Genki Horiguchi
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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 ...
, better known by the ring name . He is currently a full-time wrestler for Dragon Gate. He has also competed in
Wrestling Society X Wrestling Society X (WSX) was an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Big Vision Entertainment. ''Wrestling Society X'' (''WSX'') also refers to the promotion's short-lived television series produced in 2007 by Big Vision Entertain ...
and
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
. When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began to chant H-A-G-E ( being
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
for "baldness") at him. He managed to use this to gain a sort of cult popularity, and his catchphrase, "Who has called me hage?", is one of the best known in Japan. ''Hiromi Horiguchi'', a wrestler currently working for
Toryumon Mexico Toryumon or Tōryūmon may refer to: *Toryumon (Último Dragón), a professional wrestling school and the associated professional wrestling promotions * Dragon Gate, formerly Toryumon Japan, a Japanese professional wrestling promotion * KOTC: Toryum ...
, was thought for some time to be Genki's brother, but the relationship was only a gimmick.


Career


Toryumon

Horiguchi debuted in Toryumon as a face wrestler with a surfer gimmick. In 2001, he began to lose his hair, and in November he turned heel, cast away his surfer gimmick, and he joined the original M2K as a replacement for Chocoflake K-ICHI. He was the last wrestler to be added to the group. During his days in the M2K stable, he held the NWA World Welterweight Title twice, defeating
Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestling personality and semi-retired professional wrestler primarily working in Dragongate, where he is their general manager. He is a former member of numerous stables within Dragongate as bo ...
to win it, vacating the title after a no-contest match with Dragon Kid, defeating Ricky Marvin to win it again, and finally losing it to M2K stablemate Darkness Dragon. As part of Do FIXER, he won the UWA World Trios Titles with
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 ...
and Ryo Saito. He was responsible for bringing in Magnum TOKYO to lead the remnants of M2K after the name was sealed. In 2002, he would team with Magnum TOKYO and Darkness Dragon in a three-way trios tag team match against Ryo Saito,
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 ...
&
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
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), ...
,
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 ...
&
Yoshikazu Taru is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known simply as Taru (stylised in all capital letters). He is signed to Makai, while also working for Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the leader of the Voodo ...
and was pinned by CIMA. In Spring 2003, he scored a series of upset wins, most of them via backslide. This led to the rise of his finisher, the Backslide from Heaven.


Dragon Gate

While in Do FIXER, he formed a friendship with
Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestling personality and semi-retired professional wrestler primarily working in Dragongate, where he is their general manager. He is a former member of numerous stables within Dragongate as bo ...
that would endure for several years. He teamed with Saito to defeat The Florida Brothers at the 2004 Revolucion ppv event on January 31, 2004. He, Saito and Dragon Kid would win the
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 ...
three times while teaming together in Do FIXER. The three of them would travel to
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
to take part in a match against Blood Generation's
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), ...
,
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 ...
. In January 2007, he betrayed Saito and Do FIXER to join heel stable
Muscle Outlaw'z Muscle Outlaw'z, or MO'z for short, was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed on April 23, 2006. It was founded by former Blood Generation members Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Naoki Tanizaki, and Gamma, int ...
. He underwent a radical transformation in appearance, and added blue mist to his arsenal. This turn lead him to an Open the Brave Gate title run, and a pinfall victory over CIMA in an 8-man elimination match (incidentally not his first direct win over CIMA). He feuded with gaijin
Matt Sydal Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983), better known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his tenure with WWE from 2008 to 2014 under the ring nam ...
over the title before dropping it to
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 ...
. After dropping the title, his push was not maintained. He began wrestling mainly early on the cards, taking the falls in multi-person matches, and was winless during all of March 2008. He began to develop kleptomania, stealing Tozawa-juku's pants and Anthony W. Mori's ring costume. During the unit turmoil in the early parts of 2008, Horiguchi remained firmly on the heel side of Muscle Outlaw'z, and followed them to Real Hazard. He acted as secretary to the Brave Gate belt commissioner
Yoshito Sugamoto is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Gamma. He is best known for his Dragon Gate tenure. Professional wrestling career Yoshihito Sugamoto began his career in Michinoku Pro Wrestling when he entered thei ...
, which was actually the Brave Gate champion (and his fellow MO'z stablemate) Gamma himself, enforcing the outrageous rules randomly put in place by him that allowed Gamma to win title matches or retain his title if he lost the match. On July 27, 2008, Horiguchi defeated
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 ...
to win the vacant Open the Brave Gate title for a second time. Despite the title win, his push was not increased, as he did not score any wins over any wrestler in higher standing than he had been previously. He defended it twice before losing it to Masato Yoshino on October 12, and then went right back to taking the falls in most multi-person matches for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009. When Ryo Saito turned heel in February 2009 and joined Real Hazard, he and Horiguchi began teaming again. On May 5, they won the
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 ...
from Susumu Yokosuka & Gamma in a Three-Way Match, which included fellow Real Hazard stablemates Kenichiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda. They would hold them until September 17, when they lost them to Shingo Takagi & YAMATO. Afterwards, Horiguchi was relatively quiet again. He unsuccessfully challenged
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 ...
in the fall of 2009 for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. On January 10, 2010, Horiguchi put out a blog where he stated that Real Hazard would win more matches via teamwork instead of illegal tactics and weapons play in 2010. He would prove to be a man of his word that day when he stopped Yasushi Kanda from using a blue box in a tag team match they had. Though they still won, his actions caused him and Kanda to begin bickering. The bickering intensified the following day, when Kanda made him lose a tag team match by accidentally hitting him. Five days later, Horiguchi would be backed up by Susumu Yokosuka and K-ness in his quest for clean matches, after they all refused help from Kanda in a six-man tag match they were involved in. However, the new clean fight trio suddenly found themselves winless in every match they were in, with Horiguchi taking the fall every time. Also, their mission caused a divide to slowly form in Real Hazard, with them on one side and Kanda, Kzy, and
Takuya Sugawara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently wrestling for Pro Wrestling Zero1. Career Toryumon/Dragon Gate (2001–2004) He debuted in the 9th term of Toryumon 2000 Project as Henry III Sugawara, an English prince character. He joined wit ...
on the other. (Kenichiro Arai and KAGETORA remained neutral). Tensions finally boiled over on February 10, after KAGETORA accidentally cost Sugawara a shot at becoming the next challenger for the Open the Dream Gate Title. Horiguchi left Real Hazard, along with Susumu and K-ness, and was put in a match against Sugawara, scheduled for March 3. However, K-neSuka and Horiguchi decided to not team together anymore, since they all did not like how he was losing constantly, and they all agreed that this was preventing K-neSuka from getting to the top of the tag team division. Genki remained a lone wolf up until the 27th, when Dragon Kid suggested him to CIMA and Gamma as a new member of the WARRIORS stable, and he was welcomed into the fold. On May 13, 2010, Horiguchi, CIMA and Gamma defeated Don Fujii,
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 ...
and Akebono to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship. On October 25, 2010, Horiguchi, CIMA and Gamma lost the Open the Triangle Gate Championship to Naoki Tanizaki, Yasushi Kanda and Takuya Sugawara. Horiguchi turned heel on January 14, 2011, along with the rest of WARRIORS, when they attacked Masato Yoshino and WORLD-1, and joined forces with Naruki Doi's unnamed group. On January 18 the new group was named Blood Warriors. On February 6, 2011, Horiguchi and his Blood WARRIORS stablemate Ryo Saito defeated Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship. They would lose the title to rival group Junction Three representatives, Dragon Kid 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 ...
, on June 19, 2011. On February 9, 2012, new Blood Warriors leader
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 ...
kicked Horiguchi and Saito out of the group. On March 3, after Horiguchi teamed with Yasushi Kanda and Ryo Saito to win the vacant Open the Triangle Gate Championship, he renamed himself Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! and formed the Jimmyz stable with Jimmy KAGETORA, Jimmy Kanda, Ryo "Jimmy" Saito and Jimmy Susumu. The Jimmyz lost the Open the Triangle Gate Championship to World-1 International (Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi and Pac) on May 6. On May 19, Horiguchi defeated Akira Tozawa in the finals to win the 2012 King of Gate tournament. On September 29, 2013, Horiguchi defeated Kzy in the finals of a tournament to win the Open the Brave Gate Championship for the third time. He lost the title to
Flamita Flamita (born November 30, 1994) is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler). In addition to working for promotions such as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) in his native country, ...
on March 16, 2014.


Outside the Dragon System

Appearing in
Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She currently makes appearances on the Japanese independent circuit and for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestli ...
's "Yo! All the Members Set" 20th anniversary card, he teamed with Ryo Saito and
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 ...
against CIMA,
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 ...
and
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 ...
at
Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...
in
Tokyo, Japan 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 ...
on August 21, 2005. At the beginning of 2007, he was briefly affiliated with the
Wrestling Society X Wrestling Society X (WSX) was an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Big Vision Entertainment. ''Wrestling Society X'' (''WSX'') also refers to the promotion's short-lived television series produced in 2007 by Big Vision Entertain ...
company that was run by MTV. He and
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 ...
were a tag team known as Team Dragon Gate, despite the fact the two were in rival stables at the time; Horiguchi was still aligned with face stable Do FIXER while Yoshino was in heel stable Blood Generation. They would only win an exploding cage timebomb deathmatch in their time in this promotion.


Championships and accomplishments

* Dragon Gate :*
Open the Brave Gate Championship The is a professional wrestling title created and promoted by the Japanese promotion Dragongate. It has a weight limit of , though it has been defended against heavier wrestlers in the past. It can be considered the secondary singles title in Dra ...
( 3 times) :*
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 ...
( 13 times) – with
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
Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestling personality and semi-retired professional wrestler primarily working in Dragongate, where he is their general manager. He is a former member of numerous stables within Dragongate as bo ...
(3),
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), ...
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 ...
(2),
Jimmy 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 ...
and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito (3), Mr. Kyu Kyu Toyonaka Dolphin and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito (1),
Jimmy Susumu , 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 ...
and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito (1), Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu (1) and
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
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 ...
(2) :*
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 ...
(
2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...
) – with Ryo Saito :*
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 ...
(
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 ...
) :*Open the Brave Gate Championship Tournament (2013) *
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 #104 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of 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 2006 *
Toryumon Mexico Toryumon or Tōryūmon may refer to: *Toryumon (Último Dragón), a professional wrestling school and the associated professional wrestling promotions * Dragon Gate, formerly Toryumon Japan, a Japanese professional wrestling promotion * KOTC: Toryum ...
:*
NWA World Welterweight Championship The NWA World Welterweight Championship () is an inactive professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and most recently promoted by NWA Mexico. The championship was originally created in 1946 by the Mexica ...
(
2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...
) :*
UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various p ...
( 1 time) – with
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 ...
and Ryo Saito :*
Young Dragons Cup Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...
(1998) *
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll betwee ...
:*
Match of the Year This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll betwee ...
with Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito vs. CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino


References


External links


Puroresu Central: Genki Horiguchi
*
Genki Horiguchi Officialblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horiguchi, Genki 1978 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people People from Kumamoto 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers NWA World Welterweight Champions UWA World Trios Champions Open the Brave Gate Champions Open the Twin Gate Champions Open the Triangle Gate Champions King of Gate winners