Aagan Iisou (悪冠一色 Āgan Īsō) was one of the top villainous professional wrestling stables, in the Toryumon Japan, later Dragon Gate promotion.
It was formed in September 19, 2003 by Shuji Kondo, "brother" YASSHI and Toru Owashi as Hagure Gundam (Rogue Corps in English). The stable was later joined by three members, Shogo Takagi, Masaaki Mochizuki and Takuya Sugawara, with Mochizuki later renaming the stable as Aagan Iisou, a coined word from Chinese, meaning "all villains wear the same colors". Kondo and Mochizuki later had a feud to decided, who was the leader of the stable. Although Mochizuki won, he got expelled and led to other members showing the alignance to Kondo. Since then, the unit became one of the most prominent heel stables in the later Toryumon Japan and current Dragon Gate.
At the end of 2004, all five men were expelled from Dragon Gate, leading the stable to disband at the beginning of the next year. Soon after in Dragondoor and later El Dorado Wrestling, two successive promotions that were meant to be an alternative to Dragon Gate, the group was quickly brought under their umbrella, with Kondo becoming the ace of both promotions, despite Kondo and the rest of the group being heel.
At the end of 2007, Sugawara betrayed the group and formed the Hell Deamons stable before two months later being kicked out of his own unit. Soon after, in the summer of 2008, the stable made their last appearance for El Dorado. With Kondo and YASSHI splitting for the first time in years, leading to the definite end of the stable.
The stable reunited once more in 2016 at Wrestle-1, before fifteen years since the unit was released, the unit made their return to Dragon Gate at the beginning of 2019 as part of the celebration of Dragon Gate's 20th Anniversary, with the unit returned two more times, in the summer of 2021 , as part of the Speed Star Final and recently at the second Toryumon Reunion show.
History[]
Formation (2003)[]
In September 2003, the Italian Collection was divided over the sides who portrayed to be face or heel, with Kondo leading the heel side of the stable. He would lead the turn, by briefly renaming to Dotti Shuji and YASSHI returning to his old name before Kondo soon reverted to his real name.
On September 19, Kondo ordered Baker Yagi at backstage to get some of the bread he baked. While at backstage, Toru Owashi entered the ring suggesting that "sumos don't eat bread", with all three-men attacking Yagi and shoving his bread down to his throat. All members then preceded on declaring war to all stables and forming a villanous unit named Hagure Gundam (Rogue Corps in English). .
Soon after, Berlinetta Boxer returned from retirement, inturrupted a match at the 2003 Rey de Parejas between Kondo and YASSHI and Shin M2K (Masaaki Mochizuki and Second Doi), Berlinetta pretended to rescue Mochizuki from a weapon attack by Kondo, only to instead turn on Mochizuki and join Kondo, YASSHI and Owashi, before proceding to unmask and reveal himself as Shogo Takagi.
Tensions over the leadership and disbanding (2004-2005)[]
At the end of January, the unit was joined by Masaaki Mochizuki, who recently turned heel and the unit was renamed to Aagan Iisou, a coined word from Chinese meaning "All villains wear the same colors". Takuya Sugawara, became the later addition after Kondo had offered a place in the group, with Sugawara initially refusing, However, Sugawara had a plan and instead betrayed his partner Anthony W. Mori to officially join the group.
Since then, unlike many factions, the group had no leader at the time of its formation, and each member could do as they pleased. However, Mochizuki, thought that the unit could not function due to the gradual increase in the number of members, insisted that a "leader" was needed. However, Kondo objected and insisted that a leader was not nedded, causing a rift between both men. This led to a match between the two to decided who was the leader of stable, with Mochizuki winning the match and becoming the "leader". Kondo, eventually acknowledge Mochizuki as the leader, with apparently the rift being settled. However, the rest of the members, not satisfied with the outcome, Mochizuki was expelled by the rest of the members at the next day, with the rest of the members solidifying their alliance to Kondo.
Since Último Dragón's withdrawal from the promotion, all members of the unit remained, and joined the recently rebranded Dragon Gate. The unit participated in the tournament to crown the inaugural Open the Triangle Gate Champions reaching the finals until losing to their former Italian Connection stablemates, Milano Collection A.T., Anthony W. Mori and YOSSINO. At the end of 2004, the entire unit was released from their contracts due to acts of miscondcut at backstage and for negleting their contractual duites. At the start of the next year, the stable announced their disbanding with each member parting their own ways.
Aftermath[]
Since the disbanding of the group, Kondo and YASSHI joined All Japan Pro-Wrestling along with fellow released Dragon Gate wrestler, TARU. The three men along with recently released WWE wrestlers, Johnny Stamboli, Chuck Palumbo and Giant Bernard (at the time known in WWE as A-Train), formed the Voodoo Murders. While Toru Owashi and Shogo Takagi joining DDT Pro-Wrestling, with Owashi later becoming the promotion's franchise wrestlers. Meanwhile, Takuya Sugawara, remained inactive from the time being until joining full-time Pro Wrestling Zero-1.
Brief return under Dragondoor and El Dorado (2006-2009)[]
After the dismissal of the group, the group was hired by the fledgling company Dragondoor, formed by former Dragon System wrestlers, who disagreed with the system. Since their return, Aagan Iisou got a great reception from the fans, despite being being heels, and afterwards began a feud with the faction of Dragondoor face formed by Taiji Ishimori, Kota Ibushi, Little Dragon and Milanito Collection A.T.. After Dragondoor folded, all of the personnel was released and later joined El Dorado Wrestling. The members of the unit were freelancers when they joined the promotion. However, after joining El Dorado, they became officially affiliated with the promotion.
When El Dorado started, Sugawara was allied with two rival factions, with Aagan Iisou, and the newly formed villanous group Stoned, led by Kagetora. Sugawara spent the first few months trying to play by both sides, before in the end betraying both the unit and Kagetora and establish himself as the new leader and instead forming a new heel unit named Hell Deamons, before being kicked out of the stable.
On August 24, 2008 Aagan Iisou made their last appearance for El Dorado. The move was meant to be temporary; however, due massive debts and financial troubles, and Kondo, the main star of the promotion, signning full time with AJPW the month after, led to the promotion to cease its operations and hold its final show in December. Afterwards, Kondo and YASSHI started a feud after Kondo left the Voodoo Murders until 2009, when YASSHI took an indefinite break from wrestling.
Occasional returns (2016; 2019-2022)[]
After twelve years since disbanding, Aagan Iisou made a one-time-only return on August 11, 2016 at the Wrestle-1's special event Pro Wrestling Love in Yokohama, where Kondo, YASSHI and Owashi lost to the Michinoku Pro Wrestling originals Kaz Hayashi, Dick Togo and The Great Sasuke.
On January 16, 2019, after fourteen years of hiatus, Kondo returned to Dragon Gate, followed by Owashi and Sugawara following suit in the months after. Togheter along with YASSHI, who had been a regular since 2016, and later Shogo Takagi, who was revealed to be the teased "secret weapon", made a one-night return after fifteen years from being fired from Dragon Gate in a losing effort against Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO, KAI, U-T and Yosuke♥Santa Maria).
On July 9, 2021, the trio of Aagan Iisou made up of "brother" YASSHI, Shuji Kondo and Toru Owashi challenged Masquerade (Dragon Dia, Jason Lee and La Estrella) to a title match for the Open The Triangle Gate Champions at the Speed Star Final. On August 1, 2021, at Speed Star Final, the newly returned Aagan Iisou unsuccessfully challenged Dia, Lee and La Estrella for the Open The Triangle Gate Championships. The team would reunite once more on June 3, 2022, in a losing effort against the newly formed M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda and Ryoto Mochizuki) at Toryumon Reunion Vol.2 show.
Members[]
| Members | Joined | Final appearance[Note 1] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuji Kondo | * | September 19, 2003 | October 21, 2007 |
| August 24, 2008 | |||
| "brother" YASSHI | * | September 19, 2003 | October 21, 2007 |
| August 24, 2008 | |||
| Toru Owashi | * | September 19, 2003 | October 21, 2007 |
| August 24, 2008 | |||
| Shogo Takagi | October 21, 2003 | October 21, 2007 | |
| August 24, 2008 | |||
| Takuya Sugawara | March 26, 2004 | October 21, 2007 | |
| August 24, 2008 | |||
| Masaaki Mochizuki | I | January 31, 2004 | June 6, 2004 |
Timeline[]
In wrestling[]
- Nicknames
- "Hagure-gun" (Japanese for the "Rouge Army")
- Entrance themes
- "The Eastern Red Beast" by ACMA
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Toryumon Japan
- UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) - Kondo, YASSHI and Owashi
- British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Kondo
- Rey De Parejas (2003) - Kondo and YASSHI
- Dragondoor
- Aquamarine Cup Tag Tournament (2005) – Kondo and YASSHI
Notes[]
- ↑ Despite the stable having officialy been disbanded on August 24, 2008, the stable have been reunited three more times, with their latest appearance being at the Toryumon Reunion Vol.2 show on June 6, 2022.