Shuji Kondo

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Shuji Kondo
Shuji Kondo.jpg
Kondo in 2010
Born (1978-01-21) January 21, 1978 (age 46)
Fuji, Shizuoka
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Shuji Kondo
Condotti Shuji
Dotti Shuji
Billed height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Billed weight 100 kg (220 lb)
Trained by Último Dragón
Skayde
Debut May 18, 2001

Shuji Kondo (近藤修司 Kondō Shūji?) is a Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played rugby. After starting his career in Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became one of the promotion's top junior heavyweights, winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice and the All Asia Tag Team Championship once. Upon leaving AJPW in 2013, Kondo joined Wrestle-1, where he became half of the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions. Kondo also works as a trainer for Wrestle-1.[1]

Career

Toryumon/Dragon Gate

Kondo was part of the T2P class in Toryumon. At first he was a face in the Toryumon Seikigun.

He would turn heel and join the Italian Connection, changing his name to Condotti Shuji, after the shopping district. One of his stablemates in the ItaCon was "brother" Yasshi, who has remained a firm ally of his ever since.

In 2003, the ItaCon was divided over the face/heel issue, with Kondo leading the heel side. He would lead the turn, briefly rename to Dotti Shuji, and soon after revert to his real name. He and Yasshi formed a group called Hagure Gundam (Rogue Corps in English) with fellow ItaCon member Shogo Takagi, and Toru Owashi. When Hagure Gundam was joined by Masaaki Mochizuki, it was renamed Aagan Iisou. Mochizuki would later be kicked out of the stable after he and Kondo feuded over who was leader, and Takuya Sugawara was added to the group.

On December 31, 2004, all five members of Aagan Iisou - Kondo, Yasshi, Sugawara, Owashi, and Shogo - were fired from Dragon Gate, the newly renamed Toryumon, for alleged behavioral problems.

Dragondoor

Kondo was built up as the heel ace of the Dragondoor promotion. All five members of Aagan Iisou were on the roster, but Kondo only aligned himself with YASSHI and Sugawara. The three of them, despite being booked as heels, got most of the popular fan support.

All Japan Pro Wrestling

He soon joined AJPW, where he and long-time associate "brother" YASSHI would ally themselves with TARU's Voodoo Murders stable and even hold the All-Asia Tag Team Titles for a short time. The Voodoo Murderers were previously in an intense feud against RO&D, but defeated their long-time foes after D'Lo Brown and Buchanan turned on RO&D and joined the Voodoo Murderers. Kondo also became the World Junior Heavyweight Champion having won the title from junior ace Taka Michinoku. On February 17, 2007, Kondo lost the Jr. Heavyweight Title to Katsuhiko Nakajima, thus ending his 1-year, 4-month title reign. On March 4, 2013, Kondo joined Suwama and Joe Doering as a member of the stable, Last Revolution. In June 2013, Kondo announced his resignation from All Japan in the aftermath of Nobuo Shiraishi taking over as the president and Keiji Mutoh leaving the promotion.[2]

El Dorado

Kondo is also one of the main players in dragondoor's successor, El Dorado. Unlike in dragondoor, Kondo was set up to be the face ace of the promotion. He and YASSHI split for the first time in years, with YASSHI briefly leading his own faction. Kondo started a faction called Sukiyaki, named after his famous love of meat dishes. When his friend and fellow Dragon Gate exile Naoki Tanisaki abruptly left El Dorado and returned to Dragon Gate, Kondo disbanded Sukiyaki. After defeating Magnitude Kishiwada on August 15, 2008 to win the Greatest Golden League, Kondo announced his departure from El Dorado.

Wrestle-1

On July 10, 2013, Kondo was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 promotion.[3][4][5] During the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, Kondo teamed with Kaz Hayashi in a tag team match, where they were defeated by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling team of Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi.[6] As part of a working relationship between Wrestle-1 and American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Kondo and Hayashi earned a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship by defeating Desperado (Kazma Sakamoto and Masayuki Kono) on February 15, 2014.[7] On March 2 at Kaisen: Outbreak, Kondo and Hayashi unsuccessfully challenged The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) for the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a three-way match, which also included The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and Robbie E), who went on to win the match and become the new champions.[8] On September 22, Kondo entered the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament, defeating his tag team partner Hayashi in his first round match.[9] The following day, he defeated Hiroshi Yamato to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.[10] On October 8, Kondo was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Kai.[11] Through Wrestle-1's relationship with Pro Wrestling Zero1, Kondo and Seiki Yoshioka won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship on November 7 by defeating "brother" Yasshi and Takuya Sugawara.[12] In November, Kondo and Hayashi took part in the First Tag League Greatest tournament, set to determine the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions, where they finished second in their block with a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals.[13] On November 30, Kondo and Hayashi first defeated Kai and Ryota Hama in the semifinals and then Akira and Manabu Soya in the finals to win the tournament and become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions.[14] On March 1, 2015, Kondo and Yoshioka lost the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship back to Yasshi and Sugawara.[15] After seven successful title defenses, Kondo and Hayashi lost the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to Jun Kasai and Manabu Soya on July 12, 2015.[16]

On October 9, 2015, Kondo broke off his partnership with Hayashi and formed a new stable with Masayuki Kono and rookies Hiroki Murase and Shotaro Ashino.[17] On October 31, the stable was named TriggeR. On November 27, Kondo and Kono won the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship.[18]

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
  • Signature moves
  • Double team finishing moves
  • Double-team finishing moves

Championships and accomplishments

  • Aquamarine Cup Tag Tournament (2005) – with "brother" YASSHI
  • TREASURE HUNTERS Tag Tournament (2006) – with Dick Togo
  • Greatest Golden League (2008)
  • PWI ranked him #236 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013[21]
  • Match of the Year (2008) – vs. Naomichi Marufuji on November 3, 2008 [22]
  • Tag Team Of The Year (2006) – with TARU, Suwama, & "brother" YASSHI [23]

References

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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ http://www.puroresu.com/awards/2000s.html
  23. ↑ http://www.puroresu.com/awards/2000s.html

External links

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