Kamaitachi Hiromu Takahashi ( December 4 , 1989 ) is a Japanese professional wrestler . Takahashi made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling ( NJPW ) on August 28 , 2010 , and worked as a " Young Lion " over the following three years . In January 2014 , Takahashi , renamed Kamaitachi , was sent to the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) promotion to further his wresting training and gain international experience , a tradition with NJPW " Young Lions " . In January 2016 , he won his first professional wrestling championship , the CMLL World Lightweight Championship . After leaving CMLL he worked for the American Ring of Honor ( ROH ) until the fall of 2016 , with Takahashi returning to NJPW in November 2016 , once again working under his real name . The following January , Takahashi won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time . Early life . Takahashi was born on December 9 , 1989 , in Hachiōji , a city in Tokyo . At the age of 12 he became a fan of professional wrestling , especially Masahiro Chono , who inspired Takahashi to work hard in school to become a member of the track and field team . Professional wrestling career . Takahashi attended New Japan Pro Wrestling ' s ( NJPW ) annual open tryout test in May 2009 . He passed the test and was accepted into the NJPW dojo , where he trained in the same class as King Fale and Kyosuke Mikami , who all made their in ring debut around the same time . New Japan Pro Wrestling ( 2010 – 2013 ) . Takahashi was the last of the three NJPW Dojo class of 2010 to debut for NJPW on August 24 , 2010 , at the " NEVER . 1 " show . He was defeated by Mikami in a short opening match . Takahashi followed the traditions of NJPW ' s " Young Lions " ( their term for rookies ) , wrestling in all black trunks and boots , usually losing the majority of their matches as part of their ongoing training regiment . Takahashi would lose every match he competed in until February 6 , 2011 , when he teamed up with Tomoaki Honma to finally win a match , defeating Fale and Mikami . Three weeks later , exactly six months after his debut , Takahashi finally won his first ever singles match as he defeated Kazuki Hirata of the Dramatic Dream Team ( DDT ) promotion at " NEVER . 5 " . A few months later Takahashi was given an opportunity to compete for a spot in NJPW ' s annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament as he participated in the 2011 " Road to the Super Juniors " tournament , but was defeated in the first round by another DDT representative , Keisuke Ishii . On October 10 , 2011 , Takahashi and Mikami teamed up to defeat King Fale and Takaaki Watanabe in the dark match of the Destruction ' 11 pay - per - view event . In 2012 Black Tiger had originally qualified for the 2012 Best of Super Juniors , but was forced to withdraw from the tournament with Takahashi being named as his replacement . During the tournament Takahashi lost to Alex Koslov , Daisuke Sasaki , Brian Kendrick , Jado , Low Ki , Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask and only defeated Taka Michinoku . He would later team up with fellow " Young Lions " Mikami and Takaaki Watanabe to compete in the " J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament " . The team lost to Madoka , Shinobu and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in their first round match . On January 4 , 2013 , Takahashi competed in his first ever January 4 Dome Show , when he wrestled in a dark match of Wrestle Kingdom 7 , teaming up with Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask , losing to the team of Bushi , Kushida and Ryusuke Taguchi . During the summer of 2013 he was once again allowed to compete in the annual Best of Super Juniors , but lost all matches , taking pinfalls against Jushin Thunder Liger , Prince Devitt , Titán , Taichi , Ricochet , Beretta , Rocky Romero and Alex Shelley . NJPW often sends their " Young Lions " on a learning excursion outside Japan , be it the United States of America , Europe or Mexico , and in the summer of 2013 it was Takahashi ' s turn . Initially he traveled to the United Kingdom where he worked regularly for a number of local British independent wrestling promotions . Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( 2014 – 2016 ) . Like his former wrestling school partner Mikami before him , Takahashi then traveled to Mexico to work with NJPW ' s partner promotion , Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) for an extended stay . During his stay in Mexico he was given a new wrestling persona , a masked " heel " or " rudo " character called Kamaitachi , named after a Japanese supernatural monster , which his mask resembled . Much like Mikami before him , Takahashi was teamed up with CMLL ' s resident Japanese worker Okumura as part of " La Fiebre Amarilla " ( " The Yellow Fever " ) . " La Fiebre Amarilla " primarily worked on the lower half of the show and often in six - man tag team matches . On July 13 , 2014 , Kamaitachi and Okumura challenged for the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship , but were defeated by champions Delta and Guerrero Maya Jr . In early 2015 , Kamaitachi started a storyline rivalry with Dragon Lee . The rivalry culminated on March 20 at " Homenaje a Dos Leyendas " , where Kamaitachi was defeated by Lee in a Mask vs . Mask " Lucha de Apuestas " . As per stipulation , Kamaitachi unmasked following the loss , revealing himself as Hiromu Takahashi . On May 1 , Kamaitachi participated in the 2015 Reyes del Aire , where he and Dragon Lee eliminated each other via a double pin . On May 15 , Kamaitachi was eliminated by Místico in the first round " torneo cibernetico " of the 2015 " Leyenda de Plata " ( " Silver Legend " ) tournament . On July 13 , Kamaitachi unsuccessfully challenged Dragon Lee for the CMLL World Lightweight Championship . On January 23 , 2016 , Takahashi , billed as Kamaitachi , made a surprise return to NJPW during a CMLL and NJPW co - produced " Fantastica Mania 2016 " event , attacking Dragon Lee and challenging him to a title match . This marked his first NJPW appearance since May 2013 . At the following day ' s " Fantastica Mania 2016 " event , Kamaitachi defeated Dragon Lee to win his first professional wrestling title , the CMLL World Lightweight Championship . Following the match , Kamaitachi stated that he was not yet returning to NJPW , but would travel back to CMLL . On March 4 , back in Mexico City , Kamaitachi lost the title back to Dragon Lee . The following month , it was reported that Takahashi was done with CMLL and had moved to the United States . United States ( 2016 ) . On April 30 , 2016 , Kamaitachi made his debut for Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , losing to ACH . On May 20 , Kamaitachi made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) , losing to Michael Elgin . On September 3 , Kamaitachi entered PWG ' s 2016 Battle of Los Angeles tournament , but was eliminated in his first round match by Trevor Lee . On June 24 , 2016 , Kamaitachi made his pay - per - view debut with Ring of Honor at Best In The World , losing to Kyle O ' Reilly by submission . On September 30 , 2016 at ROH ' s All Star Extravaganza VIII , Kamaitachi lost to his old rival in CMLL , the debuting Dragon Lee . Return to NJPW ( 2016 – present ) . In August 2016 , a cryptic video started appearing on NJPW programming featuring a time bomb counting down to November 5 , 2016 . On November 5 , 2016 , at Power Struggle , Takahashi , once again working under his real name , made a surprise appearance after Kushida had defeated Bushi to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship , challenging the new champion to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome . On December 10 , at the World Tag League finals , Takahashi accepted Tetsuya Naito ' s offer to join the " Los Ingobernables de Japon " stable . Takahashi wrestled his NJPW return match on December 16 , pinning Kushida in a tag team main event , where he and Naito defeated Kushida and Hiroshi Tanahashi . On January 4 , 2017 , at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome , Takahashi defeated Kushida to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time . He made his first successful title defense on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka against Dragon Lee . His next defense took place on March 6 at NJPW ' s 45th anniversary event , where he defeated Ryusuke Taguchi .