Ben-K

Futa Nakamura (中村風太) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently known by the ring name Ben-K (ベン-K). Nakamura currently works for Dragon Gate where he was trained by the Dragon Gate Dojo. Nakamura is a former one-time Open The Twin Gate Champion, while also being a former one-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion. He is known for his style of power and force as a powerhouse.

Debut (2015–2016)
Nakamura trained for his professional wrestling career in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate's wrestling school called "Dragon Gate Nex" and made his debut on April 22, 2016 at Dragon Gate Nex's Sanctuary.141 show in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, where he was defeated by T-Hawk. Before his official debut through the end of 2015 and the start of 2016 Nakamura wrestled some dark matches trials. On June 26 after Nakamura made some Dark Matches in the main roster he would wrestle his first televised when he teamed with Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito) and they defeated Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii and Kaito Ishida. He would then win and lose some matches and debuted as a rookie wrestler who worked mostly on the midcard, wearing all black gear and with no particular ring character, all part of the structured learning process in Dragon Gate.

On July 7 it was announced that Nakamura was going to participate in the Summer Adventure Tag League with Masaaki Mochizuki on block B. On July 27 Nakamura debuted in his is first PPV in Dragon Gate the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival where he teamed with Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy K-ness J.K.S. and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito) and they lost to Big R Shimizu and Shachihoko BOY, Stalker Ichikawa and U-T. During the Summer Adventure Tag League Nakamura and Masaaki Mochizuki forfeit their first, second and third match due to Nakamura getting injured on the first day by an attack by VerserK. At the end, Nakamura and Mochizuki end up losing the rest of the matches in the tournament losing to the teams of Over Generation (Dragon Kid and Eita) and VerserK (Cyber Kong and Shingo Takagi) finishing the tournament with 0 points losing and forfeiting all of their matches. On November 3, 2016 at Gate of Destiny, Nakamura had a big win when he and fellow rookies of his class Hyou Watanabe and Shun Watanabe defeated Over Generation (Kaito Ishida, Punch Tominaga and Takehiro Yamamura).

Ben-K (2016–present)
On November 11 Nakamura renamed himself to Ben-K. The name is a play on the Japanese word benkei (弁慶) which means powerful person. After that, the General Manager Takayuki Yagi gave Ben-K and Shun Skywalker who was fellow rookie classmate Shun Watanabe an opportunity to face the former Open The Twin Gate Champions Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu). During the match, Ben-K showed new moves like the Backdrop Hold and an attempt of a German Suplex. Later that night CIMA advised Ben-K, Shun Skywalker a and Hyou Watanabe and the rookies Yuki Yoshioka and Katsumi Takashima and welcome them to Dragon Gate then he challenged them to a 10-Man Tag Team Match where his partners would be the veterans Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Gamma and Dragon Kid and the match was later officialized by Dragon Gate at December 1 at the Korakuen Hall. On December 1 Ben-K, Watanabe, Skywalker and the rookies Yuki Yoshioka and Katsumi Takashima ended up losing to the veterans CIMA, Mochizuki, Kid, Fujii and Gamma. On December 25 Masato Yoshino, Kotoka and Ben-K failed to capture the vacated Open The Triangle Gate Championship losing to VerserK (El Lindaman, Cyber Kong and Mondai Ryu) and Jimmyz (Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kanda and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito).

On January 18, 2017 Ben-K, Yoshino and Kotoka participated at the New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament where Ben-K scored the first win pinning Punch Tominaga later that night they came all the way into the finals were they were defeated by VerserK (T-Hawk, Shingo Takagi and El Lindaman) after the interference from the rest of the members of VerserK. After the match, Verserk attacked Ben-K, Yoshino and Kotoka until Dr. Muscle who was later revealed to be Naruki Doi made the save and the four made an alliance against VerserK. Later Masaaki Mochizuki and Big R Shimizu aligned to them. On March 4 Ben-K, Big R Shimizu and Naruki Doi challenged VerserK (Shingo Takagi, T-Hawk and Cyber Kong) for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. However, Kong was injured and he was replaced by "brother" YASSHI and the match would be for the vacant titles. On March 20. 2017 Ben-K, Shimizu and Doi defeated VerserK to win the Open The Triangle Gate Champions. On April 7 Ben-K, Shimizu and Doi successfully defended the Open The Triangle Gate Champions against Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito). After the match, Ben-K, Shimizu, Doi and Masato Yoshino formed a new unit. Later on May 4 Kotoka would join them and announced that the unit would be named MaxiMuM. In May Ben-K took of his first King of Gate tournament being placed at block B. Ben-K ended up losing almost all his matches defeating Yosuke Santa Maria finishing the tournament with 2 points. On July 1 Ben-K, Shimizu, Doi lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Takashi Yoshida, El Lindaman and Shingo Takagi.

On July 23 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Ben-K along with Kotoka and Shimizu would be part of a tournament to crown the 1# contenders to an Open the Triangle Gate Championship match later at the night, in which, they would reach the finals, losing to the tournament winners Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito).

On September 18, after Shimizu and Kotoka failed to capture the Open the Twin Gate Champions, Ben-K and Shimizu challenged them to a match at Gate of Destiny, in which, they lost. Afterwards as part of MaxiMuM Ben-K and Shimizu formed a tag team named "Big Ben", unsuccessfully challenging CK-1 for the Open the Twin Gate Championship on November 3 at Gate of Destiny. In the beginning of 2018, Ben-K stated that the future of Dragon Gate depended on him being at the top. He would then start having more wins, especially in singles matches, rarely losing matches with his partners being pinned. On February 11, 2018, Ben-K defeated Masaaki Mochizuki in a non-title match in just two minutes. After a brief confrontation between the two Ben-K challenged Mochizuki into a rematch but for the Open The Dream Gate Championship, in which Mochizuki accepted. Their match was announced to be part of the second night of the Champion Gate in Osaka. On March 4, at Champion Gate in Osaka Ben-K failed to defeat Mochizuki for the Open The Dream Gate Championship, after the referee was forced to stop the match.

On April 1, 2018 Ben-K and Shimizu and their MaxiMuM stablemate Naruki Doi defeated ANTIAS (Eita, T-Hawk and Takashi Yoshida), after Shimizu pinned Eita. Afterwards, Ben-K and Shimizu challenged Eita and T-Hawk to a title match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship. This led to them defeating Eita and T-Hawk to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship in their second attempt on May 6 at Dead or Alive. Following the Dead or Alive, Ben-K took part in the King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one draw and one loss, failing to advance to the semifinals after losing to YAMATO in their head-to-head match. They lost the titles to Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO and BxB Hulk) on July 22 at Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival. On September 6, Ben-K turned on MaxiMuM and joined ANTIAS, reforming Big Ben with Shimizu who had previously had turn on MaxiMuM to join ANTIAS. Shortly after, ANTIAS renamed themselves to R.E.D.

Personal life
Besides wrestling, Nakamura is a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Nakamura is also friends with fellow professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist Keisuke Okuda, who also works as a freelancer.

Factions

 * MaxiMuM (2017–2018)
 * ANTIAS (2018)
 * R.E.D (2018–Present)

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Backdrop (Bridging belly-to-back suplex)
 * Ben-K Bomb (Deadlift gutwrench powerbomb)
 * Sodegarami (Grounded full nelson)
 * Signature moves
 * Argentine Backbreaker
 * Bearhug
 * Gutwrench Slam
 * Multiple suplex variations
 * Belly to Belly
 * German
 * Vertical
 * Knee to the body
 * Missle dropkick
 * Elbow Smash
 * Headbutt
 * Spear
 * Shoulder Tackle
 * Sitout swinging side slam
 * With Big R Shimizu
 * Double team finishing moves
 * Pop-up (Shimizu) into a spear (Ben-K)
 * Belly to Belly Suplex (Ben-K) followed by an OTAKEBI (Shimizu)
 * Double Spear
 * Entrance themes
 * "Dragon Storm 2007 (Instrumental Version)" by JAM Project
 * "Oriental Weapon" by TUSK
 * "1st FINGER" by 21g (used as part of MaxiMuM)

Championships and Accomplishments

 * Dragon Gate
 * Open The Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – with Big R Shimizu
 * Open The Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – with Naruki Doi and Big R Shimizu

Gallery
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