page_title: Yujiro Kushida
section_title: North America promotions (2009–2010, 2016)
hierarchical_section_title: Yujiro Kushida / MMA and professional wrestling career / North America promotions (2009–2010, 2016)
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 2016年9月25日 ワールド記念ホール「DESTRUCTION in KOBE」 BUSHIにホバーボードロックを極めるKUSHIDA
context_page_description: Yujiro Kushida is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist better known simply as KUSHIDA. He is currently signed to WWE performing on the NXT brand. He is best known for his nine year tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He was the winner of the 2015 and 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournaments, the 2016 Super J-Cup, and the 2017 Pro Wrestling World Cup, a tournament co-promoted by NJPW with What Culture Pro Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling. Kushida previously made appearances for NJPW's American partner Ring of Honor, where he is a former ROH World Television Champion.
  Kushida began training for a mixed martial arts career at Nobuhiko Takada's Takada Dojo while in junior high school. He made his professional MMA debut in 2003 for the ZST promotion, winning the following year's ZST Genesis Lightweight Tournament. In 2005, he retired from MMA, ending his career with an undefeated record.
context_section_description: In March 2009, Kushida faced Rey Ohara in a loss that marked a turning point in his career, as the stipulations forced him to leave Japan. Kushida went on to compete in wrestling promotions in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, most notably Chikara and Border City Wrestling. Kushida participated in a steel cage match for the BSE Suicide Six Pack title in which he was defeated by Tyson Dux. On November 3, 2010, while competing for Canadian Wrestling's Elite, he challenged for the CWE Championship against AJ Sanchez, but failed to win the title. Kushida won his last match in Canada, defeating Michael Von Payton at Capital City Championship Combat on March 13, 2010. In October 2010, Kushida made two appearances for American promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
  On June 1, 2016, the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion announced Kushida as a participant in the 2016 International Gran Prix. On June 25, Kushida made it to the semifinals of Lucha Libre Elite's World Championship tournament, before losing to Volador Jr. On July 1, Kushida took part in the 2016 International Gran Prix, from which he was eliminated by La Máscara. On July 8, Kushida unsuccessfully challenged Volador Jr. for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship. On July 12, Kushida and Marco Corleone won a one-night tag team tournament, defeating Rey Escorpión and Shocker in the finals. The tournament concluded his Mexican tour.
caption: Kushida applying the Hoverboard Lock on Bushi
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