The Just 4 Guys (ジャスト・フォー・ガイズ Jasuto Fō Gaizu) (J4G), formerly known as Just 5 Guys (ジャスト・ファイブ・ガイズ Jasuto Faibu Gaizu) (J5G), was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
The group was formed in January 2023, when former Suzuki-gun members Taichi, Taka Michinoku, DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru decided to form a stable named "Just 4 Guys", with its namesake referring to the four of them. The stable was renamed to "Just 5 Guys", following the addition of SANADA in March 2023, who shortly after won the 2023 New Japan Cup and then the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, with Taichi following suit and becoming the Provisional KOPW Champion in the following month.
In September, the stable for a brief period returned to the original Just 4 Guys, after Yoshinobu Kanemaru betrayed the group to defect to the House of Torture. However, he was quickly replaced by Yuya Uemura, returning to the "Just 5 Guys" name. The stable returned to four members, after SANADA turned on J5G to join Bullet Club War Dogs, thus reverting back to the Just 4 Guys. The stable disbanded in June 2025, to join NJPW Seikigun.
History[]
Background[]
Taichi and Taka Michinoku had their first interaction in December 2010, as part of the Kojima-gun stable, which later became Suzuki-gun, after Michinoku and Taichi turned on Satoshi Kojima and alligned themselves with Minoru Suzuki. Over the following years, Michinoku and Taichi became a tag team in NJPW's junior heavyweight tag team division holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, before Taichi moved to the heavyweight division in March 2018. Meanwhile, Yoshinobu Kanemaru joined Suzuki-gun in February 2016, as part of the Pro Wrestling NOAH invasion storyline, before moving to New Japan Pro-Wrestling with them in January 2017. DOUKI joined Suzuki-gun in May 2019, after being introduced to the stable by Taichi. All four remained members of Suzuki-gun until the stable's dissolution in December 2022.
Formation (2023)[]
Feud with United Empire (2023)[]
On January 5, 2023, at New Year Dash!, Taka Michinoku alongside former Suzuki-gun members Taichi, DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru announced the formation of "Just Four Guys", with its namesake referring to the four of them. Michinoku also declared that the stable would not have a leader or representation. The stable's official match took place shortly after, with Taichi, DOUKI and Kanemaru facing United Empire's Will Ospreay, Francesco Akira and TJP in a winning effort. Following the match, DOUKI and Kanemaru challenged Akira and TJP to a title match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, before a brawl broke out between both sides. The attack saw DOUKI and Kanemaru target IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Akira and TJP and Taichi targetting United Empire's leader Will Ospreay. On Febraury 4, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, DOUKI and Kanemaru unsuccesfully challenged Akira and TJP for IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Later that night, Taichi was defeated by United Empire's leader Will Ospreay.
SANADA's leadership (2023–2024)[]
SANADA's addition and Just 5 Guys (2023)[]
On March 5, Taichi was defeated by SANADA 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 (AJPW) and in the past few months, SANADA had gotten the best of his heavyweight stablemates in most matches. Following a victory against Tetsuya Naito in the next round of the New Japan Cup on March 17, SANADA was approached by Taichi, accompanied by the rest of Just 4 Guys. 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, effectively renaming it to Just 5 Guys. SANADA eventually won the tournament, defeating David Finlay in the finals on March 21, and become the number one for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. On April 8, at Sakura Genesis, SANADA defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, SANADA's former stablemate Hiromu Takahashi challenged SANADA to a title match. However, before Takahashi concluded his challenge Kanemaru challenged him to a title match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On April 27, Kanemaru unsuccessfully challenged Takahashi for his title. Two days later, at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni, Taichi defeated Shingo Takagi in a Takagi-style triad match to win the Provisional KOPW 2023 Championship. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku, SANADA successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Hiromu Takahashi. Later that month, Later that month, DOUKI and Kanemaru took part in the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors wrestling in seperate blocks. Both failed to advance from their blocks, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and six losses.
Feud with House of Torture (2023)[]
From July 15 to August 6, two members of Just 5 Guys took part in the 2023 G1 Climax with SANADA in block A and Taichi in block B. Taichi finished his tournament with a record of three wins and four losses. Meanwhile, SANADA won his block with a clean record of seven wins, advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, on August 10, SANADA was eliminated from the tournament by EVIL. Following the tournament, on August 13, Just 5 Guys embarked on a feud with House of Torture. After a match between the two sides, SANADA was attacked by EVIL with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt, before being hanged by his injured bicep. Afterwards, EVIL forced ring announcer Makoto Abe to read a "company statement", which described SANADA as an inappropriate figure as champion and that he should turn his title over to EVIL, who proceeded to the steal it anyways. Meanwhile, Taichi was attacked by Sho with the provisional KOPW Championship, declaring that he would take it from its rightful holder, after pinning him in the eight-man tag team match, setting up two title matches at Destruction. On September 24 at Destruction in Kobe, Taichi lost the provisional KOPW Championship to Sho in a seconds handcuffed match, after Yoshinobu Kanemaru turned on him and Just 5 Guys and joined House of Torture. Afterwards, Taichi, who was hurt by Kanemaru's took a leave of absence, whilst the was renamed back to Just 4 Guys, before returning on September 30, demanding that he be added to the night’s action alongside his stablemates against House of Torture. On October 1, SANADA, who had been greeting fans at a special signing session, was attacked by House of Torture. Later night, after facing House of Torture in a winning effort, SANADA announced the stable would continue forwards as "Just 5 Guys" again, while teasing a potential new member to the stable. On October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, the stable's newest member was revealed to be Yuya Uemura, who made his return from excursion, teaming with DOUKI and Taichi in a winning effort against House of Torture's (Yujiro Takahashi, Sho and Yoshinobu Kanemaru). In the main event, SANADA defeated EVIL to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, ending their feud with House of Torture. Afterwards, in a post match interview, Uemura made it clear that he was not interested in playing "second fiddle", revealing that he accepted joining the stable, under the condition that he would face all of his stablemates in a singles match, due to losing to them before his excursion.
From October 21 to November 2, DOUKI and Michinoku took part in the 2023 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record two wins and seven losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Following the tournament, Sho blamed Taichi for "infusing the belt with a weird energy", leading to a rematch on November 17, where Taichi defeated Sho to regain the KOPW Championship, where Yoshinbu Kanemaru served as the Special Guest referee. From November 25 until December 6, Tachi and Uemura took part in the 2023 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins, and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Following the tournament, Taichi was attacked by Yoshinobu Kanemaru, before being challenged by him to a match for the KOPW Championship. This led to a fan vote deciding the sipulation between a Whiskey Bottle Ladder match or a Corner pad removal, low blows legal match. Shortly after, it was announced that Taichi and Kanemaru would face each other in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder match, following the result of a fan poll. On December 21, Taichi defeated Kanemaru in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder match to become the official KOPW 2023 champion, ending their feud with House of Torture.
SANADA's betrayal and disbanding (2024–2025)[]
On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, SANADA lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to Tetsuya Naito. Afterwards, SANADA helped Naito fending off House of Torture's attack, before reqeusted a rematch for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The following day, at New Year Dash!, after Just 5 Guys defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón, SANADA issued a challenge for a rematch, which Naito accepted. The angle resulted in a rivalry between both stables. On February 24 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, in the match series, Just 5 Guys and L.I.J were tied in a aggregate score of 2–2, with Uemura being defeated in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas match, and, as a result, shaved bald. In the main event, SANADA unsuccessfully challenged Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, thus losing the match series between both stables. In April, Just 5 Guys began a short feud with United Empire. On April 27, Uemura defeated Great-O-Khan in a Rural Revitalization match to become the Provisional KOPW Champion. In May, DOUKI took part in the 2024 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On June 3, DOUKI was defeated by El Desperado in the semi-finals. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Uemura lost the Provisional KOPW Championship back to Great-O-Khan in a Storm Catch Rules match. On July 5, DOUKI defeated El Desperado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On November 4 at Power Struggle, SANADA turned on Just 5 Guys and jumped to War Dogs by helping David Finlay defeat Taichi to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
For two months, tensions simmered between Taichi and SANADA, but they resurfeced at Wrestle Kingdom 19 on January 4, 2025, during the New Japan Rambo, where SANADA got Taichi disqualified in the match. Later that night, DOUKI lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to El Desperado, after the referee was forced to stop the match, due to DOUKI suffering an injury on his right arm. Two days later at New Year Dash, tensions between the two got worse, leading to a match on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, which SANADA won. Shortly after, Uemura made his return from his injury, by intervening to assist Taichi, who was under attack by the War Dogs. He subsequently issued a challenge to SANADA, declaring that he would serve as his stepping stone in his goal of becoming the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Their feud continued over the following months, leading to a match in the first round of the 2025 New Japan Cup, which he won, eventually reaching the quarter finals of the tournament, where he was defeated by eventual winner David Finlay. On March 20, Taichi, Michinoku and Uemura were attacked by Bullet Club, before being saved by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi, and El Desperado, leading them to form an alliance with NJPW Seikigun against Bullet Club. On June 15 at Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, DOUKI left the stable to join House of Torture, and Taichi won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with non-J4G partner Tomohiro Ishii. At a press conference afterwards, Taichi and Uemura confirmed they were moving to NJPW's Seikigun, thereby disbanding the stable.
Members[]
Current[]
| * | Founding member |
|---|
| Member | Joined | |
|---|---|---|
| DOUKI | * | January 5, 2023 |
| Taichi | * | January 5, 2023 |
| Taka Michinoku | * | January 5, 2023 |
| Yuya Uemura | October 9, 2023 | |
Former[]
| Member | Joined | Final appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | * | January 5, 2023 | September 24, 2023 |
| SANADA | March 17, 2023 | November 4, 2024 | |
Sub-groups[]
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just Two Guys | SANADA Taichi |
2023–2024 | Tag team | NJPW |
Timeline[]
Championships and accomplishments[]
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – SANADA
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – DOUKI
- New Japan Cup (2023) – SANADA
- Provisional KOPW 2023 Championship (2 times) – Taichi
- Provisional KOPW 2024 Championship (1 time) – Uemura
- KOPW (2023) – Taichi
Luchas de Apuestas record[]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yota Tsuji (hair) | Yuya Uemura (hair) | Sapporo | The New Beginning in Sapporo | February 24, 2024 |
Gallery[]
