Shingo Takagi

Shingo Takagi
Takagi in September 2019
Born	November 21, 1982 (1982-11-21)
	Nakakoma City, Yamanashi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Shingo Takagi SHINGO
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	95 kg (209 lb)
Trained By	Dragon Gate Dojo CIMA Animal Hamaguchi
Debut	October 3, 2004

Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, born November 21, 1982) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, also known simply as Shingo (stylised in all capital letters). He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current NEVER Openweight Champion and one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions in his first reign, while also being a former one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, as part of Los Ingobernables de Japon stable.

Takagi is best known for his work in Dragon Gate, where he is a former one-time Open The Owarai Gate Champion, a former six-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion, a former four-time Open The Dream Gate Champion and five-time Open The Twin Gate Champion. Takagi was the first graduate of the Dragon Gate Dojo. He was known as the promotion's top heel for many years, leading the villainous VerserK stable through its many incarnations until resigning from Dragon Gate in September 2018.

Takagi also developed a rivalry with BxB Hulk, in which both were trained by Dragon Gate franchise wrestlers, CIMA and Magnum Tokyo respectively. Both were part of the same unit New Hazard and won together the Open The Triangle Gate Championship twice and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, before Takagi turned on Hulk. Their rivalry main evented several tours and major pay-per-views such as 2008 and 2010 Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival and transected rest of 2011 and beginning of 2012, also main event 2014 Final Gate. The two would team for the first time in ten years and a face each other a final time on October 7, 2018 on Takagi last match in Dragon Gate, which was won by Hulk.

Through Dragon Gate's working agreements with the American promotions Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro Wrestling and German promotion westside Xtreme wrestling and Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, Takagi as also held the ROH World Tag Team Championship and the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, while also being the winner of the 2009 16 Carat Gold Tournament. He has also won Dragon Gate's premier tournament, the King of Gate and Dragon Gate's top tag team tournament Summer Adventure Tag League.

Professional wrestling career

Dragon Gate (2004–2018)

Debut (2004-2005)

Shingo Takagi debuted in October 2004 as the first graduate of the Dragon Gate Dojo. He was also trained by Animal Hamaguchi. Takagi was brought from the Dragon Gate Dojo from CIMA joining his Crazy MAX stable. However, Crazy MAX was disbanded later that year. Shingo would then form a stable with the remaining members of Crazy MAX and Stalker Ichikawa and Super Shisa named WakuWaku Fujii Land. Waku Waku Fuji Land would be disbanded to create Blood Generation. Takagi won the 2005 Wrestling Observer Rookie of the Year award.

New Hazard and Heel Turn (2007-2008)

On April 17, 2007, a 7-on-7 elimination match was scheduled between the Typhoon and Muscle Outlawz factions; in the weeks leading up to this match, Cima and Naruki Doi (from Typhoon and MO'z respectively) proclaimed that someone on the opposing team would betray their partners. Typhoon won the match, after which BxB Hulk, a Typhoon member, attacked Cima, presumably to join Muscle Outlaw'z. Cyber Kong of MO'z also attacked his faction partner, Gamma, and Hulk and Kong shook hands, announcing the formation of a new stable. They said they would be joined by Shingo Takagi and Yamato Onodera, both wrestling in the U.S. at the time.

Takagi returned on May 6, teaming with Hulk to defeat the Tozawa-juku team of Akira Tozawa and Keni'chiro Arai; Onodera, using his former ring name Yamato, returned the following night, teaming with Hulk, Kong and Takagi to defeat Muscle Outlaw'z. After the match, the four unveiled their name and logo, proclaiming themselves New Hazard. On May 10, 2007, shortly after forming the stable New Hazard, Takagi along with BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong - defeated the Typhoon team of CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, and Ryo Saito for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They held the championship until July 13, 2007, when the team were forced to vacate the championship as BxB Hulk had sustained a jaw injury. Takagi and Kong replaced Hulk with Jack Evans, and challenged for the vacant championship against the Muscle Outlaw'z team of Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Magnitude Kishiwada, but were unsuccessful. On July 10, BxB Hulk suffered a broken jaw in a match against Ryo Saito in a tournament to decide the #1 contender to the Open the Dream Gate champion; this forced New Hazard to vacate the Triangle Gate title on July 13. As a result, a scheduled title rematch against Doi, Yoshino and Kishiwada was changed to a decision match featuring the same Muscle Outlaw'z team facing Kong, Takagi and Jack Evans, with MO'z coming out on top. On February 24, 2008, Takagi, Hulk and Kong would defeat Mushozoku (Don Fujii, K-ness., and Masaaki Mochizuki) to regain the titles.

On May 14, 2008, Takagi and Kong turned on Hulk shortly before a scheduled Open The Triangle Gate Championship defense against Genki Horiguchi, Gamma and YAMATO of the Muscle Outlaw'z, citing Hulk as a weakling. Takagi and Kong then joined up with Genki, Gamma, YAMATO and Yasushi Kanda, ending both New Hazard and Muscle Outlaw'z and forming Real Hazard, a new faction. Takagi then teamed with Gamma and YAMATO to win the newly-vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship, defeating Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Hulk. On June 28, they lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Keni'chiro Arai, Taku Iwasa and Shinobu of the Tozawa-juku faction.

Face Turn and Typhoon (2008)

The following day, he fought BxB Hulk to a one-hour draw in a number one contender's match for CIMA's Open The Dream Gate Championship. They were immediately scheduled for a rematch on July 27, but this time the Open The Dream Gate Championship was on the line as CIMA had to vacate the championship due to a neck injury. On July 10, doubt was already cast over his standing in Real Hazard when he stopped them and Tokyo Gurentai members from trying to give CIMA an unwanted haircut. This caused tensions to stir between him and the others, especially with Kong. On July 27, Takagi defeated BxB Hulk to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship. After the match, Takagi apologized to Hulk and retracted his statement about him being weak. Soon after, Kong attempted to attack CIMA, who was at the announce table, but Takagi stopped him. After a brief argument, Real Hazard attacked Takagi and kicked him out of the group for showing compassion towards Hulk and CIMA, but he was saved by Typhoon.

Typhoon offered him membership in the faction, but he turned it down. He later teamed with Dragon Kid, a Typhoon member, in the Summer Adventure Tag League Tournament, and the pair reached the finals before they were beaten by Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino. Following this, Takagi changed his mind and joined Typhoon. Takagi's membership caused tension within the faction, and led to Susumu Yokosuka challenging Takagi to a match on November 16 for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. Takagi retained, and then tried to banish Yokosuka from Typhoon as punishment. Ryo Saito tried to stop him, and then CIMA was called out. Takagi gave him a lariat before he could say anything, resulting in his banishment from Typhoon. After that, Takagi announced that he would not be participating in the annual King of Gate Tournament, due to being the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion.

KAMIKAZE (2008-2011)

Takagi began teaming with Akira Tozawa and Taku Iwasa after the faction they had been members of, Tozawa-juku, had disbanded, with the trio officially forming a new faction on December 19. On December 28, Takagi lost the Open The Dream Gate Championship to Naruki Doi, who had won the King of the Gate Tournament. On January 11, 2009, Dragon Kid joined the new faction, with Takagi called the faction KAMIKAZE. On February 15, Takagi, Iwasa and Dragon Kid won the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, but lost the championship to CIMA, Gamma and KAGETORA on April 15. When YAMATO left Real Hazard, he joined KAMIKAZE, reforming his team with Takagi. On July 19 Takagi and YAMATO failed to capture the Open the Twin Gate Championship due to YAMATO being blinded by a protein powder attack from Keni'chiro Arai. The duo won the annual Summer Adventure Tag League Tournament in August, and then the Open The Twin Gate Championship the following month. They held the titles until December 27, when they lost them to CIMA & Gamma. In February after Cyber Kong resign with Dragon Gate, Takagi called him out after winning a match, and he surprisingly appeared. He appealed to the president Takashi Okamura to be reinstated, and was welcomed back, joining the stable

Takagi as a part of KAMIKAZE.

On March 22, 2010, Takagi and Cyber Kong defeated CIMA and Gamma to regain the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Takagi participated in the 2010 King of Gate tournament and defeated Dragon Kid in the finals on April 14, 2010. This allowed him to contest Open The Dream Gate Championship match against his stablemate and champion YAMATO at the Dead or Alive PPV on May 5, 2010, but YAMATO retained the title by making Takagi submit. On May 13, 2010,Takagi and Kong would lose their Twin Gate title to K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka on May 13, 2010. Takagi would then renewed his old feud with former tag partner BxB Hulk, after pinning him in a match, Hulk was furstrated with Takagi pinning him, in another match Takagi and Hulk started to brawl with each other but they were sepeared by their stablemates and Takagi, tensions would boil leading to Hulk challenging Takagi, leading to a Hair vs Hair match at the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2010 on July 11. Takagi won the match and shaved Hulk's hair, as per the stipulation.

Face Status (2011-2015)

After returning from an injury, Takagi disbanded KAMIKAZE on May 13, 2011 and the following day joined forces with Masaaki Mochizuki's new stable, to battle CIMA's Blood Warriors. On June 8, 2011, the new group was named Junction Three (JIII) in reference to it being an union between the former members of WORLD-1, KAMIKAZE and the Veteran-gun. Later that night before Hulk was scheduled to team with Tagaki, Naoki Tanizaki came out dressed as Black Hulk. With Takagi distracted with Tanizaki, Hulk hit Takagi with a chair, turning heel and joining Blood Warriors. On August 3 to 7, Takagi and Susumu Yokosuka partipated at the 2011 Summer Adventure Tag League, Takagi and Yokosuka were eliminated at the second round by their stablemates Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino. On September 2, it was announced a Hair vs. Mask 6-Way Steel Cage match. The six participants would be Akira Tozawa, Hulk and Cyber Kong at the side of Blood Warriors and the side of Junction Three, YAMATO, Takagi and Kagetora. On October 16, Junction Three would lose at the main event with YAMATO losing his hair to Kong. On November 31, after Hulk and Tozawa defeated Yokosuka and Kagetora, Takagi and YAMATO attacked Hulk and Tozawa and challenged them into a title match. On December 25, Takagi and YAMATO unsucessfuly challenged Tozawa and Hulk for the Open The Twin Gate Champions. After a ten-month rivalry, Blood Warriors defeated Junction Three in a fourteen-man elimination tag team match on February 9, 2012, forcing JIII to disband.

After Junction Three was disbanded in February 2012, Takagi and YAMATO decided not to align themselves with any of the units that were formed. The duo were certainly fighting various battles against groups with greater numbers, but were oftentimes able to score victories every now and then. At the same time, Chihiro Tominaga had finally graduated to the main roster after nearly six years as a trainee. Although he was offered membership in WORLD-1 INTERNATIONAL, he declined and instead appealed to Takagi and YAMATO to team with them. They were not interested in forming a unit at first, but did allow him to second them on an occasion. Overtime, they started to watch his back during his feud with Mondai Ryu. Ultimately, they helped him weather the storm of MAD BLANKEY attacks to help Tominaga defeat Ryu in a match where Tominaga's hair and Mondai Ryu's entrance theme were on the line. Following the match, Takagi and YAMATO decided to form a unit with Tominaga and introduced a new Super Shenlong, who would be better suited with the entrance theme Tominaga had won. They form -akatsuki- on April 19, 2012, with the name Akatsuki, roughly translate as rebirth. The concept of the unit was to be seen as a revitalization for its members. For Takagi and YAMATO, it would recharge their careers which had been teetering on being stagnant. On July 22, Takagi and YAMATO defeated Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu to win the Open The Twin Gate Champions, they would lose the titles to Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki on September 23, 2012. Takagi and YAMATO won the titles for their third time together on May 5, 2013, by defeating BxB Hulk and Uhaa Nation.

Due to the lack of movement caused YAMATO some discomfort as the months went on, though Shingo was able to calm him enough that they were able to remain on the same page. But in the end, YAMATO had enough. During a defense of Twin Gate Championship on June 15, 2013 against Tozawa and Hulk, YAMATO accepted a chair from Hulk and smashed it over Shingo's head. He followed with a Gallaria and allowed Hulk to hit Shingo with the First Flash for the win. YAMATO betrayed Takagi, claiming to have carried him the last few years with unlimited chances, but now he was free and joined up with MAD BLANKEY. While the betrayal derailed Akatsuki, Takagi continued to display a strong will by ending CIMA's year-and-a-half reign as Open the Dream Gate Champion on July 17. Though this would be seen as the start of a new beginning, YAMATO quickly stepped in and challenged for the title. Furthermore, he continued to bury his former team at every which way possible. The two groups would agree to a Losing Unit Disband match with the added bonus of the one to lose the fall to be stripped of either their mask or hair. With MAD BLANKEY have greater numbers, Shingo accepted Cyber Kong's invitation to join Akatsuki, seen as a means of returning to the strength he once held. On August 1, -akatsuki- was forced to disband, after losing to MAD BLANKEY in a five-on-four tag team match. Also part of the stipulation, Super Shenlong was forced to unmask revealing his true identity and it was Yosuke Watanbe. On August 23, Takagi lost the Open The Dream Gate Championship to YAMATO in his first defense.

During that after Tozawa had led Mad Blankey to victory against -akatsuki- in a match, where the losing stable would have to disband, the rest of Mad Blankey turned on Tozawa, kicking him out of the group and assuming YAMATO as their new leader. On August 30, Mad Blankey turned on Uhaa Nation after he refused to wrestle Tozawa, they would align with Uhaa which did not sit well with Kong. He would rejoined the group and took his place at unit strong man. In order to continue his battle with Mad Blankey, Takagi formed a new stable named Monster Express with Akira Tozawa, Masato Yoshino, Ricochet, Shachihoko BOY and Uhaa Nation. On December 22, Takagi and Tozawa defeated Doi and YAMATO to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Eita and T-Hawk on July 20, 2014. On August 31, Shingo, Tozawa and Uhaa Nation unsuccessfully challenged for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship against Cyber Kong, Naruki Doi and Kzy with Shingo getting pinned after Kong hit him with the Cyber Bomb. Shingo and Tozawa lost in the Summer Adventure Tag League semifinals against T-Hawk and Eita. On December 28, Shingo unsuccessfully challenged for the Open The Dream Gate Championship against BxB Hulk. In August 2015, Takagi started showing some signs of a heel turn, after berating T-Hawk for losing against Yoshino at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival and started to have some tension with Yoshino, due to forming a team with T-Hawk. Takagi and Yoshino were both parts of the same stable Monster Express. Yoshino and Takagi agreed to a match for the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Yoshino at Dangerous Gate.

Second Heel Turn (2015-2018)

Takagi as a four time Open The Dream Gate Championship.

On August 16, 2015, at Dangerous Gate, Takagi defeated Masato Yoshino to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship for the third time. Shortly afterwards, Takagi was kicked out of Monster Express after turning on his then-stablemates Yoshino and Shachihoko BOY, and mocking Yoshino for losing the physical Open The Dream Gate Championship and for having to use the old relic of the previous one, and Shachihoko BOY for being Monster Express weakest member. After the match, Takagi stated that Dream Gate wasn't enough he asked T-Hawk to team with him to take on YAMATO and Naruki Doi for the Open The Twin Gate Championships. On August 30, 2015 during the Open The Twin Gate Championship match Takagi turned on T-Hawk and align himself with Kotoka and Eita and the remnants of Mad Blankey thus setting the foundation for their new heel stable. Takagi would then form a new heel unit with the remnants of Mad Blankey, becoming the co-leader of the unit alongside Naruki Doi. On September 23, 2015, the new unit was named VerserK (the name was chosen as the allusion to "berserk" should stand for the representatives of VerserK being the strongest wrestlers of the Dragon Gate Roster). On February 14, Takagi lost the Open The Dream Gate Championship to Jimmy Susumu in his fourth defense, also following the match, tentions boiled between YAMATO and Takagi and after he lost the Dream Gate Champion Takagi challenged Jimmy Susumu into a rematch and if he lost he would leave VerserK. He would regain the title from Susumu on March 6, becoming the first four-time champion. After the match Ryo Jimmy Saito hit Takagi with the red box and challenged him for the Open The Dream Gate Champion.  On March 23 Takagi defeated Ryo Jimmy Saito to make his first title defense of the Open The Dream Gate Championship after the match all the members of VerserK congratulate and shook hands with Takagi for the win except for YAMATO who refused to shake hands with Takagi. On March 28 the problems between YAMATO and Takagi got even worst when YAMATO hit Takagi during the close of the match against Monster Express which allowed Big R Shimizu to pick up the win and everyone seemed to point blame at each other as a clear rift was looming over the group. On April 3 the issue continued to remain as strong as ever among the group.

On April 7 after VerserK lost to Jimmyz, Doi and Tanizaki decide to be on YAMATO's side and Kotoka and Kong decide to be on Takagi's side and Mondai Ryu just chose the both sides and the General manager Takayuki Yagi capitalized on this opportunity of 6 entrants was the exact number he wanted for the cage match at Dead or Alive, so all six were now entered into the match and Kong protested, but Ryu of all people stood up to him and Kong said he wasn’t going to be able to climb any cage, so Ryu should take his place and Ryu refused to be apart of it. They had a singles match where the loser would be put into the match which Ryu won by reversing the Cyber Bomb for an upset win within 30 seconds. The rules for this year are once again that the last fighter left in the cage will lose their hair or mask. However, there is an extra penalty that will only apply to those with their hair at stake. They will have to preserve the bald head for the minimum of one year. If Kong were to lose his mask, he has to permanently keep it off. Therefore no extra penalty applies.

On May 5 during the Steel Cage Survival Double Risk 6 Way match Doi turned on YAMATO and blaming him for losing the Open The Twin Gate Champions and the rest of the stable turned on YAMATO and he was out of the stable and they prevented YAMATO from escaping at all times until Kzy came to his aid. He blocked a potential Kotoka escape. Maria followed suit. Takagi got back into the cage to attack YAMATO more. Finally, BxB Hulk made his return to the ring to run off Takagi and lead YAMATO to his escape and Kotoka to get his hair shaved for one year.  Takagi took part in King of Gate, he finished his block with 5 points, at the end of the tournament YAMATO challenged Takagi for the Open The Dream Gate Champion and the General Manager Yagi announced that the match was going to be on the 2016 Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. On July 23, Takagi lost the title to YAMATO. Takagi participated in the Summer Adventure Tag League with Cyber Kong, at the end of the tournament, Takagi and Kong finished their block with only 3 points. On October 12, VeserK were able to defeat Monster Express in a 5 vs 4 Loser Revival Captains Fall match, forcing Monster Express to disbands.

On January 18, 2017 Takagi, T-Hawk and El Lindaman participated at the New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament. Takagi, T-Hawk and Lindaman defeated Ben-K, Kotoka and Masato Yoshino at the finals to win the New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament. On March 4 Takagi, T-Hawk and Kong defeated Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kanda and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito to win the Open The Triangle Gate Champions. However, the titles were vacated after Kong was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Later that YAMATO announced that he would defend his title in the Dead Or Alive Steel Cage Match against Takagi, Doi, Hulk and Kong in which would lead tensions starting to rise between Shingo and Kong including Takagi costing Kong's matches together. On May 5, Takagi unsuccessfully challenged YAMATO for the Open The Dream Gate Championship at the Dead Or Alive Steel Cage match, being the second man to be eliminated. In May took Takagi took part of the King of Gate taking part of block D. Takagi would finish the tournament with 8 points (4 wins and 1 loss) advancing to the semifinals. On July 1 Takagi, Lindaman and Takashi Yoshida defeated Naruki Doi, Ben-K and Big R Shimizu to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship.

During the year of 2017, all units in Dragon Gate started to feuding with each other. This led to a tournament the 5 Units Survival Race, where all units faced each other in multiple matches. On September 16 after VerserK and Jimmyz lost their respective matches, it was announced that VerserK would face Jimmyz on September 18 in a losing disbands match at the Dangerous Gate. On September 18 VerserK forced Jimmyz to disband in a Ten-Man Elimination No Disqualification Loser Disbands match. On November 3 Takagi, Yoshida and Lindaman lost the titles to YAMATO, BxB Hulk and Kzy also involving Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Kotoka.

On January 13, Takagi along with the rest of the members of VerserK renamed the stable to ANTIAS. On March 6, Takagi defeated Ryo Saito to win the Open The Owarai Gate Championship. During this time, there were tensions between ANTIAS stablemates Takagi, Kanda, and Lindaman, with Takagi, accidentally costing Kanda his Open The Brave Gate Championship on two different occasions and Kanda mocking Takagi for being the Open The Owarai Gate Champion, Lindaman then started to act as the peacemaker, but Kanda and Takagi started to blame him for their losses which led to the three blaming, each other for their losses. Tensions calmed down on May 6 at Dead or Alive, after Takagi, Kanda, and Lindaman escaped the seven-way steel cage match, with Takagi taking over the leadership after Lindaman didn't help him escape the cage and Eita and T-Hawk losing the Open The Twin Gate Championship early that night. This also led the Open The Owarai Gate Championship being vacated due to the stipulation of the match, where if Takagi escaped the championship would be vacated. Following the Dead or Alive, Takagi took part in King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one double count out and one loss in his last match against Susumu Yokosuka prevented him from advancing to the semifinals. On June 10 after Masato Yoshino won the Open The Dream Gate Championship, Takagi confronted Yoshino and mocked his win. Afterwards he challenged him to a title match, which was made official by the general manager Takayuki Yagi. On July 22 at Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, Takagi unsuccessfully challenged Masato Yoshino for the Open The Dream Gate Championship.

Departure (2018)

On September 6, it was announced that Takagi would become a freelancer on October 7. Takagi had previously discussed the subject with Dragon Gate, he also brought up the subject again following Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, but his decision was to become a freelancer. He also announced he would remain a member of ANTIAS until September 24 and would work the rest of his contract unaffiliated. Later in September ANTIAS was renamed to R.E.D and Takagi announced that would not be part of stable thus turning face in the process. On September 24 at Dangerous Gate, Takagi made his last pay-per-view appearance as a Dragon Gate wrestler losing to KAI. After the match, Takagi's longtime rival BxB Hulk came to the ring and offered him to be his opponent on his last match in Dragon Gate. He agreed to Hulk's offer, but he asked him to team with him after ten years in the next Korakuen Hall show on October 2, which Hulk agreed. In the backstage, Takagi was criticized by his former ANTIAS stablemates for teaming with Hulk and it was decided that Takagi and Hulk would face Eita and a mystery partner. At the event, Takagi and Hulk teamed for the first time in ten years, losing to Eita and the returning PAC, who was revealed to be Eita's partner. On October 7, Takagi wrestled his last match in Dragon Gate losing to BxB Hulk.

Return (2019)

On July 21, 2019 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Takagi made a special appearance for Dragon Gate, appearing in a pre-taped vignette, congratulating Dragon Gate on its 20th anniversary.

Ring of Honor (2005–2008)

Shortly after becoming a member of Blood Generation, Shingo began wrestling for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the United States. He made several ROH appearances before becoming a regular wrestler in ROH in late 2006. He became one half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions alongside Naruki Doi on March 3, 2007, by beating The Briscoe Brothers in Liverpool, England. The two lost the championship back to the Briscoes at All Star Extravaganza III on March 30.

Shingo had his final official ROH match at "Good Times, Great Memories" on April 28, 2007, unsuccessfully challenging Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Championship. He challenged The Briscoe Brothers for ROH World Tag Team Championship unsuccessfully at ROH's Live in Osaka show with his partner Susumu Yokosuka on July 17. At Wrestlemania weekend in 2008 at "Dragon Gate Challenge II" and "Supercard of Honor III", he and BxB Hulk wrestled The Age of the Fall (Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs), and El Generico and Kevin Steen respectively in his last two ROH appearances.

Other promotions (2006–2007, 2018)

Throughout 2006 and 2007 Shingo appeared in several American promotions, including Full Impact Pro and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. On February 27, 2007, Shingo won the Southern Thunder Pro Wrestling Texas Heavyweight Championship by defeating Texas Renegade. On September 5, 2007 he made his Hawaii debut for Action Zone Wrestling (AZW) teaming with Sabaki in a losing effort to AZW Tag Team Champions Devilshock. On March 8, 2009, he won his first wrestling tournament in Germany by emerging triumphant at wXw's annual 16 Carat Gold Tournament. In 2009, he began wrestling for Dragon Gate USA. In September 2018, Takagi took part of the Battle of Los Angeles, making into the finals in a three-way match, also involving Bandido and Jeff Cobb, which was won by Cobb.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2018–Present)

Junior Heavyweight Division (2018–2019)

Takagi, and BUSHI (below) during the Super Jr. Tag League.

On October 8, 2018, at King of Pro-Wrestling Takagi was revealed as the newest member of Los Ingobernables de Japón, who had previously been announced by L.I.J. leader Tetsuya Naito on October 2. At the event, Takagi made his return match to the promotion teaming with L.I.J members, BUSHI, Naito and SANADA in a winning effort against CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Sho and Yoh). Takagi got the victory for his team after pinning Sho. Takagi had previously appeared on the promotion's Lock-Up events in 2007.

Afterwards, Takagi and BUSHI were announced to take part in the Super Jr. Tag League as NJPW had decided to categorize him as a junior heavyweight wrestler going forward. Later that month, Takagi and BUSHI, finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 3 at Power Struggle, Takagi and BUSHI were defeated in the finals by Sho and Yoh in a three-way match along with reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On January 4, 2019 at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, Takagi and BUSHI defeated Kanemaru and Desperado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a second three-way match also involving Sho and Yoh. On March 6, 2019 BUSHI and Takagi lost the titles to Sho and Yoh. Takagi entered the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors tournament ending winning all of his matches, advancing to the final. On June 5, Takagi would lose to Will Ospreay at the finals of the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors. The match would receive a considerable acclaim, with Dave Meltzer giving it a five and three-quarter stars and calling it the best junior heavyweight match ever [...] he had "ever seen and one of the best matches in any division". This would be Takagi's final match and only singles loss in the Junior Heavyweight division. During his time in the Junior Heavyweight division, he would stay both undefeated in singles matches and overall unpinned and unsubmitted until June 5, 2019; during this period, he suffered only three defeats in 72 consecutive matches, all of which were tag team matches in which a partner was pinned.

Heavyweight Division (2019–Present)

Takagi as the NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion

Following his lost in finals of the Best of the Super Juniors, in a post-match interview Takagi asked NJPW to give him a match with a heavyweight wrestler. On June 9, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Takagi made his intentions of participating in the G1 Climax, after defeating Satoshi Kojima. From July 13 until August 11, Takagi took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Following the tournament, Takagi announced he moving into the heavyweight division. From November 16 until December 8, Takagi and Los Ingobernables member El Terrible took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failing to win the tournament with a record of six wins and nine losses.

On January 5, 2020, in the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Takagi, BUSHI and EVIL won a four-team gauntlet match to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. The following day, at New Years Dash, Takagi teamed with EVIL in a winning effort against NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii in a winning effort, after Takagi a direct pinfall over Goto. Afterwards, Takagi challenged Goto to a title match. On February 1, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, becoming the first wrestler to hold both NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions simultaneously.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Last Falconry (DG) / Last Of The Dragon (NJPW) (Wrist-clutch fisherman driver)
  • Made In Japan (Pumphandle half nelson driver)
  • Pumping Bomber (Lariat)
  • Stay Dream (Super wrist-clutch Olympic slam)
• Signature moves
  • Blood Fall (DG) / Noshigami (NJPW) (Backbreaker rack dropped into a sitout facebuster)
  • Corner clothesline
  • DDT
  • Death Valley driver
  • Fireman's carry cutter
  • Fist drop
  • Gallon Throw (Reverse powerbomb)
  • Gutbuster
  • High-angle belly-to-back suplex
  • Knee drop
  • Mankiri (Arm trap anaconda vice)
  • Mongolian chop
  • Legend Falconry (Wrist-clutch Death Valley driver)
  • Original Falconry (Wrist-clutch Olympic slam)
  • Powerbomb
  • Taka no Tsume (Crucifix pin)
  • Reverse STO
  • Senton
  • Vertical suplex
  • YO Throw! (Gutwrench toss)
• With Eita
  • Torture Kick (Elevated Scorpion Crosslock (Shingo)/Superkick (Eita) Combination)
• Nicknames
  • "Pumping Hawk"
  • "Going My Own Way"
  • "Mr. Selfish"
  • "The Dragon"
• Entrance themes
  • "Legend Falconry" by Hiroaki Sano (Dragon Gate)
  • "The Dragon" by Yonosuke Kitamura (NJPW)

Championships and accomplishments

• Dragon Gate
  • Open The Dream Gate Championship (4 times)
  • Open The Owarai Gate Championship (1 time)
  • Open The Triangle Gate Championship (6 times) – with BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong (2), Gamma and YAMATO (1), Taku Iwasa and Dragon Kid (1), T-Hawk and Cyber Kong (1) and Takashi Yoshida and El Lindaman (1)
  • Open The Twin Gate Championship (5 times) – with YAMATO (3), Cyber Kong (1) and Akira Tozawa (1)
  • King of Gate (2010)
  • Provisional Open The Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – with CIMA and Naruki Doi
  • Planning Jumbo Six Man Scramble One Night Tag Tournament (2008) – with YAMATO and Cyber Kong
  • New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament (2016) – with El Lindaman and T-Hawk
  • Summer Adventure Tag League (2009) – with YAMATO
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #86 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 2011
  • PWI ranked him #43 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
  • PWI ranked him #126 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with BUSHI
  • NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time, current)
  • NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with BUSHI and EVIL
• Pro Wrestling Noah
  • GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with BxB Hulk
• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Naruki Doi
• Southern Thunder Pro Wrestling
  • STPW Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• westside Xtreme wrestling
  • 16 Carat Gold Tournament (2009)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Rookie of the Year (2005)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date	Notes
Shingo Takagi (hair)	BxB Hulk (hair)	Kobe, Japan	Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2010	02010-07-11-0000July 11, 2010
Shingo Takagi (hair)	Ryo Saito (hair)	Aichi, Japan	Dead or Alive	May 6, 2018

^{1 ^} This was a seven-way steel cage match, also involving El Lindaman, Punch Tominaga, Masaaki Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda and YAMATO