El Desperado

Kyosuke Mikami (December 29, 1983) is a Japanese Professional wrestler currently working under the in ring name of El Desperado for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
== Professional wrestling career ==
=== New Japan Pro Wrestling (2010-2012) ===
Mikami joined the New Japan Pro Wresling Dojo in 2009 after a successful tryout on the month of May. He trained in the dojo for several months before making his in ring debut with the company as a young lion during the NJPW 38th Anniversary tour on March 7, 2010 losing to Ryusuke Taguchi. During the rest of his first run with NJPW Mikami wrestled under his real name and unmasked, using black trunks and boots like the rest of the young lions. After his debut he had a losing streak of 30 consecutive losses, which is a usual thing for young lions in New Japan as they gain experience, until he defeated his fellow partner in the Dojo and debuting Hiromu Takahashi on August 8 in the NJPW NEVER 1 event. On April 7, 2011, he competed in the Road to the Super Junior 2 Days Tournament of the NJPW NEVER 6 event, losing in the first round to Ryuichi Sekine. On June 21, he competed in the first round of the J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2011, teaming with fellow young lion Hiromu Takahashi and Koji Kanemoto, but were defeated by the team of Madoka, Shinobu and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Mikami last match in NJPW during this period was on January 4, 2012 in a dark match in the preshow of Wrestle Kingdom VI In Tokyo Dome teaming with Tomoaki Honma and losing to the team of Captain New Japan and Tama Tonga. It was later reported that Mikami suffered an injury, this was a kayfabe injury to cover his excursion to CMML until he returned to the company.
=== SMASH (2010) ===
Mikami had one match in this company in 2010, defeating Yusuke Kodama in a singles match on July 24 in the SMASH 5 event.
=== Dramatic Dream Team (2011) ===
Mikami had two matches in this company in 2011, in both occasions teaming in a victorious effort with Hiromu Takahashi, the first one in May 11 defeating the team of Hiroo Tsumaki and Kazuki Hirata, and the second one in December 21 defeating the team of Soma Takao and Toru Sugiura.
=== Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2012-2013) ===
Mikami joined Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as part of a one year long excursion in order to gain experience before returning to NJPW; as he joined the Mexican company, Mikami was given a new masked heel character and worked under the name of Namajague. His in-ring debut happened on February 5, 2012, where he teamed with Okumura and Misterioso Jr. against the team of Black Warrior, El Sagrado and Sangre Azteca in a two out of three falls match, with his team being the winner. After his debut, Namajague would keep working with Okumura, forming a tag team called La Fiebre Amarilla (Spanish for Yellow Feber) with whom he would ultimately win the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship; at the same time, La Fiebre Amarilla was a subgroup of the stable La Ola Amarilla. On March 2, he would team with Misterioso Jr. and Rey Escorpión against the team of Fuego, Titán and Triton in a two out of three falls tag team match in the 2012 edition of Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, a big annual event produced by CMLL every March; Namajague team would ultimately get the win. On September 9 Namajague and Okumura would unsuccessfully challenge Fuego and Stuka, Jr. for the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championships; 5 days later at the CMLL 79th Anniversary Show Namajague and Okumura would team with fellow La Ola Amarilla member Taichi in a two out of three falls six man tag team match against the team of Ángel de Oro, La Sombra and Titán, with the latter team being victorious. On March 3, 2013 Namajague and Okumura would defeat the team of Fuego and Stuka Jr. in a two out of three falls match to win the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championships. On March 15, at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2013 Namajague and Okumura would lose a Lucha de Apuestas two out of three falls tag team match against their rivals Rey Cometa and Stuka, Jr., with the stipulation of the match being that the losing team would have to unmask and shave their hair, making Namajague take his mask off and reveal his real name; after the event Namajague would continue feuding with Rey Cometa now on a singles feud, culminating on April 26 in the Arena Mexico 57th Anniversary Show in a hair vs hair Lucha de Apuesta two out of three falls match, with Rey Cometa winning and Namajague getting his hair shaved. On June 2 at the Sin Salida 2013 event, Namajague and Okumura would team with Virus in a two out of three falls match to defeat the team of Diamante, El Hijo del Fantasma and Triton. On July 14 Namajague and Okumura successfully defended the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championships against the team of Los Reyes de la Atlantida (Delta and Guerrero Maya, Jr.) in a two out of three falls tag team match; they defended the championships against this team once again on November 3 in a two out of three falls match, this time Los Reyes de la Atlantida won and La Fiebre Amarilla lost their championships. Mikami's last match with CMLL before returning to Japan happened on December 8 where he and the team of Misterioso Jr. and Puma lost to Blue Panther, El Sagrado and Fuego in a two out of three falls six-man tag team match.
=== New Japan Pro Wrestling (2014-2015) ===
Mikami returned to NJPW at the beginning of 2014, now portraying a masked wrestler named El Desperado. His debut happened on January 4 in the Wrestle Kingdom 8 event, where he showed up to give a bouquet of flowers to Kota Ibushi, who just won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The following day El Desperado made his in-ring debut at New Year Dash 2014 teaming with Jushin Thunder Liger to defeat the team of Kota Ibushi and BUSHI, setting up a match between Kota Ibushi and El Desperado at NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 2014 for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On February 9, at The New Beginning In Hiroshima El Desperado once again teamed with Jushin Thunder Liger in a tag team match to defeat the team of Kota Ibushi and BUSHI; two days later at The New Beginning in Osaka, Kota Ibushi successfully retained his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship title after defeating El Desperado. On April 6, at the Invasion Attack 2014 event El Desperado and Kota Ibushi teamed up to unsuccessfully challenge The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. On the month of June El Desperado participated in the Best of The Super Junior XXI in the block B, having a record of three wins and four losses, not being able to advance from his block to the next round. On the month of July El Desperado turned heel and joined the Suzuki-gun stable. On September 21 at theDestruction In Okayama event he teamed with fellow Suzuki-gun member Taichi to unsuccessfully challenge the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. On October 13 at the King of Pro-Wrestling 2014 event El Desperado unsuccessfully challenged Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In the following weeks El Desperado and Taichi would participate in the annual Super Junior Tag Tournament, defeating Fuego and Ryusuke Taguchi in the first round on October 25 but lost to the Young Bucks in the semifinals on November 1. On November 11 atPower Struggle 2014 El Desperado teamed with Taka Michinoku to take part in a three-way tag team match against the Young Bucks and The Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Kozlov), with the Young Bucks being the winners. In the following weeks El Desperado started feuding with Jushin Thunder Liger over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. On January 5, 2015, El Desperado participated in the New Japan Rumble in the pre-show of Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, which was won by Yuji Nagata. The following night at New Year Dash 2015 Jushin Thunder Liger defeated El Desperado to retain the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
=== Kaientai Dojo (2014) ===
Mikami (Wrestling as El Desperado) had two matches both on the same day (November 19) in this dojo owned and promoted by fellow Suzuki-gun member at the time Taka Michinoku; the first one being a six-man tag team match where El Desperado, Taka Michinoku and Taichi defeated the team of Kengo Mashimo, Tank Nagai and Yuma, and the second one winning a match against Tank Nagai by disqualification.
=== Pro Wrestling NOAH (2015-2016) ===
El Desperado took part of the invasion angle of his stable Suzuki-gun to the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. The leader of Suzuki-gun Minoru Suzuki declared war on Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers Naomichi Marufuji and TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) after they helped Toru Yano at Wrestle Kingdom 9 to defeat Suzuki-gun members in an 8-man tag team match. El Desperado made his first appearance in the company on January 10 at New Year Navigation 2015 alongside his partners of Suzuki-gun, when they stormed the ring after Naomichi Marufuji successfully defended the GHC Heavyweight Championship and attacked everyone who tried to stop them. El Desperado had his debut match with the company 2 days later atThe First Navigation 2015 - Night 1 defeating Hitoshi Kumano in singles action. On March 15 at Great Voyage 2015 In Tokyo El Desperado and Taka Michinoku (Representing Suzuki-gun faction), won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from Hajime Ohara and Kenou (Representing Cho Kibou-Gun faction) in a three-way tag team match which also involved Daisuke Harada and Genba Hirayanagi (Representing No Mercy faction). El Desperado and Taka Michinoku successfully defended the championships against a number of opponents: against Hajime Ohara and Kenou (At Ark Echigo Spring Storm on April 11), Yoshinari Ogawa and Zack Sabre, Jr. (At Great Voyage 2015 In Yokohama on May 10) and Genba Hirayanagi and Hitoshi Kumano (At Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial Tour 2015 - Night 2 on June 13); before losing the championships to Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada on October 4 at the Great Voyage 2015 In Nagoya - Masashi Aoyagi Retirement Ceremony event, holding the titles for 203 days. Between July and August El Desperado took part in the Global Junior Heavyweight League 2015 participating in the block A; by August 5, he ended with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses, being unable to advance from his block. On September he teamed with fellow Suzuki-gun member Taka Michinoku to participate in the NTV G Junior Heavyweight Tag League 2015 in the block A, finishing with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, meaning that they advanced to the finals on September 22, where they lost to the team of Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada, the same team that defeated El Desperado and Taka Michinoku just weeks later to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. After the first week of October El Desperado suffered an injury which took him out of action until he returned on November 20. Before Suzuki-gun left Pro Wrestling NOAH and returned to NJPW El Desperado and Taka Michinoku unsuccessfully challenged for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on two occasions (On December 23, 2016, on NOAH Destiny 2015 and on April 5, on both occasions losing again to Kotoge and Harada) and participated on the NTV G Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League 2016 without winning it. El Desperado last match on Pro Wrestling NOAH during this period happened on December 3, 2016, on theOne Night Cruise 2016 In Differ event where he teamed with fellow Suzuki-gun member Taka Michinoku in a losing effort against the team of Hajime Ohara and Kenou.
=== What Culture Pro Wrestling (2016) ===
On September 1 it was announced on the WhatCulture Wrestling youtube channel that El Desperado was going to debut with the company the next month representing his stable Suzuki-gun alongside the leader of the group Minoru Suzuki. He made his first appearance on October 6 at WCPW Refuse To Lose accompanying Minoru Suzuki at ringside during Suzuki's match against Joe Coffey in wich he interfered in behalf of Suzuki. El Desperado made his in-ring debut the next day in the fourteenth episode of WCPW Loaded participating in a tag team match against Gabriel Kidd and Prince Ameen teaming with El Ligero, with his team being the winner. He made his last appearance with the company that year the following night at WCPW True Legacy teaming up with Rampage, Prince Ameen and Gabriel Kidd in a 8-man tag team elimination match against the team of Primate and Prospect (Lucas Archer, Alex Gracie and Drake); during this match he eliminated Drake by getting the 3 count after hitting a low blow, but was eliminated by the other 2 members of Prospect after a double team attack; El Desperado's team ended up losing.
=== New Japan Pro Wrestling (2017-Present) ===
Mikami returned to NJPW still as El Desperado and still as a member of Suzuki-gun. On January 5, 2017, at the New Year Dash !! 2017 event Suzuki-gun returned and attacked members of the CHAOS faction and everyone who came to their defense after said faction lost a 10-man tag team match; this generated a feud between the two factions, with many members of Suzuki-gun challenging for the championships held by CHAOS at the upcoming Pay Per View event promoted by NJPW: The New Beginning In Sapporo 2017. As a result of this, El Desperado started taking part in several tag team matches alongside Suzuki-gun members against CHAOS in the following months, even tho he didn't challenge for any championship during this period, and also accompanied members of his stable during matches he was not a part of. El Desperado first match back in the company was a six-man tag team on January 27 teaming with Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-gun) against Gedo, Jado and YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS), with his team losing after they got themselves disqualified. In the month of May El Desperado took part in the Best of the Super Juniors XXIV in the block B, finishing with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, being unable to advance to the next round.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing and signature moves
**Guitarra de la Muerta (Kudo Driver)
**Numero Dos
**El Es Culero (Onryu clutch)
**Pinche Loco (spinning doublearm facebuster)
**Guitarra de Angel (Hellsmasher)
**Angel de Rojo (Code Red)
**Cannonball
**Flying Neckbreaker Drop
**Shoulder Tackle
**Double Arm Suplex
**Eye rake
**Low blow
*Tag teams and stables
**La Fiebre Amarilla with Okumura
**La Ola Amarilla
**Suzuki-gun
*Wrestlers managed
**Minoru Suzuki
**Taichi Ishikari
**Taka Michinoku
**Takashi Iizuka
**Yoshinobu Kanemaru
*Entrance music
**"Aguja de Abeja" by Yonosuke Kitamura
*Nicknames
**"Narazumono Luchador"
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
**CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Okumura
*Pro Wrestling NOAH
**GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Taka Michinoku 
*New Japan Pro Wrestling
**IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Yoshinobu Kanemaru
**NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him #115 in the 2023 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers
==Lucha de Apuesta record==
Wager 	Winner 	Loser 	Location 	Date	Event
Mask & hair	Stuka, Jr. (mask) & Rey Cometa (hair)	Namajague (mask) & Okumura (hair)	Mexico City, Mexico	 	Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2013
Hair 	Rey Cometa 	Namajague 	Mexico City, Mexico	 	Arena Mexico 57th Anniversary Show
==External links==
* Profile
* Twitter profile
* Profile
Category:1983 births
Category:2010 debuts
Category:Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre alumni
Category:Japanese wrestlers
Category:Living people
Category:Male wrestlers
Category:Masked Wrestlers
Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling current roster
Category:Pro Wrestling NOAH alumni
Category:SMASH alumni
Category:What Culture Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
Category:Dramatic Dream Team alumni
Category:Promociones HUMO alumni
Category:Kaientai Dojo alumni
Category:Revolution Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:JUST TAP OUT Professional Wrestling alumni
Category:IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions
Category:NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions