Sōjirō Higuchi (樋口 壮士朗 Higuchi Sōjirō, born September 19, 1992)[1] is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently known the ring name Kuroshio Tokyo Japan (黒潮TOKYOジャパン Kuroshio TOKYO Japan).
He is best known by the ring name Jiro "Ikemen" Kuroshio (黒潮"イケメン"二郎 Kuroshio "Ikemen" Jirō) in Japan and in the United States as Ikemen Jiro (イケメン黒潮 Ikemen Jirō). He is very popularly known for his portrayal of the ikemen character, reflected in his ring name, ring attire and mannerisms.
He best known for his work for the Wrestle-1 promotion, where he is a former one time Wrestle-1 Result Chamipon, one-time Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion and a four-time UWA World Trios Champion and the winner of the 2017 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix and the Road to Keiji Mutoh Tournament.
He is also known in the United States for his time in WWE, who assigned him to perform on the 205 Live and NXT brands before being released from WWE in September 2023, as part of budget cuts relating to the merger between WWE and Endeavor .
Early life[]
Higuchi was born in Adachi, Tokyo.[1] When he was young, he often attend professional wrestling events with his father, who was a fan. His father became friends with the elder brother of Yoshihiro Tajiri, which in turn led to a friendship with Tajiri himself. He started training with Tajiri's Hustle promotion when he was 14. However, without a definite plan towards making a professional debut plus other commitments beyond wrestling such as school, Higuchi's interest in wrestling waned and at one time he moved away from the sport. He eventually returned to wrestling by joining the Smash promotion's training camp.
Professional wrestling career[]
Early career[]
Using the ring name Jiro Kuroshio, Higuchi made his debut on December 30, 2011 against fellow camp attendee Koji Doi at the "Smash 24" event. He adopted the name "Kuroshio" from the name of the nabemono restaurant operated by his parents, "Nabeya Kuroshio". The Smash promotion folded in March 2012 and on 5 April 2012 Kuroshio, along with Tajiri and all other wrestlers, referees and trainees, moved to the spin-off Wrestling New Classic promotion.
At WNC Before the Dawn, Kuroshio wrestled the very first match for Wrestling New Classic, losing to Josh O'Brien. At an event at Korakuen Hall on 30 August 2012, after defeating Koji Doi, Kuroshio announced he had become an apprentice of Hajime Ohara and joined Ohara's unit "DQN". On July 16, Kuroshio, Lin Byron and Tsubasa defeated The Bodyguard, Mio Shirai and Takuya Kito in the finals of a one night six person tournament to win the 2012 Kito Cup, with Byron pinning the tournament's creator Kito for the win[2] He also participated in 2012's Dave Finlay Cup, losing to Koji Doi in the semi final. In 2013 he changed his ring name to "Jiro Ikemen Kuroshiro" and adopted an "ikemen" character. Like the year before, he participated in the Dave Finlay Cup, losing to Kaji Tomato. On July 1, 2014 Kuroshio moved to the Wrestle-1.
Wrestle-1 (2014-2019)[]
Making his Wrestle-1 debut in April, Kuroshio became an official member of the roster on July 1, when Kuroshio along with Tajiri, Akira, Yusuke Kodama, Koji Doi and Rionne Fujiwara left WNC.[3] Kuroshio quickly formed the stable Novus with fellow WNC alumni Kodama, Doi and Fujiwara. In August 2014 he defeated Andy Wu in a qualification bout, earning the right to enter the inaugural Wrestle-1 championship tournament, he would go on to lose to Masayuki Kono in the first round. In November 2014 he formed the "Ikemen Samurai" tag-team partnership with Masakatsu Funaki and competed in the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag-Team Championship. With Kuroshio teaming with Funaki and Doi joining Desperado, Novus quietly disbanded. On May 30, Kuroshio would win the Road to Keiji Mutoh tournament earning the right to face Keiji Mutoh in a one-on-one match, he would lose to Mutoh on June 18. Also in June, Ikemen Samurai would come to an end with Funaki leaving the promotion. Kuroshio would make it to the semi-finals of the 2015 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix before losing to the eventual winner Manabu Soya but gained impressive wins over his former mentor Tajiri and former Wrestle-1 Champion KAI.
Following the tournament, Kuroshio formed the stable Jackets with Yasufumi Nakanoue and Seiki Yoshioka. On October 9, 2015 the trio defeated New Wild Order (Akira, Jun Kasai and Kumagoro) to win the vacant UWA World Trios Championship. On November 3, they lost the titles to Real Desperado (Kazma Sakamoto, Koji Doi and Nosawa Rongai) but would regain the belts on November 27.[4][5] On January 7, 2016, Jackets would vacate the titles due to Yoshioka being sidelined following cecum surgery and being unable to attend a title defense set for January 10.[6] On January 31, Jackets lost to Kaz Hayashi, Minoru Tanaka and Tajiri for the vacant title. In mid-2016 Jackets disbanded when Nakanoue left Wrestle-1.
On November 27, 2016 Kuroshio defeated Yohei Nakajima for Gaora TV Championship winning its first singles championship. On December 7 Kuroshio, Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba, Yusuke Kodama, Seiki Yoshioka, Koji Doi, Kumagoro and Kohei Fujimura formed a stable named NEW ERA.[7] On February 15, 2017 Kuroshio returned the Gaora TV Championship to All Japan Pro Wrestling after being sidelined with a knee injury. On June 4 Kuroshio, Kumagoro and Jay Freddie defeated Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Manabu Soya for the UWA World Trios Championship. They lost the titles on June 18 to Nosawa Rongai, Manabu Soya and Ganseki Tanaka. On July 12 Kuroshio took part of the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix, managing to get into the finals defeating Manabu Soya to win the tournament. On September 2, Kuroshio unsuccessfully challenged Shotaro Ashino for the Wrestle-1 Championship. On September 18, Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Kumagoro defeated Manabu Soya, Nosawa Rongai and Ganseki Tanaka to win the UWA World Trios Championship. On October 21, Kuroshio Doi and Kumagoro lost the titles to Shotaro Ashino, Yusuke Kodama and Seigo Tachibana. On February 14, 2018 Kuroshio defeated his NEWERA stablemate Takanori Ito to win the Wrestle-1 Result Championship. Shortly after, Kuroshio started a rivalry with Seigo Tachibana, which to the two forming a team after Tachibana was kicked out of Enfants Terribles. On April 19, NEWERA decided to disband, after some infighting between the group. Due to Tachibana being injured, Kuroshio formed a team with Masato Tanaka, leading the two defeating Kuma Arashi and Shotaro Ashino on June 22 to win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Shuji Kondo and Koji Doi on August 12. In September Kuroshio vacated the Wrestle-1 Result Champion due to a knee injury. On March 22, 2019 Kuroshio announced that he was leaving Wrestle-1 to wrestle in the United States. On April 3, 2019 Kuroshio wrestled his last match in the promotion teaming with Manabu Soya defeating Kaz Hayashi and Pegaso Iluminar.
Freelancing (2019-2020)[]
After Kuroshio left Wrestle-1, he would wrestle in promotions such as Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling A-TEAM and mainly in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) where he would later defeat Akito to win the DDT Extreme Division Championship. Kuroshio also participated in the NXT tryouts held in Shanghai in July 2019. At the end of 2019, Kuroshio announced that he would end his activities in Japan, including other promotions and independent shows, in hopes to sign with WWE, with a farewell ceremony being held in January 19, 2020. However, since March of the same year, due to the travel restrictions caused by the then-recent COVID-19 Pandemic, Kuroshio decided to remain in Japan for the time being.
On April 1, Kuroshio made a surprise appearance at the Wrestle-1's final event, participating in a battle royal. Since April 6, he began participating in AJPW's shows being closed doors, with Kuroshio announcing his participation in AJPW's 2020 Champion Carnival, which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Kuroshio then announced that he would remain in Japan until the end of the tournament. On August 31, Kuroshio along with Kento Miyahara unsuccesfully challenged Suwama and Shuji Ishikawa for the World Tag Team Champions. In the fall of 2020, Kuroshio took part in the 2020 Champion Carnival, Kuroshio finished the tournament with a record of one win and five losses, finishing last in his block and consequently failed to advance to the finals. Despite his failure to advance into the finals, Kuroshio scored a big win by defeating then Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Suwama. Kuroshio made his final appearance in Japan in the day of the finals of the Champion Carnival, teaming with Rising HAYATO and Francesco Akira in a winning effort against Purple Haze's Shigehiro Irie, Izanagi and UTAMARO. In December 2020, WWE announced Kuroshiro as a recruit to the WWE Performance Center, with Kuroshio signing a contract with WWE, and later being assigned to their developmental territory, NXT.
All Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023-Present)[]
On October 21, after being released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the merger between WWE and Endeavor, Kuroshio was announced to take part in the 2023 World's Strongest Determination Tag League alongside Seigo Tachibana. They finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to win the tournament. On March 19, 2024, at Kuroshio's own produced event, he defeated Tachibana to win the Gaora TV Championship. However, Tachibana demanded a rematch due to Kuroshio having a weapon in his jacket. The referee checked and found brass knuckles, leading to a rematch where Kuroshio lost the title back to Tachibana. From April 18 and May 4, Kuroshio took part in the 2024 Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to finals of the tournament.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing Moves
- Hybrid Blaster (Hammerlock kneeling reverse piledriver) – adopted from Masakatsu Funaki
- Ikemen Clutch (Delfin Clutch)
- Ikemen Sault (Moonsault)
- Ikemen Slash (Spinning Heel Kick to a kneeling opponents head)
- Signature Moves
- Ikemen Coaster (Diving neckbracker)
- Ikemen Flash (Crucifix pin)
- Ikemen Rana (Huricarrana)
- Ikemen Otoshi (Cradle back-to-belly piledriver)
- Ikemen Sphere (Spinning neckbracker)
- Ikemen Spiral (Corkscrew rounding moonsault)
- Multiple kick variations
- Enzuigiri
- Super
- Buzzsaw (High speed roundhouse to the head of a seated, kneeling or rising opponent) – adopted from TAJIRI
- Multiple strike variations
- Back elbow
- Backhand Chop
- Chop Smash
- Dropkick
- Elbow
- Elbow stamp
- Slap
- Standing Moonsault
- Swanton Bomb
- Nicknames
- "Ikemen"
- Entrance themes
- "Night Flight" (Early career)
- "Hello" by Masaharu Fukuyama
Championships and accomplishments[]
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- Dramatic Dream Team
- DDT Extreme Division Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 228 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018
- Wrestle-1
- Wrestle-1 Result Championship (1 time)
- Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Masato Tanaka
- UWA World Trios Championship (4 times) – with Yasufumi Nakanoue and Seiki Yoshioka (2) and Kumagoro and Jay Freddie (1) and Kumagoro and Koji Doi (1)
- Road to Keiji Mutoh Tournament
- Wrestle-1 Grand Prix (2017)
- Supporting Actor Award (2017)
- Best Bout Award (2017) vs. Shotaro Ashino on September 2
- Wrestling New Classic
- Kito Cup (2012) – with Lin Byron and Tsubasa[2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 黒潮"イケメン"二郎 KUROSHIO IKEMEN JIRO - W-1 Official Website .
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ja:7・16大阪世界館大会 全試合結果 (in Japanese). Wrestling New Classic (2012-07-17). Retrieved on 2012-07-17.
- ↑ ＴＡＪＩＲＩ、児玉らＷ‐１所属に [Tajiri, Kodama, et al. moving to Wrestle-1] (in Japanese) (2014-06-18).
- ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Autumn Bout」 (in Japanese). Wrestle-1 (2015-11-03). Retrieved on 2015-11-03.
- ↑ Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Autumn Bout (in Japanese). Wrestle-1 (2015-11-27). Retrieved on 2015-11-27.
- ↑ 吉岡欠場によりJacketsがUWA世界6人タッグ返上！王座決定戦は1.31大阪に！―2016.1.7記者会見 (in Japanese). Wrestle-1 (2016-01-07). Retrieved on 2016-01-07.
- ↑ 「Wrestle-1 NEW ERA」 (in English). Wrestle-1 (2016-12-08). Retrieved on 2016-12-08.
- ↑ 11.27東京・両国国技館大会試合結果② (in Japanese). All Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-11-27). Retrieved on 2016-11-27.