is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to

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). Ishii also competes for

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 ...

(AJPW), where he is a former World Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Professional wrestling career

DDT (2008–present)

After being denied a place in the All Japan dojo, Ishii instead began training with DDT, and made his debut on July 6, 2008, unsuccessfully challenging Daichi Kakimoto for the World Ōmori Championship. The following month, Ishii suffered an injury, leaving him unable to compete for several months. Ishii returned to active competition in January 2009, losing to Yasu Urano. On April 18, Ishii achieved his first professional win, teaming with Kudo to defeat

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (stylized as TAKA Michinoku), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He primarily appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a me ...

and

Daisuke Sasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), where is a former two-time DDT Universal Champion. In addition to that, in DDT, he is also a former three-time KO-D Openweight Champion, one-time DDT Extreme Champi ...

. In September, Ishii took part in the Young Drama Cup, winning his block with 7 points and advancing to the final, where he once again defeated Sasaki. Ishii made his first challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Championship in November, teaming with Danshoku Dino in a loss to defending champions Kudo and Yasu Urano. Ishii took part in the 2010 King Of DDT tournament, defeating Tanomusaku Toba in the first round and Yago Azanable in the second, but lost to Harashima in the semi-finals. On June 13, Ishii teamed with

Hikaru Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name . Sato started his MMA career in February 2000, fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. During the next eight years, Sato fought, on average, five t ...

and Yoshihiko to defeat Tokyo Gurentai ( Nosawa,

Mazada (born May 23, 1975) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mostly known for his ring name Mazada (written in all capitals). He is one of the founding members of the renowned stable Tokyo Gurentai along with Nosawa Rongai and Kikuzawa. Champio ...

and Fujita) and win the

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 ...

. They lost the championships on July 25 in a triple threat match also featuring Kudo, Antonio Honda and Yasu Urano, as well as winners Great Kojika, Mr. #6 and

Riho is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of 9. She would work for th ...

. Ishii debuted for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW) on October 8 at NEVER.3, defeating

Hiromu Takahashi (born December 4, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' stable. Takahashi made his debut for NJPW on Augus ...

. On November 11, Ishii again defeated Takahashi at NEVER.4. In April 2011, Ishii took part in NJPW's Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament, a 16-man, two day tournament where the two winners would receive a place in the

Best of the Super Juniors The Best of the Super Juniors (stylized as the BEST OF THE SUPER Jr. and often abbreviated BOSJ) is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), typically in May or June. Originally known as Top of the Supe ...

tournament. Ishii defeated Takahashi in the first round, but lost to one of the eventual winners

Taichi Taichi is a Japanese given name and surname. Given name Taichi (written: , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. People with the given name Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese footballe ...

in the semi-final. On May 13, Ishii lost in NJPW for the first time, teaming 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 ...

in a loss to

Tomoaki Honma is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler primarily working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a former List of IWGP Tag Team Champions, one-time IWGP Tag Team Championship, IWGP Tag Team Champion and a two-time G1 Ta ...

and

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid. Professional wrestling career All ...

. On August 28, Ishii unsuccessfully challenged for 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 ...

, losing to Kudo.

Team Dream Futures/Team Drift (2012–present)

On October 10, Ishii and Irie teamed up to win the vacant KO-D Tag Team Championship as Team Dream Futures, defeating Danshoku Dino and

Makoto Oishi is a Japanese professional wrestler working for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). Oishi started his career in Kaientai Dojo, where he became a Strongest-K Tag Team, Independent World Junior Heavyweight and UWA World Middleweight Champion, at one ti ...

to win. Ishii and Irie successfully defended the championships against Yasu Urano and Antonio Honda on November 6, Gorgeous Matsuno and Poison Sawada Julie on November 27, and Dino and Oishi on December 11 but dropped the titles 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 ...

and Yasu Urano on December 31. Ishii and Irie unsuccessfully challenged Hino and Urano in a rematch on February 11, 2012. Ishii took part in the 2012 King Of DDT, defeating

Soma Takao is a Japan, Japanese professional wrestler, working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Takao has taken part in every edition of DDT's flagship annual event, DDT Peter Pan, Peter Pan, where he had a series ...

in the first round but losing to Kudo in the second. Ishii and Irie once again challenged for the KO-D Tag Team Championship on July 22, this time losing to Oishi and Kudo. On November 13, Ishii captured the

DDT Extreme Championship The is a singles title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title was established in 2006 and it is mostly defended in stipulation matches, with the defending champion being given the right to choose the stipu ...

at a Union Pro event, defeating Shuji Ishikawa in a lumberjack deathmatch. Ishii made his first successful defence on December 23, defeating

Isami Kodaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro-Wrestling Basara (Basara). He originally started his career in the Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) promotion in July 2002, but later left the promotion to become a freelancer, before signing w ...

and Urano. On January 12, 2013, Team Dream Futures, with new member Soma Takao captured the vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship in the final of a tournament, defeating Akito, Oishi and

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 ...

. However, 2 days later, Ishii lost the DDT Extreme Championship to Isami Kodaka, and Team Dream Futures lost the KO-D 6-Man Titles to Monster Army (Yuji Hino, Antonio Honda and Daisuke Sasaki) on January 27. Ishii and Irie unsuccessfully challenged Harashima and Yasu Urano for the KO-D Tag Team Championship on March 31. Ishii also unsuccessfully challenged long time partner Irie for the KO-D Openweight Championship on June 23. Ishii and Takao became #1 contenders to the KO-D Tag Team Championship on August 18, but were unable to defeat champions Isami Kodaka 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 ...

on September 29. Ishii again unsuccessfully challenged Kodaka and Miyamoto for the KO-D Tag Team Championships in December, this time with Irie as his partner. On February 2, 2014, Ishii faced Harashima in a 2/3 falls match for the DDT Extreme Championship, losing 2 falls to 1. However, on February 23, Team Dream Futures captured the KO-D 6-Man Championship once again, defeating The Homo-sapiens ( Aja Kong, Dino and Oishi). The trio dropped the titles to Sasaki,

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name , is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current AEW International Champion in his first reign. He also works as an ...

and

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and WWE. His career began with the Dramatic Dre ...

in April. Ishii participated in the 2014 King Of DDT, being eliminated in the first round by Ibushi. On August 17, Team Drift captured the KO-D Tag Team Championship once again, defeating Shuten-Doji (Kudo,

Masa Takanashi is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, also known by the ring name . Takanashi was trained by Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and has worked for the promotion since his debut in September 2003, becoming a one-tim ...

and Yukio Sakaguchi). On September 13, Ishii again unsuccessfully challenged for the KO-D Openweight Championship, losing to Harashima. Team Drift dropped the 6-Man Tag Team Championships to T2Hii ( Kazuki Hirata, Sanshiro Takagi 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 ...

) on September 28, but captured them once again on March 1, 2015, defeating Shuten-Doji, but then dropped the titles back to Shuten-Doji on March 23. They again defeated Shuten-Doji to recapture the belts on April 11. This time, they held the belts until September, dropping them to #OhkaEmpire ( Ken Ohka, Dino and Super Sasadango Machine). On May 15, 2016, they won the titles again, defeating Shunma Katsumata, Kazusada Higuchi and Kouki Iwasaki. They were forced to vacate the titles on May 29. Ishii entered the tournament to crown the new champions on July 23 alongside Dino and Super Sasadango Machine, but was eliminated in the first round by New Wrestling Aidoru (Katsumata, Mao and Oishi).

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2007, 2013–present)

In 2007, Ishii took part in a public tryout held by

Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and duri ...

, where the people who passed would be considered for a place in the AJPW dojo. Ishii passed the tryout, but was not selected to train in the dojo. In late 2013, Ishii returned to AJPW, and on October 27 unsuccessfully challenged Burning (

Kotaro Suzuki , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Gleat. He is best known for working for the Pro Wrestling Noah and All Japan Pro Wrestling promotions, where he was a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Cha ...

and

Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a tw ...

) for the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brou ...

alongside Irie. Ishii made it to the final of the

Gaora TV Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. On August 28, 2012, AJPW and Gaora TV announced that AJPW would introduce a new championship called the Gaora TV Championship. A tournament for ...

tournament, but lost to

Sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

. In March 2014, Ishii once again challenged for the All Asia Tag Team Championship, this time teaming with Takao, but the duo were defeated by

Jun Akiyama (born October 9, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, rep ...

and

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a member of House of Torture and a former member of Bullet Club. He also works as a backstage producer for NJPW. Professional wrestling career ...

. In April, Ishii captured the championships alongside Irie on his third attempt, defeating Akiyama and Kanemaru at a DDT event. They held the titles for four months, before losing them to Xceed (

Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion in February 2008, ...

and Suzuki). In October, Ishii and Takao took part in the 2014 Junior Tag Battle Of Glory tournament, making it the playoffs where they were eliminated by

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

(Aoki and Hikaru Sato). In February 2015, Ishii took part in the Junior Battle Of Glory tournament, finishing with 5 points and not advancing to the final. On May 21, Ishii unsuccessfully challenged Suzuki for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. After appearing sporadically in All Japan for over a year, Ishii captured the World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Takao on November 27. Ishii made his first successful defence of the championship on January 3, defeating

Yuma Aoyagi is a Japanese professional wrestler working for All Japan Pro Wrestling. A member of the Zennichi Shin Jidai stable, he is a former AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a two-time All Asia Tag Team Champion ...

. He lost the title to Hikaru Sato on April 28.

Championships and accomplishments

(1 time) – with Shigehiro Irie :* World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

(1 time) :* GWC 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kouki Iwasaki and Harukaze :*

Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship that is being defended in various independent promotions in Japan. The title was originally created in 1993 by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. There have been a ...

(2 times) :* Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (6 times) :* KO-D 6 Man Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with

and Soma Takao :* KO-D Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shigehiro Irie :* Kōkū-kōen Park Town Championship (1 time, current) :*

(1 time) – with

and Yoshihiko :* Young Drama Cup (

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 ...

) * Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling :* Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight 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 ...

'' :*PWI ranked him #274 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 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishii, Keisuke Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people 1985 births People from Iruma, Saitama All Asia Tag Team Champions World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW) UWA World Trios Champions 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers DDT Extreme Champions Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champions Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions KO-D Tag Team Champions Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champions GWC 6-Man Tag Team Champions