Chihiro Tominaga (千尋富永 Tominaga Chihiro, born July 29, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Punch Tominaga (パンチ富永 Panchi Tominaga) who works currently for Dragon Gate, where he is a former one-time Open The Triangle Gate Champions and a former one-time Open The Brave Gate Champion.
Professional Wrestling Career[]
Dragon Gate (2006-Present)[]
Early Career (2006-2014)[]
Tominaga joined the Dragon Gate dojo in early 2006, just behind those who made their debut in the original NEX class. He specialized in jiu-jitsu and traditional karate. However, his development was slow, and he spent many years as a trainee without ever making a proper in-ring appearance. In time he would start to wrestle exhibition matches, he still was no closer to a proper debut and would disappear back to the trainee phase whenever he seemed to be getting close.
Despite this, he developed into a rather cult celebrity among the Dragon Gate fan base. This was due to his work at the Body Adapt store and his frequent appearances on the main roster blogs, in particular those for Shingo Takagi. He would be dubbed "The Most Famous Trainee in Japan."
It would be Masaaki Mochizuki who finally gave him his break, booking Tominaga in the opening match to one of his Buyuden shows in September 2011. After spending over five years since enrolling in the system, he made his debut teaming with Yosuke Watanabe against Takeshi Minamino and Tomahawk TT. Though he finally made it into the main card, his appearances were sporadic, usually back in exhibition matches.
Tominaga would receive an unexpected opportunity in November. When Open The Triangle Gate Champions Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanizaki, and Kzy held a new Doi Darts event to determine their next set of opponents. Gamma had talked his way into being one while a dart landed on Shachihoko Machine. It was the last dart hitting Tominaga's name that shocked everyone. Just nine official matches into his career, he would be getting a title shot. While his team would be unsuccessful, Tominaga performed valiantly and won the support of the fans.
Going into 2012, he would find himself on the receiving end of hostilities from an irate Super Shenlong II, who would later become Mondai Ryu. At the same time, Tominaga tried to impress upon Shingo and YAMATO to form a unit together. Everything came ahead on April 19 when Tominaga defeated Ryu in a match where Tominaga put his hair on the line against Ryu's entrance theme since Tominaga still did not have one of his own. Impressed with his fighting spirit, Shingo and YAMATO agreed to form a unit with him. Tominaga also revealed that he will give the entrance theme instead of the new incarnation of Super Shenlong, who also joined the group. They became known as -akatsuki-. The concept of the unit was to be seen as a revitalization for the members. For Tominaga, it would potentially kick start a promising career after so many years training However, despite a decent start, the group was not seen as a major force. While Shingo and YAMATO managed to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship twice, neither Tominaga or Shenlong progressed any further in rank with Tominaga losing steam after a hot start and Shenlong just not being considered a strong competitor. On August 1, 2013 -akatsuki- disbanded. Since the disbanding of -akatsuki-, both Tominaga and Watanabe continue to wrestle on the undercard.
Punch Tominaga (2014-Present)[]
On June 5, 2014, Mad Blankey defeated BxB Hulk in a five on one handicap match to retain the naming rights of Mad Blankey when Hulk was attacked by Dr. Muscle. On July 3 CIMA announced a match Kotoka and Chihiro Tominaga the loser would have a Punch perm hairstyle and Kotoka won the match and later he revealed that he was the Dr. Muscle helping Mad Blankey to win the match and Tominaga renamed himself to Punch Tominaga and he started to act more wildly and screaming and he changed his attire to shirt with tie and painted eyes. Tominaga started a feud with CIMA because of the punch perm hairstyle which led to a No Disqualification match on August 17. On August 17 Tominaga defeated CIMA with the help of Mad Blankey. After the match, Don Fujii confronted Tominaga because of the way he won the match and afterwards Fujii challenged Tominaga to a match. On September 5 to September 23 Tominaga participated in the 2014 Summer Adventure Tag League with Yamato and during the Summer Adventure Tag League Tominaga lost to Don Fujii by DQ. Tominaga and Yamato finished the tournament with only 2 points (1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses). On September 27 he changed his attire to a Hawaiian shirt with the colors of Mad Blankey yellow and Black. On November 16 Tominaga, Cyber Kong, and Yamato unsuccessfully challenge Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi HAGeeMee, Jimmy Susumu and Ryo Jimmy Saito) for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship.
On December 28 Tominaga had a chance for the Open the Brave Gate Championship but lost by DQ due to removing Flamita's mask. On January 10, 2015 Tominaga participated in the tournament for the Open the Brave Gate Champion but he lost at the first round to Yuga Hayashi. On August 16 Tominaga received a chance for the Open the Brave Gate Championship losing to Akira Tozawa the match was also including Super Shisa. Later that night Mad Blankey was forced to disband after losing to Jimmyz in a 5-on-5 elimination tag team match, where they were betrayed by K-ness, who had defected to the Jimmyz.[1]
On September 3 Tominaga joined VerserK. On October 4, Punch Tominaga (despite being just a lackey) turned on Shingo Takagi and quit VerserK. Four days later CIMA formed a new stable with Tominaga, El Lindaman, Eita, Gamma, and rookies Kaito Ishida and Takehiro Yamamura.[2] On October 22 Tominaga, Lindaman, and Eita participated at the tournament for the Open the Triangle Gate Titles but they lost at the first round to VerserK (Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi, and YAMATO). On December 27, Gamma and Tominaga unsuccessfully challenge Naruki Doi and Yamato for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. On May 8 to June 4 Tominaga participated at the 2016 King of Gate at block A and he finished at last on his with only 2 points (3 draws and 2 losses) but one of the draws was against Shingo Takagi and they both didn't received any pontst.
On January 18, 2017, Tominaga participated at the New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament with Eita and Yamamura were they lost to Masato Yoshino, Ben-K and Kotoka after that Eita and Tominaga started to a feud which other, which led into a match on February 19. On February 12 Tominaga rejoined VerserK this time as an actual member being revealed as the Dr. VerserK. On March 4 Eita faced El Lindaman for the Open The Brave Gate Championship. The match ended in a no contest due to Punch Tominaga and Mondai Ryu and Takehiro Yamamura (who was trying to save from the attack of VerserK) interference. Due to this the Open The Brave Gate Champion was vacated and Tominaga was announced to take part in the tournament to crown the new champion. On March 19, Tominaga was defeated by Yosuke♥Santa Maria failing to advance to the finals.
Since November 26, Tominaga began a losing streak and cost VersrerK their matches, this would lead on December 23, VerserK kicking him out of the stable. Afterwards, he started a feud with former VerserK stablemates Shingo Takagi and Yasushi Kanda, mostly Takagi for the way he treated him. Tominaga then pinned Kanda and challenged him for the Open The Brave Gate Championship on March 3. On March 3 at Champion Gate in Osaka Tominaga defeated Kanda to become the new champion. This led to a rematch on March 21 at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, which ended in a no contest. This led to the title being vacated and they were announced to take part in a tournament to crown a new champion. Shortly after, Tominaga would form an alliance with Kzy, "brother" YASSHI, Susumu Yokosuka and Genki Horiguchi, who were also feuding with ANTIAS, leading them to form a new unit named Natural Vibes on May 3. In May, Tominaga took part in the King of Gate finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one loss, and one draw, failing to advance to the semifinals due to losing to Naruki Doi in their head-to-head match. In November 2018, Tominaga was sidelined with a knee injury. He returned on April 24, 2019, in an eight-man tag team match, losing to R.E.D (Eita, Big R Shimizu, Ben-K and Takashi Yoshida) with Tominaga being pinned by Eita. In May, Tominaga took part in the 2019 King of Gate, losing all of his matches in the tournament. In December, after Natural Vibes was temporarily suspended, Tominaga entered the Dragon Gate stable in order to unite all Dragon Gate generation of wrestlers against Toryumon and R.E.D in a "Generation War".
On October 7, Naruki Doi and Ryo Saito asked Tominaga to join Team Boku, but he refused. Doi, Saito, and Ryotsu Shimizu would face Tominaga and his Dragon Gate Generation stablemates Yosuke♡Santa Maria and U-T in a winning effort, after Shimizu pinned Tominaga. Following the match, Doi and Saito asked Tominaga for the second time to join them. After being impressed by Team Boku, Tominaga asked the other Dragon Gate Generation members if he could join Team Boku, in which Kzy and YAMATO accepted, leading Tominaga to leave the Dragon Gate Generation and join Team Boku, becoming their fourth member. On April 22, 2021, after Tominaga unsucessfully challenged Keisuke Okuda for the Open The Brave Gate Championship, Team Boku decided to disband, after realizing their personal objectives.
On October 6, 2023, Tominga, Dragon Kid and YAMATO defeated Gold Class (Kota Minoura, Ben-K and Naruki Doi) and D'Courage (Madoka Kikuta, Yuki Yoshioka and Dragon Dia) in the finals of a tournament to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship, winning his second professional wrestling championship in the process. They lost the titles to Z-Brats (KAI, ISHIN and Yoshiki Kato) on December 24 at Final Gate.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- PT Kick (High speed big boot to the head of a seated, kneeling or rising opponent)
- Punch Clutch (Jumping cross armbreaker spun into an inside cradle)
- Signature moves
- Cross armbreaker
- Diving splash
- Double jump moonsault
- Headbutt
- PT Missile (Missile dropkick, with theatrics)
- PT Rocket (Slingshot spear)
- Schoolboy
- Split-legged evasion transitioned into a bridging inverted roll-up
- STP (STO)
- Nicknames
- "The Most Famous Trainee In Japan"
- "PK"
- Entrance themes
- "HOT OCEAN"
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Brave Gate Championship (1 time)
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – with YAMATO and Dragon Kid
Luchas de Apuestas record[]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chihiro Tominaga (hair) | Mondai Ryu (entrance theme) | Kobe, Japan | Dragon Gate The Gate Of Passion 2012 - Day 7 | April 19, 2012 | |
| Akira Tozawa (hair) | Super Shenlong III (mask) | Tokyo, Japan | Live event | August 1, 2013 | [Note 1] |
Notes[]
- ↑ This was an eight-man tag team Mask vs. Hair match, where Tozawa, BxB Hulk, Kzy, Mondai Ryu and YAMATO faced Shenlong, Chihiro Tominaga, Cyber Kong and Shingo Takagi.
References[]
- ↑ 【ドラゲー】サバイバル戦敗退でマッドブランキー軍解散 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2015-08-17). Retrieved on 2015-08-17.
- ↑ ???????10.8????? Cima&???&Gamma vs.??&????&Kotoka?????????????????vs.?? (in Japanese). Battle News (2015-10-09). Retrieved on 2015-10-08.
