Strong Machine J

Strong Machine J in March 2023

**Strong Machine J** (ストロングマシーン・J, *Sutorongu Mashīn J*) is a Japanese masked professional wrestler. He was trained and currently works for Dragon Gate (DG), where he is a former two-times Open The Triangle Gate Champion.

Strong Machine J is the son of professional wrestler Junji Hirata, known under the ring name **Super Strong Machine**, where the family relationship is publicly acknowledged. Strong Machine J's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.

Strong Machine J was trained by the Dragon Gate Dojo and was given his father's gimmick of the Super Strong Machine. He made his debut in March 2019, as part of the Strong Machines alongside Strong Machine G and Strong Machine F, with the trio being managed by Shogun KY Wakamatsu. Four months later, he won the Open The Triangle Gate Championship at Dragon Gate's most important event the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, setting the record for the fastest championship win in Dragon Gate history, prior to a rookie debut. Afterwards, he began an undefeated streak which lasted six months. At the end of the year, the *Tokyo Sports* magazine named Strong Machine J the 2019 Rookie of the Year in all of Japanese professional wrestling. In June 2022, Machine J moved away from his father's legacy, after joining the Natural Vibes stable.

## Professional wrestling career

### Dragon Gate (2019–Present)

#### Debut and Strong Machines (2019)

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Hirata, already a working man, decided to become a professional wrestler after his father's retirement in June 2018. He decided to join Dragon Gate due to the rising popularity of the company's junior heavyweight based style.

On March 7, 2019, during a press conference, Dragon Gate announced the debut of the Strong Machine J alongside his stablemates Strong Machine F, and Strong Machine G, with their gimmick being the reincarnation of the Super Strong Machine gimmick used in New Japan Pro Wrestling, portrayed by Strong Machine J's father Junji Hirata. Later that night, Strong Machine J and his stablemates made their official debut alongside their manager Shogun KY Wakamatsu, the manager who managed the original Strong Machines in NJPW during the 80's, with Wakamatsu stating that the Strong Machine was on the Heisei era and would reactivate during the Riewa era, while also challenging former Open The Triangle Gate Champions Natural Vibes (Kzy, Genki Horiguchi, and Susumu Yokosuka) to a match. On April 10, Strong Machines defeated Natural Vibes in their debut match. Afterwards, the Strong Machines began a winning streak, which on June 6, Strong Machines began indicating they wanted a title match for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. Strong Machines began attacking the reigning Open The Triangle Gate Champions R.E.D (Kazma Sakamoto, Takashi Yoshida, and Yasushi Kanda), mostly Kanda after their matches. On June 23, Strong Machines attacked Kanda again after his match, indicating they wanted a title match. Yoshida came out and accepted their challenge, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to announce the title match for the event. On July 21 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Strong Machines defeated R.E.D to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship for the first time. They lost the titles to R.E.D (Takashi Yoshida, H.Y.O, and Diamante) in their third title defense on December 15 at Final Gate, ending their eight months winning streak.

#### Generation War and Strong Machines reunion (2019–2021)

On December 18, the Strong Machines were temporarily suspended, after Strong Machine J entered the Dragon Gate stable in order to unite all Dragon Gate generation of wrestlers against Toryumon and R.E.D in a "Generation War". He made his in-ring debut as part of the Dragon Gate stable on December 21, teaming with stablemate KAI in a winning effort against R.E.D (Big R Shimizu and H.Y.O). On February 29 on the first night of the Champion Gate in Osaka, Machine J, Ben-K and Dragon Dia defeated Toryumon's Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Kenichiro Arai to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On May 17, Machine took part in the 2020 King of Gate, losing in the first round to eventual winner Eita, eliminating him from the tournament.

On September 21, at Dangerous Gate, Manchine, Ben-K, and Dia lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to R.E.D's Diamante, Kazma Sakamoto and Takashi Yoshida. On December 27, after R.E.D forced Toryumon to disband, YAMATO decided to disband the Dragon Gate Generation stable, ending the "Generation War".

Following the Generation War storyline, on September 8, 2021, Machine J announced the return of the Strong Machines following the reativation of Strong Machine K and Strong Machine G, as previously teased by Machine J. Afterwards, the Strong Machines defeated Natural Vibes (Genki Horiguchi, King Shimizu and Susumu Yokosuka) in a match. Following the match, Machine J challenged Shimizu and Yokosuka to a title match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship at Dangerous Gate, which Dragon Gate's General Manager Ryo Saito accepted. On September 20, Machine J and Machine K unsucessfully challenged Shimizu and Yokosuka for the Open The Twin Gate Championship.

#### Natural Vibes (2022–present)

In May 2022, Machine J took part in the 2022 King of Gate, being eliminated in the second round to Shun Skywalker. On June 2, Machine J was revealed as the newest member of Natural Vibes, moving away from his father's legacy of the Strong Machine gimmick.

In February 2023, the Strong Machines briefly reunited, with Machine J and Strong Machine F taking part in the 2023 Rey de Parejas, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins, one draw, and two losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. During the tournament, on February 26, Machine J picked up a major win over reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion Shun Skywalker, leading him to challenged Skywalker to a title match. On March 5, at Champion Gate in Osaka, Machine unsuccessfully challenged Skywalker for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. The following months, Machine was dragged out to a storyline between Diamante, Último Drágon and Shun Skywalker, after Diamante began campaigning to face Drágon in a match, however he refused, leading him to be suspended by Dragon Gate's General Manager Ryo Saito's. On June 1, Machine faced Skywalker in a losing effort. Afterwards, Skywalker ripped off Machine's mask and threw it into the audience. Machine then called out for a mask vs mask match against Skywalker, which he accepted. Afterwards, Dragon Kid appeared and introduced a video message from Dragón, who accepted the match against Diamante. Shun then proposed a mask vs mask match tag team match between himself and Diamante against Dragón and Machine, which led to Saito said he would consider. The following day, Saito announced a mask vs mask four-way steel cage match between all four of them, which later included Kid. On July 2 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, after enduring a difficult year, battling a stale gimmick and various injuries for a long period of time, in the final moments of the match, Machine, Skywalker and Diamante were the only ones left in the cage. Despite Skywalker and Diamante double teaming on him and being wounded Machine and having his mask ripped Machine kept fighting and after laying out both Skywalker and Diamante, he managed to escape the cage and secured his family lineage. In the match, Machine suffered a left shoulder injury, which led to him being sidelined for a indefinite period of time.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Devil Windmill Suplex* / *Majin Fusha Gatame* (Bridging hammerlock suplex) - adopted from his father
	+ *Diamond Frame* (Arm trap single leg Boston crab) - 2022-present
* **Signature moves**
	+ Body slam
	+ Diving headbutt
	+ Gedo clutch
	+ Jumping back elbow strike
	+ Kneeling figure four leglock/cravate combination
	+ *Liger Bomb/Rough Killing* (Sitout powerbomb)
	+ *Machine Lariat* (Lariat)
	+ Running senton
	+ Spinning heel kick
	+ Vertical suplex
* **With Strong Machine K**
	+ **Double team signature moves**
		- *Machine Killer* (Hammerlock aided whiplash)
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Super High-Performance Assassin Machine"**
* **Managers**
	+ Shogun KY Wakamatsu
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Hurricane's Bam (2019 DG mix)"** by Yoshio Fukurai

## Championships and Accomplishments

* **Dragon Gate**
	+ Open The Triangle Gate Championship (2 times) – with Strong Machine F and Strong Machine G (1) and Ben-K and Dragon Dia (1)
	+ Ashiyanikki Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament (2020) – with Ben-K and Dragon Dia
* ***Tokyo Sports***
	+ Newcomer Award (2019)