would be trained by legends such as the companies president, Kaz Hayashi. Wrestle-1’s founder, Keiji Mutoh or Great Muta for some other people.
He would only be trained at the dojo for about six months until he made his debut as a rookie where he won his first match on February 13th, 2015 against Kumagoro.
His first rivalry wouldn’t take place until September 22nd, 2015. There he would team up with Hiroki Murase as they would take on Shuji Kondo and Kaz Hayashi, who was known as Team 246. Team 246 won the first match and they would have a rematch on October 9th.
There where Shuji would betray Kaz in the match to give Shotaro the victory. He was later on joined by Masayuki Kono. They would then be known as the unit, TriggeR, and talked about how their goal would be to reshape Wrestle-1.
Shotaro Ashino –
The Modern-Day Master of the Suplex
In 2016, however, he wouldn’t be able to have much success in Wrestle-1. However, he would fail to capture the UWA World Trios Championship as the first disappointment during their units run.
On June 8th, 2016, he would go for the Wrestle-1 Championship against KAI but would come short-handed once again. More bad news would come when he fought Shuji Kondo during the W-1 on July 1st as the match.
It didn’t last long when he suffered an injury on his leg. The injury didn’t turn out to be as serious. He would make his return on November 11th and would defeat NEWERA, leading to having a small rivalry with Jiro Kuroshio and even defeated him in the process.
2017 would start looking much brighter for Shotaro. He challenged Kono for the Wrestle-1 Championship, and he would fight him on March 23rd. Then, he would win his first championship after being with the company for two years.
He would then be challenged by Shuji Kondo, who was his fellow TriggeR stablemate, and Shuji would not only defeat Shuji, but would leave his own faction right after.
He later declared that he would no longer align himself with weak people and on August 11th, he formed a new stable with Yusuke Kodama and Seigo Tachibana as they would now be known as Enfants Terribles.
While he was Wrestle-1 Champion, they would even capture the UUWA World Trios Championship this time around on October 21st when they defeated NEWERA to win them. While the UWA reign was short-lived, Shotaro was proving he was the future ace of the company and breaking records for the short time he was there.
Top 500 Wrestlers of 2017
His first title reign was so successful that PWI ranked him in the Top 500 Wrestlers of 2017 at #299. He was also known as the longest reigning Wrestle-1 Champion and even holds the record for most title defenses for a total of seven before he dropped in on March 14h, 2018, to Manabu Soya.
For 2017, he was also known as the companies wrestler of the year and even had match of the year with them when he defended his title against Jiro Kuroshio.
It even made it on my Top 25 list of 2017. Despite losing the title, he would eventually win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championships with their newest member, Kuma Arashi when they defeated Manabu Soya and AKIRA in revenge when Manabu took the title from him.
On July 18th, he would win the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix when he defeated Koji Doi and went to defeat Manabu on September 2nd to win back his Wrestle-1 Championship for the second time.
He lost the belt on January 5th, 2019, when he fought against STRONG HEARTS member T-Hawk, and Shotaro now seeks to try and climb back to the top to eventually get what is rightfully his.
Shotaro Ashino –
Technical Prowess
He was something that fans could get behind. He’s similar to that of WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. Then, he was with how technical he was in the ring. He can move quickly as well; he even does the Ankle Lock as his finisher. Ashino is also a big fan of Metallica, and his theme song is “Fuel for Fire” as well.
Below are some matches that you should check out for yourself. To see what the man is all about, his title defenses were very unique and, again, someone to keep an eye on. He recently said in an interview that he would like to wrestle in the United States, so I think we should make that happen since he would be a treat for the American fans.
Shotaro Ashino vs. T-Hawk
Shotaro Ashino vs. KAI
