, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

BxB Hulk stylized as ( ), is a Japanese

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 ...

, currently working for Dragon Gate. He was also known for his longstanding rivalry with

Shingo Takagi (born 21 November 1982), known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former member of the ''Los Ingob ...

Professional wrestling career

He was the second student from the Dragon Gate Dojo. He was brought into Dragon Gate by Magnum Tokyo, with Tokyo's influence evident in many aspects of his character, most notably his trademark pre-match dance routine. Magnum Tokyo had him placed in the Pos.Hearts unit he created ("Pos." representing the limitless possibilities Hulk showed), with

Anthony W. Mori is a retired Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for working for Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, under the ring name , where he is a one-time Open the Brave Gate Championship, Open the Brave Gate Champion, one ...

and

Super Shisa Yoshiyuki Saito (born April 9, 1970) is a Japanese professional wrestler and restaurant owner best known by his ring name Super Shisa. He is best known for wrestling in Dragon Gate, where he was employed from its inception until April 2022. His ...

as the other members. The unit largely served as a launching pad to get his career off the ground. Pos.Hearts would have only one major success, winning the Open the Triangle Gate titles in December 2006 from

Naruki Doi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for Dragon Gate, DDT Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro-Wrestling as a freelancer. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA); in the former promotio ...

Masato Yoshino is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known for working in Dragon Gate, where he was known as ''Speed Star''. Dragon Gate's second Grand Slam champion, having been a record six-time Open the Brave Gate Champion, four-time Open ...

and

Gamma Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

, but they lost the titles in their first defense the following month back to them, and when they lost to them again the month after that, they were forced to dissolve the unit. He would join up with

CIMA Cima may refer to: Acronyms *The Center for International Media Assistance, a media development organization in Washington, DC * Center for Italian Modern Art * Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art (International centre for Art Mechanics), ...

's Typhoon stable, but a few months later, in the midst of Typhoon's feud with the faction Muscle Outlaw'z, he and MO'z member

Cyber Kong , also known by his former stage name , is a Japanese professional wrestler currently wrestling for Dragongate under his real name. Professional wrestling career Cyber Kong's career started in 2006. He competed as an arm wrestler and was part o ...

both betrayed their stables to join together and form

New Hazard New Hazard was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed in April 2007. It was founded by former Typhoon and Muscle Outlaw'z members BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong, intending to compete with the two opposing facti ...

, along with

and

YAMATO was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

. While in the group, he would hold the Triangle Gate titles twice, and most notably, he and Takagi would win the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among Cruiserweight (professional wrestling), junior heavywei ...

in January 2008. In April, YAMATO betrayed New Hazard and defected to Muscle Outlaw'z. A month later, Takagi and Kong turned on BxB Hulk before they were to defend the Triangle Gate titles against YAMATO,

Genki Horiguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is currently a full-time wrestler for Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor. When Horiguchi's hairline began re ...

and Gamma, citing him as a weakling, effectively vacating the titles and ending New Hazard. Then,

and

— who had recently split from MO'z — came to his aid, and although the trio failed to win the vacant titles from Takagi, YAMATO & Gamma of the newly formed Real Hazard, they formed a new unit with

Naoki Tanizaki (born December 1, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is known for his work in Dragon Gate. He previously went under the ring name . Professional wrestling career Toryumon system and Dragon Gate (2002–2006) Originally from t ...

and

m.c.KZ KZY was a radio station located in Oakland, California, that was licensed to the Atlantic-Pacific Radio Supplies Company from December 9, 1921, until its deletion on January 24, 1923. It, and the Preston D. Allen station, KZM, were the first b ...

called WORLD-1. On June 12, BxB Hulk unveiled a persona that he had hinted at doing several months ago called "Killer Hulk" (later renamed Black Hulk), wearing black pants and black make-up and using a violent fighting style. Under this persona, he dismantled Real Hazard's

Yasushi Kanda is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion in Japan. He is considered one of Toryumon's greatest heel characters, and was a founding member of the M2K stable. In his pre-injury days, he was ...

, blowing off what was left of their feud that they had going on for the last few months. He then got into a feud with Takagi. They fought in a match on June 29 to determine the #1 contender for CIMA's

Open the Dream Gate Championship The is a professional wrestling World championship, championship created and promoted by the Japan, Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate. The wrestler who holds it is considered the top singles ...

, but the match ended in a one-hour draw. They were soon scheduled to do battle again on July 27, but this time it would be for the Open the Dream Gate Title itself, due to CIMA vacating it because of a neck injury. Hulk lost that match, but his performance impressed Takagi enough that he retracted his statement about Hulk being weak and shook hands with him. He then got into a feud with Gamma, and he as Black Hulk fought Gamma as Gamma Daiou on November 16, which he won by count-out after putting Gamma through a table outside the ring with his E.V.O. finisher. In March 2009, YAMATO began provoking him, and even offered him membership into Real Hazard under his Black Hulk persona. He responded by randomly attacking members of Real Hazard under his Black Hulk persona until YAMATO and the rest of the group got the better of him on April 15. YAMATO then challenged him to a match, and he did not care whether he fought Hulk as Black Hulk or his normal self. Hulk fought YAMATO as Black Hulk and won by referee stoppage. On June 7, he won the Triangle Gate titles with Masato Yoshino and

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

, and they held them for three months before losing them to

Masaaki Mochizuki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah. Mochizuki is a former FIP World Champion and three-time Open the Dream Gate Champion. Professional wrestling career Early years A former karat ...

Don Fujii , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese wrestler who currently works for Dragon Gate. He was one-half of the inaugural Open the Owarai Twin Gate Champions and is also a former two-time Open the Twin Gate Champions with Masaaki Mochizuk ...

& Akebono. He challenged his stablemate Naruki Doi for the Open the Dream Gate Title on November 23, but was unsuccessful in capturing the title. However, five days later, he became the inaugural Open the Freedom Gate Champion of

Dragon Gate USA Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2009 as an international expansion of the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Gabe Sapolsky, former head booker of Ring of Honor, served as the promotion's Vice Presi ...

by winning a 14-man tournament at

DGUSA Freedom Fight Freedom Fight / Open the Freedom Gate is a series of professional wrestling pay-per-view events produced by Dragon Gate USA. Background Freedom Fight will feature an undetermined number of professional wrestling matches that will involve differen ...

. On July 11, 2010, BxB Hulk lost a

Hair vs. Hair match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

against Shingo Takagi and was as a result shaved bald. On October 29, 2010, Hulk successfully retained his Open the Freedom Gate Championship by defeating Shingo in the main event of Dragon Gate USA's inaugural iPPV "Bushido: Code of the Warrior". On January 28, 2011, at the ''United: NYC'' pay-per-view, Hulk lost the Open the Freedom Gate Championship to YAMATO. On April 14, 2011, Hulk, PAC and

Susumu Yokosuka , better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Dragon Gate. He is not related to fellow Dragon Gate wrestler and long-term ally/rival Masaaki Mochizuki, who debuted much earlier for WAR. Professional wr ...

failed to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship from Blood Warriors (CIMA,

Dragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Dragon Gate as . Nakamura initially broke into the wrestling business with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW), but was not allowed to be a wrestler by owner Atsushi Onita and instead ...

and

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

) and as a result, WORLD-1 was forced to disband. BxB Hulk March 2012

On April 24, former WORLD-1 members Hulk, PAC, Yokosuka and Yoshino agreed to form a new alliance with Masaaki Mochizuki to battle Blood Warriors. On May 21, Hulk first defeated CIMA in the semifinals and then CIMA's Blood Warriors stablemate Yasushi Kanda in the finals to win the 2011 King of Gate tournament. However, much to Hulk's surprise, Masaaki Mochizuki named Kanda the next challenger to his Open the Dream Gate Championship. On June 8, before Hulk was scheduled to team with Shingo Tagaki, Naoki Tanizaki came out dressed as Black Hulk. With Takagi distracted with Tanizaki, Hulk hit Takagi with a chair, turning heel and joining Blood Warriors. Hulk finally received his shot at the Open the Dream Gate Championship on July 17, but was defeated by Masaaki Mochizuki. On August 7, Hulk and

Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa (戸澤陽, ''Tozawa Akira'', born July 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler. As of 2016, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand and is a member of the Alpha Academy St ...

defeated Masaaki Mochizuki and YAMATO in the finals to win the 2011 Summer Adventure Tag League. On December 1, Hulk and Tozawa defeated KAGETORA and Susumu Yokosuka to win the vacant

Open the Twin Gate Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title created and promoted by the Japanese promotion Dragongate. The title was introduced on August 26, 2007, as an interim title for the winners of the first Summer Adventure Tag League tournament. It ...

. On January 19, 2012, Hulk and Tozawa turned on CIMA, causing him to lose a ten-man "Loser Leaves Unit" tag team match; as a result, CIMA was kicked out of Blood Warriors. On March 1, the new leader of Blood Warriors, Akira Tozawa, changed the stable's name to

Mad Blankey Mad Blankey, or MB for short, was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed on March 1, 2012. It was founded by former Blood Warriors members Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk, Cyber Kong, Tomahawk T.T., and Kzy. On Au ...

. On March 4, Hulk and Tozawa lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu. Hulk regained the title from the Jimmyz on June 10, teaming with " Naoki Tanisaki". However, they lost the belts back to Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu on June 17 in a 3-way elimination tag team match which also included MadoGiwa Windows members K-ness & Kenichiro Arai. On August 19, Hulk, Tozawa and Naoki Tanisaki defeated CIMA, Gamma and

Magnitude Kishiwada , better known under his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Career During high school, Fujita trained in artistic gymnastics, mixed martial arts and powerlifting, and years later, he showed interest in professional wrestling. For m ...

to win the 2012 Summer Adventure Tag League and the vacant Open the Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the title to Kaettekita Veteran-gun (Gamma, HUB and Magnitude Kishiwada) on October 21. On June 15, 2013, Hulk and Tozawa regained the Open the Twin Gate Championship from Shingo Takagi and Yamato, when Yamato turned on Takagi and joined Mad Blankey. Hulk and Tozawa went on to lose the title to Naruki Doi and Ricochet on July 21. On May 5, 2014, after being the last to escape and win the Cage match at Dead or Alive 2014, Hulk quit Mad Blankey, thus turning face. After losing the rights to the Mad Blankey name and logo, he soon began a gradual return to his dancer gimmick, teaming up with Masaaki Mochizuki (who was competing as BxB Masa) on July 3, 2014, to unsuccessfully challenge the Mad Blankey team of YAMATO and Naruki Doi after Hulk was attacked by Dr. Muscle. On July 20, Hulk defeated YAMATO to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship for the first time. After a reign of only 16 days, Hulk lost the title to Naruki Doi in a four-on-one handicap match on August 5, which also included Doi's Mad Blankey partners Cyber Kong,

Kzy KZY was a radio station located in Oakland, California, that was licensed to the Atlantic-Pacific Radio Supplies Company from December 9, 1921, until its deletion on January 24, 1923. It, and the Preston D. Allen station, KZM, were the first b ...

and Mondai Ryu. On August 17, Hulk defeated Doi, now recognized as a "provisional" champion, in a one-on-one match to resume his first title reign and make his first successful title defense. On September 9 BxB Hulk formed his new stable called Dia Hearts alongside Maasaki Mochizuki and Dragon Kid. On October 5, Hulk made his 2nd successful title defense against Cyber Kong of Mad Blankey. On November 2, Hulk made his 3rd successful title defense against Monster express member and former tag team partner Akira Tozawa. On December 28, BxB Hulk successfully defended his belt for the 4th time against

. Hulk separated his shoulder during the match but was not forced to vacate and made his surprise return January 11, 2015, defeating Punch Tominaga. On June 14, Hulk lost the Open the Dream Gate Championship to Masato Yoshino in his eighth title defense. On February 4, 2016, Dia.HEARTS was forced to disband after losing a match to Monster Express and VerserK. On May 28, Hulk, along with YAMATO, Kzy, and Yosuke♥Santa Maria, formed a new unit named Tribe Vanguard. In October 2018, Eita announced that R.E.D would be joined by two new members, with their identity being kept in secret under the disguise of Dr. Muscle, known as the Green and Red Masked Demons, respectively. On December 15 at Final Gate, Hulk and YAMATO defeated Eita and Big R Shimizu to regain the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Three days later, Hulk turned on YAMATO to join R.E.D, revealing himself to be the Red Masked Demon. He would blame YAMATO for inviting KAI to the stable, while he was injured when KAI also had a neck injury. This led to Hulk stealing the Open The Twin Gate Championship belts. Afterwards, R.E.D began a "Generation War" against Dragon Gate and Toryumon. On December 22, YAMATO forfeited his half of the Open The Twin Gate Championship, leading to Hulk protest against the decision. Afterwards, General Manager Takayuki Yagi declared the titles vacated, with the new champions being crowned in a tournament in January which he would later win with

Kazma Sakamoto Kazma Sakamoto (born 1 October 1982) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He originally started his career working for Kaientai Dojo in Japan, where he became a one-time Strongest-K Champion and a three-time Strongest-K Tag Team Champion alo ...

. Later that month, Hulk, Sakamoto and Takashi Yoshida took part in the 2020 Ashiyanikki Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament. In the first round of the tournament, Hulk helped Eita, Ishida and Shimizu to defeat the Dragon Gate trio of YAMATO, KAI and Kzy, leading KAI to get his revenge and cost Hulk, Sakamoto and Yoshida's match against Ben-K, Strong Machine J and Dragon Dia.

Championships and accomplishments

* Dragon Gate **

( 1 time) **

Open the Triangle Gate Championship The Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling Tag team, trios Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate. It was created on Novem ...

( 10 times) – with

and Jack Evans (1),

and

(1),

and

(2),

and

(1),

and Naoki Tanisaki (1), Cyber Kong and

(1), YAMATO and

(1) Ben-K and Kota Minoura (1) and Kagetora and Susumu Yokosuka (1) **

( 9 times) – with Akira Tozawa (2), Naoki Tanisaki (1), Uhaa Nation (1)

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

(2),

(1) and, KAI (2) **6 Unit Warfare One Night Tag Tournament (2012) – with Naoki Tanisaki **

King of Gate __NOTOC__ King of Gate is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling singles tournament held in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It is the successor to El Numero Uno, previously held in Dragon Gate and Toryumon, although Uno was a rou ...

(

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) **

Summer Adventure Tag League The (Spanish for "King of Tag Teams") is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Dragongate. It was created in 2003 by Toryumon Japan to determine the strongest tag team of the promotion. In 2004, after Último Dragón l ...

(

) – with Akira Tozawa **

(

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

) – with Akira Tozawa and Naoki Tanisaki *

Open the Freedom Gate Championship The Open the Freedom Gate Championship was the major title in the promotion Dragon Gate USA. The first holder of the title was crowned following a 14-man tournament held at DGUSA Freedom Fight on November 28, 2009. The title was recognized by Drag ...

( 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 ...

**PWI ranked him #59 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 2015 * Pro Wrestling Noah **

( 1 time) – with Shingo Takagi *

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards References External links

* http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp Official website 1960 establishments in Japan Da ...

** Newcomer Award (2007) ** Technique Award (2014)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Notes

References

External links

BxB Hulk official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bxb Hulk 1980 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Sapporo 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Open the Dream Gate Champions Open the Twin Gate Champions Open the Triangle Gate Champions Open the Freedom Gate Champions King of Gate winners