Kaito Kiyomiya (清宮海斗 Kiyomiya Kaito, born July 17, 1996) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling NOAH[1], where he is the current GHC Heavyweight Champion in his third reign, while also being a former two-time GHC Tag Team Champion and the winner of 2018 Global League, 2022 and 2022 N-1 Victory, 2018 Global Tag League and 2024 Victory Challenge Tag League. He is the youngest GHC Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion in history, having won both titles at 22 years old.
Kiyomiya was trained by Pro Wrestling Noah dojo and made his debut in December 2015. Kiyomiya worked as a rookie on the mid-card, before going on an excursion in Canada and received further training by Scott D' Amore. He eventually returned to Pro Wrestling Noah in December 2017. The following month, Kiyomiya received his first opportunity for NOAH's premier title, the GHC Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win it. Afterwards, he would receive a significant push as Go Shiozaki's new tag team partner. The duo would later in the 2018 Global Tag League and the GHC Tag Team Championship in April but lost it at end of May. In November, Kiyomiya won NOAH's premier tournament, the Global League. In December, Kiyomiya would win the GHC Heavyweight Championship in December, becoming the new ace of the promotion. Kiyomiya would set the record for becoming the youngest GHC Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion in Pro Wrestling Noah's history, at 22 years old. At the end of the year, the Tokyo Sports magazine awarded Kiyomiya the 2018 Fighting Spirit in all of Japanese professional wrestling.
In the following year, Kiyomiya became the first wrestler to headline a Noah pay-per-view event in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, since 2012, on November 2, 2019 (alongside Kenoh). At the end of the year, Kiyomiya became the second wrestler to win consecutive Fighting Spirit Awards from Tokyo Sports (alongside Riki Choshu). Afterwards, Noah named Kiyomiya the 2019 MVP of the promotion. During this year, Kiyomiya also developed a long staning rivalry with fellow wrestler Kenoh. After a twelve-month reign, Kiyomiya lost the title in January 2020, which marked the third longest reign in the title's history. After winning the 2022 N-1 Victory for his second time (a feat also shared with Kenoh and Katsuhiko Nakajima), he regained the GHC Heavyweight Championship in September 2022, leading him to be regarded as one of the aces of Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Early life[]
Kiyomiya was born on July 17, 1996 in Saitama, Japan. As a child, he lived and attended a primary school in Saitama and graduated from the Saitama Prefectural Nanryo High School in March 2015. He was exposed to professional wrestling for the first time when rented a match between Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshihiro Takayama to crown the inaugural GHC Heavyweight Champion. With thirteen years old, he decided to become a professional wrestler, following the death of Misawa, whom he cited as his biggest inspiration.
He continued training to become a pro wrestler in his own self taught manner and also practiced kickboxing. After graduating from high school, Kiyomiya decided to join the Pro Wrestling Noah's dojo. Kiyomiya wore green trunks at the beginning of his professional wrestling career as a tribute to Misawa.[2]
Professional wrestling career[]
Pro Wrestling NOAH (2015–2017)[]
Kiyomiya began training at the Pro Wrestling NOAH Dojo in March 2015[1] and made his debut on December 9, losing to Hitoshi Kumano at Winter Navigation.[3] Kiyomiya would go winless throughout the rest of 2015, losing to Taiji Ishimori,[4] Quiet Storm,[5] Genba Hirayanagi[6] and Yoshinari Ogawa.[7][8] Kiyomiya remained winless until March 17, when he teamed with Mitsuhiro Kitamiya and Hitoshi Kumano to defeat Kyu Mogami, Ayato Yoshida and Go Asakawa at a TAKA and Taichi Produce show for his first professional victory. As part of a working relationship between Noah and NJPW, on May 19, Kiyomiya debuted for NJPW at Lion's Gate Project 2, defeating Hirai Kawato.[9] The first big victory of Kiyomiya's career would come at We Are Suzuki-Gun 3 on June 18, where he outlasted Taiji Ishimori, Quiet Storm, Akitoshi Saito, Muhammad Yone, Andy Dalton, Eclipse, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Hitoshi Kumano, Ryo Kawamura, Shiro Tomoyose and Yoshinari Ogawa to win Minoru Suzuki's 48th Birthday Anniversary Royal Rumble match, awarding him the right to a match against Suzuki.[10] The two wrestled to a no-contest on July 16.[11] Kiyomiya debuted for the Kaientai Dojo promotion on July 23, teaming with Go Asakawa in a loss to Taishi Takizawa and Kotaro Yoshino.[12] In November, he was selected to be one of 16 wrestlers selected to be part of the 2016 Global League. He lost all his qualifying matches, being defeated by Alejandro Saez, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Go Shiozaki, Masa Kitamiya, Muhammad Yone, Naomichi Marufuji, and Takashi Sugiura, finishing last in his block of eight.[13]
On January 9, 2017, Kiyomiya was defeated by Takashi Sugiura in a singles match. Afterwards, Sugiura, impressed with Kiyomiya, offered him a chance to form an alliance, which he accepted, stating that he was ready to take the next step in his career, turning heel in the process.[14] The following day, Kiyomiya debuted a new all black ring attire along with a more vicious ring style and ruthless attitude in a loss to Hi69.[15] From April 22 to May 4, Kiyomiya teamed up with Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Takuya Nomura to take part in the 2017 Global Tag League, finishing their block with a record of two wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament.
North America excursion (2017)[]
On June 5, Noah announced that Kiyomiya would be going to a learning excursion to Canada, where he would be training under Scott D'Amore as part of his continued in-ring skill development. In his final match, before exiting for his excursion, Kiyomiya faced his partner Kenoh in losing effort on June 25 at the Great Voyage In Fukushima.[16] During his excursion in Canada under Scott D'Amore, Kiyomiya worked regularly for a number of local Canadian independent wrestling promotions such as Border City Wrestling, Pure Association Wrestling and most notably Canadian Wrestling's Elite and Smash Wrestling. He stayed in Canada for five months until December 2, working for a Pure Association Wrestling show, which turned out to be his last match in Canada.
Return to Pro Wrestling NOAH (2017–Present)[]
Teaming with Go Shiozaki (2017–2018)[]
Kiyomiya returned from his excursion on December 22, confronting and challenging Kenoh after he had defeated Eddie Edwards to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship.[17] Afterwards, it was announced that Kiyomiya would receive a title shot against Kenoh on January 6, 2018. Where he to win the title, Kiyomiya would become the youngest GHC Heavyweight Champion in history.[18] Before the title match, NOAH announced that Kiyomiya had gained 15 kg (33 lb) of muscle to increase his overall weight from 85 kg (187 lb) to 100 kg (220 lb). On January 6, Kiyomiya was defeated by Kenoh in the title match, after the referee stopped the match. Afterwards, after regaining consciousness Kiyomiya went after Kenoh, only for Takashi Sugiura and Kenoh to turn on Kiyomiya ending their alliance, turning face in the process. Kiyomiya then walked out with Go Shiozaki and the two formed a new partnership, later dubbed as "GO-KAI". Kiyomiya claimed his first win after his return on January 15 defeating Andrew Everett. Afterwards, he would receive a significant push as Shiozaki's new tag team partner. From March until April, Kiyomiya and Shiozaki took part in the Global Tag League, finishing the tournament with three wins, one loss, and three draws, advancing to the finals. In the finals, Kiyomiya and Shiozaki defeated Kenoh and Sugiura to win the tournament. On April 29 at Great Voyage in Niigata, Kiyomiya and Shiozaki defeated The Aggression (Masa Kitamiya and Katsuhiko Nakajima) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles back to The Aggression on May 29. Shortly after, Kiyomiya was involved in a short feud between the younger generation dubbed as the "Super New Generation Army" against the older generation, which led to Kiyomiya and Kenoh unsuccessfully challenging Akitoshi Saito and Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Tag Team Championship on September 9.
GHC Heavyweight Champion (2018–2019)[]
In November, Kiyomiya took part in the 2018 Global League, where he won his block with a record of four wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Kiyomiya picked up a major win over reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura. On November 25, Kiyomiya defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima in the finals to win the 2018 Global League and earn a shot at the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Kiyomiya received his title shot on December 16 at Great Voyage in Yokohama vol.2, defeating Takashi Sugiura to become the youngest GHC Heavyweight Champion in history at 22 years old and the fastest wrestler to win the title, with three years of in-ring experience, following his professional wrestling debut. Afterwards, Kioymiya was challenged by Kenoh to a title match, which was settled to be on January 6, 2019, marking one year since Kiyomiya's return to NOAH from his excursion. At the event, Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh to make his first successful title. Afterwards, Kiyomiya was challenged by Atsushi Kotoge and Masa Kitamya to a title match. He would make his second successful title defense against Kitamiya who had previously defeated Kotoge to become the #1 contender. Following the match, Naomichi Marufuji challenged Kiyomiya to a match for his title. Leading up to the match, Kiyomiya and Marufuji faced each other in a tag team match, where Kiyomiya teamed with Daisuke Harada and Marufuji teamed with Minoru Tanaka. Marufuji would win the match for his team, after submitting Kiyomiya with a Keylock and afterwards bent down to hold the icepack on Kiyomiya's arm, which he had attacked consistently during the match. In a built-up to the match, Kiyomiya trained with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba to work on his submission skills.
On March 10 at Great Voyage in Yokohama, Kiyomiya defeated Naomichi Marufuji to make his third successful title defense. Following the match, Kiyomiya called out Kenoh and asked him to be his partner for the upcoming Global Tag League, which he accepted, dubbing their team "KAIOH". In April, Kiyomiya and Kenoh took part in the tournament, finishing the Global Tag League with a record of four wins, two losses, and one loss, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Kaioh disbanded on April 30, after losing to Akitoshi Saito and Masao Inoue in their last round-robin match. Afterwards, Kenoh who was jealous of Kiyomiya disbanded their team, stating that Kiyomiya had been told by LIDET Entertainment, not by Noah, while also claiming that Kiyomiya was made a star by the company, not by his own merit. On May 4, Kiyomiya and Shuhei Taniguchi defeated Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya to end their short feud. Afterwards, Kiyomiya and Taniguchi formed a team later named the "Unchains". Kiyomiya next challenger for the GHC Heavyweight Championship was Takashi Sugiura, who had previously defeated him during the Global Tag League. Shortly after Sugiura won the tournament, he challenged Kiyomiya to a title match, which was later announced by Noah. On June 9 at Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial, Kiyomiya defeated Takashi Sugiura to make his fourth successful title defense. On June 27, Kiyomiya and Taniguchi challenged AXIZ (Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima) to match for the GHC Tag Team Championship. Nakajima accepted Kiyomiya and Taniguchi's challenge for their titles on the condition that Kiyomiya would defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship against him. On July 21, Kiyomiya and Taniguchi unsuccessfully challenged AXIZ for the GHC Tag Team Championship. Six days later, Kiyomiya defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to make his fifth successful title defense. Afterwards, Kiyomiya reignited his feud with his rival Kenoh. On July 29, Kiyomiya announced that he wouldn't enter the 2019 N-1 Victory, instead, the winner of the tournament would challenge him for his title on November 2 at Noah the Best 2019. Kiyomiya's decision drew criticism from Kenoh, who accused him of being scared to take part in the tournament. After Kenoh won the 2019 N-1 Victory, Kiyomiya was confronted by Kenoh, with both claiming they would create a new scene for Noah. Leading to the event, it was also announced the creation of the second version of the GHC Heavyweight Championship, which would title to replace the first version, with the winner of the match being the first wrestler to hold the new championship belt. On October 11, Kiyomiya was attacked by Kenoh's stable KONGOH, with Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura forcing Kiyomiya to his knees, while Kenoh claimed that Kiyomiya was just spoiled not strong, leading AXIZ (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Go Shiozaki) to make the save. On October 22, Kiyomiya teamed with AXIZ in a match against KONGOH. In the last moments of the match, Kiyomiya performed the Tiger Suplex on Yoshiki Inamura. Afterwards, Kenoh executed the Diving Foot Stomp on Kiyomiya, while he was pinning Inamura, leading the referee to stop the match. Following the match, Kiyomiya was stretchered out of the arena. The following day, Noah revealed that Kiyomiya had suffered a cervical sprain, leading him to be pulled from their show on October 27, but it was announced that he would be returning at Noah the Best. At the event, on November 2, Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh to make his sixth title defense. Afterwards, the longest-reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi presented him with the second version of the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
On December 3, 2019, at Go Shiozaki's 15th anniversary debut match, Kiyomiya was challenged by Shiozaki to a match for his title on January 4, 2020. Things started civilly between the champion and the challenger. However, Kiyomiya began showing an egotistical attitude leading to the match, stating that would take the "leading role" at Noah's 20th anniversary year in 2020. On December 12, Kiyomiya and Shiozaki faced each other in a six-man tag team match, where Shiozaki teamed with his AXIZ tag team partner Katsuhiko Nakajima and Hitoshi Kumano, while Kiyomiya teamed with his tag team partner Shuhei Taniguchi and Masao Inoue. Shiozaki scored the win for his team, after pinning Kiyomiya. Afterwards, Kiyomiya found the loss regrettable and his arrogance began growing. In their final confrontation, Kiyomiya and Shiozaki faced each other for the second time in a tag team match, where Kioymiya teamed with Shuhei Taniguchi and Shiozaki with his AXIZ tag team partner Katsuhiko Nakajima. Shiozaki would score the win for his team, pinning Kiyomiya for the second time. On January 4, 2020, at New Sunrise, Kiyomiya lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Go Shiozaki in his seventh title defense, ending his reign at 384 days, which marked the longest title reign in the title's history since KENTA's reign in 2013.
Feud with Keiji Mutoh and championship pursuits (2020–2022)[]
After losing the GHC Heavyweight Championship, Kiyomiya began focusing on the GHC National Championship. On January 30, Kiyomiya challenged Takashi Sugiura to a match for the GHC National Championship, which Sugiura accepting his challenge with the match being scheduled on February 24. At the event on February 24, Kiyomiya unsuccessfully challenged Sugiura for the GHC National Championship. In April, Kiyomiya and Taniguchi took part in the 2020 Global Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of one win and two losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament.
In May, Noah produced two events, the "New Hope" on May 24 and May 31, with Kiyomiya being the crucial figure of the event, due to being the promotion's "new ace". On the first night of the event, Kiyomiya defeated Rene Dupree in the main event. Afterwards, Kiyomiya proclaimed his ambition of facing Japanese wrestling legend Keiji Mutoh. On the second night of New Hope, Kiyomiya defeated Yoshiki Inamura in the main event. Afterwards, Kioymiya was confronted by Daiki Inaba, signaling a challenge from Inaba to match. On July 5 on the third night of New Hope, Kiyomiya defeated Inaba in a singles match. Afterwards, Inaba asked Kiyomiya to form a team with him, which he accepted, leading them to also align with Shuhei Taniguchi. On August 10 at NOAH The Chronicle Vol. 3, Kiyomiya got his wish to face Keiji Mutoh, facing him in a losing effort. From September 18 and October 11, Kiyomiya took part in the 2020 N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins, one loss and one draw to advance to the finals of the tournament. On October 11, Kiyomiya was defeated in the finals by Katsuhiko Nakajima. On October 22, Kiyomiya, Taniguchi, and Go Shiozaki defeated KONGOH (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Yoshiki Inamura in a six-man tag team match. Afterwards, Kiyomiya extended his hand to Inamura, who then bowed to him and left KONGOH to join Kiyomiya's team. Kiyomiya then turned to Kenoh and challenged him to a match for the GHC National Championship, which he accepted. On November 23 at NOAH The Chronicle Vol. 4, Kiyomiya unsuccessfully challenged Kenoh for the GHC National Championship. Following the event, on December 1, Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura discussed challenging for the GHC Tag Team Championship, leading on the following day, Noah officializing the title match. On December 19, Kiyomiya and Inamura unsuccessfully challenged Sugiura-gun (Kazushi Sakuraba and Takashi Sugiura) for the GHC Tag Team Championship. Shorlty after, on December 27, Kiyomiya disbanded his team with Shuhei Taniguchi to focus on his team with Daiki Inaba and Yoshiki Inamura.
On February 12, 2021 at Destination, after Keiji Mutoh won the GHC Heavyweight Championship, Kiyomiya challenged him to a title match. However, Mutoh left the ring without answering. Following the event, on February 15, during a press conference, it was announced that Keiji Mutoh would be defending the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Kiyomiya. On March 14, at Great Voyage in Fukuoka, Kiyomiya unsucessfully challenged Mutoh for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Following the loss, Kiyomiya announced that he would be absent from Noah events until April 3. Afterwards, Kiyomiya stated that he wanted to climb his way up back through Noah card. Subsquently, a frustrating losing to some veterans such as Nosawa Rongai and Yoshinari Ogawa. On June 30, Kiyomiya was chosen by Masa Kitamiya to be his partner for the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship, as part of Kitamiya's feud with Katsuhiko Nakajima. On July 22, Kyomiya and Kitamiya defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima and Manabu Soya to win the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship. In September, Kiyomiya took part in the 2021 N-1 Victory. Kiyomiya started the tournament with two wins, defeating Manabu Soya and GHC National Champion, before facing generational rival Keiji Mutoh in a time-limit draw, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. During the tournament, Kiyomiya escaped from his slump, developing a more vicious and rude attitude, while also changing his hairstyle to black, and wrestling gear to long black tights. On October 10, Kiyomiya was defeated by his bitter rival Kenoh in the semifinals. On November 13, Kiyomiya and Kitamiya lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Keiji Mutoh and Naomichi Marufuji.
On December 5, Kiyomiya and Go Shiozaki faced Katsuhiko Nakajima teamed with KONGOH stablemate Kenoh. Kiyomiya won the match for his team by scoring a direct pinfall over Kenoh and afterwards Kiyomiya challenged longtime his rival Kenoh to a title match for the GHC National Championship. On January 1, 2022, at The New Year, Kiyomiya unsuccessfully challenged Kenoh the GHC National Champioship. As part of "inter-promotional" rivalry between NOAH and NJPW, Kiyomiya made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on January 8, teaming with Keiji Mutoh in a losing effort against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 16.
On April 27, at a press conference, after being announced that Kazuyuki Fujita would be forced vacant the GHC Heavyweight Championship due to contracting COVID-19, Kiyomiya demanded NOAH's Executive Officer Narihiro Takeda to include him in the main event of Majestic for the vacant title. He would be restrained by staff and made to leave, as he forced Takeda to accept immediately his request. The following day, it was announced that Kiyomiya would face Go Shiozaki for the vacant title. At the event, on April 30, Kiyomiya failed to capture the GHC Heavyweight Championship, after losing to Go Shiozaki. Following the annoucement of Keiji Mutoh's retirement, Kiyomiya was announced as his first opponent for the retirement series. On July 16, at Destination, Kiyomiya defeated Mutoh in his retirement match series to end their feud. As a reward for his win, Mutoh bequeathed him two of his finishing moves the Figure Four Leg-lock and the Shining Wizard.
Second GHC Heavyweight Championship reign and various feuds (2022–2024)[]
In August, Kiyomiya took part in the 2022 N-1 Victory. Despite losing his first block match to Anthony Greene, Kiyomiya won his block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On September 3, Kiyomiya defeated Hideki Suzuki in the finals to win the 2022 N-1 Victory and earn a shot at the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
On September 25 at Grand Ship In Nagoya, Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the second time. Following the match, he nominated Kazuyuki Fujita to be his first challenger, who in turn toasted Kiyomiya with a can of beer for his win, with Kiyomiya stating that he chose him, due to Fujita relinquishing the title due to testing positive for COVID-19. On October 30 at Ariake Triumph, he retained the title against Fujita, following a Frankensteiner. Afterwards, Timothy Thatcher, who was accompanied by his interpreter, Hideki Suzuki, challenged him to a title match. On November 10 at Global Honored Crown, Kiyomiya defeated Thatcher to make his second sucessful title defense. Following the match, Kiyomiya was challenged by rival Kenoh to a title match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship at The New Year on January 1, 2023. At the event, Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh to make his third successful title defense.
On January 21 at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena, Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura took on IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Togi Makabe in a tag team match. Before the match started, Kiyomiya wanted to start the match with Okada, but Okada wouldn’t even look at him and let Makabe start for his team instead. During the match, Okada was wrestling Inamura until Kiyomiya came in the ring and attacked Okada by kicking him in the face which resulted in Okada retaliating, causing both Okada and Kiyomiya to brawl outside of the ring until the match eventually ended in a no contest. As Okada left the ring, Kiyomiya challenged Okada to a match only for Okada to return and to continue brawling with Kiyomiya until both men were pulled away by their tag team partners, officials and staff. A match was set between Okada and Kiyomiya for the Tokyo Dome on the following day, despite Okada refusing to face Kiyomiya. On February 12 at Great Voyage 2023 in Osaka, Okada made an surprisingly appearance in Pro Wrestling Noah, laying out Kiyomiya with the Rainmaker, after he had successfully defended the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Jack Morris. Afterwards, Okada mocked Kiyomiya stating that if wanted against him, he would have had to address him as "Mr. Okada", before announcing that he would take the promoted match with Kiyomiya. Three days later, in the last press conference, before the event, Okada deliberately missed the press conference, leading to an angry outburst by Kiyomiya, who immediately left the conference. On February 21, at Keiji Mutoh Grand Final Pro-Wrestling "Last-Love", Kiyomiya was defeated by Okada in a Champion vs. Champion match. On March 17, at Great Voyage in Yokohama, Kiyomiya lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Jake Lee in his fourth title defense. On June 10, Kiyomiya announced that he would miss the 2023 N-1 Victory, due to appearing in the 2023 G1 Climax. On August 5, he finished the tournament with a record of two wins, two draws and three losses, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
On August 13, Kiyomiya invited NJPW's young lion Ryohei Oiwa to take part on a learning excursion in Pro Wrestling Noah, which he accepted. Afterwards, Kiyomiya took Oiwa under his wing, as he became Kiyomiya's protégé. Kiyomiya made his return to NOAH on August 19, teaming with HAYATA and Eita in a winning effort against Yoshinari Ogawa, LEONA and Stallion Rogers. From November 25 until December 6, Kiyomiya and Oiwa took part in NJPW's 2023 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, and six losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 10, Kiyomiya and Oiwa were attacked by House of Torture, only to be saved by Shota Umino. Afterwards, Kiyomiya and Oiwa challenged EVIL and Takahashi to a match, after previously defeating them in the 2023 World Tag League. After House of Torture made an appearance in NOAH attacking Kiyomiya, he would assist Shota Umino on December 21 in NJPW. On December 24, at Dragon Gate's Final Gate, Kiyomiya and Alejandro defeated Gold Class (Ben-K and Kota Minoura) to win the vacant Open The Twin Gate Championship. Kiyomiya and Umino's feud with House of Torture led to two matches, on January 2, 2024 at The New Year, where Kiyomiya, Umino, Oiwa, Daiki Inaba, Junta Miyawaki, and Shuji Kondo faced House of Torture in a winning effort and the second two days later at Wrestle Kingdom 18, where Kiyomiya and Umino lost to EVIL and Narita. Shortly after, Kiyomiya began feuding with Jake Lee, after claiming in a interview, that he couldn't feel that Kiyomiya was a good looking guy, as even his microphone was lacking. Their feud culminated to a match on January 23, where Good Looking Guys defeated Kiyomiya's team, leading to Lee state that he wasn't interested in fighting Kiyomiya anymore, unless of course it was for their common goal, the GHC Heavyweight Championship, which was what he was interested in.
From February 24 to March 10, Kiyomiya and Oiwa took part in the 2024 Victory Challenge Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins, two losses and a draw advancing to the finals of the tournament. On March 10, Kiyomiya and Oiwa defeated Real (Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher) in the finals to win the tournament and following the win, they called out reigning champions, Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris and Anthony Greene), and challenged them to a title match, which they accepted. On March 17, it was announced that Kiyomiya, was forced to withdraw from the match due to a spinal cord concussion sustained during training, leading Huxley and Thatcher, who finished as the Victory Challenge Tag League runners-up to replace them in the title match. After making his return from injury, on March 31, Kiyomiya and Oiwa failed to win the titles on April 7.
All Rebellion (2024–Present)[]
During this time, he began being relentlessly harassed by Kenoh, leading his attitude to changed dramatically. Kenoh would even wear a t-shirt with Kiyomiya's face when he was young printed on it, leading Kiyomiya to be on the verge of a nerveous breakdown. This led to a match between the two on April 14, which Kiyomiya won. On the April 15 episode of Monday Magic, Kiyomiya and Jake Lee confronted El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. after his match challenging him to a title match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. This led NOAH to set up a number one contenders match on the April 20 episode of Monday Magic to decide the challenger for the title, which Kiyomiya won. On May 4 at Wrestle Magic, Kiyomiya defeated El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the third time. After the match, Kiyomiya declared that he would lead NOAH to the top of the professional wrestling world, stating the "NOAH Rebellion Declaration". Kenoh then appeared as Kiyomiya stated that he needed his strength to make a change in NOAH. with Kenoh accepting, leading the two finally squashed their recent issues and rekindle their past friendship. The following day, at Dead or Alive, Kiyomiya and Alejandro lost the Open The Twin Gate Championship to Dragon Kid and Naruki Doi. On May 6 at All Together, Kiyomiya teamed with NJPW's Shota Umino, and DDT's Yuki Ueno in a winning effort against NJPW's Yuya Uemura, DDT's Konosuke Takeshita and Dragon Gate's Shun Skywalker. After the match, Kiyomiya was attacked by NJPW's Bullet Club War Dogs, with Gabe Kidd taking out Kiyomiya with a piledriver, before declaring himself as his next challenger. During the backstage interview, Kiyomiya was assisted by Kenoh to his feet and accepted Kid's challenge. The following day, Kiyomiya and Kenoh formed a stable named "All Rebellion", alongside Alejandro and Cristobal, who were accepted into the new stable.
The stable held their first event on May 21 at the Korakuen Hall, as part of NOAH's Star Navigation tour. On their debut match, All Rebellion faced Eita, Ryohei Oiwa, Ulka Sasaki, and Shuji Kondo. After the match, Kiyomiya invited Oiwa to join All Rebellion, which he pretended to accept, only to turn on them stating that his feud with Kiyomiya was not over. Shortly after, Oiwa would also refuse to join Good Looking Guys (GLG). All Rebellion then started feuding with GLG, due to Lee being aligned with Bullet Club War Dogs, leading NOAH to announce that Kiyomiya and Kenoh would face Lee and Gabe Kidd on June 9. On June 1, following a match between Kiyomiya and Oiwa, he challenged Oiwa to a match, after Oiwa went to attack him again. On June 9, Kiyomiya and Kenoh faced Kidd and Lee in a double count out. During the match, Kidd busted open Kiyomiya, though afterwards Kiyomiya got the upperhand and proclaimed that the title wasn't for him to own and that he would return the "bloodbath" in their title match. On June 16, at Grand Ship In Yokohama, Kiyomiya defeated Gabe Kidd to retain the GHC Heavyweight Championship, ending All Rebellion's feud with Bullet Club War Dogs. Afterwards, he was challenged by the returning YOICHI, who made his surprise return from excursion, which he Kioymiya accepted. Afterwards, he was attacked by YOICHI. On July 13 at Destination, Kiyomiya successfully defended the title against YOICHI. In August, Kiyomiya took part in the 2024 N-1 Victory, where he won his block with a record of four wins, two draws and a loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament, where he was challenged by All Rebellion stablemate Kenoh to a title match for GHC Heavyweight Championship at the finals on September 1. At the event, Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh in the finals, to make his third successful defense, becoming the first wrestler to win the N-1 Victory, while holding the GHC Heavyweight Championship and the first to win three editions. Kiyomiya's feud with Ryohei Oiwa would finish on September 14, where he defeated Oiwa, on his last match in his excursion in NOAH. Following the match, Masa Kitamiya challenged him to a title match, leading on October 14, Kiyomiya making his fourth successful title defense. On November 17 at Deathnity, he made his fifth successful title defense against Takashi Sugiura. After the match, his All Rebellion stablemate Taishi Ozawa turned on him and jumped to Team 2000 X, turning heel in the proccess, challenging him to a title match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship on January 1, 2025 at The New Year. The following weeks, Ozawa began commenting on social media about Kiyomiya's personal life, regarding his girlfriend, and also posted a photo of Kiyomiya smoking. On November 25 at Monday Magic Autumn Final, he made his sixth successful title against Brian Kendrick. On November 30, Ozawa, who brought with him a contract for the title match, challenged Kiyomiya to a match at The New Year, despite Kiyomiya ignoring him. He eventually lost his temper, leading Ozawa to attack him, revealing his injury to be fake. The following day, Ozawa attacked Kiyomiya and forced him to sign the contract, setting up their match for the event. At The New Year, Kiyomiya lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Ozawa.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Arm drag rolled into a cradle
- Cattle Mutilation (Bridging double chickenwing) - 2022-present
- Chickenwing facelock
- Figure-four leg-lock – 2022-present; adopted from Keiji Mutoh
- High-angle bridging tiger suplex
- Shining Lancer/Henkei Shining Wizard (Step-up jumping bicycle knee strike to a kneeling opponent); Innovated
- Indian Deathlock Feather (Grounded Indian deathlock / double-under-hook face-lock combination) - 2020
- Scoop suplex dropped into a reverse DDT - 2020
- Shining Wizard (Leaping knee strike, to a kneeling opponent while using the opponent's knee for leverage) – 2022-present; adopted from Keiji Mutoh
- Signature moves
- Brainbuster
- Boston crab
- Cobra twist
- Diving elbow strike
- Dragon screw
- Dropkick, sometimes to the opponent's knee
- Elbow drop
- Frankensteiner
- Japanese leg roll clutch
- Lariat
- Leg drop
- Missile dropkick
- Multiple inverted DDT variations
- Inverted facelock backbreaker followed by a
- Lifting from the top rope
- Vertical suplex dropped into a
- Multiple suplex variations
- Bridging german
- Fisherman
- Snap
- Overthrow (Fireman's carry transitioned into a modified side slam) - previously used as a finisher
- Powerslam
- TFC-Tornado Face Crusher (Floatover falling facebuster); Innovated
- Tiger Driver (Sheerdrop sitout double underhook powerbomb) – used as a tribute to Mitsuharu Misawa; previously used as a finisher
- Tiger Driver '23 (Modified double chickenwing rotated into a sitout powerbomb); Innovated
- Sankakugeri (Corner springboard enzuigiri) – adopted from Masaaki Mochizuki
- Running elbow strike
- Running knee strike
- Snap scoop powerslam
- Uppercut
- Nicknames
- "Emerald New Star"
- "Galaxy View"
- "Nova"
- "Next Generation Ace"
- "Supernova"
- Entrance themes
- "KAITO" (2016–2018)
- "Explosion Soul" (2018–2022)
- "Regeneration" (2022–Present)
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – with Alejandro
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 36 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2020
- Pro Wrestling NOAH
- GHC Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Go Shiozaki (1) and Masa Kitamiya (1)
- Global Tag League (2018) – with Go Shiozaki
- Global League (2018)
- N-1 Victory (2022, 2024)
- Victory Challenge Tag League (2024) – with Ryohei Oiwa
- MVP Award (2019)
- Tokyo Sports
- Fighting Spirit Award (2018, 2019, 2024)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. NJPW Lion's Gate Project2 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database .
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. Global League 2016 « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database .
- ↑ http://puroresuspirit.net/2017/01/noah-results-for-january-9-2017/
- ↑ http://puroresuspirit.net/2017/01/noah-results-for-january-11-2017/
- ↑ すべての壁をブチ壊す(清宮) 海外遠征決定!清宮海斗選手記者会見の模様【遠征期間中は欠場となります。ご理解賜りたく重ねてお願い申し上げます。】 (in ja).
- ↑ ノア・拳王がGHC初戴冠!サプライズ凱旋の清宮が挑戦名乗り (in Japanese). Daily Sports Online (2017-12-23).
- ↑ 【ノア】新星・清宮がGHC王座挑戦 最年少戴冠だ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2017-12-26).