Captain New Japan

###

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

**Mitsuhide Hirasawa** (平澤 光秀, *Hirasawa Mitsuhide*, born 27 March 1982) He is best known by his previous masked persona, **Captain New Japan** (キャプテン・ニュージャパン, *Kyaputen Nyū Japan*), and has also worked unmasked under his real name as well as the ring name **Hideo Saito** (ヒデオ・サイトー, *Hideo Saitō*). and also as **Bone Soldier** (ボーン・ソルジャー, *Bōn Sorujā*), as part of Bullet Club.

Hirasawa did not achieve success during his time in NJPW. Despite being part of two of NJPW's best known stables, CHAOS and Bullet Club, his time with both was short and marred by poor performances. His Bone Soldier persona was heavily panned by critics and was consequently named 2016's "Worst Gimmick" by the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*.

## Early life

Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Hirasawa was a freestyle amateur wrestler, taking part in the 1996 and 1998 World Championships as a cadet and the 2001 World Championship as a junior.

## Professional wrestling career

### New Japan Pro Wrestling (2006–2010)

Hirasawa originally debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling on 28 January 2006, losing to Takashi Iizuka. Hirasawa would wrestle on the New Japan undercard, mostly losing which is custom for new wrestlers in New Japan. His first win would come on 26 April, defeating the two year pro Yujiro Takahashi. Hirasawa teamed up with Ryusuke Taguchi to participate in his first tournament, the National Area Tag League 2006 where they were placed in block C and lost both of their matches. Hirasawa would make several appearances for Pro Wrestling Zero1, the most notable of which was when he and Manabu Nakanishi participated in the Passion Cup Tag Tournament 2008. In late 2008, Hirasawa would form a tag team with Yuji Nagata, which would be a precursor to Seigigun ("Blue Justice Army"). The pair participated in G1 Tag League 2008 block B, they would only gain a single point when they drew with Manabu Nakanishi and Yutaka Yoshie. In the fall of 2009, Hirasawa joined Yuji Nagata's new Seigigun along with Wataru Inoue and Super Strong Machine. At Wrestle Kingdom IV In Tokyo Dome, Hirasawa along with Wataru Inoue and Super Strong Machine defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto, and Kazuchika Okada in the opening match. Even with joining this stable, Hirasawa largely continued in the midcard largely serving as the fall guy in tag match. On 28 June, Seigigun entered a six-man tag tournament with Nagata, Inoue, and Hirasawa forming one team while Machine teamed with Tonga Strong Machine and Pink Strong Machine (Yutaka Yoshie) however both teams lost. On 12 September, there was a special Mitsuhide Hirasawa farewell match, which he would lose.

### World Wrestling Council (2010–2011)

After embarking on an extended tour of Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council (WWC) in September 2010, Hirasawa adopted the new ring name Hideo Saito as a tribute to Masa Saito and Hideo Nomo. On 25 September, Saito would win his first championship when he won a battle royal for the vacant WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship and would lose it on 27 November. On 19 February, he also won the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship and lost it on 26 March. In May 2011 Saito took part in New Japan's first tour of the United States, the Invasion Tour 2011. On 13 May in Rahway, New Jersey, he entered the tournament to determine the first ever IWGP Intercontinental Champion, losing to Yujiro Takahashi in his first round match.

### Return to New Japan (2011–2017)

Hirasawa returned to New Japan on 18 June, now going permanently by the Saito name, and turned on Seigigun and its leader Yuji Nagata, joining CHAOS. In August, Saito took part in the 2011 G1 Climax, losing his first eight matches only to pick up his opening win on the final day of the tournament in a match against former mentor, Yuji Nagata. On 19 September, Nagata defeated his former protégé in a grudge match. Saito's erratic behaviour and poor match results eventually led to the rest of CHAOS kicking him out of the stable on 4 December 2011. After his exile from CHAOS, Saito developed an alter-ego called **Captain New Japan**, dressed in a variation of the Captain America costume, complete with a shield. In November, Captain New Japan took part in the 2012 World Tag League, teaming with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi under the team name "Captain Ace". The team lost all six of their matches with Captain New Japan being pinned in each match. On 3 March 2013, Captain New Japan returned to Seigigun in an eight-man tag team match, where he, Yuji Nagata, Super Strong Machine and Wataru Inoue were defeated by Hirooki Goto, Karl Anderson, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tama Tonga. On 7 April, Captain New Japan was attacked by Bad Luck Fale and Prince Devitt and would also be unmasked by Devitt, however, his face was never shown. In response to this, Captain New Japan teamed up with Devitt's former Apollo 55 partner, Ryusuke Taguchi and challenged the two at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, where they lost. Following these events, Captain New Japan has fought against the newly formed Bullet Club which is headed by Devitt, he has also reformed his alliance with Tanahashi. On 4 August, Captain New Japan carried Tanahashi to the ring akin to Fale and Devitt, he would also get involved in the matchup trying to limit the effects of Fale's interference, however, Devitt would ultimately defeat Tanahashi. In November, Captain Ace reunited for the 2013 World Tag League. Much like the previous year, the team lost their first five matches, but on the final day they finally picked up a win over Fale and Devitt with Captain pinning Devitt, costing the Bullet Club team a spot in the semifinals. On 13 April 2014, during New Japan's trip to Taiwan, Hirasawa, working as Captain Taiwan, received his first title shot in the promotion, when he and Hirooki Goto unsuccessfully challenged Bullet Club representatives Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

On April 10, 2016, Yoshitatsu announced he was forming a new stable named "Hunter Club" to oppose Bullet Club. However, neither Michael Elgin nor Tanahashi accepted Yoshitatsu's invitation to join the stable, which led to Captain New Japan stepping up as the first member of the new group. On September 12, Yoshitatsu, upset with Captain New Japan's poor performances, announced a twitter poll that would decide whether he would get to stay in Hunter Club. On 25 September at Destruction in Kobe, upon being denied a spot in Hunter Club, Captain New Japan turned on Yoshitatsu and jumped to Bullet Club. The following day, Hirasawa was given the new ring name "Bone Soldier". He made his debut under the name on 8 October. The following month, Bone Soldier entered the 2016 World Tag League, teaming with Bullet Club stablemate Bad Luck Fale. The two lost all seven of their matches in the tournament with Bone Soldier being pinned by his rival Yoshitatsu in their final match on 8 December. Bone Soldier's performance in the tournament led to Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega dubbing him an "intergalactic disaster". On March 1, 2017, Hirasawa's profile was removed from NJPW's website, confirming his departure from the company. According to Dave Meltzer, he was fired because of gambling issues.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ **As Bone Soldier**
		- *Bone Soldier* (Full nelson transitioned into a chokeslam)
	+ **As Captain New Japan / Hideo Saito**
		- *Captain Special* (Modified la magistral)
		- *Caribbean Death Grip* (Tongan death grip)
	+ **As Mitsuhide Hirasawa**
		- *Hira Bottom* (Side slam)
		- *Nagata Lock II* (Crossface) – adopted from Yuji Nagata
* **Signature moves**
	+ Diving headbutt
	+ German suplex
	+ Side slam
	+ Spear
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Spread Wing-Beat" by Yonosuke Kitamura
	+ "Departed Spirits" by Yonosuke Kitamura
	+ "Where Are You From?" by Yonosuke Kitamura

## Championships and accomplishments

* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ PWI ranked him #**441** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
* **World Wrestling Council**
	+ WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Worst Gimmick (2016)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Meltzer, Dave 2012-01-04. New Japan Tokyo Dome results 1-4 . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2012-01-04.
2. ↑ 急展開！ 後藤のアピールによりIWGPタッグ戦が緊急決定！ パートナーはC・台湾！【4月13日（日）台湾大会】  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2014-04-13). Retrieved on 2014-04-13.
3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Captain New Japan's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile. Retrieved 14 September 2013. (Japanese)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Cagematch profile . *Cagematch*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
5. ↑ Hideo Saito's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile. Retrieved 24 July 2011. (Japanese)
6. ↑ International Wrestling Database profile. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
7. ↑ Hirasawa wins title in Puerto Rico! . *Strong Style Spirit* (2010-09-28). Retrieved on 2011-05-18.
8. ↑ Martin, Adam 2011-05-14. 5/13 New Japan Pro Wrestling Results: Rahway, NJ . *WrestleView*. Retrieved on 2011-05-15.
9. ↑ (Results) New Japan, 6/18/11 . *Strong Style Spirit* (2011-06-18). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
10. ↑ 今年の『G1 CLIMAX』出場20選手が決定!! 鈴木みのる、高山善廣、ラ・ソンブラも出場!!  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2011-07-03). Retrieved on 2011-07-03.
11. ↑ ブシロード Presents G1 Climax XXI ～The Invincible Fighter～  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2011-08-14). Retrieved on 2011-08-14.
12. ↑ (Results) New Japan, 9/19/11 . *Strong Style Spirit* (2011-09-19). Retrieved on 2011-09-19.
13. ↑ (Results) New Japan, 12/4/11 . *Strong Style Spirit* (2011-12-04). Retrieved on 2011-12-05.
14. ↑ NJPW 40th anniversary Tour. レッスルキングダムⅥ in 東京ドーム  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2012-01-05.
15. ↑ 11月20日(火)開幕!!　『World Tag League 2012』の対戦カード決定!!　TDC大会、愛知大会には桜庭＆柴田が特別参戦！  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2012-11-16). Retrieved on 2012-11-28.
16. ↑ NJPW 40ｔｈ anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2012-11-28.
17. ↑ *ja:旗揚げ記念日* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-03-03.
18. ↑ World Tag League 2013  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-12-07.
19. ↑ World Tag League 2013  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-12-07.
20. ↑ Wrestling World 2014 in 台湾  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-04-13.
21. ↑ Invasion Attack 2016  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-04-17.
22. ↑ Road to レスリングどんたく 2016  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-04-17.
23. ↑ Road to Destruction  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-09-13.
24. ↑ Destruction in Kobe  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-09-25.
25. ↑ 【10.8魚沼大会・全カード！】メインで本隊とJ・リーサルが初合体！セミでNEVER6人タッグが実現！Bullet新メンバー・Bone Soldierとは？  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-09-26.
26. ↑ New Japan Road ～がんばろう！Uonuma 2016～  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-10-08.
27. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-11-07. NJPW reveals full World Tag League lineup, four Wrestle Kingdom matches . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-12-08.
28. ↑ *ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-12-08.
29. ↑ NJPW World Tag League finals live results: The winners are crowned . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2016-12-09). Retrieved on 2016-12-10.
30. ↑ https://411mania.com/wrestling/latest-details-bone-soldier-returning-njpw/
31. ↑ Road to Power Struggle  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-10-29.
32. ↑ (Results) New Japan, 7/23/11 . *Strong Style Spirit* (2011-07-23). Retrieved on 2011-07-24.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Kitamura, Yonosuke. Prowrestle theme music list  (in Japanese). *RMLabel*. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
34. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017 . *The Internet Wrestling Database*. Retrieved on 2017-09-01.
35. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (March 6, 2017). "March 6, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2016 Awards issue, talent departing TNA, more". *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Campbell, California: 27. ISSN 1083-9593.