is a Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played rugby. After starting his career in Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined

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 became one of the promotion's top junior heavyweights, winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship three times and 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 ...

once. Upon leaving AJPW in 2013, Kondo joined

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed b ...

, where he became half of the inaugural

Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions The was a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Tag team championships, tag team championship owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) Professional wrestling promotion, promotion. The title was announced on September 22, 2014, in conjun ...

. Kondo also worked as the vice president, booker and trainer for Wrestle-1 until its closure in 2020. He now works as a freelancer in promotions like Pro Wrestling Basara and DragonGate.

Professional wrestling career

Toryumon/Dragon Gate

Kondo was part of the T2P class in Toryumon. At first he was a face in the Toryumon Seikigun. He would turn heel and join the Italian Connection, changing his name to Condotti Shuji, after the shopping district. One of his stablemates in the ItaCon was "brother" Yasshi, who has remained a firm ally of his ever since. In 2003, the ItaCon was divided over the face/heel issue, with Kondo leading the heel side. He would lead the turn, briefly rename to Dotti Shuji, and soon after revert to his real name. He and Yasshi formed a group called Hagure Gundam (Rogue Corps in English) with fellow ItaCon member

Shogo Takagi Shogo, Shōgo, Shohgo or Shougo (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese professional baseball player *, Japanese politician * ...

, 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 ...

. When Hagure Gundam was joined by Masaaki Mochizuki, it was renamed Aagan Iisou. Mochizuki would later be kicked out of the stable after he and Kondo feuded over who was leader, 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 ...

was added to the group. On December 31, 2004, all five members of Aagan Iisou – Kondo, Yasshi, Sugawara, Owashi, and Shogo – were fired from Dragon Gate, the newly renamed Toryumon, for alleged behavioral problems.

Dragondoor

Kondo was built up as the heel ace of the Dragondoor promotion. All five members of Aagan Iisou were on the roster, but Kondo only aligned himself with YASSHI and Sugawara. Despite the three of them being the heels, they received most of the fan support over the babyfaces.

All Japan Pro Wrestling

He soon joined AJPW, where he and long-time associate "brother" Yasshi would ally themselves with Taru's Voodoo Murders stable and even hold the All-Asia Tag Team Titles for a short time. The Voodoo Murderers were previously in an intense feud against

RO&D Roughly Obsess & Destroy (abbreviated in writing as RO&D, spoken as R.O.D.) was a professional wrestling stable founded in 2003 in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) by Taka Michinoku, disbanding in 2006, and later briefly reforming in Pro Wrestli ...

, but defeated their long-time foes after D'Lo Brown and Buchanan turned on RO&D and joined the Voodoo Murderers. Kondo also became the World Junior Heavyweight Champion having won the title from junior ace Taka Michinoku. On February 17, 2007, Kondo lost the Jr. Heavyweight Title to Katsuhiko Nakajima, thus ending his 1-year, 4-month title reign. Kondo would remain a regular top player in AJPW's junior division for the next several years – a run which included a tag-team with Kaz Hayashi and occasionally working with the heavyweights in tag-team action as a partner of Suwama. His allegiance with both men would be defining parts of his tenure through his working with both men across multiple factions in big-match scenarios. As AJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH began working together more in 2011–2013, Shuji began working NOAH as a part-time outsider and, as an AJPW representative, would defeat NOAH's Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among Cruiserweight (professional wrestling), junior heavyweight (<100 ...

on September 29, 2012. Before the year was out, Kondo would return twice to NOAH for successful defenses against Atsushi Aoki and

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 ...

, respectively. His third defense would be on January 2, 2013, in a dual-title match against reigning AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Yamato. With the victory over Yamato, Kondo became the first person to hold both AJPW and GHC Junior Championships simultaneously; though, the dual-title run would be short lived as Kondo would lose the GHC Junior Title to old dragondoor rival

Taiji Ishimori is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its List of Bullet Club members#War Dogs, War Dogs sub-group. Ishimori is a three-time IWGP Junio ...

on January 28. In that same month, the new incarnation of the

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combust ...

faction – Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki, and Atsushi Aoki – would invade AJPW after leaving their old home of Pro Wrestling NOAH the month prior. All members immediately challenged for AJPW gold and on February 23, Kondo would fall to Kanemaru to end his second reign. On March 4, 2013, Kondo joined Suwama and Joe Doering as a member of the stable, Last Revolution. In June 2013, Kondo announced his resignation from All Japan in the aftermath of Nobuo Shiraishi taking over as the president and

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 ...

leaving the promotion. His final match as an AJPW roster member was on June 30 when he and Kaz Hayashi challenged unsuccessfully for the All Asia Tag Team Championship being held by Burning's Aoki and Suzuki. On January 25, 2018, Kondo returned to AJPW as a Wrestle-1 representative for an eight-man tag team match. Despite having competed for the heavyweight division there and in other promotions, Kondo participated in the Jr. Battle of Glory. Kondo would win his block with a 4–1 record, and go on to defeat 2017 tournament winner, Koji Iwamoto, in the Final. The tournament victory would lead to an unsuccessful challenge for Atsushi Aoki's World Junior Heavyweight Championship on March 25. Kondo would next return on August 3, teaming with freelancer Kotaro Suzuki for a run in the Junior Tag Battle of Glory which ended at an even 3–3 record. Though unsuccessful in the tournament, Kondo did get another direct pinfall over Koji Iwamoto in their league match which led to Kondo being nominated as Iwamoto's first challenger for Koji's newly-won Junior Title. On September 22, Kondo regained the World Junior Heavyweight Championship for a third time. His third reign would last two months – passing a defense against Hikaru Sato before losing the title back to Koji Iwamoto on November 29.

El Dorado

Kondo is also one of the main players in dragondoor's successor, El Dorado. Unlike in dragondoor, Kondo was set up to be the face ace of the promotion. He and YASSHI split for the first time in years, with YASSHI briefly leading his own faction. Kondo started a faction called Sukiyaki, named after his famous love of meat dishes. When his friend and fellow Dragon Gate exile Naoki Tanisaki abruptly left El Dorado and returned to Dragon Gate, Kondo disbanded Sukiyaki. After defeating Magnitude Kishiwada on August 15, 2008 to win the Greatest Golden League, Kondo announced his departure from El Dorado.

Wrestle-1

On July 10, 2013, Kondo was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new

promotion. During the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, Kondo teamed with Kaz Hayashi in a tag team match, where they were defeated by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling team of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. As part of a working relationship between Wrestle-1 and American promotion

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

(TNA), Kondo and Hayashi earned a shot at the

TNA World Tag Team Championship The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling #World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship which is owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) professional wrestlin ...

by defeating Desperado ( Kazma Sakamoto and

Masayuki Kono is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is working as a freelancer. He is best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he is a former two-time Wrestle-1 Champion. Career All Japan Pro Wrestling (2003–2005) Kon ...

) on February 15, 2014. On March 2 at Kaisen: Outbreak, Kondo and Hayashi unsuccessfully challenged The Wolves ( Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) for the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a three-way match, which also included The BroMans ( Jessie Godderz and

Robbie E Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and Manager (professional wrestling), manager. He is signed to WWE, where he is a Producer (wrestling), producer, the on-screen assistant to the NXT general manager Ava (w ...

), who went on to win the match and become the new champions. On September 22, Kondo entered the

Wrestle-1 Championship The was the top professional wrestling title owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) Professional wrestling promotion, promotion. In Japanese language, Japanese the title's name includes the katakana term for "championship", , derived from the English langu ...

tournament 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 concen ...

, defeating his tag team partner Hayashi in his first round match. The following day, he defeated Hiroshi Yamato to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On October 8, Kondo was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Kai. Through Wrestle-1's relationship 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 ...

, Kondo and

Seiki Yoshioka , previously known as Seiki (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler. Yoshioka is known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he was a three-time Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champion and UWA World Trios Champion and a on ...

won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship on November 7 by defeating "brother" Yasshi and Takuya Sugawara. In November, Kondo and Hayashi took part in the First Tag League Greatest tournament, set to determine the inaugural

, where they finished second in their block with a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals. On November 30, Kondo and Hayashi first defeated Kai and Ryota Hama in the semifinals and then Akira and

Manabu Soya is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, and he previously lived in Canada training at the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, working ...

in the finals to win the tournament and become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions. On March 1, 2015, Kondo and Yoshioka lost the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship back to Yasshi and Sugawara. After seven successful title defenses, Kondo and Hayashi lost the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to Jun Kasai and Manabu Soya on July 12, 2015. On October 9, 2015, Kondo broke off his partnership with Hayashi and formed a new stable with Masayuki Kono and rookies Hiroki Murase and Shotaro Ashino. On October 31, the stable was named TriggeR. On November 27, Kondo and Kono won the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Kazma Sakamoto and

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 March 6, 2016. On December 9 Kondo with Jun Kasai and

Nosawa Rongai , better known by his ring names Nosawa and , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling and various independent promotions. Career Early career (19952004) Nosawa spent most of his ea ...

defeated

Andy Wu Andy Qu may refer to: * Andy Wu (actor), a Taiwanese actor * Andy Wu (wrestler), a Japanese wrestler {{hndis, Wu, Andy ...

, Daiki Inaba and

to win the UWA World Trios Championship. On March 27, 2017, it was announced that Kondo would become Wrestle-1's new executive vice president on April 1, serving under new president Kaz Hayashi.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with "brother" Yasshi :* World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) :* Junior League/Jr. Battle of Glory (

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

) :* Junior Tag League (

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 Kaz Hayashi :*Mika Kayama Cup (2010) – with Kohei Suwama :*Aquamarine Cup Tag Tournament (2005) – with "brother" Yasshi * Dragon Gate **

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 ...

( 1 time) – with Kenoh *El Dorado Wrestling :*Treasure Hunters Tag Tournament (2006) – with Dick Togo :*Greatest Golden League (2008) * Pro-Wrestling Basara :*

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, current) – with

and

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 #236 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 2013 * Pro Wrestling Noah :*

( 1 time) :* GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ( 2 times, current) – with

Hajime Ohara is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Ohara worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico for several years as part of his training, mixing the ''lucha libre'' style of Mexico with the Japanese Puroresu style ...

(1) and Eita (1) *

:* NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

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 ...

:* Match of the Year (2008) – vs. Naomichi Marufuji on November 3, 2008 :* Tag Team Of The Year (2006) – with Taru, Suwama, & "brother" Yasshi * Toryumon Japan :* British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) :*

( 2 times) – with Milano Collection A.T. and Yossino (1), and Toru Owashi and "brother" Yasshi (1) :* Rey de Parejas (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) – with "brother" Yasshi *

( 3 times) – with Jun Kasai and

(1), Kaz Hayashi and

(1), and Kaz Hayashi and

(1) :*

Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship The was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) promotion. The title was announced on September 22, 2014, in conjunction with the start of a tournament to crown the first Wrestle-1 Champion. In Japanese th ...

( 5 times) – with Kaz Hayashi (2), Koji Doi (1), Masayuki Kono (1), and Seigo Tachibana (1) :* Tag League Greatest (

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) – with Kaz Hayashi :*

Wrestle-1 Tag League The Wrestle-1 Tag League was a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Wrestle-1. It was created in 2014. Originally known as the Tag League Greatest in 2014. The tournament was given its current name in June 2017. The inau ...

(

) – with Koji Doi

References

External links

Wrestle-1 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kondo, Shuji Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people 1978 births Professional wrestlers from Shizuoka Prefecture Japanese professional wrestling trainers Japanese professional wrestling executives All Asia Tag Team Champions British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champions GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW) UWA World Trios Champions Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions International Lightweight Tag Team Champions (Zero1)