Shun Watanabe (渡辺俊 Watanabe Shun, born May 30, 1996), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Dragon Gate (DG) under the ring name Shun Skywalker (シュン・スカイウォーカー Shun Sukaiwōkā),[1] where he is a former two-time Open The Dream Gate Champion, a former one-time Open The Twin Gate Champion and a three-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion.
Watanabe was trained in the Dragon Gate Dojo alongside Futa Nakamura and Hyou Watanabe, before being repacked as "Shun Skywalker" (シュン・スカイウォーカー Shun Sukaiwōkā), becoming known by his high-flying abilities. While Nakamura managed to break out in singles competition, Skywalker and Watanabe continued to wrestle on the undercard alongside Yuki Yoshioka forming Mochizuki Dojo with Masaaki Mochizuki. The formation of Mochizuki Dojo allowed Skywalker to relaunch his career, leading him to being promoted on the card, being named Rookie of the Year in 2018, and winning the Rookie Ranking Tournament in January 2019. Skywalker's breakthrough culminated in March 2019, Skywalker receiving his first opportunity for the Open the Dream Gate Championship, before leaving Mochizuki Dojo in May, in order to progress his career.
In December 2019, Skywalker was sent on a learning excursion to Mexico working in various Mexican promotions most notably, Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) and International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), during which he won the 2020 Rey del Ring tournament, before returning to Dragon Gate in November 2020. Later that month, Skywalker headlined Dragon Gate's biggest annual event, Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, defeating Eita to win Dragon Gate's top title, the Open The Dream Gate Championship, becoming the youngest champion in the title's history, at 24 years old. He would hold the title for almost a year, before losing it to YAMATO at Speed Star Final. Since then, Skywalker became a more vicious and ruthless character, by mostly recuring to dirty tactics to win his matches, before fully turning heel and forming Z-Brats, thus further cementing his villainous personality.
Professional wrestling career[]
Dragon Gate (2015–2019)[]
Early Career (2015–2016)[]
Watanabe trained for his professional wrestling career in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate's wrestling school called "Dragon Gate Nex", wrestling several exhibition bouts before officially debuting against Big R Shimizu on April 22, 2016 in a losing effort. Afterwards, Watanabe began losing most of his matches to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put him over other wrestlers while at the same time give him some in-ring, televised, experience as is customary for most professional wrestlers. Watanabe then begun teaming together on a regular basis with fellow rookies Futa Nakamura and Hyou Watanabe, including working together on November 3 at Gate of Destiny, in a winning effort against Over Generation (Kaito Ishida, Punch Tominaga and Takehiro Yamamura), with Shun picking up the victory for his team, after pinning Tominga.[2]
On November 11, Watanabe was repackaged as "Shun Skywalker", working under a mask and begun being for his high-flying moves. Afterwards, Dragon Gate's General Manager Takayuki Yagi granted Skywalker and Ben-K a match against former Open the Twin Gate Champions Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu), facing them in a losing effort. Later that night, veteran CIMA challenged Skywalker, Ben-K, Watanabe and rookies Katsumi Takashima and Yuki Yoshioka to a match. This led on December 1, Skywalker, Ben-K, Watanabe, Takashima and Yuki Yoshioka being defeated by CIMA, Dragon Kid, Don Fujii, Gamma and Masaaki Mochizuki. In April 2018, reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion Masaaki Mochizuki decided to pull of the 2018 King of Gate in order for a wrestler for the young geneation to take his place, leading on April 22, Skywalker pinning Oji Shiiba during a six-man tag team match, to take Mochizuki's place for the tournament. In May, Skywalker finished the tournament with a record of one win and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. In August, Skywalker formed "Mochizuki Dojo" with Masaaki Mochizuki, Hyou Watanabe and Yuki Yoshioka in order to progress their careers. Later that month, Skywalker made his debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), taking part of 2018 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory with Mochizuki, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to win the tournament.
Mochizuki Dojo and breakthrough (2019–2020)[]
In February 2019, Mochizuki Dojo became involved in a feud with other units in Dragon Gate such as MaxiMuM, Tribe Vanguard and R.E.D. On March 3, 2019, Skywalker unsuccessfully challenged PAC for the Open the Dream Gate Championship. Mochizuki Dojo entered in a match involving the other units, during which on March 7, Tribe Vanguard won, with Mochizuki Dojo being the second eliminated in the four-way eight-man tag team elimination match. General Manager Takayuki Yagi capitalized on the opportunity and announced the rules for the Steel Cage Survival match on May 6 at Dead or Alive, as well multiple tag team matches between members of the respective units to decide, which member would enter in the match. On March 21 at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, Skywalker and Watanabe defeated Yoshioka and Minoura, with Skywalker pinning Minoura to represent Mochizuki Dojo in the match. At the event on May 6, after Skywalker escaped the "Bonds" steel cage survival five-way match, he decided to leave Mochizuki Dojo. Later that month, Skywalker took part in the 2019 King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and two losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Skywalker formed a partnership with Ben-K, who had been feuding with R.E.D. Later that year, Skywalker began a losing streak, after losing to Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino, culminating in Skywalker challenging Ben-K to match. On December 4, Skywalker was defeated by Ben-K. Afterwards, Ben-K went for a handshake but Skywalker refused it, ending their partnership, marking his last appearance.
Mexican excursion (2019–2020)[]
After his match with Ben-K, Skywalker embarked on a learning excursion in Mexico. There, he worked for various promotions, including Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU), International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), and Dragon Gate's affiliate Toryumon Mexico. During this time, he participated in several six-man tag team matches, seeking to gain experience in different wrestling styles, a common practice for young Japanese wrestlers.
From June 14, 2020, until August 30, Skywalker took part in IWRG's annual Rey del Ring ("King of the Ring") tournament, ultimately defeating El Hijo de Canis Lupus in the finals to claim victory in the tournament. As the winner of the Rey del Ring, he earned an opportunity to challenge for the IWRG Rey Del Ring Championship. However, his attempt to capture the title proved unsuccessful, as he fell short against Demonio Infernal in a two-out-of-three falls match on September 6.
During his Mexican excursion, Skywalker teamed up with fellow Dragon Gate wrestler Yuki Yoshioka to participate in a tournament to determine the #1 contenders for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. Unfortunately, their journey came to an end in the quarterfinals when they were defeated by Dragón Bane and El Hijo de Canis Lupus on September 13.
Return to Dragon Gate (2020–Present)[]
On November 3, at Gate of Destiny, after Eita made successfully defended the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Kzy, Skywalker made his surprise return to Dragon Gate, confronting and challenging Eita to a title match, a feat that he repeated on November 5, leading Dragon Gate's General Manager Takayuki Yagi to make the match official at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. Ten days later, at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Skywalker defeated Eita to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship for the first time, becoming the youngest champion in the title's history, at 24 years old. Following the match, Skywalker's previous partner Ben-K challenged him to a title match. On December 2, Skywalker alongside Ben-K's former Dragon Gate Generation stablemates Dragon Dia, Jason Lee and Kota Minoura announced the creation of their own stable, which would be joined by a mysterious member on December 15. At the December 15 event, it was announced that the stable would be named Masquerade, with the new member being revealed to be La Estrella. On December 20 at Final Gate, Skywalker defeated Ben-K to make his first sucessfull title defense.
In January 2021, through Masquerade's rivalry with the R.E.D stable, Skywalker found himself a new challenger to his title in Kaito Ishida. On January 31, following a six-man tag team match between Masquerade and R.E.D, Ishida challenged Skywalker to a title match, dubbing Skywalker as a "Paper champion". Afterwards, Dragon Gate's General Manager Takayuki Yagi announced that the title match would take place on March 7 at Champion Gate in Osaka. On February 5, Masquerade faced R.E.D in a losing effort. Afterwards, Ishida reminded his intentions of proving that Skywalker was a fake champion. On March 7, Skywalker successfully defended the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Ishida. Afterwards, Kazma Sakamoto challenged Skywalker to a title match, with the match being confirmed to be on March 27. At the event at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, Skywalker defeated Sakamoto to make his third successful title defense. Following the match, Skywalker was attacked by HipHop Kikuta, who challenged him to a title match. At the title match on May 5 at Dead or Alive, Skywalker made his fourth successful title defense, after Kikuta was unable to continue the match due to Skywalker injuring his arm, forcing the referee to stop the match. In May, Skywalker took part in the 2021 King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and two losses, failling to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Following the tournament, 2021 King of Gate winner Kzy challenged Skywalker to a title match at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, this was followed by YAMATO, who also challenged Skywalker to a title match, after having beaten him during the King of Gate tournament, leading Skywalker to accept. Afterwards, it was announced that the winner of the first night would defend the Open The Dream Gate Championship against YAMATO at the second night. On July 31, at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Skywalker defeated Kzy to make his fifth successful title defense. The following day at Speed Star Final, Skywalker lost the Open The Dream Gate Championship to YAMATO in his sixth title defense, ending his reign at 259 days. Meanwhile, a storyline had started involving a feud between Skywalker's Masquerade stablemate Dragon Dia and R.E.D's Dia Inferno with Skywalker and Diamante, being caught in the middle of Dia and Inferno. This led to on November 5, General Manager Ryo Saito to announce a Mask vs. Mask tag team match, with Skywalker teaming with Dia and Inferno with R.E.D stablemate Diamante on December 1, with the loser of the fall having to unmask. At the event, Diamante and Inferno won the Lucha de Apuestas match, with Dia being pinned by Diamante after Skywalker purposely pushed Dia into Diamante, and as a result, Dia was forced to unmask. This led to a rift between him and the rest of Masquerade, who blamed Skywalker for Dia losing his mask. After winning the Open The Triangle Gate Championship on December 15, Skywalker was challenged by stableamte Kota Minoura into a match, where the if he lost, he would be forced to leave the stable. During the match, between Skywalker and Minoura on December 26 at Final Gate, R.E.D's H.Y.O and SB KENTo offered Skywalker help, tossing him a chair, while the referee was down, but he refused. Shortly after, Skywalker took off his mask and tossed it into the hands of Minoura, while the referee was not looking. When the referee turned around and saw Minoura standing with Skywalker’s mask, Skywalker was awarded the win by disqualification.
Skywalker's relationship with the rest of the members reached the point of collapse, despite affirming to be fine. On January 12, 2022, Skywalker, Lee and Minoura lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to R.E.D (Eita, H.Y.O and Kaito Ishida). During the match, Minoura accidentally attacked Skywalker, after he tried to protect himself from H.Y.O. After the match, Skywalker forced Minoura to apologize, which he refused, leading Skywalker to quit as the leader of the stable. Afterwards, H.Y.O invited Skywalker to join R.E.D, which he accepted. However, Eita and Ishida were against his addition and Eita attempted to expel H.Y.O, leading the rest of R.E.D to turn on them. On February 5, after Eita was banished from R.E.D, H.Y.O and SB KENTo decided to renamed the stable to Z-Brats. On May 5, at Dead or Alive, Skywalker and Z-Brats stablemate Diamante defeated Dragon Dia and Yuki Yoshioka to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Later that month, Skywalker took part in the 2022 King of Gate, being eliminated in the semifinals to eventual winner Yuki Yoshioka. On July 30 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Skywalker and Diamante lost the Open The Twin Gate Championship to Jason Lee and Jacky "Funky" Kamei. On November 6 at Gate of Destiny, Skywalker, KAI and ISHIN defeated M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Mochizuki Junior and Susumu Mochizuki) to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship.
On December 25 at Final Gate, Skywalker challenged Yuki Yoshioka to a title match for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. Skywalker received his title match on January 11, 2023, defeating Yoshioka to win the title for the second time. On January 22, Skywalker, KAI, and ISHIN lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Ben-K, BxB Hulk, and Kota Minoura. In February, Skywalker and KAI took part in the 2023 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On March 2, Skywalker and KAI were defeated by Yuki Yoshioka and Madoka Kikuta in the semifinals. Three days later, at Champion Gate in Osaka, Skywalker made his first successful title defense against Strong Machine J. On May 5, at Dead or Alive, in a rematch to the titile match prior two years before the event, Skywalker faced Madoka Kikuta in a rematch for Open The Dream Gate Championship in his second title defense. At the event, Skywalker lost the title to Kikuta, who avenged the loss in their previous match that ended in a referee stoppage. Later that month, Skywalker was dragged out to a storyline between his partner Diamante and Último Drágon, after Diamante began campaigning to face Drágon in a match, however he refused, leading him to be suspended by Dragon Gate's General Manager Ryo Saito's. On May 20, Skywalker called out Dragón to a have match against Diamante. On June 1, Skywalker faced Strong Machine J in a winning effort. Afterwards, Skywalker ripped off Machine's mask and threw it into the audience. Machine then called out for a mask vs mask match against Skywalker, which he accepted. Afterwards, Dragon Kid appeared and introduced a video message from Dragón, who accepted the match against Diamante. Shun then proposed a mask vs mask match tag team match between himself and Diamante against Dragón and Machine, which led to Saito said he would consider. The following day, Saito announced a mask vs mask four-way steel cage match between all four of them, which later included Kid. On July 2 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, in the finals moment of the match, Diamante saved Skywalker from his losing his mask in the match, when Skywalker, Diamante and Strong Machine J were the only ones left in the cage. After Machine escaped from the cage, Skywalker, alone with Diamante, seemingly offered an act of gratitude towards him. It looked as if Skywalker, who had been saved by Diamante, was going to sacrifice his mask so that Diamante could escape. However, Skywalker turned on Diamante, and later tied the back of his mask to the ring ropes, paving the way for an easy exit from the cage. Faced with the proposition of either removing his mask to halt Skwyalker's progress up the cage, or deal with the crushing defeat and subsequent unmasking, Diamante chose the latter and Skywalker left the cage, leading Diamante to lose the match being forced to unmask and reveal his real name. Three days later, Skywalker and the rest of Z-Brats came out and laughed at Diamante for losing his mask. Diamante then delivered a dropkick to Shun Skywalker, before announcing that he would return to Mexico for a brief period of time. He returned to Dragon Gate on October 6, under the ring name "Luís Mante", confronting Skywalker, and challenging him to a singles match. Despite his challenge, Skywalker accepted under the condition that Mante would face him on a Four-on-One handicap match, between him and Z-Brats, which he accepted. On November 9, Z-Brats lost the Four-on-One handicap match to Mante, after H.Y.O turned on Skywalker, allowing Mante to secure the win. On December 9, Mante challenged Skywalker to a match, but he refused stating that he was not afraid to lose to Mante, due to being the best wrestler in Dragon Gate. This led to Madoka Kikuta coming to ring, proclaming the he was the best wrestler since he was the Open The Dream Gate Champion. After Dragon Gate's General Manager Ryo Saito came out, Kikuta proposed a three-way match, with Saito setting the match between the three. On December 24 at Final Gate, Mante won the three-way match and became the new Open The Dream Gate Champion. Afterwards, Skywalker demanded to be Mante's first challenger for the title.
On March 3 at Champion Gate in Osaka, Skywalker, KAI and ISHIN defeated Dragon Dia, Madoka Kikuta and Ryoya Tanaka to win the vacant Open Triangle Gate Championship. Later that month, Skywalker and ISHIN took part in the 2024 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one draw and two losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. During the tournament, Z-Brats began a feud with Natural Vibes, following the latter's result crisis. After Jake Lee deffected to Z-Brats, on April 10, Dragon Gate's General Manager Ryo Saito to set up a five-way Mask vs. Hair steel cage survival match at Dead or Alive. At the event, despite Strong Machine J pretending to join Z-Brats and turn on Skywalker, he managed to be the second wrestler to escape the cage and saving his mask. The following day at All Together, Skywalker teamed with NJPW's Yuya Uemura, DDT's Konosuke Takeshita in a losing effort to NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya, NJPW's Shota Umino, and DDT's Yuki Ueno. After the match, Skywalker and Takeshita got into a brawl, leading Skywalker to challenge him to a match, with Takeshita stated that he would accept a singles match against anyone. On May 9, Skywalker, KAI and ISHIN lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to Big Boss Shimizu, Strong Machine J and U-T.
In August, Skywalker placed a mask Minorita and he appeared to be brainwashed as "Mini Skywalker", leading his Gold Class stablemate Kota Minoura to save him and remove the mask. With Skywalker claiming Minorita as his property, this led to a match at Dangerous Gate, on August 12, where the winner would get Minorita. Despite Gold Class winning the match, Minoura turned on Minorita to join Z-Brats. Their feud dragged out the following months, when on October 4, Gold Class was defeated by Z-Brats in a loser leave unit expulsion match, with BxB Hulk being pinned by Minoura, forcing him out of Gold Class. Shortly after, Skywalker began toying with the idea of facing Hulk, leading on October 20, Skywalker challenged Hulk under his Darkside form to a match at Gate of Destiny, which he accepted. At the event, on November 3, the match ended in a double countout, with Hulk in his Darkside form dismantling Skywalker, blowing off what was left of their feud.
In the January 15 Korakuen Hall show, Skywalker pinned YAMATO clean, avenging his defeat to the Dream Gate champion from 2021. He then declared himself the biggest prize in Dragongate history, claiming he has surpassed YAMATO and the Dream Gate Championship. In February, Skywalker announced SSWQuest IV: The Guided Z, his own produce show, after the return of generational rival Yuki Yoshioka after the main event.
In March, Skywalker and Homare took part in the 2025 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins, and two losses, leading them to reach a decision match to determine semifinalists of the tournament. They eventually won the tournament on March 30, defeating fellow Z-Brats Kota Minoura and Jason Lee to win the tournament. After the match, he was confronted by Dragon Dia and Ryoya Tanaka as they were watched over by a disgruntled Madoka Kikuta, who were in a midst of a faction infighting due to the identity of the new Dia Inferno throughout March. While Skywalker wanted Inferno to join Z-Brats and not the returned Yuki Yoshioka, Minoura instead rejected the idea, leading Skywalker to proposed a match between him, Minoura and the new Dia Inferno, against Dragon Dia, Ryoya Tanaka, and Madoka Kikuta. On April 7, Z-Brats defeated D'Courage, after Inferno dodged a box attack and hit Dia. Skywalker and Minoura were caught in between D'Courage infighting, after Minoura sided with Dragon Dia, in contrast to Skywalker. In a twist, Skywalker invited Kikuta to join Z-Brats, but Minoura fiercely opposed. This led to Dragon Gate General Manager Ryo Saito to schedule a mask vs. hair steel cage match on May 5 at Dead or Alive. At the match, Skywalker, Kikuta and Yuki Yoshioka were the three wrestlers remaining in the match. Afterwards, Skywalker offered Kikuta a chance to escape together by betraying Yoshioka. In a shocking moment, Kikuta accepted the offer, before turning on him, confirming his betrayal, with both simultaneously escaping the match, leaving Yoshioka as the final loser. After the match, Yoshioka was forced to undergo the punishment of having his head shaved.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Ashla (Reverse crucifix hold dropped into a sitout side powerslam) - 2017-2019
- Skywalker Moonsault (Moonsault)
- SSW (Wrist-clutch spin-out sitout powerbomb)
- Standing Moonsault Double Knee Drop
- Signature moves
- Blaster (Sitout butterfly slam)
- Brainbuster
- BT Bomb (Sitout crucifix powerbomb)
- DDT
- Diving splash
- High-angle senton bomb
- Japanese armdrag
- Monkey flip
- Multiple kick variations
- Bicycle
- Drop
- Reverse brainbuster
- Ropewalk moonsault
- Sitout suplex slam
- Skywalker Quebrada (Diving moonsault to an opponent outside of the ring)
- Standing moonsault
- Spinning side slam
- Superkick
- With Diamante
- Tag team finishers
- Cielo Finale (Double gorilla press spinebuster)
- La Combinación DSD (Assisted pop-up wheelbarrow facebuster)
- Tag team finishers
- Nicknames
- "Tenkūhojin" (Japanese for "Skywalker")
- Entrance themes
- "Dragon Storm 2007 (Insturumental Version)" by Dragon Gate
- "Fly Over the Sky" by Toyokazu Ogata
- "Fly Over the Sky -Psychopathy-" by Toyokazu Ogata
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Dream Gate Championship (2 times)
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – with Diamante
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (3 times) – with Jason Lee and Kota Minoura (1), and KAI and ISHIN (2)
- Rookie Ranking Tournament (2019, 1st place)
- Rookie of the Year Award (2018)
- Fifteenth Triple Crown Champion
- Rey De Parejas (2025) – with Homare
- International Wrestling Revolution Group
- Rey del Ring (2020)
- Major League Wrestling
- MLW Middleweight Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- 4¼ Star Match (2020) vs. Ben-K on December 20
Luchas de Apuestas record[]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shun Skywalker (mask) | Diamante (mask) | Kobe, Japan | Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023 | June 21 | [1] |
1 ^ This was a Lucha de Apuestas Mask vs. Mask 5-Way Survivor Steel Cage match also involving Dragon Kid, Último Dragón and Strong Machine J.
References[]
- ↑ Shun Skywalker (in Japanese). Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate. Retrieved on 2016-11-14.
- ↑ cagematch Gate of Destiny (in English). Cagematch. Cagematch. Retrieved on 2016-11-19.
