Yoshihiro Tajiri Yoshihiro Tajiri ( September 29 1970 ) , is a Japan ese professional wrestler signed to WWE , competing on 205 Live . He is also known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling . Career . Tajiri , trained in traditional Japanese style and lucha libre , debuted in the late 1980s wrestling primarily in IWA Japan and later for the [ apanese division of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . In 1997 , he left CMLL and joined the hardcore wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo . Tajiri also made a brief appearance in the WWF in 1997 ( wrestling under the name Tijari ) as the designated opponent for Taka Michinoku , whom the WWF was pushing as its Light Heavyweight Champion at the time . Extreme Championship Wrestling . While wrestling in Mexico in late 1998 , Tajiri was observed by Extreme Championship Wrestling owner Paul Heyman , who invited Tajiri to wrestle for ECW in the United States . He debuted in December 1998 by picking up a victory against Antifaz Del Norte . The match was well received by the fans in attendance at the ECW Arena , who gave many standing ovations during the match . In early 1999 , Tajiri would soon begin to emulate The Great Muta , who was one of Tajiri ' s wrestling heroes growing up . While in ECW , Tajiri had long feuds with Super Crazy , Little Guido , and Jerry Lynn . He formed an alliance with Steve Corino and Jack Victory , as well . Tajiri later formed a tag team with Mikey Whipwreck known as The Unholy Alliance , and they were managed by The Sinister Minister . Tajiri remained loyal to ECW until the company folded in January 2001 . Tajiri participated in the final two shows on January 12 , where he picked up a victory over Super Crazy , and January 13 , 2001 , where he lost to Super Crazy in their final ECW match . During his tenure with the company , Tajiri held the ECW World Television Championship and ECW World Tag Team Championship . He defeated his rival Super Crazy for the TV title and won a one - night tournament with Mikey Whipwreck for the vacant tag titles . World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment . Soon after the closure of ECW , Tajiri was hired by the World Wrestling Federation . Tajiri debuted on the May 24 , 2001 episode of " SmackDown ! " as a face and was given the gimmick of WWF Commissioner William Regal ' s assistant . After Regal turned heel by joining The Alliance , Tajiri feuded with him throughout late - 2001 . In the same time period , he began an on - screen relationship with Torrie Wilson and defeated Chris Kanyon for the WCW United States Championship . He lost the belt to Rhyno soon afterwards at Unforgiven in September . World Wrestling Entertainment , and the roster was divided into two " brands " : " RAW " and " SmackDown ! " . Tajiri , along with Torrie Wilson , were drafted to " SmackDown ! " . He turned heel by forcing Wilson to dress like a geisha against her will , with Wilson eventually abandoning him and joining forces with Tajiri ' s babyface rival , Maven . Later on Tajiri , as a special guest referee , would make his second face run by getting betrayed by Jamie Noble after Noble caught Tajiri touching his then girlfriend , then - heel , Nidia . Later , Tajiri turned heel again by turning on then - Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio after a Cruiserweight championship match . Tajiri spat green mist in Rey ' s face after Rey defeated him . He would continue this heel run by spitting black mist in Nidia ' s eyes . ( Nidia and Noble were both faces during this time . ) Noble and Tajiri started a new brief feud after Noble made his second heel run by secretly turning on Nidia , because she was kayfabe blind . Tajiri won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on two occasions in 2002 and 2003 , and he formed a short - lived stable with Akio and Sakoda known as Kyo Dai ' . Kyo Dai was originally supposed to have been played off as Japanese gangsters , but Tajiri refused this offer in fear that he might be hunted down by the real Japanese Yakuza if the gimmick was seen as an insult . In 2004 he had two chances to earn a WWE Title Shot . The first Chance was in the 2004 Royal Rumble , where the Winner would get a Championship Match at WrestleMania XX . His second Chance was a SmackDown ! style Royal Rumble , where the Winner would get a Match for the WWE Championship against then Champion Brock Lesnar at No Way Out . But he lost once again after he was eliminated by the The Big Show . Following WrestleMania , Tajiri was drafted to " RAW " , where he turned face once again and feuded with Eric Bischoff and Jonathan Coachman . Coachman also often dispatched Garrison Cade to face Tajiri on his behalf in the ring . He would also feud against the entire stable of Evolution for a good portion of 2004 . During this time , he formed a tag team with Rhyno . This team dissolved quietly after a failed attempt at winning the Tag Team Championship from La Résistance at Unforgiven 2004 . On February 4 , 2005 , Tajiri teamed with William Regal to defeat La Résistance for the World Tag Team Championship on an episode of " RAW " emanating from Japan . After successfully defending the titles against La Résistance on a number of occasions , Tajiri and Regal issued an open challenge to " any tag team in the world . " On the following episode of " RAW " , they retained their titles in a match with the debuting Heart Throbs . Their reign ended on May 1 at Backlash 2005 , when they were eliminated from a tag team turmoil match by La Résistance . Tajiri lost a three - way dance ( that also featured Little Guido ) to Super Crazy at ECW One Night Stand 2005 on June 12 . In late - 2005 , Tajiri formed a short - lived tag team with Eugene . In December 2005 , Tajiri left WWE . With his contract expiring on December 12 , he decided he wanted to try to become a journalist and spend more time with his wife and family in Japan . His final televised WWE match was a loss to Gregory Helms on " HEAT " , at the conclusion of which he received a standing ovation . Tajiri left WWE on very good terms and competed at WWE ' s ECW One Night Stand 2006 , teaming with Super Crazy to take on the Full Blooded Italians ( F . B . I . ) in a losing effort . On February 12 , 2008 , Tajiri made an appearance at a WWE tour stop in Tokyo , where he accompanied William Regal to the ring for a match against Ric Flair , which Regal lost . He had recently held talks with the WWE about returning as part of the ECW Brand . Tajiri appeared at the WWE WrestleMania Revenge Tours shows in England . It is rumoured that Tajiri has been asked to return to WWE at least twice now but has turned down the offers on both occasions . All Japan Pro Wrestling ( 2006 – 2007 , 2011 ) . Since parting ways with WWE , Tajiri resurfaced full - scale in his homeland , competing primarily for HUSTLE and All Japan Pro Wrestling as TAJIRI . In the HUSTLE promotion , he was originally aligned with the babyface HUSTLE Army , a group who defends the sport of professional wrestling against the Monster Army ( led by Monster General and Monster K , who aim to destroy the sport ) . However , he was hypnotised by Yinling into joining the Monster Army . TAJIRI has been a notable contender in All Japan Pro Wrestling throughout 2007 , as he began a feu with AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Minoru Suzuki . The feud started on March 30 , 2007 at the final Champion Carnival 2007 event , following TAJIRI ' s defeat over Suzuki via countout ; TAJIRdI tied Suzuki ' s foot to the guard rail , and stole the Triple Crown championship belts following the match . Because of TAJIRI ' s refusal to return the titles , Suzuki created paper belts to temporarily represent his championship . TAJIRI opposed Suzuki again on April 22 , 2007 in a tag team match , which had TAJIRI taunt Suzuki throughout the match . At the conclusion of the match , Suzuki ( after losing the match because of the Tarantula ) chased TAJIRI around the Korakuen Hall , only for TAJIRI to jump the guard rail and steal the paper belts . Days later , TAJIRI returned the titles in exchange for a title match on April 30 , 2007 , where he was unsuccessful . Tajiri recently teamed with The Great Muta to defeat Kohei Suwama & Scott Steiner . While teaming with The Great Muta he and Tajiri both used poison mist on another wrestler ( Muta used Green while Tajiri used Red ) , and won the match by pinning his partner . Tajiri returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2011 to team up with Great Muta and KENSO losing to Partisan Forces ( Masakatsu Funaki & Minoru Suzuki ) & KAI . Tajiri would then bring SMASH ' s biggest stars for a one night and along with AKIRA and StarBuck beat BUSHI , Keiji Muto & Shuji Kondo . New Japan Pro Wrestling ( 2009 – 2011 ) . During the summer of 2009 , TAJIRI invaded New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he started a feud with the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi , by attacking and green misting him after his title defense against Takashi Sugiura . TAJIRI participated in G1 Climax 2009 and won his first match of the tournament and his first match of his return . On August 13 TAJIRI pinned the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in a non - title match during the G1 Climax tournament , after using the green mist . TAJIRI ended the tournament with only four points , finishing bottom of block A . Hustle folded in October 2009 , after which TAJIRI began wrestling for NJPW full - time . He would score two more pinfall victories over the now former IWGP Heavyweight Champion in multiple man tag team matches , but in the end lost the feud , when Tanahashi pinned him cleanly in a singles match on December 5 . Afterwards , TAJIRI set his sights on Seigigun , led by Yuji Nagata . On January 4 , 2010 , at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome TAJIRI teamed up with fellow ECW alumnus Masato Tanaka and together they defeated Seigigun of Nagata and Akebono , when TAJIRI pinned Nagata after the green mist and a Buzzsaw kick . On February 14 Nagata defeated TAJIRI in a singles match in under five minutes to seemingly end the feud and TAJIRI ' s run with the company . On June 19 at Dominion 6 . 19 , TAJIRI returned to New Japan , turning face and saving former rival Hiroshi Tanahashi from Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka and helping Tanahashi shave Yano ' s head following their Hair vs . Hair match . On June 28 TAJIRI , Tanahashi and KUSHIDA entered the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament , where they made it all the way to the finals on June 30 , before being defeated by Prince Devitt , Ryusuke Taguchi and Hirooki Goto . In October and November 2010 , TAJIRI teamed with Tanahashi in New Japan ' s 2010 G1 Tag League . After a strong start in the tournament , TAJIRI and Tanahashi were defeated by the IWGP Tag Team Champions Bad Intentions ( Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson ) on November 6 , the last day of group stages , and slipped to third place in their block , narrowly missing the semifinals of the tournament . Smash ( 2010 – 2012 ) . Tajiri was then placed in charge of SMASH , a new promotion taking the place of Hustle . The promotion held its first show on March 26 , 2010 , Tajiri wrestled two matches on the first night , the first of which was a hardcore match with recently released from WWE Tommy Dreamer which he lost and then he beat Mentallo . Later on in the same night Tajiri and Dreamer saved Kushida from Leatherface . Also to end the show Dreamer was honoring Tajiri and Tajiri broke into tears . On February 25 , 2011 TAJIRI gave KUSHIDA his blessing to leave SMASH and become a full - time member of the New Japan roster at the beginning on April 1 . During 2010 , TAJIRI , along with other SMASHtalent made crossover appearances in Finnish promotion Fight Club Finland ( FCF ) . At SMASH . 3 on May 29 , 2010 , TAJIRI defeated Valentine to win the FCF Finnish Heavyweight Championship for the first time . He would drop the title to StarBuck on July 24 at SMASH . 6 , before regaining it from him on November 22 , 2010 , at SMASH . 10 . At SMASH . 12 Tajiri would successfully defend his title against Super Crazy but would lose the title later on in the night to Michael Kovac at SMASH . 13 , at SMASH . 13 . On September 8 at SMASH . 21 , TAJIRI beat AKIRA in the semifinals of the SMASH Championship tournament . On October 28 , TAJIRI was defeated in the finals of the tournament by StarBuck . On February 10 , 2012 , Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event , following a disagreement between Tajiri and financial backer Masakazu Sakai . On February 19 at SMASH . 25 , Tajiri unsuccessfully challenged Dave Finlay for the SMASH Championship . On March 14 , Tajiri wrestled in Smash ' s final match , where he and AKIRA defeated Hajime Ohara and StarBuck . Following the match , Tajiri announced his intention of starting a new promotion . Wrestling New Classic ( 2012 – 2014 ) . On April 5 , 2012 , Tajiri announced the follow - up promotion to Smash , Wrestling New Classic ( WNC ) , which would hold its first event on April 26 . On April 26 , Tajiri was defeated by Akira in the main event of WNC ' s first event . For WNC ' s second event on May 24 , Tajiri reunited with former ECW tag team partner , Mikey Whipwreck , to defeat Gedo and Jado in a hardcore tag team match . Two days later , Tajiri and Whipwreck defeated Yo - Hey and Yusuke Kodama in another hardcore tag team match . On June 22 , Tajiri ' s longtime partner Akira turned on him and , the following month , formed a new alliance with StarBuck and Syuri . Tajiri , Hajime Ohara and Kana , the former partners of the three , formed an alliance of their own to battle the three , but were on August 2 defeated in the first match between the two groups . Following the match , Ohara also turned on Tajiri and WNC , forming a new partnership with debuting female wrestler Nagisa Nozaki . On August 30 , Tajiri teamed with Kana and the returning Mikey Whipwreck in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch , where they were defeated by Akira , StarBuck and Syuri . Tajiri , Kana and Whipwreck were also defeated in a rematch the following day in Osaka . In the second rematch on September 1 , Whipwreck pinned StarBuck for the win , ending the villainous trio ' s win streak in the process . On September 20 , Tajiri defeated Syuri in an intergender match at Korakuen Hall . On October 26 , Tajiri entered the WNC Championship tournament , defeating Carlito in his first round match . On November 28 , Tajiri defeated Hajime Ohara to advance to the finals of the tournament . On December 27 , Tajiri was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Akira . On August 8 , 2013 , Tajiri defeated Osamu Nishimura in his home prefecture of Kumamoto to become the third WNC Champion . After five successful title defenses , Tajiri lost the title to StarBuck on February 27 , 2014 . On June 18 , 2014 , Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26 . Effective July 1 , six former WNC wrestlers , Tajiri included , transferred over to the WRESTLE - 1 promotion . Wrestle - 1 ( 2014 – 2016 ) . Tajiri wrestled his first match under a Wrestle - 1 contract on July 6 , 2014 , teaming with Yusuke Kodama in a tag team match , where they defeated the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) team of Ethan Carter III and Rockstar Spud . On September 22 , Tajiri entered the Wrestle - 1 Championship tournament , but was defeated in his first round match by Masakatsu Funaki . Tajiri then entered a storyline , where he began helping Funaki train for his semifinal match in the tournament . However , on October 8 , Tajiri turned on Funaki , costing him his semifinal match against Masayuki Kono . Post - match , Tajiri was announced as the newest member of Kono ' s villainous Desperado stable . In November , Tajiri and Masayuki Kono took part in the First Tag League Greatest tournament , set to determine the inaugural Wrestle - 1 Tag Team Champions , where they won their block with a clean record of four wins and zero losses , advancing to the semifinals . On November 30 , Tajiri and Kono were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Akira and Manabu Soya . On May 16 , 2015 , Tajiri defeated Minoru Tanaka at a Wrestle - 1 event to capture the European Wrestling Promotion ( EWP ) Intercontinental Championship . A week later , Tajiri unsuccessfully challenged Tanaka for the Wrestle - 1 Cruiser Division Championship . On May 30 , Tajiri lost the EWP Intercontinental Championship back to Tanaka in a Title vs . Title match also contested for the Wrestle - 1 Cruiser Division Championship . Following the match , Desperado turned on Tajiri and kicked him out of the stable . On June 19 , Wrestle - 1 announced a new contractual status for Tajiri , which would see him work only sporadic Wrestle - 1 events from July onwards due to looking for a new career as an acupuncturist abroad . On January 31 , 2016 , Tajiri , Kaz Hayashi and Minoru Tanaka won the vacant UWA World Trios Championship . On June 28 , 2016 , Tajiri announced he was leaving Wrestle - 1 due to his contract with the company expiring . On July 29 , Tajiri , Hayashi and Tanaka lost the UWA World Trios Championship to Andy Wu , Daiki Inaba and Seiki Yoshioka in their fifth defense . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2014 ) . Tajiri debuted at the August " Impact Wrestling " tapings in New York City , defeating Robbie E on August 5 ( aired September 24 ) , and working matches on the August tapings ; Tajiri and Austin Aries lost to James Storm and Sanada and then on the September 24 episode of Impact Wrestling , he competed in the NYC Gold Rush Final fatal five way match which also included Abyss , Mr . Anderson and MVP and Austin Aries with Anderson winning the match . His final appearance for the promotion was at the October 12 , Bound for Glory pay - per - view event in Tokyo , teaming with The Great Muta in a tag team main event , where they defeated James Storm and The Great Sanada . Return to WWE . Cruiserweight Classic and 205 Live ( 2016 – present ) . On June 13 , 2016 , Tajiri was announced as a participant in WWE ' s Cruiserweight Classic tournament . The tournament kicked off on June 23 with Tajiri defeating Damian Slater in his first round match . On July 14 , Tajiri was eliminated from the tournament by Gran Metalik . On December 3 , at the NXT special at Osaka , Japan , Tajiri teamed with Akira Tozawa , in a losing effort to NXT Tag Team Champions DIY ( Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano ) . On December 4 , 2016 , Tajiri announced he signed a full - time contract with WWE , and that he would make his return in early 2017 . On the December 13 episode of " 205 Live " , vignettes for Tajiri ' s return began airing . On January 3 , 2017 , Tajiri debuted on " 205 Live " defeating Sean Maluta . Following the match , The Brian Kendrick tried to welcome him back to the WWE , only for Tajiri to spit green mist onto his face . In January , Tajiri suffered a knee injury at an " NXT " taping . Championships and accomplishments . Won during the Invasion storyline .