Hirooki Goto Hirooki Gotō ( Gotō Hirooki , born June 25 , 1979 in Kuwana , Mie ) is a Japan ese professional wrestler . He has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro Wrestling since his debut . Career . Early career . Goto attended Kuwana Kogyo High School in Kuwana , Mie , where he was classmates with Katsuyori Shibata . Goto later attended Kokushikan University , where he took part in freestyle wrestling and Greco - Roman wrestling . Professional Wrestling Career . New Japan Pro Wrestling ( 2003 - 2005 ) . Upon graduating , Goto qualified to join New Japan Pro Wrestling , but left the promotion after incurring a shoulder injury . He returned to NJPW in November 2002 after healing and began training in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo . He debuted on July 6 , 2003 in Gifu , Gifu , wrestling Ryusuke Taguchi . The two men competed in the junior heavyweight division , and teamed together the same year to try to take the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a tournament , but were defeated in the final by veterans Gedo and Jado , who had debuted in 1989 . In early 2005 , he won the NJPW Young Lion Cup , defeating Hiroyuki Itō in the tournament final . After turning heel and joining Jushin Liger ' s " Control Terrorism Unit " ( " C . T . U . " ) stable , Goto adopted the ring name " Masked CTU - H " . He won his first championship on May 15 , 2005 , teaming with Minoru to defeat Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue in the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . The duo held the titles for nine months , losing to El Samurai and Ryusuke Taguchi on February 19 , 2006 in Tokyo . Foreign Excursion ( 2006 - 2007 ) . In 2006 , Goto joined the American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion as a member of Team Japan ( consisting of CTU members Goto , Jushin Liger , Black Tiger and Minoru ) , one of the four teams competing in the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament . He debuted in TNA on April 23 , 2006 at Lockdown , where he teamed with Black Tiger IV and Minoru against Team USA members Sonjay Dutt , Jay Lethal and Alex Shelley . Team Japan defeated USA when Black Tiger pinned Lethal . On the April 27 , 2006 episode of TNA Impact ! , Goto and Minoru lost to Dutt and Shelley , giving a first round victory and two points to Team USA . On May 14 , 2006 at Sacrifice , Goto and the other members of Team Japan accompanied Liger to ringside , assisting him in his victory over Team Canada captain Petey Williams . Later that night , all four members of Team Japan took part in a gauntlet match that was won by Team Canada captain Petey Williams . The 2006 World X Cup was won by Team USA ( with five points ) , with Team Japan coming last with three points . On August 1 , 2006 , Goto left for a lengthy learning excursion to Mexico after losing in a farewell match at the CTU 2nd Anniversary Show . While in Mexico he wrestled primarily for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and for Último Dragón ' s Toryumon Mexico . During his time in Mexico he formed a rudo unit Hajime Ohara and Shigeo Okumura in CMLL . RISE ( 2007 - 2009 ) . In August 2007 , Goto returned to New Japan after his almost one - year stay in Mexico . Upon his return , the now much more muscular Goto graduated from a Jr . heavyweight to a Heavyweight . Goto showed a great deal of promise and skill since last seen in July 2006 . He showcased whole new moveset and he quickly tried to establish himself as one of the top Heavyweights in New Japan . Not that far into his return Goto join the Stable " R . I . S . E " with Shinsuke Nakamura , Travis Tomko , Giant Bernard and fellow former CTU team mates Minoru , Milano Collection AT , and Prince Devitt . On November 11 , he challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , but after a long and hard fought match , Tanahashi would win with the Texas Cloverleaf . Shortly after that Goto entered the 2007 with Milano Collection AT , but the pair would come in third place . In 2008 Goto wrestled one of his childhood idols , The Great Muta at New Japan ' s annual January 4 Tokyo Dome Show . Although having a good showing , Goto would fall to Muta . Goto ' s progress was good through 2008 , as he joined Shinsuke Nakamura ' s RISE faction . But a surprise victory in New Japan ' s prestigious G1 Climax in August surpassed everyone ' s expectations . Goto earned 8 points in Block B , tied for first with Nakamura , but he advanced to the final due to a direct win over the former IWGP champion and RISE leader . Meeting Togi Makabe in the final , Goto overcame outside interference and blood loss to defeat the leader of the GBH faction , pinning him with the Shouten . In March 2009 Goto defeated Karl Anderson , Shinsuke Nakamura , Yuji Nagata and Giant Bernard to win the 2009 New Japan Cup and earn a shot at Hiroshi Tanahashi ' s IWGP Heavyweight Championship . On May 3 , 2009 , Tanahashi defeated Goto to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . Tournament Wins . On January 4 , 2010 , at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Takashi Sugiura successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Goto . In March Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi , Masato Tanaka and Togi Makabe to win the New Japan Cup for the second year in a row . Goto went on to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on April 4 , but would once again fail in his attempt to win the title . On June 28 , 2010 , Goto , teaming up with Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi entered the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament . Two days later the trio defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi , TAJIRI and KUSHIDA in the finals to win the tournament . During August ' s G1 Climax Goto debuted a new finishing maneuver , a cross - legged cradle , which earned him pinfall victories over former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Yuji Nagata and Shinsuke Nakamura , but a loss to eventual G1 winner Satoshi Kojima on the final day of the tournament dropped him fourth in his block , narrowly missing the finals . On October 11 Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to earn the right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . However , the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima vetoed the result of the match and named Nakamura his first challenger for the belt . On December 11 , while Kojima successfully defended his title against Nakamura , Goto was derailed from his quest to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with a loss against Hiroshi Tanahashi . The following day Kojima defeated Goto in a non – title match , ending Goto ' s dream of main eventing Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome . Instead , Goto teamed with the returning Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match , where they were defeated by Pro Wrestling Noah representatives Yoshihiro Takayama and Takashi Sugiura . On March 6 Goto began his quest to win his third New Japan Cup in a row , but was defeated in the first round by Shinsuke Nakamura . On March 20 , the final day of the tournament , Goto turned heel by abandoning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi during a tag team match against Satoshi Kojima and MVP . This marked Goto ' s final appearance for New Japan , before leaving for his second excursion to Mexico . Goto made his return to CMLL on March 25 and would , for the next month , work for the promotion as a heel , culminating in a match on April 29 at Arena México ' s 55th anniversary show , where he unsuccessfully challenged Último Guerrero for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship in a Two Out of Three Falls match . Goto returned to New Japan on May 3 , when he teamed with Tama Tonga to defeat Takashi Sugiura and Makoto Hashi in a tag team match . Later in the event , Goto attacked and declared a war on Hiroshi Tanahashi after he had successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura . Goto would once again fail in his IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge on June 18 , 2011 . After the match , Goto and Tanahashi seemingly made peace with each other , with Tanahashi suggesting that they go for the IWGP Tag Team Championship together . On June 23 , Goto , Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi won their second J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in a row by defeating the team of Giant Bernard , Jushin Liger and Karl Anderson in the finals of the three day long tournament . On July 3 Goto and Tanahashi failed in their attempt to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson . On August 1 , Goto entered the 2011 G1 Climax , where he went on to win six out of his nine matches , but a loss to Strong Man on the final day of the tournament dropped him to second place in his block , causing him to narrowly miss the finals of the tournament . In the 2011 G1 Tag League , Goto teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi as " The Billion Powers " . After picking up two wins and two losses in their first four matches in the group stage of the tournament , Goto and Tanahashi defeated the Beast Combination ( Satoshi Kojima and Togi Makabe ) on November 4 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament . On November 6 , Goto and Tanahashi were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Bad Intentions . On November 12 , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Masato Tanaka for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship . On January 4 , 2012 , at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome , Goto reignited his rivalry with Pro Wrestling Noah ' s Takashi Sugiura , defeating him in a singles match . On February 12 at The New Beginning , Goto defeated Masato Tanaka to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the first time . Goto made his first title defense on March 11 , defeating Yujiro Takahashi . On April 1 , Goto entered the 2012 New Japan Cup . After victories over Yujiro Takahashi , La Sombra and Togi Makabe , Goto defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi on April 8 in the finals to win the tournament for the third time and earn another shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012 , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . On May 20 , Goto made his second successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tomohiro Ishii . On July 22 , Goto lost the title to Shinsuke Nakamura in his third defense . On October 8 at King of Pro - Wrestling , Goto received a rematch for the title , but was again defeated by Nakamura . On November 11 at Power Struggle , Goto unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the Tokyo Dome . From November 20 to December 1 , Goto took part in the round - robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League , alongside Karl Anderson under the team name " Sword & Guns " . The team finished with a record of four wins and two losses , finishing second in their block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament . On December 2 , Goto and Anderson defeated Ten - Koji ( Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima ) to advance to the finals of the tournament , where , later that same day , the defeated the reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions , K . E . S . ( Davey Boy Smith , Jr . and Lance Archer ) , to win the tournament . Sword & Guns received their shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship on January 4 , 2013 , at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , but were defeated in a rematch by K . E . S . The following month , Goto made a challenge towards former high school classmate Katsuyori Shibata , which led to a tag team match on February 10 , where he and Wataru Inoue were defeated by Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba . Afterwards , Goto and Shibata had a heated confrontation , building to a future singles match between the two . In March , Goto once again made it to the finals of the New Japan Cup , before losing to Kazuchika Okada . Goto and Shibata finally faced off in a singles match on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013 , which ended in a draw . A rematch between the two took place on June 22 at Dominion 6 . 22 , where Shibata was victorious . A third match between the two on July 20 ended in another draw .