is a

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 ...

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 signed to

Gleat Gleat (stylized as GLEAT and pronounced as "great") is a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2020 by former Pro Wrestling Noah parent company Lidet Entertainment after the acquisition of Noah and DDT Pr ...

and is best known for his tenure with the

promotions

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagas ...

(BJW) and DDT Pro Wrestling (DDT).

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2009–present)

Kawakami is known for his work in various promotions. He participated at the ''BJW/CZW CZW Arena In Japan ~ BJW For

MASADA Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

'', a cross-over event between

(BJW) and

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the p ...

(CZW) from January 5, 2014 where he teamed up with

Kazuki Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), competing in the Strong J division, where he is a former BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Hashimoto enrolled in Animal Hama ...

to defeat

Hideyoshi Kamitani is a Japan, Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW). Professional wrestling career Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–present) Kamitani made his profession ...

and Takayuki Ueki. At ''BJW Endless Survival 2019'' on May 5, an event produced in partnership with

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 ...

, he teamed up with Kazumi Kikuta and defeated Sweeper ( Jake Lee and

Koji Iwamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Iwamoto has previously competed for DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Heat Up. He is a former four time AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion, as well ...

) to win 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 ...

. At ''BJW/ZERO1/2AW 3 Groups Joint Performance'', an event produced by BJW in partnership with

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 ...

and

Active Advance Pro Wrestling 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 ...

on August 11, 2020, Kawakami teamed up with Kazumi Kikuta and Yuya Aoki in a losing effort to Okami ( Daichi Hashimoto and

) and

Hartley Jackson Hartley Jackson (born 17 April 1980) is an Australian professional wrestler who primarily works as a freelancer for various Japanese promotions, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of TMDK. After working on the indep ...

. He marked an appearance for Pro Wrestling Noah on the fourth night of the ''NOAH Higher Ground 2020'' from February 16, where he 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 ...

to defeat Kongo (

Masa Kitamiya is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Kitamiya's ring name is a tribute to former professional wrestler Masa Saito. Kitamiya also wears a similar ring attire to Saito as tribute. Early life Kitamiya was an amateur ...

and Yoshiki Inamura).

Westside Xtreme Wrestling (2014)

Kawakami made several appearances for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its event ...

(wXw) in his european tour. His first match for the promotion took place on January 18, 2014 at ''wXw Back To The Roots XIII'', where he teamed up with

to unsuccessfully challenge Hot And Spicy ( Axel Dieter Jr. and

Da Mack Mac Yeboah (born 4 May 1987), better known by his ring name Da Mack, is a German professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). Professional wrestling career Early career (2008–2013) Da Mack made hi ...

) for the

wXw World Tag Team Championship The wXw World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the German professional wrestling promotion, Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). The inaugural champions was Swi$$ Money Holding (Double C, ...

. He even participated in the '' 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2014'', falling short to Robert Dreissker in the first-round on March 14.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2008–2021)

Kawakami made his

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- ...

debut at a

house show A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

hosted by

(BJW) on December 19, 2008, where he teamed up with

Yuji Okabayashi is a Japanese people, Japanese Retirement, semi-retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, but is on an indefinite absence. Known as "The Golem", he h ...

and Katsumasa Inoue, scoring a defeat against Atsushi Ohashi, Shinya Ishikawa and

Yoshihito Sasaki is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his time with the Japanese professional wrestling promotions Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) and Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2001–201 ...

in a

six-man 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 ...

. Kawakami is known for participating in signature events of the

such as the Ikkitousen Strong Climb. At the inaugural edition of the event from 2012, he took part of the Block A and scored a total of two points after competing against

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987), better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and promoter. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestlin ...

, Masashi Otani and Takumi Tsukamoto. Another event where he fought is the Saikyo Tag League, making his first appearance at the 2011 edition of the event where he teamed up with Shinya Ishikawa, placing themselves in the Block A, and scoring one point after competing against the teams of Shadow WX and Kankuro Hoshino,

Tommy End Tom Büdgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Aleister Black. Before signing with WWE, Büdgen was ...

and Michael Dante, Abdullah Kobayashi and Masashi Takeda,

and

, and

Jun Kasai (born September 9, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, primarily competing for Pro Wrestling Freedoms. Dubbed the for his violent and often self-harmful style of hardcore wrestling, Kasai is considered a breakthrough talent in Japanese w ...

and Jaki Numazawa. His marked his best result at the 2018 edition after he teamed up with Kazumi Kikuta in the Strong Style Block and scoring a total of six points after competing against

and Yuya Aoki, Takuya Nomura and

Fuminori Abe is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and qualified Bhikkhu, Buddhist priest, currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, promotions ...

, Hideki Suzuki and

, Tatsuhiko Yoshino and Kota Sekifuda, Daichi Hashimoto and

, and

Ryota Hama (born November 21, 1979) is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler, signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. Sumo career Hama joined sumo in July 1995, and he fought for the Hakkaku stable r ...

and

Yasufumi Nakanoue is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name , currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he was the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wre ...

. Kawakami participated in other notable

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

hosted by BJW. He won the ''2009 D-Dash Tag Team Tournament'' teaming up with Shinya Ishikawa, defeating

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 ...

and Shun Kasagi in a first-round match, Masashi Takeda and Takuma Obe in the semi-finals and

and Atsushi Ohashi in the finals on December 21. He also won the ''2013 Strong Style Rising Tournament'' by defeating D. J. Hyde in the

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Masato Inaba in the quarter-finals, Shinya Ishikawa in the semi-finals and

in the finals on June 5.

DDT Pro Wrestling/Pro Wrestling Basara (2013–2021)

Kawakami also works for the Pro-Wrestling Basara branch of DDT Pro Wrestling (DDT) under the name of Trans-Am★Ryuichi. His most notable victory was against Fuma a ''DDT Tavern Pro Wrestling: Alcohol Mania'' on March 23, 2017 when he captured the Union Max Championship. He won the Heaven Summit Itadaki tournament from 2017 by defeating Fuma in the finals from July 5, 2017, match which was also for the Union Max Championship. Kawakami placed himself in the Block A and scored a total of ten points against

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 ...

, Ryota Nakatsu, Sagat, Gouma Ryu and Smoke.

Gleat (2021–present)

Kawakami made his debut in the

promotion at ''GLEAT Ver. 1'' on July 1, 2021 where he picked up a victory against T-Hawk.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with Kazumi Kikuta *

BJW Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title defended in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship has been the leading tag team championship in the promotion since 1997. There have been a total of 62 reigns shar ...

( 1 time) – with Kazumi Kikuta **

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. The title was created on August 4, 2012. As the name suggests, the title is usuall ...

(

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 Daichi Hashimoto and

(1) and Shinya Ishikawa and

** Strong Style Rising Tournament (2013) ** D-Dash Tag Team Tournament (2009) – with Shinya Ishikawa *

** G-Infinity Championship ( 1 time, inaugural) – 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 ...

*Niigata Pro Wrestling **Niigata Openweight Championship (1 time) **Niigata Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kazumi Kikuta * Pro-Wrestling Basara ** Union Max Championship ( 1 time) **

Itadaki __NOTOC__ The is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by Pro-Wrestling Basara since 2016 (except in 2024). It was first held as a round-robin tournament for the first two editions, and then as a single-elimination tournament. In its ...

(

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

) *

Tenryu Project is an independent Japanese professional wrestling promotion. The promotion was founded by and is owned by puroresu legend Genichiro Tenryu, who has owned and operated it since its creation in 2010. The Tenryu project is the successor to Tenryu's ...

** Tenryu Project 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Buki, Classic Kid and Heddi French

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawakami, Ryuichi 1988 births Professional wrestlers from Kanagawa Prefecture Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions Union Max Champions Tenryu Project World 6-Man Tag Team Champions BJW Tag Team Champions Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions G-Infinity Champions