Los Ingobernables de Japón

Los Ingobernables de Japón
Stable
Members	See below
Debut	November 21, 2015
Years active	2015–present
Promotion(s)	AJPW CMLL Dragon Gate K-Dojo NJPW NOAH ROH RPW

Los Ingobernables de Japón (ロス・インゴベルナブレス・デ・ハポン, Rosu Ingoberunaburesu de Hapon) (L.I.J.) (Spanish for "The Ungovernables of Japan") is a stable, based in the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. An offshoot of the Los Ingobernables stable, based in the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion, the group was formed in 2015 by Tetsuya Naito, upon his return to NJPW from CMLL. Under the leadership of Naito, the stable has also come to include BUSHI, EVIL, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, Titán and Yota Tsuji. Through NJPW's working relationship with the American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), the stable has also appeared in the United States with former ROH wrestler Jay Lethal and his manager Truth Martini being former members of the group.

Despite being smaller in numbers than full-scale factions such as Bullet Club, CHAOS Suzuki-gun, Los Ingobernables de Japon has established itself as one of the most prominent and most popular stables in NJPW, conquering almost all titles and tournaments NJPW had to offer, leading Tokyo Sports to cite L.I.J.'s impact on NJPW as one of the main factors in the magazine naming Naito the 2016 Wrestler of the Year, a feat he repeated the following year and in January 2019, the stable managed to held all titles and conquered all singles tournament NJPW had to offer. When NJPW added a seventh title, the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, in 2019, L.I.J also won that as well.

History

Background (2013–2015)

In June 2013, Tetsuya Naito returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from a legitimate anterior cruciate ligament injury. Two months later, Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals to win NJPW's premier singles tournament, the G1 Climax. Despite being a clean-cut babyface, Naito was soundly rejected by NJPW fans and his win over Tanahashi was booed. NJPW had pegged Naito as their next top babyface star, but seeing how the fans were reacting to him, the company changed their course of action and announced a fan vote to decide whether the planned IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between Naito and Kazuchika Okada or an IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi would main event the promotion's biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome. The fans voted Nakamura and Tanahashi to main event the show with Naito and Okada relegated to the semi-main event. After failing to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada, Naito would remain a step below the top spot in NJPW.

During the summer of 2015, Naito, through a working relationship between NJPW and the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion, worked a tour of CMLL, during which he joined the Los Ingobernables stable. Upon his June return to NJPW, Naito continued representing Los Ingobernables, adopting the villainous attitude associated with the stable, using the fans' rejection of him as a catalyst for the change.

Formation (2015)

In the weeks leading to October's King of Pro-Wrestling event, Naito began teasing bringing in a pareja ("partner") to witness his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, contested for Tanahashi's contract for a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome. At the October 11 event, Takaaki Watanabe, making his NJPW return after a two-year overseas learning excursion, was revealed as Naito's pareja as he attacked Hiroshi Tanahashi during his match with Naito. Watanabe's outside interference was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, which led to Tanahashi defeating Naito to retain his contract. In a post-match interview, Naito gave Watanabe his new ring name, "King of Darkness" EVIL. On November 21, Naito and EVIL entered the 2015 World Tag League. During the opening night, BUSHI, making his return following an injury, debuted as the new third member of the group, which was subsequently dubbed Los Ingobernables de Japón.

Rise to prominence and continued success (2016–2019)

Naito and EVIL ended up making it to the finals of the World Tag League, before losing to G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma). On the day of the finals, December 9, BUSHI offered Máscara Dorada a spot in Los Ingobernables de Japón. After being turned down, BUSHI attacked Dorada, unmasked him, and stole his CMLL World Welterweight Championship belt. This led to a title match on December 19, where BUSHI defeated Dorada with help from his stablemates to bring Los Ingobernables de Japón its first championship. BUSHI lost the title back to Dorada during the CMLL and NJPW co-produced Fantastica Mania 2016 tour on January 22, 2016.

On February 20, at the NJPW and Ring of Honor (ROH) co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2016 event, Los Ingobernables de Japón helped Jay Lethal retain the ROH World Championship in a match against Tomoaki Honma. Following the match, both Lethal and his manager Truth Martini joined the unit. While this marked Martini's only appearance as a member of Los Ingobernables de Japón, Lethal continued making sporadic appearances as part of the group over the following months. On March 12, Naito, with help from both BUSHI and EVIL, defeated Hirooki Goto in the finals to win the 2016 New Japan Cup. With the win, Naito earned the right to challenge for a title of his choosing and chose to face IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, SANADA debuted as the newest member of Los Ingobernables de Japón, helping Naito defeat Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, Naito made his first successful defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Okada's CHAOS stablemate Tomohiro Ishii. Following the match, Okada, who had earlier in the event defeated SANADA, intimated that he wanted a title rematch with Naito. Also in May, BUSHI took part in 2016 Best of the Super Juniors. Although he failed to advance from his block with a record of four wins and three losses, BUSHI scored a major win in his final match of the tournament on June 6 by defeating reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA, causing him to miss the finals of the tournament. On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship back to Okada, ending his two-month reign in his second defense. On July 6 it was announced that BUSHI was representing the unit in the 2016 Super J-Cup, but on July 20, he was eliminated in his first-round match by Yoshinobu Kanemaru. From July 18 to August 13, Naito, EVIL, and SANADA all took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, with SANADA wrestled in block A and Naito and EVIL in block B. All three failed to advance to the finals with Naito finishing second in his block with a record of six wins and three losses, while SANADA and EVIL both finished with records of four wins and five losses. Naito was victorious over EVIL in the head-to-head match between the two stablemates. During the tournament, Naito scored a win over Michael Elgin, which put him in line for a shot at Elgin's IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On August 20, Jay Lethal's association with the unit came to an end, when Naito and EVIL abandoned him during a six-man tag team match at an ROH event in Las Vegas, Nevada. On September 17 at Destruction in Tokyo, BUSHI received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, which he had earned with the win over KUSHIDA during 2016 Best of the Super Juniors. BUSHI was accompanied to the match by a new unidentified member of the Los Ingobernables de Japón, who had debuted earlier in the week. The match featured outside interference from both Naito and Michael Elgin and ended with BUSHI defeating KUSHIDA to bring the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Los Ingobernables de Japón. On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe, the stable won another title, when Naito defeated Elgin for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. BUSHI lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship back to KUSHIDA on November 5 at Power Struggle. Later that same event, EVIL defeated Katsuyori Shibata to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion. EVIL lost the title back to Shibata ten days later in Singapore. The following week, on November 18 three members of the stable entered the 2016 World Tag League with EVIL and SANADA teaming together. On that same night during the opening Naito revealed that his Pareja the mystery partner of the group was the CMLL wrestler and original Los Ingobernables member Rush. Naito had planned a team-up between the Los Ingobernables and Los Ingobernables de Japón stables for the previous year's tournament, but the CMLL wrestlers had been busy and unable to participate. On December 10, Hiromu Takahashi joined Los Ingobernables de Japon. Takahashi had recently returned to NJPW from a three-year overseas learning excursion, during which he mainly worked for CMLL. On the same show, Bushi, Evil and Sanada defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata, and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion Satoshi Kojima in a six-man tag team match, after which BUSHI made a title challenge against Kojima and his championship partners David Finlay and Ricochet.

On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, BUSHI, EVIL, and SANADA defeated Finlay, Ricochet, and Kojima as part of a four-team gauntlet match, which also included the Bullet Club trio of Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page, and Yujiro Takahashi and the Chaos trio of Jado, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi, to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Later that same event, Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Tetsuya Naito's successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi marked a clean sweep for L.I.J., who left Wrestle Kingdom 11 holding three championships.

Various feuds and continued expansion (2017–2020)

Following Wrestle Kingdom 11, L.I.J. entered a rivalry with the Taguchi Japan stable over all three of their championships. Naito went on to successfully defend the Intercontinental Championship against Taguchi Japan members Michael Elgin and Juice Robinson, while Takahashi defended the Junior Heavyweight Championship against their stablemates Dragon Lee, Kushida, and Ricochet. Meanwhile, Bushi, Evil, and Sanada exchanged the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship with members of Taguchi Japan multiple times. They first lost the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi on January 5, then regained it on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, then lost it to Tanahashi, Taguchi, and Ricochet on April 4, before regaining it again on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2017. On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, Takahashi lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to the winner of 2017 Best of the Super Juniors, KUSHIDA. Later that same event, Naito lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi. The following month, three members of L.I.J. took part in the 2017 G1 Climax; Naito in block A and Evil and Sanada in block B. Naito won his block with a record of seven wins and two losses and advanced to the finals of the tournament. Meanwhile, Evil finished third in his block with a record of three losses and six wins, one of which came over the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Sanada, who won the head-to-head match against Evil, finished in the middle of the block with a record of four wins and five losses. On August 13, Naito defeated Kenny Omega in the finals to win the 2017 G1 Climax. With Naito now fully embraced by the over 12,000 people in attendance, the win was seen as a conclusion of a four-year arch, which started with Naito's rejection by NJPW fans following his 2013 G1 Climax win and led directly to the creation of Los Ingobernables de Japon. In late 2017, Bushi and Takahashi started teaming regularly in NJPW's junior tag team division. On November 12, Los Ingobernables de Japon made their first appearance in Mexico, when Naito and Takahashi returned to CMLL to team with Rush. The three were defeated in a six-man tag team match, when Rush allowed Volador Jr. to pin himself, reaffirming his previous invitation for Volador to join Los Ingobernables. In December, EVIL and SANADA won their block in the 2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, they defeated Guerrillas of Destiny in the finals to win the tournament. Six days later, BUSHI, EVIL, and SANADA lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale.

On January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome, EVIL and SANADA defeated the Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time. In the main event of the show, Naito unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Following Wrestle Kingdom 12, L.I.J. entered a feud with Suzuki-gun, which led on April 27 Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball player, Jay Jackson making an appearance as a member of the stable. On April 29 at Wrestling Hinokuni, BUSHI defeated El Desperado. Later that same event, Takahashi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru. In the semi-main event, EVIL and SANADA defeated Killer Elite Squad to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship and Naito's win over Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship marked a clean sweep for L.I.J., who left Wrestling Hinokuni holding two championships. From May 18 to June 4, both BUSHI and Takahashi took part in the Best of the Super Juniors, wrestling in separate round-robin blocks. During the tournament, BUSHI picked up a big win, over reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. BUSHI finished his tournament with a record of three wins and four losses. Meanwhile, Takahashi won his block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On June 4, Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori in the finals to win 2018 Best of the Super Juniors. Five days later, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, EVIL and SANADA lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). That same event, Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. Later that night, Naito lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Chris Jericho. On July 7, at G1 Special in San Francisco, Takahashi defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Dragon Lee. During the match, Takahashi suffered a broken neck, after receiving a Dragon Driver from Lee. Following the match, Takahashi collapsed backstage and was taken to a nearby hospital. It was later revealed that he was conscious, and was able to sit and talk. On July 11, NJPW reported that Takahashi was able to return to Japan and would proceed with medical treatment to his neck. From July 14 until August 11, three members of L.I.J. took part in the 2018 G1 Climax; EVIL in block A and Naito and Sanada in block B. All three failed to advance from their blocks with EVIL finishing in fifth in his block, while SANADA finished in sixth and Naito in fourth in their block. Naito entered the final day with a chance to reach the finals, but a loss against Zack Sabre Jr. eliminated him from the tournament. During the tournament, after Naito defeated SANADA in their head-to-head match, he wished Takahashi a good recuperation. On August 20, Takahashi was forced to vacate the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury. NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi reported that Takahashi would be out of action for at least six months. He also announced a four-man single-elimination tournament to crown a new champion which BUSHI was announced as one of the participants. BUSHI would loose to KUSHIDA in the semifinals of the tournament on September 23 at Destruction in Kobe. On October 2, Naito announced that he would bring in a new pareja ("partner") at King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8. At the October 8 event, Shingo Takagi was revealed as the newest member of the stable. The following day, BUSHI and Takagi were announced to take part in the Super Jr. Tag League. Later that month, BUSHI and Takagi, finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 3 at Power Struggle, BUSHI and Takagi were defeated in the finals by Sho and Yoh in a three-way match also El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. From November 17 until December 7, EVIL and SANADA took part in the 2018 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of ten wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On December 9, EVIL and SANADA defeated reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) to win the 2018 World Tag League, becoming the second-ever team to win the tournament in two consecutive years.

On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, L.I.J. captured both of NJPW's tag team titles and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship with BUSHI and Takagi defeating Roppongi 3K's Sho and Yoh, and Suzuki-gun's El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, EVIL and SANADA defeating Guerrillas of Destiny's Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa and The Young Bucks' Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and Naito defeating Chris Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, marking a clean sweep for L.I.J., who left Wrestle Kingdom 13 holding three championships. On February 23, 2019, at Honor Rising: Japan, EVIL, and SANADA lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship back to Guerrillas of Destiny. On March 6, 2019, BUSHI, and Takagi lost the titles to Sho and Yoh. On April 6, 2019, at G1 Supercard, Naito lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Kota Ibushi. BUSHI and Takagi entered th19 Best of the Super Juniors. Takagi ended up winning all of his matches, advancing to the finals, while BUSHI ended with a record of six wins and three losses, failing advancing to the finals. On June 5, Takagi was defeated by Will Ospreay in the finals. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito defeated Ibushi to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, ending his three years Dominion losses. From July 6 to August 11, four members of L.I.J took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, with EVIL and SANADA wrestling in block A and Naito and Takagi in block B. All four failed to advance from their blocks with EVIL and SANADA finishing tied third in their block of eleven, while Takagi finished tied third and Naito finished tied second in his block. Naito entered the final day with a chance to reach the finals, but a loss against Jay White eliminated him from the tournament. On August 25 on the third night of the Super J-Cup, Naito was attacked by White, who challenged him to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On September 22 at Destruction in Kobe, Naito lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against White. From November 16 until December 8, two teams of Los Ingobernables de Japon took part in the 2019 World Tag League, EVIL, and SANANDA; Takagi and Los Ingobernables member El Terrible. Both teams failed to win the tournament, with EVIL and SANADA entering the final day with a chance to win the tournament, but a loss against Juice Robinson and David Finlay cost them the chance to win the tournament.

On January 4, 2020, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Naito defeated Jay White to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The following day, in the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14, BUSHI, EVIL, and Takagi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Toru Yano, which also included the Bullet Club trio of Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi, the Suzuki-gun trio of Taichi, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru and the CHAOS trio of Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Robbie Eagles, to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. In the main event, Naito successfully defended the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, after defeating Kazuchika Okada, to become the first double champion in NJPW history. On February 1, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, becoming the first wrestler to hold both NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions simultaneously.

EVIL's betrayal and championship success (2020–2022)

From June 16 until July 11, all members of L.I.J, except for Naito took part in the 2020 New Japan Cup. All members of L.I.J, except for EVIL, who defeated SANADA in the semifinals, failed to reach the finals of the tournament. On July 11, EVIL defeated Kazuchika Okada in the finals to win the 2020 New Japan Cup, when Gedo, Jado, Taiji Ishimori, and Yujiro Takahashi helped him win the match. Afterwards, EVIL called out Naito, before turning on him and the rest Los Ingobernables de Japon, defecting to Bullet Club. The following day, at Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito lost the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships to EVIL, following outside interference from EVIL's Bullet Club stablemates and the returning Dick Togo. On August 29, at Summer Struggle in Jingu, Takahashi lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Taiji Ishimori. Later in the night, Naito regained the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships after defeating EVIL in a rematch. From September 19 until October 13, three members of L.I.J, took part in the 2020 G1 Climax with Takagi in block A and Naito and SANADA in block B. Takagi finishing this tournament with a record of four wins and five losses. Meanwhile, Naito and SANADA entered the final day with a chance to reach the finals. However, Naito was eliminated from the tournament after losing to KENTA, while SANADA won their block with a record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On October 18, SANADA was defeated by Kota Ibushi in the finals of the 2020 G1 Climax. On November 7 at Power Struggle, Takagi defeated Minoru Suzuki in a rematch to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the second time. From November 15 until December 6, BUSHI and Takahashi took part in the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors. BUSHI finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, while Takahashi managed to advance to the finals, after finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and two losses. Meanwhile, Takagi and SANADA took part in the 2020 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and four losses, failling advance to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, Takahashi defeated El Desperado in the finals to win the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors.

On January 4, 2021, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome, Naito lost the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships to Kota Ibushi. The following day, on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 15, Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori in a rematch to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time. On January 30, at The New Beginning in Nagoya, Takagi lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi. On February 25, Takahashi vacated the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, due to being sidelined for six months, after a tore pectoral muscle. In March, Takagi made it to the finals of the 2021 New Japan Cup, but was defeated there by Will Ospreay. On June 7, at Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall, Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. On July 11 at Summer Struggle in Sapporo, Naito and SANADA defeated Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship, only to lose the titles back to them on July 25 at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. From September 18 to October 20, three members of L.IJ. took part in the 2021 G1 Climax with Takagi ans Naito wrestling in block A and SANADA in block B. Naito was forced to forfeit the remainder of his block matches, following an injury suffered on his openning match. Menwhile, Takagi finished his tournament with a record of six wins, two losses and a draw, and SANADA with a record of four wins and five losses. Takagi was eliminated due to drawing with Yujiro Takahashi at the final day. On December 13, Tokyo Sports named Takagi the 2021 MVP in all of puroresu. From November 13 until December 11, BUSHI and Takahashi took part in the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors. BUSHI finished the tournament with a record of five wins and six losses, while Takahashi managed to advance to the finals, after finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins, three losses and a draw. Meanwhile, Takagi and SANADA took part in the 2021 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of eight wins and three losses, failling advance to the finals of the tournament. On October 18, Takahashi defeated Yoh in the finals to win the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors for the third time, while also becoming the first wrestler in the tournament's history to win back-to-back finals.

On January 4, 2022, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Takahashi unsucessfully challenged El Desperado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In the main event, Takagi lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to Kazuchika Okada. On February 19, SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. In March, Tetsuya Naito made it to the finals of the 2022 New Japan Cup, but was defeated there by Zack Sabre Jr. On April 9 at Hyper Battle, SANADA vacated the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, after being sidelined due to a broken orbital bone. On April 25, Takagi defeated Taichi in a 30 Count match to become the provisional KOPW 2022 champion. In May, BUSHI and Takahashi took part in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors. BUSHI finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, while Takahashi managed to advance to the finals, after finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses. In a rematch from the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors, on June 3, Takahashi defeated El Desperado in the finals to win the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors. From July 16 to August 16, three members of L.I.J took part in the 2022 G1 Climax with Takagi, Naito and SANADA wrestling in seperate blocks. Both Takagi and SANADA failed to advance from their blocks. Meanwhile, Naito won his block with a record of four wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals. On August 17, Naito was defeated in the semifiinals of the tournament by Will Ospreay.

New additions and SANADA's departure (2022–Present)

On October 10 at Declaration of Power, a mystery wrestler helped Los Ingobernables de Japón defeated United Empire. Following the match, the mystery wrestler was revealed to Titán, who requested to join the stable. The stable accepted Titán into the group, and he became L.I.J's first full-time non-Japanese member. From November 22 until December 14, Naito and SANADA took part in the 2022 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Meanwhile, BUSHI and Titán took part in the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record six wins and three losses, but were left behind them in the final standings due to losing to Lio Rush and Yoh on the final day.

On January 5, 2023 at New Year Dash, Takagi become the first Provisional 2023 KOPW Champion after defeating Great-O-Khan, Toru Yano, Sho in a four-way match. On March 5, SANADA defeated Taichi in the first round of the 2023 New Japan Cup. Following the match, Taichi recommended to SANADA to leave Los Ingobernables de Japón; this was partly due to the respect that Taichi and SANADA had shared with their days in All Japan Pro-Wrestling and in the past few months, SANADA had gotten the best of his heavyweight stablemates in most matches. Following a victory against Naito in the next round of the New Japan Cup on March 17, SANADA was approached by Taichi, accompanied by the rest of his Just 4 Guys stable. As Taichi extended his hand over to SANADA, he shook it; immediately following his embrace with Just 4 Guys, it was announced that he would be leaving Los Ingobernables de Japón and joining Just 4 Guys. On April 29 at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni, Takagi lost the Provisional KOPW 2023 Championship to Taichi in a Takagi-style triad match. The following month, three members of L.I.J took part in the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors with Takahashi and Titán wrestling in block A and BUSHI in block B. BUSHI was eliminated after finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and seven losses. Meanwhile, both Takahashi and Titán entered the final day with a chance to reach the semifinals, however, in their head-to-head match, Titán defeated Takahashi, advancing to the semifinals. On May 26, Titán defeated El Desperado in the semifinals and then was defeated by Master Wato, on May 28, in the finals of the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors. After indicating his intentions to join L.I.J., on June 3, Yota Tsuji who recently made his return from his excursion, was accepted as the newest member of the stable. From July 15 to August 9, three members of L.I.J took part in the 2023 G1 Climax with Tsuji in block A, Takagi in block C and Naito in block D. Tsuji and Takagi finished his tournament with a record of three wins, one draw and three losses. Meanwhile, Naito won his block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament. On August 10, Naito defeated Hikuleo and then Will Ospreay, on August 12 in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advance to the finals of the tournament. On August 13, Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada in the finals to win the 2023 G1 Climax. He also earned a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2024. On October 28, at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Takagi defeated Tama Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. In the meantime, BUSHI and Titán took part in the 2023 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record five wins and four losses, but were left behind them in the final standings due to losing to Yoh and MUSASHI on the final day. The following month, Tsuji and CMLL's Zandokan Jr. took part in the 2023 World Tag League, during the tournament Zandokan requested Naito to accepted into the stable. Despite a uneventful campaign, he was eventually accepted into the stable on December 10.

On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Takagi lost the NEVER Openweight Championship back to Tama Tonga. Later that night, Takahashi lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to El Desperado. In the main event, Naito defeated SANADA to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The following day, at New Year Dash!, after L.I.J were defeated by Just 5 Guys, Naito was challenged by SANADA to a rematch, which he accepted. The angle resulted in a rivalry between both stables. On February 24 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, in the match series, L.I.J and Just 5 Guys were tied in a aggregate score of 2–2, with Tsuji defeating Yuya Uemura in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas match, thus forcing his adversary to have his hair shaved off. In the main event, Naito successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against SANADA, thus winning the match series between both stables. Shortly after, Tsuji proclaimed that he would win the 2024 New Japan Cup in March and face Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. He would end up winning the tournament, defeating Hirooki Goto in the finals on March 20, and afterwards declared himself the face of the new era before calling out Naito and challenged him to a title match. On April 6 at Sakura Genesis, Takagi defeated EVIL to win the NEVER Openwieght Championship. Later that night, Tsuji unsuccessfully challenged Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. On March 13 at Windy City Riot, Naito lost the title to Jon Moxley.

Reception

Dave Meltzer wrote on his Wrestling Observer Newsletter that prior to the formation of L.I.J., Naito was known as "something of a genius in the ring for his ability to lay out matches", but noted that "something didn't click", calling his reception "a combination of some fans booing, and some apathy". However, after copying the Los Ingobernables concept he had seen in Mexico, Naito, according to Meltzer, became "more and more popular for being different", with L.I.J. dress clothes, shirts, and masks becoming "the cool wrestling merchandise". According to former Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega, L.I.J. took over Bullet Club's status as "the hottest thing around". When Naito won the 2016 MVP award for Wrestler of the Year from Tokyo Sports, the magazine called Los Ingobernables de Japon a phenomenon that had ushered in a new era. Naito's win ended a five-year run in which the award had been won by either Hiroshi Tanahashi or Kazuchika Okada.

L.I.J. also gained fans outside of professional wrestling. Teruo Iwamoto, a retired football player who had represented the Japanese national team, was a lapsed professional wrestling fan until seeing L.I.J. He went on to become close friends with members of the stable, was teased as a possible tag team partner for Naito in the 2016 World Tag League, and was eventually given the honorary role of L.I.J.'s "public relations manager".

During 2017, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team released Carp de Japon and Tranquilo de Carp shirts, both designed with an L.I.J. theme.

Members

*	Founding member
I	Leader

Current

Member		Time	Status
BUSHI	*	November 21, 2015 – present
Hiromu Takahashi		December 10, 2016 – present
Shingo Takagi		October 8, 2018 – present
Tetsuya Naito	* I	November 21, 2015 – present	Leader
Titán		October 10, 2022 – present
Yota Tsuji		June 3, 2023 – present

Former

Member		Time	Status
EVIL	*	November 21, 2015 – July 11, 2020
Jay Lethal		February 20, 2016 – August 20, 2016	Part-time
Truth Martini		February 20, 2016	Part-time
SANADA		April 10, 2016 – March 17, 2023

Associates

Member		First appearance	Last appearance	Notes
Rush		November 18, 2016	N/A	As part of World Tag League 2016 (Member of Los Ingobernables)
El Terrible		January 11, 2019	N/A	As part of Fantastica Mania 2019 (Member of Los Ingobernables)
Jay Jackson		April 27, 2018

Timeline

In wrestling

• Double-team finishing moves
  • BUSHI and Takagi
    • Rebellion (Double knee facebreaker (BUSHI) / Wheelbarrow facebuster (Takagi) combination)
  • BUSHI and Takahashi
    • Insurgentes (Electric chair (Takahashi) / Diving double knee facebreaker (BUSHI) combination)
  • BUSHI and Titán
    • Angel Inmortal (Double knee facebreaker (BUSHI) / Springboard double foot stomp (Titán) combination)
  • EVIL and Naito
    • Out of Control (Double-team gorilla press slam)
  • EVIL and SANADA
    • Magic Killer (Aided snap swinging neckbreaker)
• Nicknames
  • "Los-gun" (Japanese for "Los Army")
• Entrance music
  • "Stardust" by Kazin (Unit) (NJPW/ROH)

Championships and accomplishments

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • CMLL World Welterweight Championship (1 time) – BUSHI
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times) – Naito
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) – Takagi (1) and Naito (1)
  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship (6 times) – Naito
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (3 times) – EVIL and SANADA (2) and Naito and SANADA (1)
  • IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – SANADA
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (6 times, current) – BUSHI (1) and Takahashi (5)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – BUSHI and Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Championship (5 times, current) – EVIL (1) and Takagi (4, current)
  • NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (4 times) – BUSHI, EVIL, and SANADA (3) and BUSHI, EVIL, and Takagi (1)
  • Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate (2017) – Naito
  • Provisional KOPW 2022 (1 time) – Takagi
  • KOPW 2022 (1 time) – Takagi
  • Provisional KOPW 2023 Championship (1 time) – Takagi
  • New Japan Cup (2016) – Naito
  • New Japan Cup (2024) – Tsuji
  • G1 Climax (2017, 2023) – Naito
  • World Tag League (2017,2018) – EVIL and SANADA
  • Best of the Super Juniors (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022) – Takahashi
  • New Japan Rambo (2021) – BUSHI
• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Championship (1 time) – Lethal
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked Lethal No. 5 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
  • Ranked Naito No. 12 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 and 2017
  • Ranked Takahashi No. 48 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
  • Ranked BUSHI No. 82 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
  • Ranked SANADA No. 144 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
  • Ranked EVIL No. 168 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
  • Ranked BUSHI No. 200 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
  • Ranked SANADA No. 153 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
• Tokyo Sports
  • MVP Award (2016, 2017, 2020) – Naito
  • MVP Award (2021) – Takagi
  • Technique Award (2018) – Naito
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2020) – Takahashi
  • Best Bout Award (2019) SANADA vs. Kazuchika Okada on October 14
  • Best Bout Award (2020) Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada on January 5
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 4½ Star Match (2022) Los Ingobernables de Japón vs. KONGOH on January 8
  • 5 Star Match (2016) Naito vs. Kenny Omega on August 13
  • 5 Star Match (2017) Naito vs. Michael Elgin on February 11
  • 5 Star Match (2017) Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 11
  • 5¾ Star Match (2017) Naito vs. Kenny Omega on August 13
  • Most Charismatic (2017) – Naito
  • Best Gimmick (2017)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date
Yota Tsuji (hair)	Yuya Uemura (hair)	Sapporo	The New Beginning in Sapporo	02024-02-24-0000February 24, 2024

Gallery

• Gallery
• Current Members
• Former Members
• Part-timers
• Champions
• Accomplishments

L.I.J. old logo

L.I.J. in the beggining of the unit

L.I.J. after Jay Lethal and Truth Martini joined the unit

L.I.J. after SANADA joined the unit

Tetsuya Naito offering Hiromu Takahashi to join the unit

L.I.J after Hiromu Takahashi joined the unit

L.I.J and Rush during the 2016 World Tag League

L.I.J after Wrestle Kingdom 11 with all the titles won at that night

Tetsuya Naito with his Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate briefcase

L.I.J with Jay Jackson

L.I.J. after being joined by Shingo Takagi (EVIL was still a member of the stable at the time)

L.I.J. after being joined by Titán (SANADA was still a member of the stable at the time)

L.I.J. after being joined by Yota Tsuji

BUSHI

Hiromu Takahashi

Tetsuya Naito

Yota Tsuji

Shingo Takagi

Titán

EVIL

SANADA

Jay Lethal

Rush

Truth Martini

Jay Jackson

El Terrible

BUSHI as the CMLL World Welterweight Champion

Jay Lethal as the ROH World Champion

Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion

Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in his first reign

BUSHI as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

EVIL as the NEVER Openweight Champion

BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA as the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions

Hiromu Takahashi as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

SANADA and EVIL as the IWGP Tag Team Champions in their first reign

Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in his second reign

Hiromu Takahashi as a 2 times IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

BUSHI and Shingo Takagi as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions

EVIL and SANADA as the IWGP Tag Team Champions in their second reign

Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in his third reign

Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in his fourth reign

EVIL, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi as the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions

Hiromu Takahashi as a 3 times IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

Tetsuya Naito as a 2 times IWGP Heavyweight Champion and as a 5 times IWGP Intercontinental Champion

Takagi as the NEVER Openweight Champion

Naito as a three times IWGP Heavyweight Champion and as a six times IWGP Intercontinental Champion

Hiromu Takahashi as a 4 times IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

Shingo Takagi as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion

SANADA and Tetsuya Naito as the IWGP Tag Team Champions

SANADA as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion

Hiromu Takahashi as a 5 times IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

Tetsuya Naito as the winner of the 2016 New Japan Cup

Tetsuya Naito as the winner of the G1 Climax 27

SANADA and EVIL as the winners of the 2017 World Tag League

Hiromu Takahashi as the winner of the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors

SANADA and EVIL as the winners of the 2018 World Tag League

Hiromu Takahashi as the winner of the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors

Hiromu Takahashi as the winner of the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors

Takagi as the KOPW Champion

Hiromu Takahashi as the winner of the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors

Takagi as the Provisional KOPW 2023 Champion