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Kuuga (wrestler)

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Kuuga
Kuuga in April 2011
Personal information
Born
Arida, Japan[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Asian Coogar
Asian Cougar
Asian Cooger
Kappa Boy
Kappa Komachi
Kuuga
Sorakiba
Vancouver Cougar
Billed height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Trained byGran Hamada
Yoshiaki Yatsu
Debut1995

Kuuga (空牙, Kūgā) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his time in the Japanese promotions Osaka Pro Wrestling and Dotonbori Pro Wrestling.[3] A masked wrestler, Kuuga is greatly influenced by lucha libre, and because of this, he has followed Mexican tradition for masked wrestlers, so his real name is not a matter of public record.

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (1995–present)

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Kuuga made his professional wrestling debut at SPWF Fierce Fighting October Series, an event promoted by Social Pro Wrestling Federation, on October 13, 1995. Teaming with Asian Condor, he lost to Masahiko Kochi and Toyonari Fujita in a tag team match.[4]

Over the following decades, Kuuga became a regular presence on the Japanese independent circuit, competing for a variety of promotions as a freelancer. In 2003, he participated in Pro Wrestling Noah's Differ Cup junior heavyweight tag tournament under the name Kappa Kozo, teaming with The Great Takeru to represent the promotion IWA Japan. The pair lost to Kenta and Kotaro Suzuki in a first-round match.[5] At JWP Climax 2005 on December 3, 2005, he teamed with Baby-M and Baye-L in a loss to Command Bolshoi, Darkside Bolshoi and Darkside Hero in a six-person tag team match.[6] Two years later, he teamed with Chikayo Nagashima at Oz Academy's OZ Mysterious Dance event, where they lost to Sonoko Kato and Atsushi Kotoge.[7]

By the mid-2010s, Kuuga remained active on the Japanese independent circuit. At FREEDOMS Daisuke Masaoka 10th Anniversary on October 19, 2014, he teamed with Jun Kasai to defeat UNCHAIN (Kenji Fukimoto and Masashi Takeda).[8] Later that year, he competed in a 24-man battle royal at Tenryu Project/VKF ~Survive~, alongside wrestlers including Genichiro Tenryu.[9] On March 25, 2017, Kuuga and Billy Ken Kid defeated B Faultless Junky's (Jaki Numazawa and Masashi Takeda) to win the WDW Tag Team Championship at BJW BJ Style 12.[10] Later that year, he teamed with Gaina in a loss to Burning Wild (Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori) at AJPW Zeus Festival 2017.[11]

DDT Pro-Wrestling (1997–2005)

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Kuuga worked for DDT Pro-Wrestling under the name of Asian Cougar. He is known for competing in various of the promotion's signature events such as DDT Judgement, making his first appearance at the first-ever event under this branch, the Judgement 1997 from March 25 where he defeated Kyohei Mikami.[12] His last appearance occurred at Judgement 6 on March 25, 2002, where he teamed up with Onryo to unsuccessfully challenge Mikami and Takashi Sasaki for the KO-D Tag Team Championship.[13]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2006–2010)

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Kuuga wrestled in severaltour matches organized by New Japan Pro Wrestling. His first appearance occurred at NJPW Lock Up on July 29, 2006, where he teamed up with Gentaro to defeat Hirooki Goto and Minoru.[14] At NJPW Circuit 2010 New Japan Brave on April 30, he teamed up with Ryusuke Taguchi to defeat Akira Nogami and Tiger Mask.[15]

Osaka Pro Wrestling (2003–2013)

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Kuuga is probably best known for his time in Osaka Pro Wrestling. He participated in one of the promotion's signature events, the Osaka Hurricane making his first appearance at the 2007 edition of the event from February 12 where he fell short to Super Dolphin.[16] At the 2008 edition of the event, he teamed up with The Great Sasuke to defeat Tigers Mask and Black Buffalo for the Osaka Tag Team Championship.[17]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Kuuga/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Kuuga • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Internet Wrestling Database (IWD). "Kuuga Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "SPWF Fierce Fighting October Series - Tag 1". Cagematch.net (in German). Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Differ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Tournament 2003". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "JWP CLIMAX-2005 DVD 12/3/05 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE". Quebrada. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  7. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 17, 2007). "OZ Academy OZ Mysterious Dance". Cagematch.net (in German). Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  8. ^ "FREEDOMS 10/19/14 "Daisuke Masaoka 10th Year Anniversary Show"". FMW Wrestling. October 19, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Dark Angel (December 3, 2014). "Tenryu Project: Results «Survive» - 02/12/2014". Superluchas. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  10. ^ "BJW "BJ-STYLE #12", 25.03.2017 Osaka Nishinari Ward Citizen Center". Puro Love. March 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Riba, Michael (November 13, 2017). "AJPW "Zeus Festival" Results – 11/11/17 – Osaka, Japan". Gerweck.net. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  12. ^ DDTプレ旗揚げ戦 Judgement. DDT Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  13. ^ "DDT 3/25北沢タウンホール大会 "JUDGEMENT6"その２". Extreme Party (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  14. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 29, 2006). "NJPW Lock Up". cagematch.net. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Purolove (April 30, 2010). "NJPW, 30.04.2010 Oita Event Hall". purolove.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  16. ^ "Osaka Pro-Wrestling Results: 2007". Puro Love. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Osaka Pro Osaka Hurricane 2009". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  18. ^ Wrestling Titles (July 25, 2021). "Ironman Heavymetalweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  19. ^ "決勝戦で空牙がビリーケンを撃破し、空牙＆岸和田が道頓堀最強タッグキング決定トーナメント2015で優勝". Battle News (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  20. ^ Clevett, Jason (February 18, 2004). "Pacific Cup: A History". Slam! Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  21. ^ Wrestling Titles. "International Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  22. ^ Wrestling Titles. "NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  23. ^ Wrestling Titles (July 18, 2021). "Ōsaka Open-weight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  24. ^ Wrestling Titles (December 28, 2019). "Ōsaka Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  25. ^ "Tennozan". purolove.com (in German). Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  26. ^ "International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
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