is a former

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 ...

sumo wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who part ...

and

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 ...

, working for the Japanese

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...

(DDT), where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion.

Sumo career

At Hokkaido Monbetsukita High School, he was the captain of the

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

club. After winning third place in both the individual and team competitions at the 2006 All-Hokkaido High School Athletic Federation Tournament, he was scouted by the 8th Hakkaku '' oyakata'' (former ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

Hokutoumi is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō. He was the sport's 61st ''yokozuna'' and won eight top division championships. He wrestled for Kokonoe stable, as did Chiyonofuji, and the two were the first ''yokozuna'' stablema ...

) and started training in

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestling at the Hakkaku stable. He made his professional debut in the March 2007 tournament (''

honbasho A , or Grand Sumo Tournament in English, is an official professional sumo tournament. Only ''honbasho'' results matter in determining promotion and relegation for '' rikishi'' (sumo wrestlers) on the '' banzuke'' ranking. The number of ''honbash ...

''). He struggled for two years in the ''

jonidan Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division before changing his ring name (''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'') from his real name to , after the character Hokudōzan Tsuyoshi from the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series '' Aah! Harimanada''. He then started to produce stronger results, was promoted to ''

sandanme Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' in July 2009, and eventually to ''

makushita Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' in November 2011. He reached his highest rank of ''makushita'' 45 in May 2013 and retired in January 2014. According to a 2020 interview, he initially joined sumo as a way of preparing for a

professional wrestling 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, real- ...

career.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2014–present)

Higuchi made his

debut at

's ''DDT Dramatic Fanclub Vol. 1'', event from October 18, 2014, where he defeated Kota Umeda. He worked a match at ''BJW/DDT/K-DOJO Toshikoshi Pro-Wrestling 2015'', a cross-over event held between Big Japan Pro-Wrestling, DDT, and

Kaientai Dojo Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW) is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrestling promotion and training facility originally owned and promoted by Taka Michinoku. The promotion places emphasis on a style of Professional wre ...

from December 31, where he teamed up with Yoshihisa Uto, falling short to

Harashima Harashima (stylised in all capital letters) (born July 6, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently working in DDT Pro-Wrestling (formally Dramatic Dream Team), where he is a ten-time KO-D Openweight Champion and a former eleve ...

and

Yuko Miyamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler. He originally started his career in Wrestling Marvelous Future in August 2003, but later left the promotion and in 2004, signed with Wrestling of Darkness 666 (Triple Six). Miyamoto has since appeared in Big ...

in the Shuffle Tag Tournament. Higuchi participated in the Block B of the Pro Wrestling Noah 2018 Global League, where he scored 6 points after facing

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is a record-holding five time former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He made his debut for the Pro Wrestling Noah in July 2004 and initially remained with Pro Wrestling No ...

Kaito Kiyomiya is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is former and three-time GHC Heavyweight Championship, GHC Heavyweight Champion. He also makes appearances for partner promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Early lif ...

Muhammad Yone , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in ...

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestl ...

Atsushi Kotoge (born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and rec ...

Maybach Taniguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur backg ...

and Cody Hall. At ''TJP The God Of Pro Wrestling - My Arms Fell!'' event of

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling is a Japanese joshi puroresu or women's professional wrestling, women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 2012 as a sister promotion of DDT Pro-Wrestling. Initially running alongside other shows such as live music and other Japanese id ...

from December 27, 2018, Higuchi teamed up with

Antonio Honda is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . He is working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). He is the son of actor Tetsu Watanabe. Professional wrestling career Independent circu ...

in a losing effort to Disaster Box (Harashima and

Yuki Ueno is a Japanese professional wrestler working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), he is the former KO-D Openweight Champion (one reign) and former three-time DDT Universal Champion. Professional wrestling ...

). He worked a match for Evolve/ WWN, at ''EVOLVE 125'', from April 4, 2019, where he defeated Curt Stallion. One day later, at ''WWNLive SuperShow - Mercury Rising 2019'', on April 5, he challenged JD Drake for the

WWN Championship The WWN Championship was a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the WWNLive governing body. The inaugural champion was crowned on April 1, 2017, when Matthew Riddle, Matt Riddle defeated five othe ...

but unsuccessfully.

DDT Pro-Wrestling (2014–present)

Higuchi is a multiple-time

KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion The is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned by the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The current champions are Damnation T.A (Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani and Ilu ...

, title which he won on different occasions. His first title reign began at Into The Fight 2016, where he teamed up with

Kouki Iwasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion and King of Dark Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–p ...

and

Shunma Katsumata is a Japanese professional wrestler working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–present) Katsumata is known for tenures with various Japanese profe ...

to defeat T2Hii (

Kazuki Hirata is a Japanese professional wrestler working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Professional wrestling career DDT Pro-Wrestling (2010–present) Hirata's first known match as a professional wrestler was a ...

Sanshiro Takagi , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who works for the Japanese wrestling promotion CyberFight, where he serves as executive vice president. He is one of the founding members and current chairman of ...

and

Toru Owashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . He is best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion and two-time KO-D Tag Team Champion. Sumo career Initially aspiring to b ...

). In the second reign, he held the titles with Kouki Iwasaki and Mizuki Watase, winning them at ''Best Western Lariat Series 2017'' on January 22, by defeating Shuten-dōji ( Kudo, Masahiro Takanashi and

Yukio Sakaguchi is a Japanese former professional mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, actor and judoka. In professional wrestling, he is primarily known for his tenure with DDT Pro-Wrestling, but has fought and competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling, Wor ...

) in a

three-way tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

also involving Antonio Honda,

Konosuke Takeshita is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to American Wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Don Callis Family and one-half of the tag team Protoshita with Kyle Fletcher. He is a former AEW ...

and Trans-Am★Hiroshi. In the third reign, he won the titles alongside fellow Eruption stablemates Yukio Sakaguchi and

Saki Akai is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, idol, model, and tarento, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) and its sister joshi promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW). Her father is fo ...

at ''DDT TV Show! #7'' from June 20, 2020. Higuchi is also a KO-D Tag Team Champion, title which he won with Yukio Sakaguchi again under the Eruption banner, at ''Road to Ultimate Party 2020'' on October 25. At '' Judgement 2018: DDT 21st Anniversary'', Higuchi teamed up with

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Hea ...

as SekiGuchi to defeat Harashima and

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Marufuji is a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first of two men to win Junior Heavyweight Championships in all three major Japanese ...

for the KO-D Tag Team Championship. On July 3, 2022, Higuchi won the 2022 King of DDT Tournament by defeating

Naomi Yoshimura is a Japan, Japanese professional wrestler, working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2016-present) Yoshimura is known for his matches from the Profess ...

in the final, and consequently won the

KO-D Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), championship and the highest singles achievement in the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand division of the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, promotion CyberFight. It is on ...

. He defended the title five times before eventually losing it to

Yuji Hino , better known by the ring name , 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 p ...

on January 29, 2023, at Sweet Dreams! 2023.

Sumo career record

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) :*

KO-D Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The title was established in 2001. The current champions are Astronauts (Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura). They won the titles by defe ...

( 4 times) – with

Shigehiro Irie is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Irie has also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), and a number of North American inde ...

(1),

(1) and

(1) :* KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 4 times) – with

and

(1), Kouki Iwasaki and Mizuki Watase (1),

and Yukio Sakaguchi (1), and

Ryota Nakatsu is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions DDT Pro Wrestling and Pro-Wrestling Basara. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–pres ...

and Yuki Ishida (1) :* King of DDT Tournament (

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

) :* Pro-Wrestling Koshien (

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

) *'' Japan Indie Awards'' :* MVP Award (2022) :* Newcomer Award (2014) * Pro-Wrestling Basara ** Iron Fist Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

*''

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. 55 of the 500 best 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 2023 *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'' :*Ranked No. 4 on the top 10 of the 2015 Rookie Of The Year

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higuchi, Kazusada 1988 births Living people category:Japanese sumo wrestlers category:Sumo people from Hokkaido Japanese male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions KO-D Tag Team Champions KO-D Openweight Champions Iron Fist Tag Team Champions King of DDT winners