Yuta Tanaka (田中勇太 Tanaka Yūta, born September 23, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name U-T (ユーティー Yūtī, stylized in all capital letters) who works currently for Dragon Gate (DG), where he is a former two-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion.
He was trained by the Dragon Gate Dojo, but was subsequently sent on a lerning excursion to Mexico alongside Eita and Tomahawk, working mostly for Mexican promotion Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) under the ring name Yuta (勇太 Yūta). Tanaka's run in Mexico ended in July, when he returned to Dragon Gate, repackaged as "U-T" as part of the Millennials alongside Eita and T-Hawk, whom he spent his excursion, before winning the Open The Triangle Gate Championship almost a year later.
Following the disbanding of Millennials in August 2015, U-T career's stagnated due to recurring injuries, before being pushed in February 2022, as part of the Natural Vibes stable.
Early life[]
Yuta Tanaka was born on September 23, 1993 his parents dreamed that Yuta one day would join Toryumon Japan (later Dragon Gate) and he watched Dragon Gate since he was a kid and he was a big fan of Dragon Gate. At High school, he studied to be a council president and he also had a background on baseball.
Professional Wrestling Career[]
Dragon Gate[]
Early career (2013)[]
On March 21, 2013, it was announced that Yuta would go on an excursion to Mexico with Eita and Tomahawk and it would begin on April 12, debuting in Mexico and not in Japan. On Mexico he made his debut on April 13 in a DTU event and it was a Four -ay also including Jhonky and Articus and Hellboy were Jhonky was the winner and he would work on Mexico on the name of Yuta while in Mexico to gain experience with more styles of wrestling, something not uncommon for young Japanese wrestlers.[1] He would work on Mexico on the undercard until July 6 where it was his last match on Mexico, where he won a Torneo Cibernetico match also including Angel del Misterio and Articus and Atomic Star and Jhonky and Jorge Kebrada and Kalibuz and Kiuby and Miedo Xtremo and Osiris and Senky.
Millennials (2013–2015)[]
On July 21, 2013 Yuta renamed himself to U-T and alongside Eita and T-Hawk he formed a new stable named Millennials, announced their impending return to Dragon Gate.[2] The stable made its debut appearance on August 23 at The Gate of Generation.[3][4] On August 7 U-T made his singles debut in Japan losing to Mondai Ryu.[5] On September 29 U-T participated in the tournament for the Open the Brave Gate Championship, but he lost in the first round to CIBA. [6] On March 3, 2014 ,U-T had his first singles victory in 2014 when he defeated Kotoka.[7] On March 16, U-T, Eita ,and T-Hawk defeated the Jimmyz (Jimmy Kanda, Jimmy Susumu ,and Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin) to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship.[8] On May 5 U-T, Eita and T-Hawk made their first successful title defense defeating We Are Team Veteran (Dragon Kid, K-ness and Super Shisa).[9] Six days later the trio made their second successful title defense against Mad Blankey (Cyber Kong, Kzy and YAMATO). They lost the title to Mad Blankey (Cyber Kong, Kzy and Naruki Doi) on June 14. U-T was tinned by Cyber Kong after some interference by his Mad Blankey stablemates. The match also included We Are Team Veteran (Don Fujii, Dragon Kid, and Masaaki Mochizuki). On August 8 U-T, Eita and T-Hawk participated in a tournament the #1 Contendership to the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. They lost at the semifinals to BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid ,and Masaaki Mochizuki. On May 5 U-T, Kotoka and Flamita had an opportunity for the Open the Triangle Championship in a losing effort. On August 6, 2015, Millennials lost a three-way match and were forced to disband due to the result.[10][11]
Career stagnation (2015–2017)[]
Since the disbanding of Millennials U-T continued to work on the mid-card and he changed his attire with black hair and green trunks and he choose to stay unaffiliated with a stable. On November 25 U-T, Yosuke Santa Maria and Don Fujii participated at the tournament for the vacated Open the Triangle Gate Championship, losing in the first round to Dia.HEARTS (Dragon Kid, Kzy and Masaaki Mochizuki). He spent the following months sidelined with a shoulder injury.
He made his return on July 10, 2017, announcing that he would return to action on July 21 in a NEX show. U-T's return match took place on the Dragon Gate NEX Sanctuary.156 losing to Flamita. On October 29 U-T stated that he wanted to join a unit. Later that night, U-T was invited to join Over Generation and Tribe Vanguard. During that time U-T developed a winning streak always tapping out his opponents with his new finisher the Pasion. However, his winning streak came to an end after he was pinned by his former Millennials stablemate T-Hawk on November 3 at the Gate of Destiny. Before the match to see who was going to get U-T, it was announced that he would be put in a trial series. On November 28 it was announced that U-T was joining Tribe Vanguard due to BxB Hulk and Kzy defeating Dragon Kid, Gamma and Mondai Ryu in a match where the winner would get U-T.
Tribe Vanguard and Generation War (2017–2020)[]
On August 4, 2018, U-T stated he had to go back to his roots and debuted a new finishing move the Bien Llave. The following day, U-T submitted one-third of reigning Open The Triangle Gate Champions Genki Horiguchi. Afterwards, U-T and his Tribe Vanguard stablemates Kagetora and Yosuke♥Santa Maria challenged Horiguchi and his Natural Vibes stablemates Kzy and Susumu Yokosuka to a title match, which was scheduled on September 9 at The Gate of Origin. At the Gate of Origin, Kzy along with Kagetora and Maria unsuccessfully challenged Natural Vibes for the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. From January 13 to January 16, U-T participated in the Rookie Ranking Tournament, he ended up in third place after defeating Yuki Yoshioka. In May, U-T would take part in the 2019 King of Gate. U-T would start the King of Gate with a victory over Punch Tominaga but lost to Kzy in his second match. During the tournament, U-T suffered a fractured collarbone, which led him to forfeit the rest of his matches, ending the tournament with a record of one win and four losses. Despite being injured U-T became part of the Dragon Gate stable in order to unite all Dragon Gate generation of wrestlers against Toryumon and R.E.D in a "Generation War". On May 31, U-T made his return against Último Dragón in a losing effort. On December 27, after R.E.D forced Toryumon to disband, YAMATO decided to disband the Dragon Gate Generation stable, ending the "Generation War".
Natural Vibes (2021–Present)[]
On January 17, 2021, Natural Vibes held an audition to determine the newest members of the stable, with U-T, Don Fujii, Dragon Kid, Punch Tominaga, and Taketo Kamei, taking part of it. At the end, U-T and Taketo Kamei managed to win the audition, after impressing Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka, becoming the newest members of the stable. In May, U-T took part in the 2021 King of Gate, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, three losses, failling to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.
On February 20, 2022, U-T, Kzy and Kamei first defeated High-End's Ben-K, Dragon Kid and YAMATO in the semifinals and then BxB Hulk, H.Y.O and Shun Skywalker in the finals to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship. They lost the titles to Gold Class (Kaito Ishida, Kota Minoura and Naruki Doi) on March 5 at Champions Gate in Osaka. In May, U-T took part in the 2022 King of Gate, being eliminated in the second round to eventual winner Yuki Yoshioka. On December 19, U-T suffered an rupture of the medial collateral ligament in his left leg. He made his return from injury on May 5, 2023 at Dead or Alive, teaming with Natural Vibes stablemate Jacky "Funky" Kamei in a winning effort against Kagetora and Kaito Nagano.
In February 2024, Natural Vibes began experiencing a result crisis, leading Machine to be frustrated with the rest of the members of the stable, following a disagreement between U-T and Strong Machine J, but Kzy promised them that the group was on the same page and working towards winning the 2024 Rey de Parejas and only focused on the remaining league matches. After Lee turned on Z-Brats, Natural Vibes result barely improved with U-T and Kzy failing to reach the semifinals of the tournament. On April 10, Natural Vibes with the help of Hyo decided to face Z-Brats in a Steel Cage match at Dead or Alive on May 5.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Bien Llave (Double underhook crossface)
- Fuego (Abdominal stretch flipped into a modified crucifix driver) – 2020–present
- Pasion (Cradle, as a counter to an oncoming opponent)
- Skayde (Over-the-shoulder armbreaker)
- Signature moves
- Aoki Hikari (Straightjacket crossface) – 2022; adopted from K-ness.
- Buenas Noches (Modified double kneebar) – 2021
- Cross-arm Hangman's choke
- Diving headbutt
- Dropkick
- Forearm smash
- Headbutt
- Hikari no Wa (Rolling sitout pin) – 2022-Present; adopted from K-ness.
- Hurricanrana
- Leaping reverse bulldog
- Leaping reverse STO
- Lightning in the Jungle (Front missile dropkick) – adopted from Masato Yoshino
- Pendulum overhead kick from out of the corner, as a counter to an oncoming opponent
- Perforal (Wheelbarrow victory roll)
- Piernas (Cross-legged ankle lock)
- Rotación (Front flip piledriver)
- Slingshot DDT
- Nicknames
- "Millennial Star"
- "Jōnetsu no Bureibuhāto" (Japanese for "Braveheart of Passion")
- Entrance themes
- "1993 feat. Myuji" by YO-HEI and Yatsuka Nakazawa
- "1993 (2022 Mix) " by YO-HEI and Yatsuka Nakazawa
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (2 times) – with Eita and T-Hawk (1) and Kzy and Jacky "Funky" Kamei (1)
- Rookie Ranking Tournament: Fourth place
- Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling
- Twin Ryuo Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Kzy
References[]
- ↑ Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?", Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher, 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
- ↑ Millennials coming soon...!? (in Japanese). Dragon Gate. YouTube (2013-07-24). Retrieved on 2013-07-26.
- ↑ 8/23 Gate of Generation . iHeartDG (2013-08-23). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ↑ 新時代の扉を開いたはずの鷹木が、Yamatoに痛恨の敗戦でDG王座から陥落！ミレニアルズが凱旋帰国！傷心の鷹木は戸澤と合体！ (in Japanese). Battle News (2013-08-23). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
- ↑ U-T 2013 (in Japanese). Battle News (2013-08-07). Retrieved on 2013-08-08.
- ↑ U-T 2013 (in Japanese). Battle News (2013-09-30). Retrieved on 2013-08-08.
- ↑ U-T 2014 (in Japanese). Battle News (2014-03-03). Retrieved on 2014-03-03.
- ↑ Memorial Gate 2014 in 和歌山 (in Japanese). Dragon Gate. Gaora. Retrieved on 2014-03-16.
- ↑ U-T 2014 (in Japanese). Battle News (2014-05-05). Retrieved on 2014-05-06.
- ↑ Scandal Gate in Tokyo (in Japanese). Dragon Gate. Gaora. Retrieved on 2015-08-07.
- ↑ ja:ドラゴンゲート8.6後楽園大会 ミレニアルズvs.ジミーズvs.MBの敗戦ユニット解散サバイバルイリミネーション6人タッグ3Wayマッチ (in Japanese). Battle News (2015-08-06). Retrieved on 2015-08-07.
