Yuki Shimizu (清水優己 Shimizu Yūki) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently known by the ring name Big Boss Shimizu (BIGBOSS清水 Biggu Bosu Shimizu) who works currently for Dragon Gate, where he is a former four-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion and a former six-time Open The Twin Gate Champion.
Shimizu was trained by the Dragon Gate Dojo and made his debut in May 2013. Shortly after making his in-ring debut, Shimizu adopted was repackaged as "Ryotsu Shimizu" a police officer inspired by the main character of the anime series KochiKame. He would spend his time as a jobber work mostly on the mid-card. He would later form a partnership with Kotoka and the two became CIMA's protégés. In October 2014, Shimizu started a feud with heel stable MAD BLANKEY, leading him to join Dia.Hearts, who were also feuding with them. Shimizu would be repackaged for a second time as "Big R Shimizu".
In August 2018, Shimizu turned heel after turning on MaxiMuM joining ANTIAS (later renamed to R.E.D). After being kicked out of R.E.D as a result of losing the steel cage survivor six-way match in September 2020, Shimizu was forced to revert to his previous ring name, before renaiming himeself to "Boku R Shimizu" in November before in December being repackaged as "Bokutimo Dragon" as a tribute to Ultimo Dragon. In June, Shimizu repackaged himself, upon his addition to the Natural Vibes stable.
Early life[]
In Yuki's childhood, he had a chubby physique and it had a limited movement caused by mycoplasma pneumonia. When he was in the fourth grade in elementary school and his body was too big and he passed for the next year and he joined the clubland department to become a medium student and his direct efforts were in the shot put in the fact that throwing strong competition. His interest in professional wrestling was when Yuki had the age of 4 when he saw his father watching WCW with Sting being on the show. At the elementary school, he saw the match of Kensuke Sasaki against Toshiaki Kawada at the 2001 Wrestling World in Tokyo Dome and he was fascinated to see the match. Then after before graduating from high school that the teacher of the club he was part of was Shingo Takagi and he asked Shingo to be in the dormitory of Dragon Gate and this was in April 2011 and he was supposed to practice for his debut in the promotion but Yuki dislocated his right shoulder.
Professional wrestling career[]
Dragon Gate (2013–Present)[]
Ryotsu Shimizu (2013–2014)[]
After being trained in the Dragon Gate Dojo, Yuki made his debut on the main roster under the ring name Ryotsu Shimizu losing to Uhaa Nation. Shimizu was initially supposed to debut under the ring name Shimizu Kankichi but dropped it before his official debut. He was given the gimmick of a Police officer inspired by the main character of the anime series KochiKame, which was named Ryotsu. As is customary for most professional wrestlers, Shimizu spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Shimizu some in-ring, televised, experience.
In February 2014, Shimizu was picked by Don Fujii to form a team named Fujii Room. Their team was short-lived and he ended up forming a team with Kotoka (later renamed CIBA). Shimizu and CIBA were chosen to be CIMA's protégés and took part in a tournament to decide the #1 contenders to the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, being eliminated in the semifinals by Millenials (Eita, Flamita and T-Hawk). On May 4, 2014, Shimizu defeated Chihiro Tominaga and U-T to earn an opportunity to participate in the King of Gate. He would be eliminated in the first round by Shingo Takagi. From September 8 to September 21 Shimizu and Kotoka took part in the Summer Adventure Tag League. During the tournament, Kotoka injured himself, leading him to be replaced by Yuga Hayashi in their remaining matches. Shimizu and Hayashi would finish the tournament with a record of four losses, advancing to a tournament to decide the last-placed team in the Summer Adventure Tag League. They would lose to Kzy and Naruki Doi, to become the last-placed team in the tournament. Shimizu and Kotoka's partnership with CIMA ended during that year after Shimizu and Kotoka turned on CIMA to join MAD BLANKEY. However, they were attacked by Dr. Muscle and Metal Warrior and ended up not being accepted to join MAD BLANKEY.
On October 9, Shimizu was attacked by MAD BLANKEY, during the attack MAD BLANKEY member Punch Tominaga stripped him of his pants, promoting a save by Dia.Hearts members Masaaki Mochizuki and Dragon Kid. On October 28, Shimizu was recruited to join Dia.Hearts. This also led him to rename himself to "Big R Shimizu" and changing his gimmick and ring attire to a standard wrestling singlet.
Big R Shimizu (2014–2020)[]
After joining Dia.Hearts, Shimizu received a significant push and started being promoted up the card. On December 28 at Final Gate, Shimizu, Kid and Mochizuki defeated Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu and Ryo Jimmy Saito to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy Kagetora on March 29 in their fourth title defense. They received a rematch on March 25, at Memorial Gate in Wakayama unsuccessfully challenging Horiguchi, Susumu, and Kagetora for the titles. On May 5 at Dead or Alive, Shimizu and Mochizuki unsuccessfully challenged Masato Yoshino and Shachihoko BOY for the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Shortly after, Shimizu took part in the King of Gate, being eliminated in the second round by the eventual winner of the tournament Masato Yoshino.
On February 4, 2016, Dia.Hearts were forced to disband after losing a match to Monster Express and VerserK in a losing disbands match. Shortly after, Shimizu was invited to join Monster Express, which he accepted on February 14. Afterwards, Shimizu and Monster Express stablemate T-Hawk started pursuing the Open The Twin Gate Championship, which led to them defeating Naruki Doi and YAMATO to win the titles on March 6, at Champion Gate in Osaka. From May 8 to June 12 Shimizu took part in the King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On June 11, Shimizu defeated former Dia.Hearts stablemate Masaaki Mochizuki to advance to the finals of the tournament. The following day, Shimizu was defeated by YAMATO in the finals of the tournament. Six days later, Shimizu and T-Hawk lost the titles to Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy Kagetora. On October 12, 2016, Monster Express was forced to disband after losing a Loser Unit disband match against VerserK in a four-on-five Loser Revival Captains Fall match.
After the disbanding of Monster Express, Shimizu aligned himself with Masaaki Mochizuki reforming Mushozoku. On November 3 Shimizu, Mochizuki and Peter Kaasa unsuccessfully challenged Jimmyz (Horiguchi, Saito and Jimmy Kanda) for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, which VerserK ("brother" YASSHI, T-Hawk and Cyber Kong) was also involved in the match. On March 20 Shimizu, Naruki Doi, Ben-K defeated VerserK ("brother" YASSHI, T-Hawk and Shingo Takagi) to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On April 7 Shimizu, Doi, and Ben-K successfully defended the Open The Triangle Gate Championship against Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito). After the match, Shimizu, Doi and Ben-K and Masato Yoshino formed a new unit. Later Kotoka would join them in naming the unit MaxiMuM. In May Shimizu took part in the King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one loss, and one draw, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On July 1, Shimizu, Doi and Ben-K lost the titles to Takashi Yoshida, El Lindaman and Shingo Takagi. As part of MaxiMuM Shimizu and Ben-K 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.
Inspired by his stablemate Ben-K, Shimizu unsuccessfully challenged Masaaki Mochizuki for the Open The Dream Gate Championship on March 21, at Memorial Gate in Wakayama. On April 1, 2018, Shimizu and Ben-K and their MaxiMuM stablemate, Naruki Doi defeated ANTIAS (Eita, T-Hawk and Takashi Yoshida), after Shimizu pinned Eita. Afterwards, Shimizu and Ben-K 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, Shimizu took part in the King of Gate, finishing with a record of one win and three losses, advancing to a tournament to decide the last-placed wrestler in the King of Gate. During the King of Gate, Shimizu started a storyline with his stablemate Naruki Doi where he disrespected Doi. On July 22 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Shimizu and Ben-K lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO and BxB Hulk). Following the match, Shimizu apologized to Doi. Doi accepted after being sad about him losing the match, seemingly ending their feud. The two challenged BxB Hulk and YAMATO to a title match for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. On August 7, during the title match, Shimizu turned on Doi and joined ANTIAS. On September 6, Shimizu reunited with Ben-K and reformed Big Ben. Later in September, ANTIAS renamed themselves to R.E.D. On December 23 at Final Gate, Shimizu and Ben-K defeated Tribe Vanguard (Kagetora and YAMATO), Speed Muscle (Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi) and MexaBlood (Bandido and Flamita) in a four-way elimination tag team match to regain the Open The Twin Gate Championship.
Since January 16, 2019, during a match between R.E.D and MaxiMuM, Shimizu accidentally attacked Ben-K on two occasions which caused some tension between them. Shimizu had previously cost R.E.D a match, with the rest of R.E.D leaving the arena without him. Shimizu's mistakes would repeat during R.E.D's matches, leading Eita to accuse him of doing it on purpose, and blamed Ben-K and Shimizu for the loses and accused them of being incompetent. On February 5, tensions would come ahead between R.E.D and the rest of the other stables in Dragon Gate except MaxiMuM, Eita would criticize each stable's weak points and agreed to a match with each other on March 7. Eita would nominate himself, PAC, Kazma Sakamoto and Yasushi Kanda for the match, leaving Shimizu arguing that he and Ben-K should be in the match due to holding the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Mochizuki Dojo would try to enter the match, Eita protested, but Shimizu wanted them in the match, leading Eita to claim that he was the leader of R.E.D. Five days later, Eita would accidentally hit Ben-K with a chair, costing his match against U-T. Shimizu blamed Eita for Ben-K's loss and demanded an explanation, but he refused claiming they were the ones who lost the match. Ben-K and Shimizu errors led Eita to threaten them that he would kick them out of the stable. Despite Big Ben, retaining the Open The Twin Gate Championship on March 3 at Champion Gate in Osaka, Eita warned them that he had no problems kicking them out. On March 7, Tribe Vanguard won the four-way eight-man tag team elimination match, after Ben-K accidentally attacked Kanda. Shimizu would beg Eita to not kick them out of the stable, YAMATO would provoke Eita, leading him to berate the other units. General Manager Takayuki Yagi capitalized on the opportunity and announced the rules for the Steel Cage Survival match at Dead or Alive on May 6, as well as multiple tag team matches between members of the respective units to decide, which member would enter in the match. Eita would select Yoshida as his partner and their opponents would be Big Ben. On April 10, Big Ben defeated Eita and Yoshida, with Shimizu pinning Eita, to represent R.E.D in the match. Afterwards, Shimizu dared Eita to kick him out of the stable. Yoshida declared that he was not on Eita's side causing tensions in R.E.D, leading Sakamoto and Kanda to choose Eita's side, dividing the stable. On April 28, Ben-K and Shimizu lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to KAI and YAMATO, after Eita cost them the match. On May 6 at Dead or Alive, after Shimizu lost the "Bonds" steel cage survival five-way match, Shimizu along with the rest of R.E.D turned on Ben-K, revealing that he was never planning on kicking Eita out, they were working together all this time, while also claiming that Eita was the leader. Later that month, Shimizu took part in the 2019 King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one draw, and one loss, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On June 9, Shimizu and Eita interfered in a match between Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO and KAI) and MaxiMuM (Naruki Doi and Kaito Ishida), claiming to be the next challengers for the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Tribe Vanguard and MaxiMuM weren't satisfied with the conclusion of the match and all teams wanted to face each other in a rematch, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to make the match official of the event. On July 21 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Shimizu and Eita won the Open The Twin Gate Championship by defeating Tribe Vanguard (KAI and YAMATO) and MaxiMuM (Naruki Doi and Kaito Ishida) in a three-way match. They lost the titles to YAMATO and BxB Hulk on December 15. On May 16, Shimizu took part in the 2020 King of Gate, losing in the first round to Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi, eliminating him from the tournament. On September 21, at Dangerous Gate, Shimizu took part in the six-way steel cage survival match. Shimizu would lose the match after failling to retreive the last flag of the match, despite R.E.D's interference. As part of the match stipulation, Shimizu was forced to shave his hair, was kicked out of R.E.D and forced to revert to his previous ring name.
Bokutimo Dragon (2020–2021)[]
Following Dangerous Gate, on September 26, Shimizu faced YAMATO in a match. The match ended with R.E.D attacking them, leading YAMATO's Dragon Gate Generation stablemates to make the save. Shimizu then proceeded to asked them to join the Dragon Gate Generation stable, but he was refused by them. Afterwards, Shimizu joined by Toryumon Generation members Naruki Doi and Ryo Saito, who took pity on him for being rejected by the Dragon Gate Generation and decided to form their own stable with him named "Our Generation", despite Doi and Saito still being part of Toryumon Generation stable. On October 7, it was announced that the stable would be named "Team Boku". On October 17, Shimizu, Doi, and Team Boku newest member Punch Tominaga defeated the R.E.D trio of (BxB Hulk, Diamante, and Takashi Yoshida), after Shimizu pinned Yoshida. Afterwards, Doi, Tominaga and Shimizu challenged R.E.D to a title for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, which was made official by the Dragon Gate General Manager Takayuki Yagi, under the condition that if Team Boku lost, Shimizu would have to abandon the Ryotsu Shimizu gimmick. On November 3, at Gate of Destiny, Doi, Tominaga were defeated by R.E.D (Kazma Sakamoto, Kento Kobune and Takashi Yoshida) for the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship, forcing Shimizu to abandon the Ryotsu Shimizu gimmick. This led on November 5, Shimizu renaiming himself to "Boku R Shimizu", similiar to his previous name Big R Shimizu, due to being part of Team Boku. On December 2, Shimizu was repackaged as "Bokutimo Dragon" as a tribute to Ultimo Dragon.
In March 2021, Bokutimo began feuding with masked wrestler Diamante, after Último Dragón refused Diamante's challenge and passed it to him. Diamante was initially unsure to who, due to previous years COVID-19 implications. On April 9, Bokutimo was defeated by Diamante in a Luchas de Apuestas match, forcing him to unmask as per the match stipulation. However, despite losing the match, Bokutimo kept working under the same ring name, but unmasked. On April 22, Team Boku decided to disband, in order for Bokutimo to focus on their personal objectives.
Natural Vibes (2021–Present)[]
On June 3, 2021, Shimizu revealed himself to be Natural Vibes's newest member, as a result Shimizu was repackaged as "King Shimizu" as a tribute to WWE Hall of Famer, Rikishi. On July 31, during the first night of Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Shimizu and Yokosuka defeated Kaito Ishida and Kazma Sakamoto to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. On June 26, following a three-way tag team match, between High-End, Natural Vibes and R.E.D, Shimizu and Susumu Yokosuka challenged R.E.D's Kaito Ishida and Kazma Sakamoto to a title match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. This was followed by High-End's Ben-K and Dragon Kid, who also challenged Ishida and Sakamoto to a title match. Afterwards, Dragon Gate's General Manager Takayuki Yagi announced that Ishida and Sakamoto would defend their titles against Shimizu and Yokosuka in the first night, with the winner of that match facing Ben-K and Kid at the second night for the Open The Twin Gate Championship. On July 31 at Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, Shimizu and Yokosuka defeated Ishida and Sakamoto to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. The following night at Speed Star Final, Shimizu and Yokosuka retained the titles against High-End's Ben-K and Dragon Kid. On November 28 at Gate of Origin, Shimizu and Yokosuka lost the Open The Twin Gate Championship to Naruki Doi and Takashi Yoshida. On December 1, he renamed himself to "Big Boss Shimizu".
In May 2022, Shimizu was scheduled to take part in the 2022 King of Gate. However, on May 16, it was announced that Shimizu would be pulled out of the tournament after being sidelined with a foot injury. On December 4, Shimizu and Kzy defeated BxB Hulk and KAI to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Pro Wrestling Noah's KONGOH (Kenoh and Shuji Kondo) on April 4, 2023. On May 20, Shimizu, Kzy, and Jacky "Funky" Kamei defeated Gold Class (Ben-K, BxB Hulk and Kota Minoura) to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Gold Class (Kota Minoura, Minorita and Naruki Doi) at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival on July 2. The following month, Shimizu made it to the finals of the 2023 King of Gate, but was defeated there by Kota Minoura. Shortly after, on August 13, Shimizu stated that he wanted to face Reiwa's New Generation Ben-K, Yuki Yoshioka, Strong Machine J and Kota Minoura. These were the wrestlers he deemed the future of the company, the ones to carry it forward through the next decade. After defeating his five opponents part of the Reiwa's New Generation, on September 30, Shimizu challenged Madoka Kikuta to a title match for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. On November 5 at Gate of Destiny, Shimizu unsuccessfully challenged Kikuta for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. From March 6 to April 10, 2024, Shimizu and Strong Machine J took part in the 2024 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, two draws and one loss, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On April 10, Shimizu and Machine were defeated in the semifinals by YAMATO and Susumu Yokosuka. On May 9, Shimizu, U-T and Strong Machine J defeated Z-Brats' Shun Skywalker, KAI and ISHIN to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On December 9, it was announced that Shimizu had been suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation into a suspected contract violation, vacating the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, in the proccess.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Big Boss Press / King Press / Flying Sausage / OTAKEBI (Diving splash)
- Kameari Kouen Mae Boston Crab (Boston crab) – as Ryotsu Shimizu
- Power Boss
- Shotput Slam / Hogan'nage (Running chokeslam, with theatrics)
- Tsuki no Yufune / Bokutimo-style La Magistral Cradle (La magistral) – adopted from Ultimo Dragon
- Signature moves
- As Boku R Shimizu/Big R Shimizu/Ryotsu Shimizu/King Shimizu/Big Boss Shimizu
- Argentine backbreaker rack
- Big Boss Bomb/King Bomb (Standing or a running high-angle sitout powerbomb)
- Fallaway slam
- Giant swing
- Lariat
- Running shoulder tackle
- Running splash, with theatrics
- Samoan drop, sometimes preceded by a pop-up
- Sitout spinebuster
- Waist lift side slam
- As Bokutimo Dragon
- Dropkick
- Hurricanrana, as a counter to a pop-up
- Suicide dive
- As Boku R Shimizu/Big R Shimizu/Ryotsu Shimizu/King Shimizu/Big Boss Shimizu
- With Ben-K
- 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
- Double team finishing moves
- With Eita
- Double team finishing moves
- F58 (Shotput Slam (Shimizu)/Imperial Uno (Eita)
- Starmine (Pop up (Shimizu)/ Imperial Uno (Eita)
- Double team finishing moves
- Nicknames
- "Fujii Room 1st Student"
- "Big Mouth"
- "Boku Mouth"
- "Sekai no Boku Goku Ryū" (Japanese for "World's Very Boku Dragon")
- "King of Kings"
- "Natural Vibes' Big Boss"
- Entrance themes
- "Downtown Tastes Blues" by Koga Shu (used as Ryotsu Shimizu and as a member of Team Boku)
- "FINAL STAGE" by Dragon Gate
- "Big Resistance" by ACMA (used as Big R Shimizu)
- "Big Resistance (Team Boku Version)" by ACMA (used as Boku R Shimizu)
- "Separados (Bokutimo Dragon Version)" by Bokutimo Dragon and Luis Miguel (used as Bokutimo Dragon)
- "Big Resistance (King of Kings Version)" by ACMA (used as King Shimizu)
- "Big Resistance (Big Boss mix)" by ACMA (used as Big Boss Shimizu)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (6 times) – with T-Hawk (1), Ben-K (2), Eita (1), Susumu Yokosuka (1) and Kzy (1)
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (4 times) – with Dragon Kid and Masaaki Mochizuki (1), Naruki Doi and Ben-K (1), Kzy and Jacky "Funky" Kamei (1) and Strong Machine J and U-T (1)
- Summer Adventure Tag League Last place (2014) – with Yuga Hayashi
Luchas de Apuestas record[]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naruki Doi (member) | Big R Shimizu (member; Ben-K) | Aichi, Japan | Dead or Alive | May 6, 2019 | [1] |
| Masato Yoshino (hair and career) | Big R Shimizu (hair and name) | Tokyo, Japan | Dangerous Gate | September 21, 2020 | [2] |
| Diamante (mask) | Bokutimo Dragon (mask) | Tokyo, Japan | The Gate of Passion - Day 3 | April 9, 2021 |
1 ^ This was a five-way steel cage match, also involving Kzy, YAMATO and Shun Skywalker, where Shimizu lost and as per the stipulation Shimizu decided to kick Ben-K out of R.E.D.
2 ^ This was a six-way survival steel cage match, also involving KAI, BxB Hulk, YAMATO, Eita and Masato Yoshino, where Shimizu lost and as per the stipulation shaved his part of his hair and revert to his old name Ryotsu Shimizu and was kicked out of R.E.D as per the stipulation.
