Takaaki Watanabe

Takaaki Watanabe

Watanabe as Evil in February 2016
Born (1987-01-26) January 26, 1987[1]
Mishima, Shizuoka[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Evil
Takaaki Watanabe
Billed height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Billed weight 106 kg (234 lb)[2]
Trained by Animal Hamaguchi[1]
Debut May 13, 2011[1]

Takaaki Watanabe (渡辺 高章 Watanabe Takaaki) is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by Animal Hamaguchi. Watanabe has worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) since his debut in 2011, and has also competed in the United States for companies including Ring of Honor (ROH). He is currently working under the ring name Evil (stylized in all capital letters) and is a former NEVER Openweight Champion.[2][3]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2011–2013)

Watanabe made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on May 13, 2011,[1] wrestling primarily as a Young Lion and in the lower cards of shows and remained with the promotion until October 2013, when after King of Pro-Wrestling, announced that he was being sent on a learning excursion to the United States.[4]

Ring of Honor (2014–2015)

At Global Wars '15 the first night May 15 he teamed with Silas Young in a losing effort against Gedo and Moose. The following night May 16, he was defeated by Silas Young.

On the June 27 episode of ROH Wrestling, he lost to Adam Page after Colby Corino attacked Watanabe. On the July 4 episode of ROH Wrestling Dalton Castle would defeat Watanabe. On July 23, ROH announced that House of Truth member Donovan Dijak would battle Watanabe in a singles match taped exclusively for ROH's YouTube Wrestling Channel. This occurred July 24 at Death Before Dishonor XIII where Dijak defeated Watanabe.

August 22 at Field of Honor (2015), Watanabe qualified for a ROH World Television Championship match by winning a 9-man gauntlet match. September 18 at All Star Extravaganza VII he teamed with Will Ferrara to defeat Donovan Dijak and Greg James. On September 19, Watanabe received his shot at the Television Title in a match against champion Jay Lethal, but was unsuccessful.

Return to NJPW (2015–present)

Evil with Los Ingobernables de Japon in February 2016

On October 12, 2015, Watanabe returned to NJPW at King of Pro-Wrestling, where he was revealed as Tetsuya Naito's associate during his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Watanabe's outside interfence in the match was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, leading to Naito suffering a loss.[5] In a post-match interview, Naito gave Watanabe the new name "King of Darkness" Evil.[6] Under the new name, Evil became affiliated with Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japon stable.[2] In December, Evil and Naito won their block in the 2015 World Tag League with a record of five wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament.[7] On December 9, Evil and Naito were defeated in the finals by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.[8] In early March, Evil took part in the 2016 New Japan Cup in which he was eliminated in the first round by Tomohiro Ishii.[9] On March 20, Evil unsuccessfully challenged Ishii for the ROH World Television Championship.[10] From July 18 to August 14, Evil took part in the 2016 G1 Climax where he finished his block with four wins and five loses, thus failing to advance. Despite his failure to advance, Evil scored two big wins by defeating IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin and NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata on the last day.[11]

On November 5 at Power Struggle, Evil won his first title, when he defeated Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship.[12] Ten days later, Evil lost the title back to Shibata in Singapore.[13]

In wrestling

Watanabe (right) hitting a clothesline on Chris Hero
Watanabe (left) executing a belly-to-back suplex on Christopher Daniels

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Takaaki Watanabe's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile". Archived from the original on October 16, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Evil's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile".
  3. ↑ "Global Force Wrestling profile".
  4. ↑ "King of Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (October 11, 2015). "NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 10-11: Kazuchika Okada vs. A.J. Styles for IWGP heavyweight title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ 注目の“内藤のパレハ”の正体は元ヤングライオン渡辺高章=新日本. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ "NJPW World Tag League Results & Standings". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "World Tag League 2015". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ "New Japan Cup 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Road to Invasion Attack 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  11. ↑ "2016 New Japan G1 Climax Results". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (November 4, 2016). "NJPW Power Struggle live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Wrestling World 2016 in Singapore". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Wrestling World 2016 in Singapore". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Evil". Cagematch. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  16. ↑ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  17. ↑ 新日本プロレスリングテーマ曲集CD『NJPWグレイテストミュージックIV (Vol.4)』が発売決定！1.4東京ドームでの先行販売を実施！. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). December 10, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
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