Sugiura-gun (杉浦軍 Sugiuragun, literally translated to "Sugiura Army") is a professional wrestling stable in Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH). The group was formed by Kazma Sakamoto, Nosawa Rongai, and Takashi Sugiura on March 10, 2019, after the disbanding of Hooligans, with Sugiura being appointed the leader of the stable. Shortly after their formation, Sugiura-gun has since added several new members, most notably Hajime Ohara, Hideki Suzuki, and Kazushi Sakuraba. In the short time of their formation, Sugiura-gun founding members Kazma Sakamoto and Takashi Sugiura quickly brought the GHC Tag Team Championship to the stable.
Other accomplishments attained by the stable include Sakamoto and Sugiura winning the 2019 Global Tag League. As the leader of Sugiura-gun, Takashi Sugiura brought the GHC National Championship to the stable, while also reclaiming his spot of being one of Noah's top wrestlers and has challenged for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, as well reaching the finals of the 2019 N-1 Victory. Through Noah's working relationship with the American Major League Wrestling (MLW) promotion, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. as joined the stable as a part-time member of the group. In November 2019, Sugiura-gun began feuding with villainous stable KONGOH. During their feud, Sugiura-gun was joined by Kazuyuki Fujita and produced their own event at the Korakuen Hall in December and Dick Togo in January.
History
Formation and addition of several members (2019)
On February 24, 2019, Hooligans were forced to disband after losing to Takashi Sugiura, Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue, Yoshiki Inamura and Kinya Okada in an elimination match. After the match, Kazma Sakamoto challenged Sugiura to a match, which he accepted. On March 10 at Great Voyage in Yokohama, Sugiura defeated Sakamoto. Following the match, in a backstage interview, Sakamoto and accompanied Sugiura and they were joined by Nosawa Rongai, with Sakamoto wanting a new start with Sugiura. Sugiura initially didn't trust them, but over the course of time, Sakamoto and Rongai got the trust of Sugiura, with Sugiura being impressed with Sakamoto. Sakamoto's efforts managed to impress Sugiura, leading them to team up for the upcoming Global Tag League. In April, Sakamoto and Sugiura took part in the 2019 Global Tag League. During the tournament, on April 17, Rongai announced the stable would be named "Sugiura-gun", while also introducing Hideki Suzuki as the newest member of the stable. Also in the tournament, Sugiura defeated reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya. Sakamoto and Sugiura finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On May 2, Sugiura faced Hajime Ohara in a match, which Sugiura won. After the match, Ohara asked Sugiura to join the stable, which he accepted, becoming the fifth member of Sugiura-gun. Two days later, Sakamoto and Sugiura defeated reigning GHC Tag Team Champions AXIZ (Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima) in the finals to win the tournament. After the match, Sugiura challenged AXIZ to a rematch for their titles and also challenged Kaito Kiyomiya for GHC Heavyweight Championship. On June 9 at Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial, Sugiura unsuccessfully challenged Kiyomiya for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Four days later, Sakamoto and Sugiura defeated AXIZ to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles back to AXIZ on June 27. During this time, Ohara and Rongai took part in the 2019 Global Junior Heavyweight Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. From June until July, Ohara took part in the 2019 Global Junior League, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament on July 28, Rongai introduced Kazushi Sakuraba as the newest member of the stable and announced he would make his debut of the promotion on September 16.
Feud with KONGOH (2019–Present)
From August 18 until September 10, Sugiura took part in the 2019 N-1 Victory, where he won his block with a clean record of four wins, advancing to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Sugiura began feuding with Kenoh and his KONGOH stable, with Kenoh later accusing Sugiura to be a "company dog", which also escalated to a Twitter feud, leading Sugiura to make a t-shirt of a dog to mock him. On September 16, Sugiura was defeated in the finals by Kenoh. On October 3, it was announced that Sugiura-gun would promote their own event on December 27 at Korakuen Hall. During the event, Kazuyuki Fujita was introduced as the newest member of the stable. On November 2 at Noah the Best, Sugiura defeated Michael Elgin to become the inaugural GHC National Champion. Later that month, Sugiura began feuding with KONGOH's member Masa Kitamiya, after Kitamiya challenged Sugiura to a match for the GHC National Championship. On December 3, Fujita, Suzuki, and Sugiura defeated KONGOH. Afterwards, Sugiura mocked them, calling them "weak". On December 27, Sugiura-gun produced its own event at Korakuen Hall. During the event, KONGOH attacked Suzuki, Sakura, Fujita, and Suzuki during their match in the main event. Afterwards, Sugiura challenged KONGOH to a match, leading Fujita, Suzuki, and Sugiura to defeat KONGOH for the second time. On January 4, 2020 at New Sunrise, Suzuki and Kinya Okada faced KONGOH's duo of Kenoh and Yoshiki Inamura in a losing effort. Afterwards, Suzuki attacked Kenoh. Later that night, Sugiura defeated Masa Kitamiya to make his second successful of the GHC National Championship. The following day at Reboot, Okada and Ohara faced KONGOH's duo of Haoh and Nioh in a losing effort. Afterwards, two masked wrestlers attacked Haoh and Nioh, revealing themselves to be Rongai and Sugiura-gun newest member Dick Togo.
Members
| Member | Time |
|---|---|
| Hajime Ohara | January 5, 2020–present |
| El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. | August 18, 2019–present |
| Hajime Ohara | May 2, 2019–present |
| Hideki Suzuki | April 17, 2019–present |
| Kazma Sakamoto | March 10, 2019–present |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | October 3, 2019–present |
| Kazushi Sakuraba | July 28, 2019–present |
| Nosawa Rongai | March 10, 2019–present |
| Takashi Sugiura | March 10, 2019–present |
Timeline
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling NOAH
- GHC National Championship (1 time, current) – Sugiura
- GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Sakamoto and Sugiura
- Global Tag League (2019) – Sakamoto and Sugiura
- Best Bout Award (2019) Sugiura vs. Michael Elgin on November 2