Takashi Yoshida (吉田 隆司 Yoshida Takashi, born July 3, 1982 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese wrestler, better known by his ring name Cyber Kong (サイバー・コング Saibā Kongu). He currently wrestles for Dragon Gate, where he is a one-third of the current Open The Triangle Gate Champions in his seventh reign, while also being a former three-time Open The Twin Gate Champion. Yoshida is the first graduate of the Dragon Gate USA dojo.
For many years including Yoshida's debut, his real name was not a matter of public record and his private life was kept a secret from the wrestling fans until May 5, 2016 where he lost a Steel Cage Survival Five-Way match and due to the stipulation he was forced to unmask and reveal his real name.
Professional wrestling career
Cyber Kong's career started in 2006. He competed as an arm wrestler and was part of the New Japan Dojo system. He trained in the Los Angeles-based Inoki Dojo, but his short stature prevented him from getting far in it, so he took a tryout at the Dragon Gate USA dojo and became its first graduate. During this time, he aligned himself with Shingo Takagi, representing Dragon Gate USA in Ring of Honor's sister company Full Impact Pro. He came to Japan in November, and he became part of the NEX class.
His frightening power, wrestling abilities, and muscular build made him nearly unbeatable in NEX, and thus he was soon brought up to the main roster, where he continued to be a major threat (however, he has shown himself to be susceptible to flash pins). One of his trademarks before and during his matches is ripping a pineapple in half with his bare hands and then chewing up and spitting out the fruit in a savage manner.
He was thought to be an American wrestler originally but was later outed as being Japanese by Masaaki Mochizuki, when he told Yoshida to "wake up." In early 2007, he joined the Muscle Outlaw'z faction, tagging with gaijin Babi Slymm - known as Cyber Gang - as the Ultimate Cybers. His stay in the faction would not be a very long one, for he would soon turn on the Muscle Outlaw'z and start the New Hazard faction with BxB Hulk, who had turned on the Typhoon faction at the same time, and Shingo Takagi. On May 14, 2008, he and Takagi turned on BxB Hulk and joined up with the heel half of the Muscle Outlaw'z, renaming the group to Real Hazard. On July 10, tensions between him and Takagi started up after Takagi prevented him and the other members of Real Hazard (as well as Tokyo Gurentai) from giving CIMA an unwanted haircut, which eventually led to Takagi's dismissal from the group seventeen days later. He fought Takagi for his Open the Dream Gate Championship on August 31, but he was unsuccessful in capturing the title.
On October 5, he and YAMATO would win the Open The Twin Gate Titles from Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino. On December 21, he did battle with Naoki Tanisaki in a Mask vs. Hair match, which he initially lost after his stablemate Cyber Kongcito's attempt to interfere on his behalf backfired. Real Hazard would come out to protest the result, but he said he would own up to the mask stipulation - except that it would be Kongcito's mask, not his. Kongcito was unmasked, beaten up, and kicked out of the group. He then demanded a restart, due to Kongcito's intrusion, and CIMA came out, appointed the special referee, and agreed to let the match restart, since both Real Hazard and WORLD-1 (Tanisaki's stable) had intruded in the match. Kong won, and Tanisaki lost his hair.
He then got into a feud with Anthony W. Mori, with each one gaining victories over the other until they agreed to settle their feud in a Hair vs. Mask Match on March 22. On March 1, he and YAMATO would lose the Open the Twin Gate titles to Susumu Yokosuka & Gamma after stablemate KAGETORA interfered and turned on them. On March 22, 2009 his match with Mori initially ended in a no-contest after Real Hazard intruded. He and the rest of the group went after Mori's hair, but Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii stopped them. The match was restarted, and Kong won the match decisively, so Mori lost his hair.
On October 23, he sustained a neck injury during training. It was apparently a severe injury, and it also wasn't healing properly. On November 15, feeling that he would not be able to appear or perform at a satisfactory level once he returned from the injury, he submitted his resignation to Dragon Gate.
However, on February 7, 2010, Takagi called him out after winning a match, and he surprisingly appeared. He appealed to President Okamura to be reinstated, and was welcomed back, joining Takagi's unit KAMIKAZE. On March 22, Kong and Takagi defeated CIMA and Gamma to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. They would lose the title two months later. On May 13, 2011, Takagi disbanded KAMIKAZE. Instead of following Takagi and YAMATO to Masaaki Mochizuki's face group, Kong decided to instead join CIMA's heel group, Blood Warriors.[1] On October 16, Kong defeated former partner YAMATO in a six-way steel cage Hair vs. Hair match, forcing him to have his head shaved.[2] On November 4, 2011, Blood Warriors faced Junction Three in a ten-man tag team match with the stipulation that the loser of the fall had to leave his unit. In the end, YAMATO managed to win the match for Junction Three by submitting Kong with a sleeper hold, who was then kicked out of Blood Warriors.[3] Kong rejoined Blood Warriors on January 19, 2012, helping Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk turn on CIMA and kick him out of the group. On March 1, the new leader of Blood Warriors, Akira Tozawa, changed the stable's name to Mad Blankey.[4]
In 2012 shortly after joining Mad Blankey, Kong was abruptly demoted to the level of jobber to the stars. He rarely won matches, and often cost Mad Blankey matches due to inept attempts at interfering on their behalf. After a failed challenge at the Open The Twin Gate Championship on December 23, 2012, Kong was kicked out of Mad Blankey.[5] He returned to Mad Blankey on August 30, 2013, after YAMATO had taken over as the new leader of the group.[6] On October 6, Kong, BxB Hulk and YAMATO won the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship by defeating Akira Tozawa, Masato Yoshino and Shingo Takagi.[7] They lost the title to Millennials (Eita, Flamita and T-Hawk) on December 5.[8] On August 16, 2015, Mad Blankey was forced to disband after losing to Jimmyz in a five-on-five elimination tag team match, after being betrayed by K-ness.[9] On September 23, Kong formed a new stable named VerserK with Kotoka, Mondai Ryu, Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi and Yamato.[10] On March 4, 2017 Kong, Takagi and T-Hawk 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.
On May 5, Kong lost his mask in a Steel Cage Survival Five-Way match featuring his VerserK stablemate Takagi, Naruki Doi, BxB Hulk and YAMATO, where YAMATO successfully defended his Open The Dream Gate Championship, where Kong lost the match and his mask, he didn't want, so he tried to get Punch to shave his head but instead he took off his mask and reverted to his real name Takashi Yoshida.[11] On July 1, Yoshida, Takagi and El Lindaman defeated Naruki Doi, Ben-K and Big R Shimizu to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On November 3 Yoshida, Takagi and Lindaman lost the titles to YAMATO, BxB Hulk and Kzy also involving Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Kotoka. On January 13, Yoshida along with the rest of the members of VerserK renamed the stable to ANTIAS. Throughout mid-2018, Yoshida was only featured in short feuds with Ben-K and Big R Shimizu, and always lost in singles matches. Shortly after, Yoshida started to get pushed, taking part in the King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. Yoshida lost in the semifinals to Masato Yoshino on July 1. Later in September ANTIAS were renamed to R.E.D after their leader Shingo Takagi left the stable. On December 23 at Final Gate, Yoshida along with Yasushi Kanda and Kazma Sakamoto defeated Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. In May 2019, Yoshida took part in the 2019 King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and three losses, failling to advance to the semifinals tournament.
Factions
- Muscle Outlaw'z (2007)
- New Hazard (2007–2008)
- Real Hazard (2008–2009)
- Kamikaze (2010–2011)
- Blood Warriors (2011, 2012)
- Mad Blankey (2012)
- -akatsuki- (2013)
- Mad Blankey (2013–2015)
- VerserK (2015-2018)
- ANTIAS (2018)
- R.E.D (2018-Present)
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Signature moves
- Body avalanche[15]
- Cyber Combination (Corner body avalanche followed by a clothesline followed by a running splash)
- Cyber Combination ver.2 (Corner body avalanche followed by a clothesline followed by a Cyber Cutter)
- Cyber Cutter (Gorilla press dropped into a cutter)[12][13]
- Cyber Driver (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver, sometimes preceded by a gorilla press)[12][13]
- Cyber Lock (Swinging full nelson)[13][14]
- Diving elbow drop[16]
- FPB - Final Pineapple Bomber (Pop-up lariat)
- Fire Thunder (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver)
- German suplex[17]
- Gorilla press drop[16]
- Hammer Punch Rush (Multiple lariats with theatrics)
- Jackhammer (Delayed vertical suplex powerslam)
- Neck/Scarf (Over the shoulder single leg Boston crab)[16]
- P crash (Falling Argentine powerbomb)
- Pineapple Attack (Smashed a pineapple to the opponent face)
- Pineapple Juice (Squeezes a pineapple to the opponent face and then throws it to the audience)
- Shoulder block[18]
- STF
- With Shingo Takagi
- Nicknames
- "Muscle Beast"[19]
- Entrance themes
- "Obsession" by Animotion (FIP)
- "Pineapple Bomber" by Norichika Sato
- "Pineapple Bomber 〜beast is coming〜" by BAKI
Championships and accomplishments
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (7 times, current) – with BxB Hulk and Shingo Takagi (2), BxB Hulk and YAMATO (1) and Kzy and Naruki Doi (1), T-Hawk and Shingo Takagi (1) and El Lindaman and Shingo Takagi (1) and Yasushi Kanda and Kazma Sakamoto (1, current)
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (3 times) – with YAMATO (2) and Shingo Takagi (1)
- Open the Twin Gate #1 Contender's One Night Tournament (2012) – with Naoki Tanisaki
- Planning Jumbo Six Man Scramble One Night Tag Tournament (2008) with Shingo Takagi and YAMATO
- Summer Adventure Tag League Last place (2012) – with Kzy and Mondai Ryu
- Osaka Pro Wrestling
- Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Magnitude Kishiwada
Luchas de Apuestas record
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber Kong (mask) | Naoki Tanizaki (hair) | Kobe, Japan | Live event | December 21, 2008 | |
| Cyber Kong (mask) | Anthony W. Mori (hair) | Tokyo, Japan | Live event | March 22, 2009 | |
| Cyber Kong (mask) | YAMATO (hair) | Osaka, Japan | Gate of Destiny | October 16, 2011 | [Note 1][2] |
| YAMATO (hair and title) | Cyber Kong (mask) | Aichi, Japan | Dead or Alive | May 5, 2017 | [Note 2][11] |
Notes
- ↑ This was a six-way steel cage match, also involving Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk, KAGETORA and Shingo Takagi.
- ↑ This was a Hair Vs. Mask Steel Cage Survival Double Risk Six Way Match also involving Naruki Doi, BxB Hulk and Shingo Takagi.
References
- ↑ 5/15 KING OF GATE - 15 May 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-05-15). Retrieved on 2011-05-16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 10/16 Gate of Destiny - 16 Oct 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-10-16). Retrieved on 2011-10-18.
- ↑ 11/4 CROWN GATE - 04 Nov 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-11-04). Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
- ↑ 3/1 Truth Gate Finale - 01 Mar 2012 . iHeartDG (2012-03-01). Retrieved on 2012-03-04.
- ↑ Final Gate 2012 - 22 Dec 2012 . iHeartDG (2012-12-23). Retrieved on 2012-12-23.
- ↑ 8/30 Gate of Generation . iHeartDG (2013-08-30). Retrieved on 2013-09-02.
- ↑ ja:吉野、鷹木、戸澤らの新ユニット本格始動 トライアングルゲート戦はＭＢに苦杯 (in Japanese). Sports Navi. Yahoo! (2013-10-07). Retrieved on 2013-10-07.
- ↑ ja:挑戦者決定ワンナイトトーナメントで優勝したミレニアルズが、その勢いでトライアングル王座も奪取！ミラクル土井ダーツ登場！ (in Japanese). Battle News (2013-12-06). Retrieved on 2013-12-05.
- ↑ ドラゴンゲート8.16大田区大会 吉野vs.鷹木のDG戦、ジミーズvs.MBの敗戦ユニット解散サバイバルイリミ (in Japanese). Battle News (2015-08-17). Retrieved on 2015-08-16.
- ↑ 09/23 Summer Adventure Tag League . iHeartDG (2015-09-23). Retrieved on 2015-09-24.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Dragon Gate Results for May 5, 2017 . Puroresu Spirit (2017-05-05). Retrieved on 2017-05-05. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "DeadOrAlive2017" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 OWOW Profile . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 CageMatch Profile . CageMatch. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Puroresu Central Profile . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Infinity 175 . Open the Garoon Gate. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Infinity 207 . Open the Garoon Gate. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ Infinity 196 . Open the Garoon Gate. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Infinity 184 . Open the Garoon Gate. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ Cyber Kong profile . iHeartDG.com.
