Ren Ayabe (綾部蓮 Ayabe Ren, born February 13, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestler who works currently for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).
Ayabe started his career at Just Tap Out (JTO), being scouted by Taka Michinoku. During his time with promotion, Ayabe became the inaugural JTO Openweight Champion, and also won the King of JTO Championship in 2023, and that year's JTO Tournament and J1 League, being the promotion's top ranked wrestler for that year.
He left the promotion in March 2024 to become a freelancer, before signing full-time with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in April, after having made some appearances for the promotion. In September, Ayabe won the 2024 Ōdō Tournament.
Early life[]
Ayabe participated in Baseball and Judo while attending high school. He grew up a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, citing Kazuchika Okada as his biggest inspiration, especially New Japan Pro-Wrestling on TV.
Professional wrestling career[]
Just Tap Out (2020–2024)[]
In June 2020, Ayabe started his professional wrestling career and joined Just Tap Out (JTO), after being scouted by Taka Michinoku. He would be introduced on June 6 as "Trainee A", after standing out from the wrestlers at promotion, due to his height and frame, even as a trainee. On August 14, after Michinoku won the Only Give Up Tournament, Ayabe made his official debut for the promotion under his real name, challenging Michinoku to a match. He would decline and instead told Ayabe to "take the next step" and decided for Ayabe to face KANON in his debut match on September 2, which he he lost. At the start of the following year, Ayabe was positioned nineth in the JTO rankings and over the course of the year, Ayabe began a steady increase in ranking, defeating Arata, who was ranked sixth, to overcome him in the JTO rankings on June 6. Later that night, in a quest to top the JTO rankings, Ayabe challenged Taka Michinoku to a title match for the King of JTO Championship, on June 20. By September, Ayabe managed to increase to third in the rankings, after defeating KANON on September 23, but massively fell to eight, at the end of the year.
Ayabe started the new year, taking part in the 2022 JTO Tournament for the vacant King of JTO Championship, making into the final, where he was defeated by Ryuya Takekura on March 4. On August 29, he suffered from pneumothorax sidelining him for three months. He made his return from his illness on December 19, teaming with Akira Jumonji, Eagle Mask, Fire Katsumi in a winning effort against Genta Yubari, Ibuki, Ryuya Takekura and Yoshitatsu.
In Febraury 2023, Ayabe took part in the 2023 JTO Tournament, which he eventually won, defeating Akira Jumonji in the finals on March 3 and afterwards challenged Yasu Urano to a match for the King of JTO Championship. On April 9, Ayabe defeated Yasu Urano to win the King of JTO Championship. He lost the title to Ryuya Takekura on July 17, in second title defense. Shortly after, Ayabe took part in the 2023 J1 League, finising the tournament with a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 10, he defeated Ryuya Takekura in the finals to win the tournament and become the inaugural JTO Openweight Champion. On December 31, JTO announced that Ayabe would leave the promotion, following the expiring of his contract, at the end of the month, despite holding the JTO Openweight Championship. He lost the title to Gladio on March 1, 2024, marking his last appearance for the promotion.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2022, 2023–present)[]
On January 3, 2022, Ayabe made his debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), teaming with Shuji Ishikawa and Takao Omori in a winning effort Jun Saito, Rei Saito and Yoshitatsu. In August, Ayabe took part in the 2022 Ōdō Tournament, losing in the first round to Jake Lee on August 7. Afterwards, Ayabe began regularly working for the promotion taking part in the following year's Ōdō Tournament, losing again in the first round to Shuji Ishikawa on August 19. They would form a team and challenge The Saito Brothers (Jun and Rei Saito) for GLEAT's G-INFINITY Championship, which they lost on September 9, following the interference of Voodoo Murders. However on November 5, Ayabe and Ishikawa defeated reigning World Tag Team Champions Saito Brothers in a non-title match. Afterwards, both vowed to win the 2023 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, in order to challenge them to a title match. But their plans ended up failing, after Ayabe and Ishikawa finished the tournament with a record of three wins and six losses, failing to advance to finals and being placed last in the tournament standings.
In March 2024, Ayabe began frequently teaming with Kento Miyahara, but they ended up losing all of their matches. On March 4, after they were defeated by Voodoo Murders' Jun Saito and Kono, following the interference of their stablemates TARU and Rei Saito, in a backstage interview, Miyahara dared Ayabe to change his situation as he could not continue losing, in order to make it to the top. On March 30 at AJPW Dream Power Series, both took part in a Battle Royal, where Ayabe lost, after being pinned by Miyahara. Afterwards, Ayabe asked Miyahara, who serves as AJPW's Chairman of talent relations, to join AJPW full-time. Following a strong audience reaction in his favor, Miyahara accepted his request, forcing Ryo Inoue to run backstage to bring out an All Japan jacket, to simbolize the new change. The following day, in a press conference, Ayabe was formally welcomed as the newest member of All Japan Pro-Wrestling roster by Senior Managing Executive Officer Suwama, who had high expectations for him. Shortly after, he was granted entry into the 2024 Champion Carnival, his first Champion Carnival tournament, where he opened by picking up a major win over former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kento Miyahara on April 18. However, Ayabe would lose all of his remaining tournament matches, with the exception of his last block match against Kuroshio Tokyo Japan on May 6, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament, being placed last in the tournament standings. On May 29, Ayabe, aligned himself with Rising HAYATO, Yuma Anzai, and Ryuki Honda to form a stable, which was named "ELPIDA" (meaning Hope in Greek) on June 24. On September 22, Ayabe defeated ELPIDA stablemate Ryuki Honda in the finals to win the 2024 Ōdō Tournament and earn a shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. He received his title shot on October 22, failing to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship from Yuma Aoyagi. From November 13 until December 1, Ayabe and Ryuki Honda took part in the 2024 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the tournament, with a record of four wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 8, Ayabe and Honda were defeated by eventual winners The Saito Brothers (Jun Saito and Rei Saito) in the semifinals.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Death Roulette/Last Shooting (Spinning sitout suplex slam)
- Full Nelson Tree (Hanging full nelson hold)
- Iron Maiden (Kneeling modified dragon sleeper)
- Ren Driver (Michinoku Driver II)
- Signature moves
- Big boot, sometimes to an opponent kneeling in the corner
- Body slam
- Boston crab
- Brainbuster
- Camel clutch
- DDT
- Dragon Suplex
- Dropkick
- Forearm smash
- German suplex
- Hip toss
- Knife-edge chop
- Leaping elbow
- Running leg drop
- Running jumping lariat
- Shoulder Tackle
- Sleeper hold
- Entrance themes
- "Purple Rain" by HK Project
Championships and accomplishments[]
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- Professional Wrestling Just Tap Out
- King of JTO Championship (1 time)
- JTO Openweight Championship (1 time, inaugural)
- JTO Tournament (2023)
- J1 League (2023)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 486 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023