MaxiMuM (マクシマム Makushimamu), sometimes shortened to MMM, is a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate formed on April 7, 2017, by Ben-K, Big R Shimizu, Naruki Doi, and Masato Yoshino. On May 4, they would be joined by Kotoka, revealing the unit name, making their stable official in the process. They were formed after the disbanding of Monster Express and after Naruki Doi was kicked out of VerserK.
While part of the stable Ben-K and Shimizu held the Open The Twin Gate Championship and with Doi the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, Doi and Yoshino would hold the Open The Dream Gate Championship and Ishida and Kid held the Open the Brave Gate Championship. Also, Doi, Yoshino and Jason Lee held the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. Lee was added to MaxiMuM on November 8, 2017. Kotoka left MaxiMuM on March 6, 2018, after making his retirement match. Yoshino also won the 2018 King of Gate.
On August 8, 2018, Shimizu turned on Doi and joined ANTIAS, which was followed by Ben-K also turned on MaxiMuM to join ANTIAS in September. Shortly after, Dragon Kid and Kaito Ishida would join the stable replacing Ben-K and Shimizu, leading MaxiMuM to held every championship available in Dragon Gate. In December 2019, Doi and Yoshino suspended the stable, after joining their mentor Último Drágon to form the Toryumon stable, as part of a "Generation War" against Dragon Gate and R.E.D.
History[]
Formation (2016–2017)[]
On October 12, 2016, VerserK was able to defeat Monster Express in a 5 vs 4 Loser Revival Captains Fall match, forcing Monster Express to disband. During the match, Dr. Muscle, who had cost El Lindaman his Open The Brave Gate Championship title match against Eita earlier in the night, attacked T-Hawk and caused him to be eliminated. He would unmask to reveal himself as a returning Kotoka who turned face and defected from VerserK in the process. After the match, T-Hawk would attack Naruki Doi, kicking him out of the VerserK and later Yoshino offered some support but at the time Doi refused.
After that, Doi became a tweener, and once again began teaming with his longtime partner Masato Yoshino. Meanwhile, Kotoka tried to return to VerserK by challenging El Lindaman to Loser Leaves unit match but ended with Shingo Takagi smashing a chair to his face and the rest of VerserK also jumped on him from behind. Later Kotoka blamed T-Hawk and Lindaman for changing VerserK. He would then cost VerserK their matches and aligned with Doi who also was kicked out of VerserK and Yoshino who also wanted revenge on VerserK for disbanding Monster Express. The three would then face VerserK members (Takagi, T-Hawk, and Lindaman) in a match but ended up losing to them. Then Kotoka and Yoshino would form an alliance with Ben-K. The trio took part in the New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament and even got to the finals but losing again to VerserK members (Takagi, T-Hawk, and Lindaman). After the match, VerserK attacked Kotoka, Yoshino, and Ben-K until Dr. Muscle who later revealed to be Doi made the save and the four made an alliance against VerserK. Later Yoshino and Kotoka were sidelined with injuries and Doi agreed to wait until Yoshino came back, which would start teasing the return of Speed Muscle. Later Doi and Ben-K would form an alliance with Big R Shimizu and three would win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship by defeating VerserK members (Takagi, T-Hawk and "brother" YASSHI).
On April 7, 2017, 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 the returning Masato Yoshino announced the formation of a new unit. On May 4 Kotoka would join in with the five unveiling that unit would be named MaxiMuM.
Feud with Jimmyz (2017)[]
The unit's official match took place at Dead Or Alive event on May 5, where the team of Yoshino, Kotoka, Shimizu and Ben-K were defeated by the Jimmyz team of Susumu, Saito, Horiguchi and Jimmy K-ness J.K.S. After the match, Jimmyz attacked them with Genki Horiguchi saying that Jimmyz will show them the difference between amateurs and professionals. After the attack, Yoshino said that Jimmyz were MaxiMuM's first target. Thus leading a feud between the two stables. Later that night, Doi failed to capture the Open The Dream Gate Championship from YAMATO at the Dead or Alive Steel Cage match, due to Jimmyz member Ryo "Jimmy" Saito accidentally hitting him with a cannon of confetti, which caused him to be eliminated.
The following weeks MaxiMuM and Jimmyz would face in various six-man tag team matches and even both stables attacked each other. Doi and Yoshino even made their tag team match return defeating Ryo "Jimmy" Saito and Jimmy Susumu in their return match. Kotoka would pin both Saito and Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!. Following a six-man tag team match between Kotoka, Yoshino and Ben-K and Masaaki Mochizuki and Jimmyz (Ryo “Jimmy” Saito and Jimmy Kagetora), where MaxiMuM won with Kotoka pinning Saito, the two units would confront and attack each other, then Dragon Gate general manager Takayuki Yagi would set up a ten-man tag team match with the Naniwa Elimination Rules where MaxiMuM would face Jimmyz members (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Kanda, Jimmy K-ness J.K.S., Jimmy Susumu and Ryo “Jimmy” Saito) with Kotoka and Horiguchi as captains for their team and the match was set to be on July 6.
During this feud with the Jimmyz Ben-K, Shimizu and Doi would take part in the King of Gate, Shimizu at block A, Ben-K on block B and Doi on block C. Shimizu would finish the tournament with 5 points, Ben-K would finish the tournament with 2 points and Doi would finish the tournament with 7 points defeating Open The Brave Gate Champion Jimmy Kagetora on the final day, advancing to the semifinals. Doi would then defeat Shingo Takagi to get into the finals. On June 11 Doi failed to defeat T-Hawk in the finals of the King of Gate. On July 1 Doi, Ben-K and Shimizu lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Takashi Yoshida, El Lindaman, and Shingo Takagi. On July 6 MaxiMuM would defeat Jimmyz in the Naniwa Elimination Rules match winning them by 4-3 with Kotoka pinning Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! to win the match. This would lead to MaxiMuM taking part of the 5 Unit Survival Race where the losing unit would be forced to disband. MaxiMuM managed to survive after getting seventeen wins and fourteen losses.
Championship Pursuits (2017–2019)[]
On July 23 at the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival, MaxiMuM ended up losing their matches with Ben-K, Kotoka and Shimizu lost to the Jimmyz in the finals of a tournament for the 1 contender for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. Later that night, Doi and Yoshino unsuccessfully challenged CIMA and Dragon Kid for the Open The Twin Gate Championship. 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. On November 8 Jason Lee joined MaxiMuM after accepting Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino's offer to join them. On November 3, at Gate of Destiny, Yoshino, Doi and Kotoka unsuccessfully challenged VerserK (Shingo Takagi, Takashi Yoshida and El Lindaman) for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship in a Three-way six-man elimination tag team match also involving Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO, BxB Hulk and Kzy), with Kotoka being pinned by BxB Hulk after a First Flash. On December 23 at Final Gate, Doi, Yoshino, and Lee defeated Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO, BxB Hulk and Kzy) to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship.
On March 6, 2018, Kotoka made his retirement match defeating his younger brother Oji, thus leaving MaxiMuM. On May 6, at Dead or Alive, Ben-K and Shimizu defeated Eita and T-Hawk to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Later that night, Doi, Yoshino, and Lee lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Natural Vibes (Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka). Following the Dead or Alive, all members of MaxiMuM took part in the King of Gate, Ben-K in block A, Shimizu and Lee in block B, Doi in block C and Yoshino in block D. Ben-K entered his last round-robin matches with a chance to advance to the semifinals, but was eliminated after losing to YAMATO. Shimizu finished his tournament with a record of one win and four losses and Lee with two wins and two losses, with Shimizu winning the head-to-head match between the two. This led to Shimizu being announced to take part in a tournament to decide the last placed wrestler in the tournament. Meanwhile, Doi and Yoshino win their respective blocks, Doi won his block with a clean record of four wins and zero losses, while Yoshino finished the tournament with a record of two wins, one loss, and one draw, advancing both to the semifinals of the tournament. On June 1, Doi lost to YAMATO in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Yoshino defeated Takashi Yoshida to advance to the finals of the tournament. On June 9, Yoshino defeated YAMATO in the finals to become the first wrestler to win the King of Gate for the second time. The following day, Yoshino defeated Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship. During the tournament, a new storyline involving a tension between Doi and Shimizu was started, with Ben-K caught in the middle. On July 22 at Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, Ben-K and Shimizu lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to Tribe Vanguard (BxB Hulk and YAMATO). Following the match, Shimizu apologized to Doi for blaming him for his losses, which Doi accepted after being sad about him losing the match. The two challenged Hulk and YAMATO to a title match for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. In the main event, Yoshino successfully defended the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Shingo Takagi. Following the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Shimizu started weirdly praising Doi following their matches. On August 7, during the title match, Shimizu turned on Doi and joined ANTIAS. Yoshino and Ben-K made the save. The three would ask Hulk and YAMATO for help one time only, which they agreed for agreed to help MaxiMuM out, for one time. General Manager Takayuki Yagi announced that Doi, Yoshino, Ben-K, Hulk and YAMATO were going to face ANTIAS on September 6, leading Ben-K to turn on MaxiMuM and help ANTIAS, joining the stable in the process. On October 7, Dragon Kid and Kaito Ishida were accepted as members of the stable, after trying to join them in the past months. On December 4, Yoshino lost the Open the Dream Gate Championship to PAC in his fifth title defense.
Since January 13, 2019, Kid began proclaiming himself as the leader of MaxiMuM and started berating the other members of MaxiMuM, after losing their matches. Kid would accuse his stablemates efforts, stating that they only worked hard when there was a prize on the line. His actions started to annoy Doi, leading him to ask Kid to leave MaxiMuM. On March 7, Doi and Kid faced each other in a match. Doi would show signs of a heel turn such as using his former VerserK attire, attack Kid during his entrance and using heel a low blow to win the match. Later that night, Doi was offered by R.E.D's leader Eita to join R.E.D, only for Kid to interrupt and question Doi's tactics. Doi responded that he just joined in the 20th Anniversary fan service by wearing his old VerserK attire. 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. Doi would select Kid as his partner, leading Yoshino to choose Ishida. On March 16, Doi warned Kid that if he retrieved the flag he would kick him out of the stable, while Kid responded that he would keep MaxiMuM all together. On March 21, at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, Kid lost the Open the Brave Gate Championship to Susumu Yokosuka. On April 10, Doi and Kid defeated Ishida and Yoshino, with Doi pinning Ishida to represent MaxiMuM in the match. Doi blackmailed Kid that if he helped him win the match, he wouldn't kick him out of the stable. Yoshino proposed facing Doi to decide who would represent MaxiMuM in the match, but Doi refused. On May 6 at Dead or Alive, after MaxiMuM helped Doi escape the "Bonds" steel cage survival five-way match, Doi decided that no one would be no one kicked out, forgiving Kid for his actions. Later that month, all members of MaxiMuM took part in the 2019 King of Gate with Kid and Lee wrestling in block D. All five failed to advance from their blocks with Lee and Kid finishing the last place in their block of six, Ishida fifth, Doi and Yoshino finished third in their respective blocks. On June 6, Dragón returned to the promotion, leading Yoshino to ask him to take part in the event as part of the 20th-anniversary celebration. Dragón initially didn't have an answer, but the whole roster came out and asked him to take part in the event, which he accepted. On June 9, YAMATO and KAI defended the Open The Twin Gate Championship against Doi and Ishida. The match would end in a no-contest after Eita and Big R Shimizu interfered in the match, while also claiming to be the next challengers. 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 making the match official of the event. On July 21, at Kobe-Pro Wrestling Festival, Doi and Ishida failed to capture the Open The Twin Gate Championship in losing against Eita and Shimizu in a three-way match also involving YAMATO and KAI. On November 4 at Gate of Destiny, Ishida defeated Susumu Yokosuka to win the Open The Brave Gate Championship. Later that month, MaxiMuM became involved in a feud between R.E.D and Ultimo Drágon, with Eita teasing Yoshino to be the Green Masked Demon, but he denied it. On December 4, Doi and Yoshino saved their Drágon from an attack by R.E.D, leading the Green and Red Masked Demons to be forced to a match, leading Doi, Yoshino, and Drágon to face Eita, Red and Green Masked Demons in a losing effort, after Ishida revealed himself to be the Green Masked Demon, blaming Doi and Yoshino for trying to get revenge on R.E.D for Drágon. Afterwards, Ishida was attacked by Jason Lee, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to announced that Ishida would defend his title against Lee at Final Gate on December 15. At the event on December 15, Lee unsuccessfully challenged Ishida for the Open The Brave Gate Championship, due to R.E.D's interference. In the main event, Doi defeated Ben-K to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship for his second time. Three days later, Doi and Yoshino suspended the stable, after joining their mentor Último Drágon to form the Toryumon stable, as part of a "Generation War" against Dragon Gate and R.E.D.
In Wrestling[]
- Double team finishing moves
- Doi and Yoshino
- Torbellino (Yoshino) /Bakatare Sliding Kick (Doi)
- Ben-K and Shimizu
- Pop-up (Shimizu) into a spear (Ben-K)
- Doi and Kid
- Doible (Bakatare Sliding Kick (Doi) into a Bible (Kid))
- Doi and Yoshino
- Nicknames
- "Young MaxiMuM" (Ben-K, Kotoka and Shimizu)
- Entrance themes
- "1st FINGER" by 21g
Members[]
| Members | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Naruki Doi | April 7, 2017 – December 18, 2019 | Co-Leader |
| Masato Yoshino | April 7, 2017 – December 18, 2019 | |
| Kotoka | May 4, 2017 – March 6, 2018 | |
| Ben-K | April 7, 2017 – September 6, 2018 | |
| Big R Shimizu | April 7, 2017 – August 7, 2018 | |
| Jason Lee | November 8, 2017 – December 18, 2019 | |
| Kaito Ishida | October 7, 2018 – December 4, 2019 | |
| Dragon Kid | October 7, 2018 – December 18, 2019 |
Sub-groups[]
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DoiYoshi | Masato Yoshino Naruki Doi |
2017-2019 | Tag Team | DG |
| Big Ben | Ben-K Big R Shimizu |
2017-2018 | Tag Team | DG |
Timeline[]
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Dream Gate Championship (2 times) – Yoshino (1) and Doi (1)
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – Ben-K and Shimizu
- Open The Brave Gate Championship (2 times) – Kid (1) and Ishida (1)
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (2 times) – Ben-K, Doi and Shimizu (1) and Doi, Yoshino and Lee (1)
- King of Gate (2018) – Yoshino
- Best Bout Award (2018) Doi vs. Eita on May 8
- Ashiyanikki Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament (2019) – Doi, Yoshino and Ishida
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] |
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.
Gallery[]
