# Hustle (professional wrestling)

Hustle (ハッスル, Hassuru) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion managed by Nobuhiko Takada. Hustle can be described as an industry experiment to market the sports entertainment style of professional wrestling in Japan.

## History

Booked primarily by Nobuhiko Takada and Yuji Shimada, the promotion's basic premise pits the babyface, or good guy, Hustle faction whose goal is to “defend the industry”, against Generalissimo Takada's heel, or bad guy, Monster Faction, whose mission is to destroy the sport. Unlike the traditional puroresu, the company emphasizes melodrama and caricatures over realism and athleticism. The group once maintained a close affiliation with mixed martial arts promoters PRIDE Fighting Championships when both were owned by Dream Stage Entertainment, or DSE.
Fans in the U.S. considered HUSTLE to be an answer to Takada's original wrestling style, the serious shoot style, having lost its popularity in Japan as a result of the UWFi vs. New Japan Pro-Wrestling feud and the rise of Pride and K-1.
On April 24, 2007, Hustle's ownership group (made up of former DSE employees) became "Hustle Entertainment" and former Kami no Puroresu editor Noboru Yamaguchi (who was part of the original Hustle brain trust) became President of the new organization. The group is still running their business at the old Dream Stage Entertainment offices, which became the PRIDE Worldwide Holding offices.
Earlier in 2007, Hustle ran a storyline where General Takada bought out Hustle for 1 billion Monster dollars and that everyone within the Hustle army became part of the Takada Monster Army. Some wrestlers received new gimmicks, like Naoya Ogawa turning into "Celeb" Ogawa, where he acted like a celebrity. The storyline was in response to DSE's bleak future due to financial troubles caused by yakuza scandals; DSE would eventually close doors after Pride Fighting Championships was officially bought out by Zuffa (the organization that owned UFC at the time).
In July 2009, the leader of the Monster Army, Generalissimo Takada was "killed" when a new enemy by the name of "King RIKI" (played by actor/singer Riki Takeuchi) showed up at the "HUSTLE AID 2009" event and repelled one of Takada's lasers, sending it back towards him and wounding him. The following show the Monster Army was disbanded, as the direction of the company started to change.
In August 2009, President Noburo Yamaguchi stated that Hustle would be entering a new era. Straying away from the over the top storylines & gimmick-oriented "Fighting Opera" style that made them popular, to a more traditional wrestling "Professional Fighting" style.
Hustle president Nobuo Yamaguchi announced on October 28 that the promotion was folding. He made the announcement that they were out of money, and could no longer pay the staff and the wrestlers. He said that the scheduled 10/29 show at Korakuen Hall was canceled, as are all the rest of the shows on the schedule. Since Nobuhiko Takada left the promotion as the top heel, interest had gone way down. Many of the shows were before small crowds, and most of those crowds were papered. While nobody would say so publicly, they were behind on paying a lot of the wrestlers, and the demise of the promotion has been expected for the last couple of months. Yamaguchi said his goal was to eventually bring the promotion back. Wataru Sakata still runs Hustle shows under the banner "HUSTLE Man's World", with wrestler @UEXIL as the main eventer; however, they're only run sporadically and at the small venue Shin-Kiba FIRST Ring (approx. 250 capacity), without television exposure and attendance figures not posted.
In the beginning of 2010 some of Hustle's biggest names announced that they would be forming a new promotion, Smash, intended to replace the dead promotion. Smash held its first show on March 26, 2010. After a six-month hiatus, Hustle held two shows on April 30 and May 30, 2010. After another four-month break, the promotion held two more shows in October. In 2011, the Bleacher Report ranked Hustle No.13 on its list of the 25 worst professional wrestling promotions in history.

## Final roster
### Hustle Union Army

* Magnum Tokyo (formerly "Detective" Alan Kuroki) - went into inactivity
* Toshiaki Kawada - freelancer, inactive since 2010
* "Karate Girl" KG -
* \(^o^)/ Chie (pronounced "Banzai Chie") - retired
* Punch the C - freelancer
* Akira Shoji (formerly Private Shoji) - jumped to Smash, returned to MMA in 2011

### Riki Army

* King Riki - inactive
* Wataru Sakata - returned to Pro Wrestling Zero1
* Genichiro Tenryu - formed Tenryu Project, retired in 2015
* Yoji Anjo - inactive; retired in 2015 in a six-man match
* Riki Choshu - inactive, retired in 2019
* Yoshihiro Takayama - freelancer

## Alumni

Deceased individuals are indicated with a dagger (†).
* “Generalissimo” Takada (Nobuhiko Takada)
* The Esperanza (Occasional)
* "Hard Gay" HG
* "Real Gay" RG
* Bono-kun (Akebono) (formerly Monster Bono/Bono-Chan) †
* Monster C
* Nise HG (Fake HG) (Keizo Matsuda)
* Hiroshi Nagao (formerly "Giant Voba")- Retired in late 2008
* "Hustle Buzzsaw" Tajiri
* "Hustle Supernova" Kushida
* Rey Ohara
* Naoya Ogawa
* Shinya Hashimoto †
* "The Erotic Terrorist" Yinling
* Abdullah the Butcher (Occasional)
* Tiger Jeet Singh (Occasional)
* Bob Sapp
* Scott Norton
* Bill Goldberg (one time)
* Giant Silva
* Rene Bonaparte
* Tiger Jeet Singh Jr.
* The Great Muta
* Zeus (Osaka Pro)
* A-chan (Nobutaka Araya)
* Yoshie-chan (Yutaka Yoshie) †
* "Fire Monster" Shinjiro Otani
* "Super Cyborg" Ryouji Sai
* "Monster K'" Kohei Sato
* Yosei (Wataru Sakata's Wife)
* Keroro Gunsou
* Erica (Aja Kong)
* Dump Matsumoto
* Minoru Suzuki
* Warren Cromartie
* Randleman †
* Coleman
* Kurodaman
* Mitsuyaman (Mitsuya Nagai)
* Nosawa Rongai
* Mazada
* Masato Tanaka
* Sodom & Gomora
* Tadao Yasuda
* Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon)
* The Neo Devil Pierrots 1 & 2
* Flying Vampire 16 & 23 & 25 & 28
* Madama Devil (Devil Masami) (parody of Madama Butterfly and Dewi Sukarno)
* Kaz Hayashi
* Margaret (Amazing Kong)
* "Hustle I" Taichi Ishikari
* Hirotaka Yokoi
* Arisin Z (Ayako Hamada)
* Blanca X (Saki Maemura)
* Caiya
* Demon Spider
* Jaguar Y (Jaguar Yokota)
* Monster C (Steve Corino)
* Monster J (Sonjay Dutt)
* Seiichi Kusama
* Kei Sasahara
* Kyo Itako
* Kidata-Low
* Fujin & Raijin
* Count Poisonous Cobra
* Monster MAX (Maximum Capacity) †
* Super Virus

### Hustle Kamen

* Hustle Kamen Blue
* Hustle Kamen Green (Lil' Nate)
* Hustle Kamen Red
* Hustle Kamen Pink
* Hustle Kamen Yellow
* Hustle Kamen Orange
* Hustle Kamen Silver
* Hustle Kamen Gold

## Championships

| No. | Championship | Date of entry | First champion(s) | Date retired | Final champion(s) | Years active | Notes |
| 1 | Hustle Hardcore Hero Championship | March 18, 2005 | Masato Tanaka | October 10, 2009 | Tadao Yasuda | 4 years, 206 days | Title abandoned on October 10, 2009, when promotion shuts down. |
| 2 | Hustle Super Tag Team Championship | November 3, 2005 | Genichiro Tenryu and Tadao Yasuda | October 10, 2009 | Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) | 3 years, 341 days | Title abandoned on October 10, 2009, when promotion shuts down. |

### Hustle Hardcore Hero Championship

The Hustle Hardcore Hero Championship (also referred to as the HHH Championship) was the top championship in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Hustle. The title was more of a joke title since the Hustle promotion was never meant to be taken seriously. The title was represented by a giant gold and black spiked baseball bat.
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| 1 | Masato Tanaka | March 18, 2005 | Hustle 8 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 176 | Won an eight-man battle royal, last eliminating Wataru Sakata, to become the first champion. Other participants included Giant Silva, Dan Bobish, The Flying Vampire XVI, Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Leonardo Spanky. | |
| 2 | Tadao Yasuda | September 10, 2005 | Hustle 12 | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 1,491 | This was a six-man battle royal also involving Monster C, King Giraffa, Quick Cook Lee and Tetsuhiro Kuroda. | |
| — | Deactivated | October 10, 2009 | — | — | — | — | Championship deactivated when Hustle folded. | |

### Hustle Super Tag Team Championship

The Hustle Super Tag Team Championship was the tag team championship in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Hustle.
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific team—reign numbers for the individuals are in parentheses, if different |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| 1 | Tadao Yasuda and Genichiro Tenryu | November 3, 2005 | Hustle Mania 2005 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 122 | Defeated Kintaro Kanemura and Masato Tanaka to win the inaugural title. | |
| 2 | Wakaru Sakata and Ryoji Sai | March 5, 2006 | Hustle 14 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 104 | | |
| 3 | Erica and Margaret | June 17, 2006 | Hustle Aid 2006 | Saitama, Japan | 1 | 114 | | |
| 4 | Team 3D (Bubba Ray and Devon) | October 9, 2006 | Hustle 20 | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 1,097 | This was three-way tag team match also involving Sodom and Gomorrah. | |
| — | Deactivated | October 10, 2009 | — | — | — | — | Championship deactivated when Hustle folded. | |

## Events

| # | Event title | Date | Location |
| 1 | HUSTLE 1 | January 4, 2004 | Saitama, Japan |
| 2 | HUSTLE 2 | March 7, 2004 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 3 | HUSTLE 3 | May 8, 2004 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 4 | HUSTLE House Vol. 1 | June 28, 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 5 | HUSTLE 4 | July 25, 2004 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 6 | HUSTLE House Vol. 2 | September 2, 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 7 | HUSTLE 5 | September 20, 2004 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 8 | HUSTLE House Vol. 3 | October 21, 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 9 | HUSTLE 6 | October 23, 2004 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 10 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special - Night 1 | December 24, 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 11 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special - Night 2 | December 25, 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 12 | HUSTLE House Vol. 4 | February 8, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 13 | HUSTLE House Vol. 5 | February 9, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 14 | HUSTLE 7 | February 11, 2005 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 15 | HUSTLE 8 | March 18, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 16 | HUSTLE House Vol. 6 | March 19, 2005 | Shizuoka, Japan |
| 17 | HUSTLE 9 | May 10, 2005 | Niigata, Japan |
| 18 | HUSTLE House Vol. 7 | May 14, 2005 | Sapporo, Japan |
| 19 | HUSTLE House Vol. 8 | May 15, 2005 | Sapporo, Japan |
| 20 | HUSTLE 10 | July 13, 2005 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| 21 | HUSTLE 11 | July 15, 2005 | Osaka, Japan |
| 22 | HUSTLE House Vol. 9 | September 8, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 23 | HUSTLE 12 | September 10, 2005 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 24 | HUSTLE House Vol. 10 | October 26, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 25 | HUSTLE 13 | October 30, 2005 | Amori, Japan |
| 26 | HUSTLEMANIA | November 3, 2005 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 27 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special 2005 - Night 1 | December 24, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 28 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special 2005 - Night 2 | December 25, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 29 | HUSTLE House Vol. 11 | February 2, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 30 | HUSTLE 14 | February 10, 2006 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 31 | HUSTLE House Vol. 12 | March 9, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 32 | HUSTLE 15 | March 12, 2006 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 33 | HUSTLE 16 | April 20, 2006 | Osaka, Japan |
| 34 | HUSTLE House Vol. 13 | April 22, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 35 | HUSTLE House Vol. 14 | April 23, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 36 | HUSTLE 17 | May 13, 2006 | Sendai, Japan |
| 37 | HUSTLE House Vol. 15: Road To HUSTLE Aid - Night 1 | June 10, 2006 | Hamamatsu, Japan |
| 38 | HUSTLE House Vol. 16: Road To HUSTLE Aid - Night 2 | June 15, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 39 | HUSTLE Aid: Save The World By Hustling | June 17, 2006 | Saitama, Japan |
| 40 | HUSTLE 18 | July 9, 2006 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 41 | HUSTLE House Vol. 17: Hustle King Forever | July 11, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 42 | HUSTLE House Vol. 18 | August 8, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 43 | HUSTLE House Vol. 19 | August 9, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 44 | HUSTLE House Vol. 20 | September 7, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 45 | HUSTLE 19 | October 6, 2006 | Osaka, Japan |
| 46 | HUSTLE 20 | October 9, 2006 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 47 | HUSTLE House Vol. 21 | November 15, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 48 | HUSTLEMANIA 2006 | November 23, 2006 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 49 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special 2006 - Part 1 | December 25, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 50 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special 2006 - Part 2 | December 26, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 51 | HUSTLE House Vol. 22 | March 15, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 52 | HUSTLE House Vol. 23 | March 17, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 53 | HUSTLE 21 | March 18, 2007 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 54 | HUSTLE 22 | April 21, 2007 | Osaka, Japan |
| 55 | HUSTLE House Vol. 24 | May 9, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 56 | HUSTLE 23 | June 10, 2007 | Aomori, Japan |
| 57 | HUSTLE House Vol. 25 | June 14, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 58 | HUSTLE Aid 2007 | June 17, 2007 | Saitama, Japan |
| 59 | HUSTLE House Vol. 26 | July 11, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 60 | HUSTLE 24 | July 14, 2007 | Hamamatsu, Japan |
| 61 | HUSTLE House Vol. 27 | August 15, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 62 | HUSTLE 25 | August 18, 2007 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 63 | HUSTLE House Vol. 28 | September 13, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 64 | HUSTLE 26 | September 22, 2007 | Osaka, Japan |
| 65 | HUSTLE House Vol. 29 | October 10, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 66 | HUSTLE House Vol. 30 | October 16, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 67 | HUSTLE House Vol. 31 | October 22, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 68 | HUSTLEMANIA 2007 | November 25, 2007 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 69 | HUSTLE House: Christmas Special 2007 | December 25, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 70 | New Year's Eve: HUSTLE Festival 2007 | December 31, 2007 | Saitama, Japan |
| 71 | HUSTLE 27 | January 13, 2008 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 72 | HUSTLE House Vol. 32 | January 17, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 73 | HUSTLE House Vol. 33 | February 21, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 74 | HUSTLE 28 | February 24, 2008 | Saitama, Japan |
| 75 | HUSTLE House Vol. 34 | March 17, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 76 | HUSTLE 29 | March 20, 2008 | Osaka, Japan |
| 77 | HUSTLE 30 | April 13, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 78 | HUSTLE House Vol. 35 | April 16, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 79 | HUSTLE House Vol. 36 | May 13, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 80 | HUSTLE Aid 2008 | May 24, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 81 | HUSTLE House Vol. 37 | June 18, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 82 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 1 | July 6, 2008 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| 83 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 2 | July 7, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 84 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 3 | July 27, 2008 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 85 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 4 | August 23, 2008 | Osaka, Japan |
| 86 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 5 | September 19, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 87 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 6 | September 28, 2009 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 88 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 7 | October 16, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 89 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 8 | October 26, 2008 | Kiyohara, Japan |
| 90 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 9 | November 20, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 91 | HUSTLE Tour 2008 - Night 10 | November 22, 2008 | Mito, Japan |
| 92 | HUSTLE Tour 2008: Christmas Special Part 1 | December 24, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 93 | HUSTLE Tour 2008: Christmas Special Part 2 | December 25, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 94 | HUSTLEMANIA 2008 | December 30, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 95 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 1 | January 29, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 96 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 2 | February 19, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 97 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 3 | February 22, 2009 | Chiba, Japan |
| 98 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 4 | March 25, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 99 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 5 | April 23, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 100 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 6 | April 23, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 101 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 7 | April 29, 2009 | Nagoya, Japan |
| 102 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 8 | May 4, 2009 | Yokohama, Japan |
| 103 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 9 | May 23, 2009 | Soka, Japan |
| 103 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 10 | May 27, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 104 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 11 | June 25, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 105 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 12 | June 27, 2009 | Kiryu, Japan |
| 106 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 13 | July 5, 2009 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| 107 | HUSTLE Aid 2009 | July 26, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 108 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 14 | July 30, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 109 | HUSTLE Gaiden: Shiro Koshinaka 30th Anniversary | August 27, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 110 | HUSTLE Tour 2009 - Night 15 | September 26, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 111 | HUSTLE Jihad | October 10, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 112 | HUSTLE Jets: Judgement Day | April 30, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 113 | HUSTLE Jets: Chapter 2 | May 30, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 114 | HUSTLE Man's World 1 | September 10, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 115 | HUSTLE Man's World 2 | October 27, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 116 | HUSTLE Man's World 3 | December 2, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 117 | HUSTLE Jets 3: Road to Hustle | December 4, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 118 | HUSTLE Jets 4: The Wrestling Year-End Party ~ Revenge! | December 28, 2010 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 119 | HUSTLE Man's World 4 | January 27, 2011 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 120 | HUSTLE Man's World 5 | April 2, 2011 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 121 | HUSTLE Man's World 6 | May 28, 2011 | Tokyo, Japan |