(born Choi Young-ii June 3, 1980) is a Korean

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and promoter who currently owns and operates Pro Wrestling Land's End, where he is a former All Asia Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for working for

Pro Wrestling Zero1 , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wre ...

, where he is a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion. He is the older brother of mixed martial artist Young Choi.

Career

Ryoji Sai is a 3rd Generation

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

that was born in

Osaka, Japan is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a populatio ...

. His parents own a restaurant near Tsuruhashi Station in Osaka. At 15 years old, Ryouji attended the Sidmouth International School in

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He then attended Bloxham School in Oxfordshire between 1996 and 1999. While in Europe he studied martial arts under

Gerard Gordeau Gerard Gordeau (born 30 March 1956) is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for eight consecutive years, but foremost known int ...

in the Netherlands. When he returned to Japan he joined

Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001 ...

, debuting on September 1, 2001 at the ZERO-ONE "FIRE FESTIVAL 2001" versus Igor Meindert. in a non-tournament match. From 2002 to 2004, he would be out of pro wrestling with an unknown ailment. Returning in 2004, he would begin to regularly team with Kohei Sato winning the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship in 2005 and 2006. Ryoji twice finished as the runner-up in ZERO1 Fire Festival tournaments in both 2007 and 2006, losing to

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship#Title History, one-time FMW Brass Knuckle ...

. He also regularly appeared for the HUSTLE wrestling promotion during

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wre ...

's working agreement with them. In late 2008 and early 2009, Sai took part on the popular Japan

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

show Ainori (あいのり) under the name of "Wrestler" (レスラー).

Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

World Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...

( 2 times) – with Dylan James (1) &

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

(1) * Apache Pro-Wrestling Army :*

WEW World Tag Team Championship The WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) World Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese promotions Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion ( ...

( 1 time) – with

Tetsuhiro Kuroda is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently competing as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. He is best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily competed from 1993 until the promotion's c ...

* HUSTLE :* Hustle Super Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

Wataru Sakata is a Japanese people, Japanese retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor from 1994 until 2016, Sakata fought for Fighting Network RINGS, Pride FC, Deep (mixed martial arts), Deep a ...

* Pro Wrestling Land's End ** All Asia Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **Ranked No. 220 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

in 2014 *

:* NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) – with Kohei Sato (2) and Osamu Namiguchi (1) :* NWA United National Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) :* World Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) :* Fire Festival (

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) :*Passion Cup Tag Tournament (2008) – with Kohei Sato

MMA record

, - , Loss , align="center", 1-1-1 (1) , Kenichi Serizawa , TKO ( Punches) , Titan Fighting Championship 2 , , align='center', 2 , align='center', 3:32 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, , - , Win , align="center", 1-0-1 (1) , Koichi Sato , TKO ( Punches) , Titan Fighting Championship 2 , , align='center', 1 , align='center', 2:54 ,

, , - , NC , align="center", 0-0-1 (1) , Koichi Sato , No contest (illegal knees) , Titan Fighting Championship 2 , , align="center", 1 , align="center", 0:26 ,

, , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–1 , Masakazu Imanari , Technical Draw , Titan Fighting Championship 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:29 , Tokyo, Japan ,

References

External links

ZERO1 USA English language website

Sai's Official Japanese language blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sai, Ryoji 1980 births Living people Japanese people of Korean descent Martial artists from Osaka Zainichi Korean professional wrestlers World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) WEW World Tag Team Champions 21st-century male professional wrestlers All Asia Heavyweight Champions Zero1 World Heavyweight Champions Zero1 Intercontinental Tag Team Champions Zero1 United National Heavyweight Champions Fire Festival winners