Yuji Nagata

Mar 4, 2013 - by Jamie Cruickshank

Real name: Yuji Nagata
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 240 lbs.
Date of birth: April 24, 1968
Hometown: Togane, Japan
Pro debut: September 14, 1992
Trained by: New Japan Dojo
Finishing move: Nagata Lock

Biography

– In Nagata’s debut match, he was defeated by Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
– On December 3, 1992, Nagata defeated Tokimitsu Ishizawa (his first professional victory)
– On February 6, 1993, Nagata defeated Shinjiro Otani (his first televised victory)
– In September 1993, Nagata made his first appearances outside New Japan, working a short tour with Pro Wrestling WAR
– On March 27, 1995, Nagata made the final of the NJPW Young Lion Cup, but lost to Manabu Nakanishi
– On May 3, 1995, Nagata made his first PPV appearance, defeating Manabu Nakanishi
– On January 4, 1996, Nagata, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishizawa defeated Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kazushi Sakuraba & Kenichi Yamamoto
– Beginning in March 1997, Nagata had an 18 month stint with WCW
– On April 21, 1997, Nagata made his Nitro debut, losing to Dean Malenko in a United States Title Match
– At Halloween Havoc 1997, Nagata defeated Ultimo Dragon
– At World War III 1997, Nagata again defeated Ultimo Dragon. Following this, Nagata was used as little more than filler on Nitro for the remainder of his WCW run
– On January 4, 1998, Nagata defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan
– On May 22, 1998, Nagata made his Mexican debut, competing for CMLL and Toryumon
– On September 23, 1998, Nagata received his first IWGP Heavyweight Title shot, but was defeated by Scott Norton for the vacant title
– On January 4, 1999, Nagata defeated Dave Beneteau
– On August 28, 1999, Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated The Mad Dogs (Michiyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On September 23, 1999, Nagata & Nakanishi made the final of the NJPW G1 Climax Tag League, but were defeated by Scott Norton & Keiji Muto
– On December 5, 1999, Nagata & Nakanishi defeated Ten-Koji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On January 4, 2000, Nagata defeated Kazuo Yamazaki
– On February 2, 2000, Nagata & Nakanishi defeated The Mad Dogs to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 20, 2000, Nagata & Nakanishi defeated Ten-Koji to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On May 5, 2000, Nagata & Nakanishi defeated Kazunari Murakami & Naoya Ogawa to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On November 30, 2000, Nagata & Takashi Iizuka defeated Ten-Koji in the final of the NJPW G1 Climax Tag League
– On March 24, 2001, Nagata & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Minoru Tanaka to win the NJPW Naeba Cup
– On August 12, 2001, Nagata defeated Keiji Mutoh in the final of the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament
– On April 5, 2002, Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On May 2, 2002, Nagata defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On June 7, 2002, Nagata defeated Kensuke Sasaki to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On October 14, 2002, Nagata defeated Kazuyuki Fujita to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On October 26, 2002, Nagata fought Masahiro Chono to a time-limit draw to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On December 10, 2002, Nagata defeated Kazunari Murakami to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On January 4, 2003, Nagata defeated Josh Barnett to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On February 2, 2003, Nagata defeated Osamu Nishimura to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On March 9, 2003, Nagata fought Manabu Nakanishi to a time-limit draw to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On April 23, 2003, Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– Beginning in May 2003, Nagata began competing regularly for Pro Wrestling NOAH
– On July 19, 2003, Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Masahiro Chono & Yutaka Yoshie defeated Mike Barton, Scott Norton, Shinya Makabe & Yoshihiro Takayama in an Elimination Match to win the Teisen Hall Cup
– On November 30, 2003, Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Tamon Honda & Kenta Kobashi to win the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On December 6, 2003, Nagata & Tanahashi defeated Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On January 4, 2004, Nagata defeated Kensuke Sasaki
– On June 12, 2004, Nagata & Kendo Kashin defeated Kaz Hayashi & Satoshi Kojima to win the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles. However, the pair would never defend the titles and they were vacated in December
– On January 4, 2005, Nagata defeated Katsuhiko Nagata
– On April 16, 2005, Nagata & Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura & Wataru Inoue to win the Samurai TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament
– On January 4, 2006, Nagata defeated Kazunari Murakami
– On April 30, 2006, Nagata made the final of the New Japan Cup but was defeated by Giant Bernard
– On March 21, 2007, Nagata defeated Togi Makabe in the final of the New Japan Cup. He had previously defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Masahiro Chono and Giant Bernard
– On April 13, 2007, Nagata defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title for a second time
– On May 2, 2007, Nagata defeated Shiro Koshinaka to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On July 6, 2007, Nagata defeated Togi Makabe to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On August 12, 2007, Nagata made the final of the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament, but lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi
– On October 13, 2008, Nagata defeated Masato Tanaka to win the ZERO1-MAX Heavyweight Title
– On October 30, 2008, Nagata defeated Kohei Sato to retain the ZERO1-MAX Heavyweight Title
– On December 17, 2008, Nagata defeated Tatsuhito Takaiwa to retain the ZERO1-MAX Heavyweight Title
– On January 4, 2009, Nagata defeated Masato Tanaka to retain the ZERO1-MAX Heavyweight Title
– At Shiro Koshinaka’s 30th Anniversary Show, Nagata, Koshinaka & Jushin Liger defeated Genichiro Tenryu, TAJIRI & Toshiaki Kawada
– In September 2009, Nagata formed Blue Justice Army alongside Wataru Inoue, Super Strong Machine and Mitsuhide Irasawa
– On May 3, 2010, Blue Justice Army (Nagata & Inoue) defeated Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard) and No Limit (Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On November 7, 2010, Blue Justice Army (Nagata & Inoue) defeated No Limit in the final of the NJPW G1 Climax Tag League
– On January 4, 2011, Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki
– On March 20, 2011, Nagata defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the final of the New Japan Cup. He had previously defeated Toru Yano, Masato Tanaka and Giant Bernard
– On April 13, 2011, Nagata defeated Seiya Sanada in the final of the AJPW Champion’s Carnival
– At Wrestling Dontaku ’11, Nagata defeated Masato Tanaka
– At NJPW Dominion ’11, Nagata, Wataru Inoue & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Takashi Iizuke, Tomohiro Ishii & Masato Tanaka
– At NJPW Destruction ’11, Nagata defeated Toru Yano
– At NJPW Power Struggle ’11, Nagata defeated Tomohiro Ishii
– At NJPW’s 40th Anniversary Show, Nagata, Wataru Inoue & Togi Makabe defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku
– At Wrestle Kingdom 7, Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki
– At NJPW The New Beginning ’13, Nagata, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi & Tama Tonga defeated CHAOS (Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Gedo & YOSHI-HASHI)
– At NJPW Invasion Attack ’13, Nagata & Hirooki Goto defeated Laughter7 (Katsuyori Shibata & Kazushi Sakuraba)
– At NOAH Final Burning in Budokan, Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Satoshi Kojima defeated BRAVE (Mohammed Yone, Takashi Sugiura & Akitoshi Saito)
– At NJPW King of Pro Wrestling ’13, Nagata defeated Kazushi Sakuraba
– Nagata won the 2013 NOAH Global League, defeating Takeshi Morishima in the final
– At Wrestle Kingdom 8, Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Daniel & Rolles Gracie by DQ
– On February 8, 2014, Nagata defeated Takeshi Morishima to win the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On February 22, 2014, Nagata defeated KENTA to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On March 8, 2014, Nagata defeated Takashi Sugiura to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– At NJPW Invasion Attack ’14, Nagata, Kazushi Sakuraba & Togi Makabe defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi)
– On April 20, 2014, Nagata defeated Mayback Taniguchi to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On May 17, 2014, Nagata defeated Mohammed Yone to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– At King of Pro Wrestling ’14, Nagata, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga)
– At Wrestling Dontaku ’15, Nagata, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger & Mascara Dorada defeated Captain New Japan, KUSHIDA, Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi
– On August 19, 2015, Nagata (as Maybach Blue Justice), Mayback Don & Maybach Taniguchi defeated Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & El Desperado in the final of a tournament to win the NOAH Arukas Cup
– At Wrestling Dontaku ’16, Nagata defeated Katsuyori Shibata to win the NEVER Openweight Title
– At New Year Dash ’17, Nagata, Katsuyori Shibata, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson defeated CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto)
– At The New Beginning in Sapporo ’17, Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Yoshitatsu, Tomoyuki Oka & Henare
– At The New Beginning in Osaka ’17, Nagata, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger & Juice Robinson defeated CHAOS (Gedo, Jado, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)
– At Dominion ’17, Nagata, Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask & Tiger Mask W defeated Jushin Liger, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi
– At Destruction in Fukushima ’17, Nagata & Hirai Kawato defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Shota Umino
– At New Year Dash ’18, Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Tomoyuki Oka, Tetsuhiro Yagi, Ren Narita & Shota Umino
– On February 3, 2018, Nagata & Jun Akiyama defeated Naoya Nomura & Ryouji Sai to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– At The New Beginning in Osaka ’18, Nagata defeated Katsuya Kitamura
– On March 25, Nagata & Akiyama defeated Wild Child (Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori) to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestling Hinokuni ’18, Nagata & Ren Narita defeated Shota Umino & Tomoyuki Oka
– On June 12, 2018, Nagata & Akiyama defeated NEXTREAM (Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi) to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– At Destruction in Beppu ’18, Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuya Uemura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji
– At Destruction in Kobe ’18, Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ayato Yoshida
– At Destruction in Beppu 2019, Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Clark Connors, Toa Henare & Michael Richards
– At Destruction in Kobe 2019, Nagata, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Alex Coughlin & Michael Richards
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2020, Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare
– At Dominion 2020, Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Gabriel Kidd
– At New Year Dash 2021, Nagata defeated Gabriel Kidd
– Nagata competed for AEW in May 2021
– At Wrestle Kingdom 16, Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Bad Luck Fale, Gedo & Jado
– At the NJPW/NOAH Wrestle Kingdom 16 special, Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Funky Express (Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & King Tany)
– In the summer of 2022, Nagata was sent ‘on loan’ to All Japan
– At Wrestle Kingdom 17, Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe defeated Minoru Suzuki, Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami

Leave a Reply