Roppongi 3K (六本木3K Roppongi Surī-kē), also known as Roppongi 3000 (六本木3000 Roppongi Sanzen) or RPG3K, in short, was a professional wrestling tag team made up of Japanese wrestlers Sho and Yoh. Trained in the dojo of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion, the two came together as a team, when NJPW sent them together on an overseas learning excursion in January 2016, first to the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion and then to the United States, where they worked most notably for Ring of Honor (ROH) as The Tempura Boyz. Sho and Yoh, under the team name Roppongi 3K and managed by Rocky Romero, returned to NJPW in October 2017, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in their first match back. The team's name comes from Romero's claim that Sho and Yoh were 3000 times better than his previous tag team, Roppongi Vice. Roppongi 3K disbanded in August 2021, after Sho turned on Yoh, following a losing streak, during the 2021 Super Jr. Tag League.
History[]
Both Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu entered the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo in February 2012 and made their debuts for the promotion the following November,[1][2] eventually starting a storyline rivalry against each other.[1] Tanaka and Komatsu wrestled their first match together as a tag team on March 3, 2013,[3] but did not start teaming regularly until September 2015, following the conclusion of a singles match series between the two.[12] On January 6, 2016, NJPW announced that Tanaka and Komatsu would be leaving the promotion at the end of the month for an overseas learning excursion to their Mexican partner promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).[13][14] NJPW had previously sent rookies such as Hiromu Takahashi (Kamaitachi) and Kyosuke Mikami (Namajague) to CMLL. Tanaka and Komatsu, however, were the first rookies sent as a team since No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) in 2009.[15] They wrestled their NJPW farewell matches as a tag team across the six shows on the following Fantastica Mania 2016 tour.[16]
CMLL gave the two new ring names, dubbing Komatsu "Fujin" and Tanaka "Raijin", after the Japanese gods of wind and thunder.[15] In the Mexican promotion, Fujin and Raijin came under the guidance of Okumura, a 12-year veteran of Mexican wrestling, and Kamaitachi, the previous NJPW trainee sent to CMLL, with the four forming a new version of the La Ola Amarilla ("The Yellow Wave") stable.[17][18] The group was later also billed as La Fiebre Amarilla ("The Yellow Fever") and Los Kamikazes de Oriente ("The Kamikazes of the Orient").[19] Fujin and Raijin debuted for CMLL on February 2 in Guadalajara, making their Arena México debuts five days later.[20] During their time in Mexico, Tanaka and Komatsu also worked for other local promotions, including Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) and Liga Elite.[7][8]
Tanaka and Komatsu remained in Mexico until September 2016, when they relocated to the United States, where they began working as "The Tempura Boyz".[1] They most notably worked for the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion,[6] where they unsuccessfully challenged for both the ROH World Tag Team Championship and the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.[21][22] In July 2017, Tanaka and Komatsu took part in NJPW's two-day G1 Special in USA event that the promotion held in Long Beach, California.[23][24] The following week, they traveled with the NJPW crew to take part in an event held by Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) in London, England.[10]
On September 16, 2017, at NJPW's Destruction in Hiroshima show, the Roppongi Vice tag team of Beretta and Rocky Romero had their final match together before amicably splitting up. Later that same show, Romero confronted IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi, telling Taguchi that he was not the only coach in the game and that he was bringing in a team that was bigger and faster than them, dubbing the new team "Roppongi 3K".[25] This name came from Romero's claim that Roppongi 3K were 3000 times better than Roppongi Vice.[26] Afterwards, while Roppongi 3K were confirmed as the next challengers for Ricochet and Taguchi, the identities of the two wrestlers were kept secret.[27] On October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Roppongi 3K were revealed as the returning Tanaka and Komatsu, billed as "Sho" and "Yoh", who defeated Ricochet and Taguchi to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.[28][29] Through their affiliation with Romero, Sho and Yoh also became part of the CHAOS stable.[30] Roppongi 3K then entered the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Hirai Kawato and KUSHIDA in the first round and Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi) in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament.[31][32] On November 5 at Power Struggle, Roppongi 3K defeated Super 69 (ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi) in the finals to win the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament.[33]
On January 4, 2018, Roppongi 3K lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome.[34] but won it back on January 28 at the New Beginning in Sapporo. They lost the titles to Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado on March 6. From May 18 to June 4, Sho and Yoh took part in the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors, wrestling in separate round-robin blocks. During the tournament, Sho and Yoh defeated Desperado and Kanemaru in their respective blocks, which led them to challenge them to a rematch for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Sho and Yoh finished the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Sho and Yoh unsuccessfully challenged Desperado and Kanemaru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. From October 16 until November 1, Sho and Yoh took part in the Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 3 at Power Struggle, Sho and Yoh defeated Desperado and Kanemaru, and BUSHI and Shingo Takagi in a three-way match to win the Super Jr. Tag League. Sho and Yoh were booked for another three-way match against Desperado and Kanemaru, and BUSHI and Takagi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, which was won by BUSHI and Takagi. They would win back the titles from BUSHI and Takagi on March 6, 2019. On June 16, Sho and Yoh lost the titles to Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo). From October 16 until November 1, Sho and Yoh took part in the 2019 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 3 at Power Struggle, Sho and Yoh defeated El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the Super Jr. Tag League, for the record-setting third time. On January 5, 2020, on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Sho and Yoh defeated Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the fourth time.
On August 27, Sho and Yoh were forced to vacate the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, after Yoh was sidelined with a knee injury. On March 21, 2021, Yoh made his return from injury, challeging El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to a title match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on behalf of Roppongi 3K. This led to on April 4 at Sakura Genisis, Yoh and Sho defeating Desperado and Kanemaru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the fifth time. Following the match, Yoh challenged Desperado to a title match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On June 7 at Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall, Yoh unsucessfully challenged Desperado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, Yoh and Sho were challenged by El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori to a title match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. This led to on June 23 at Kizuna Road, Yoh and Sho losing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Phantasmo and Ishimori. In August, Yoh and Sho took part in the 2021 Super Jr. Tag League, entering a losing streak, which culminated on August 16, with Sho turning on Yoh, to effectively disband the team.
In wrestling[]
- Double-team finishing moves
- Double-team signature moves
- Canadian backbreaker dropped into a facebuster (Sho) followed by a Running cutter (Yoh)
- Double Jumping Knee Attack
- Sho's finishing moves
- Shock Arrow (Cross-armed package piledriver)
- Yoh's finishing moves
- Bridging dragon suplex
- Out Of Print (Rolling figure-four calf slicer)
- Five Star Clutch (Double wrist-clutch flip into a bridging cradle pin)
- Stargazer (Rolling calf slicer)
- Managers
- Nicknames
- "High Voltage" (Sho)
- "High and Mighty" (Yoh)
- Entrance themes
- "Roppongi 3K Theme" by Rocky Romero (NJPW; October 9, 2017–April 4, 2021)
- "Explosion" by Jizue (NJPW; April 4, 2021–August 16, 2021)
Championships and accomplishments[]
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Sho Tanaka's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile
- Yohei Komatsu's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 ja:田中 翔 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 ja:小松 洋平 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ja:旗揚げ記念日 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ BPW . Cagematch. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ The Johnny Kidd Invitational . Chikara. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Card finalized for Dearborn on October 15 (in Japanese). Ring of Honor. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 DTU Supremacia 2016 - Pachuca . Cagematch. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Vacah, José 2016-03-31. Liga Elite: Resultados primera jornada 2016: Bobby Lashley aniquila al Toro Blanco (in Spanish). Superluchas. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ ja:ザ・リーヴ presents プロレスリング・セム in Kawasaki (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Noah. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 RevPro British J-Cup results: Matt Riddle vs. Tomohiro Ishii . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2017-07-09). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ XWA Wrestlution 2016 . Cagematch. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Road to Destruction (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ ja:新日の小松と田中が無期限海外武者修行 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-01-07). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Macklin, Matthew 2016-01-06. New Japan Pro Wrestling news & notes . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 ja:新日・小松＆田中「俺たちメヒコで神になるぜ！」 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-01-19). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ ja:小松洋平、田中翔の“無期限海外遠征”が決定！ 『Fantastica Mania』全6大会で“壮行試合”が実現！ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016-01-07). Archived from the original on 2016-01-08. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Valdés, Apolo 2016-02-14. Llegaron refuerzos japoneses al CMLL (in Spanish). MedioTiempo. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Con Fujin y Raijin, Ola Amarilla dispuesta a conquistar México (in Spanish). Plano Deportivo (2016-02-20). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Invictos, los kamikases del ring (in Spanish). Periódico El Popular. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (February 15, 2016). "February 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Bryan retires". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 27. ISSN 1083-9593.
- ↑ Howell, Nolan 2017-02-05. ROH Wrestling: Dijak stakes his claim for Scurll's TV title . Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 7/29 ROH TV taping spoilers: Full results of upcoming television shows (spoilers) . Pro Wrestling Dot Net (2017-07-31). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Radican, Sean 2017-07-01. Radican's 7/1 NJPW G1 Special In USA (night 1) report – tournament begins to crown first IWGP U.S. Champion, Okada defends IWGP Hvt. Championship against Cody (Rhodes) . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Radican, Sean 2017-07-02. Radican's 7/2 NJPW G1 Special in USA (night 2) report – semi-finals and finals of IWGP U.S. Title Tournament, Tanahashi defends IWGP IC Title vs. Gunn, Young Bucks-RPG Vice . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-09-16. NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ ja:【10月9日（月・祝）両国の全カード決定！】Kushidavsオスプレイ！ 棚橋が飯伏とタッグ戦！ 噂の“Roppongi 3K”がJr.タッグ挑戦！ Cody、スカル、ザックも参戦！ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017-09-25). Archived from the original on 2017-09-25. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-09-24. New Japan reveals full card for King of Pro Wrestling . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 King of Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Rose, Bryan 2017-10-08. NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Evil . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ King of Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSuperJrTag20171st - ↑ Macklin, Matthew 2017-10-30. Super Junior Tag League semi-finals: NJPW 10/30 Road to Power Struggle in Tokyo, Japan live report . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2017-10-30.
- ↑ Currier, Joseph 2017-11-05. NJPW Power Struggle live results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-11-05.
- ↑ Renner, Ethan 2018-01-03. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 live results: Okada-Naito, Omega-Jericho . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2018-01-04.
- ↑ IWGP Jr. Heavy Tag Weight Class (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
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