Koji Doi

Doi in August 2017

###

Kawasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan

**Koji Doi** (土肥孝司, *Doi Koji*, ring name: 土肥こうじ) (born February 11, 1990) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a freelancer. He his best known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he was a former five-time Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion, a four-time UWA World Trios Champion and one-time and inaugural Wrestle-1 Result Champion and the winner of the 2017 and 2018 Wrestle-1 Tag League. In the end of 2017, Wrestle-1 named Doi and Kumagoro the best tag team of the year.

## Early Life

When Doi was at the high school he was addicted to soccer, with a track record that has been chosen for the selection. After graduating from high school, he worked as a sports instructor with the aim of martial artists, after receiving some guidance in the Animal Hamaguchi wrestling dojo in December 2010, He asked Tajiri (the owner of SMASH) to be in their training camp.

## Professional wrestling career

### SMASH and Wrestling New Classic (2011–2014)

After one year of training, Doi made his professional wrestling debut on November 24, 2011, against the veteran Akira where he lost. He became the best trainee on the SMASH training camp. On March 14, Doi wrestled his final match at SMASH when he and Aki Shizuku lost to Mio Shirai and Takuya Kito.

On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash, Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first event on April 26. On April 26, 2012, Doi made is debut match in the Wrestling New Classic inaugural event when he and Aki Shizuku lost to Lin Byron and Yusuke Kodama. In November, Doi took part in the Dave Finlay Cup, where he lost in the finals to Akira Shinose.

At the beginning of November 2013, WNC announced Doi as one of the participants of the second edition of the Dave Finlay Cup. Doi came up to the semifinals when he lost to Kaji Tomato but since Tomato could not compete Doi replaced him at the finals losing to Hiro Tonai. On June 1, Doi had a big singles match when he face the veteran Takao Omori. At the start of 2014 Doi had seven match trial series, where he would lose all of his matches against Koji Kanemoto, Ryuji Ito, Ikuto Hidaka, Black Buffalo and Shinya Ishikawa. On June 14, 2014, Doi made his last match in Wrestling New Classic with Jiro Kuroshio and Masaya Takahashi to defeat AKIRA, El Hijo del Pantera, and Yusuke Kodama.

On June 18, 2014, Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Effective July 1, six former WNC wrestlers, Doi included, transferred over to the Wrestle-1 promotion.

### Wrestle-1 (2014–2020)

On June 12, 2014, Doi made his debut in Wrestle-1 the former WNC wrestler Yusuke Kodama losing to Daiki Inaba and Yasufumi Nakanoue. The following month, Doi came together with three other former WNC wrestlers; Jiro Kuroshio, Kodama and Rionne Fujiwara, to form the Novus stable. On August 31 Doi received a match against Daiki Inaba if he won, he would participate in the tournament to crown the inaugural Wrestle-1 Championship but he lost. In November, Doi and Kodama represented Novus in the First Tag League Greatest, a tournament to determine the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions. The two finished last in their block with a record of one draw and three losses. On December 22, Doi turned on Kuroshio and to jump to the Desperado stable.

On January 30, 2015, Doi and Kazma Sakamoto received their first title shot in Wrestle-1 unsuccessfully challenging Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo for the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. On May 16 to May 30 Doi participated at the Road To Keiji Mutoh Tournament where he lost in the semifinals to Jiro Kuroshio. On August 2, 2015, in the first round of the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix, Doi defeated Masayuki Kono with help from Kazma Sakamoto, after the match, Doi and Kazma Sakamoto attacked Masayuki Kono and announced that Masayuki Kono was banned from the group, later that night Doi advance for the second round losing to Tajiri. On September 6, 2015, it was Desperado against Desperado, Doi and Sakamoto vs Masayuki Kono in a handicap match. Doi and Sakamoto would win the match with help from NOSAWA Rongai who joined the group. On October 13 Doi, Rongai and Sakamoto announced in a press conference that they would rename Desperado to Real Desperado and they were going to focus on winning the UWA World Trios Championship. On November 3, Doi and Real Desperado stablemates Kazma Sakamoto and Nosawa Rongai defeated Jackets (Jiro Kuroshio, Seiki Yoshioka, and Yasufumi Nakanoue) for the UWA World Trios Championship. They lost the title back to Jackets on November 27. One day later Wrestle-1 announced that Doi had been diagnosed with a right distal radius fracture and he would be out of action for three months. On March 12, 2016, Doi made his return match at Wrestle-1 when and Real Desperado stablemate Kazma Sakamoto lost to Jackets (Seiki Yoshioka and Yasufumi Nakanoue). On June 15 Doi participated at the 2016 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix losing to AKIRA at the first round.

On August 11, Wrestle-1 presented an inter-promotional six-man tag team match, which saw AJPW president Jun Akiyama take on former AJPW president Keiji Mutoh. In the match, the AJPW trio of Akiyama, Naoya Nomura, and Yuma Aoyagi was victorious over the Wrestle-1 trio of Doi, Keiji Mutoh, and Kumagoro. Afterwards, Doi turned face and left Real Desperado, forming an alliance with Kumagoro, who also left new Wild order. On October 2, Doi, Kumagoro and Yusuke Kodama unsuccessfully challenged Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba and Seiki Yoshioka for the UWA World Trios Championship. After the match Doi, Kumagoro and Kodama would form an alliance with Wu, Inaba, Yoshioka, Jiro Kuroshio and Kohei Fujimura. In December, Doi and Kumagoro participated at the 2016 World's Strongest Tag Determination League at Block B. During the tournament Doi, Kuroshio, Wu, Inaba, Kodama, Yoshioka, Kumagoro and Fujimura formed a stable named NEW ERA. Two days later, Doi and Kumagoro unsuccessfully challenged Kaz Hayashi and Kotaro Suzuki for the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. At the end of the tournament, Doi and Kumagoro finished the tournament with only two points defeating Nextream (Yuma Aoyagi and Naoya Nomura) and lost the rest of the matches on their block. On January 25, 2017, Doi and Kumagoro produced their own show losing to Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi in the main event. On February 22 Doi defeated Hiroki Murase in the finals of a tournament to become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Result Champion. On March 20, Doi and Kumagoro defeated Kaz Hayashi and Kotaro Suzuki to win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship, becoming a double crown champion in the process. On April 16, Doi, Kumagoro and Andy Wu defeated Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Masayuki Kono to win the UWA World Trios Championship, becoming a triple crown champion in the process. On May 4 Doi and Kumagoro lost the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to Masayuki Kono and Takanori Ito. Later that night Doi challenged Shotaro Ashino into a title match for his Wrestle-1 Championship. On May 6, Doi, Wu and Kumagoro lost the titles to Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Manabu Soya. On June 6, Doi unsuccessfully challanged Ashino for the Wrestle-1 Championship.

On June 24, Doi and Kumagoro defeated Masayuki Kono and Takanori Ito to regain the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. On July 16, Doi lost the Wrestle-1 Result Championship to Takanori Ito. They lost the titles to Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo on September 2. On September 18 Doi, Kumagoro and Jiro Kuroshio defeated Manabu Soya, Nosawa Rongai and Ganseki Tanaka to win the UWA World Trios Championship. In September until October, Doi and Kumagoro took part of the Wrestle-1 Tag League, finishing the tournament with one win, one loss and one draw, advancing to the semifinals. On October 11, Doi and Kumagoro defeated Yuji Hino and Jake Omen in the semifinals and then Daiki Inaba and Jiro Kuroshio in the finals to win the tournament. On October 21 Doi, Kumagoro and Kuroshio lost the titles to Shotaro Ashino, Yusuke Kodama and Seigo Tachibana. Doi and Kumagoro regained the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship back on November 19. Following the win, Doi and Kumagoro regained the UWA World Trios Championship alongside Takanori Ito defeating Ashino, Kodama and Tachibana on December 2, becoming a double crown champion in the process. In the end of 2017, Wrestle-1 named Doi and Kumagoro the best tag team of the year. On March 14 , 2018 Doi, Kumagoro and Ito lost the titles to Mazada, Nosawa Rongai and Fujita. On April 18, Doi and Kumagoro Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to AKIRA and Manabu Soya. After the match, Kumagoro turned on him to join Enfants Terribles. The following day, after some dissension between the group and some infighting NEWERA officially decided to disband. Following his break up with Kumagoro, Doi formed a team with Shuji Kondo, leading the two defeating Jiro Kuroshio and Masato Tanaka to win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship and then they would later defeat Manabu Soya and Daiki Inaba to 2018 Wrestle-1 Tag League.

On March 31, 2020, Doi was released by Wrestle-1, after the promotion suspended its activities on the following day.

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2020–Present)

In September 2020, Doi made an appearance in All Japan Pro Wrestling, announcing that he was going to become a regular in the promotion and that he was the newest member of Enfants Terribles, which was later renamed to Total Eclipse. From April 9 to May 3, 2021, Doi took part in the 2021 Champion Carnival finishing the tournament with a record of one win and nine losses, failling to win the tournament.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Brainbuster – 2017–present
	+ *Himawari Bomb* (Electric chair spun into a elevated sitout powerbomb)
	+ *Liger Bomb* (Standing or a running high-angle sitout powerbomb) – 2012
	+ *Murderer Lariat* (Lariat)
	+ *Nankinjogatame* (Double underhook crossface)
	+ *The Motherfucker* (Double underhook facebuster) – 2014–2016
* **Signature moves**
	+ *BDD* (High-angle belly to back suplex)
	+ Big boot
	+ *Buzzsaw Kick* (High speed roundhouse kick to the head of a seated, kneeling or rising opponent)
	+ Diving leg drop
	+ Dragon suplex
	+ *Noon-Sun Breaker* (Boston crab with a knee to the opponent's back)
	+ Spinebuster
	+ Sidewalk slam
	+ Standing leg drop
* **With Kuma Arashi**
	+ Electric chair (Kuma) followed by a facebuster (Doi)
	+ Chop block (Kuma) and lariat (Doi) combination
	+ Doi body slams Kuma into an opponent
	+ Double belly-to-back suplex
	+ Simultaneous standing leg drop (Doi) and Senton bomb (Kuma)
* **Entrance Themes**
	+ **"Sunflower"** by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi (W-1/AJPW)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Wrestle-1**
	+ Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Kumagoro (3), Shuji Kondo (1) and Daiki Inaba (1)
	+ Wrestle-1 Result Championship (1 time, inaugural)
	+ UWA World Trios Championship (4 times) – with Kazma Sakamoto and Nosawa Rongai (1), Kumagoro and Andy Wu (1), Jiro Kuroshio and Kumgoro (1) and Kumagoro and Takanori Ito (1)
	+ Wrestle-1 Result Championship Tournament (2017)
	+ Wrestle-1 Tag League (2017) – with Kumagoro
	+ Wrestle-1 Tag League (2018) – with Shuji Kondo
	+ Best Tag Team Award (2017) – with Kumagoro

## References

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `cage`
2. ↑ "恐怖の大王"フィンレーがスターバックに圧勝してSMASH王座奪取！華名もディーバ王座から陥落！Iジャ軍vs.北都プロ軍の対抗戦開戦へ  (in jp) (2011-11-24).
3. ↑ 酒井代表が「SMASH第2章はやりません」と明言！SMASHは2年間の歴史に幕を閉じ封印！古巣に凱旋したKUSHIDAは志と夢を再確認  (in jp) (2012-03-14).
4. ↑ Matches « KOJI DOI, WNC Debut « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH . Cagematch.net. Retrieved on 2012-10-14.
5. ↑ WNCプレ旗揚げ戦でTAJIRIがAKIRAに敗れる！大原を一蹴した外道が旗揚げ戦に矢野の投入を予告！華名と真琴が大喧嘩！  (in jp) (2012-04-27).
6. ↑ AKIRAがTAJIRIを、朱里が野崎を下し、シナプスがフィンレーからのベルトを独占！自爆し髪を刈られた黒潮が覚醒！  (in jp) (2012-12-27).
7. ↑ Dark Angelita 2013-11-05. WNC: Los títulos WNC en disputa y la realización de la Copa Dave Finlay  (in es).
8. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. Dave Finlay Cup ..
9. ↑ 新入団選手発表～武藤敬司、Tajiri会見  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-06-18). Retrieved on 2014-06-18.
10. ↑ 児玉裕輔選手、土肥孝司選手、黒潮"イケメン"二郎選手、藤原ライオン選手　新ユニット『Novus（ノウス）』結成発表記者会見  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-07-22). Retrieved on 2014-07-26.
11. ↑ Wrestle-1 Tour 2014 Flashing Summer  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-08-31). Retrieved on 2014-08-31.
12. ↑ 「First Tag League Greatest ～初代タッグ王者決定リーグ戦～」公式戦全日程終了！11月30日（日）東京・後楽園ホール（18時試合開始）大会での決勝トーナメント組み合わせ決定のお知らせ  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-11-28). Retrieved on 2014-12-22.
13. ↑ Error on call to Template:ref web: Parameters **url** and **title** (or **script-title**) must be specified (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-12-22). Retrieved on 2014-12-22.
14. ↑ Error on call to Template:ref web: Parameters **url** and **title** (or **script-title**) must be specified (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-01-30). Retrieved on 2015-01-30.
15. ↑ Error on call to Template:ref web: Parameters **url** and **title** (or **script-title**) must be specified (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-05-30). Retrieved on 2015-05-30.
16. ↑ W-1: Cartel completo para "Flashing Summer – Wrestle-1 Grand Prix" – 02/08/2015 . Superluchas (2015-07-30). Retrieved on 2015-08-18.
17. ↑ NOSAWA論外選手負傷欠場及び9.6埼玉・川口産業技術総合センター大会一部対戦カード変更のお知らせ  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-05-30). Retrieved on 2015-05-30.
18. ↑ W-1 Official Website .
19. ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Autumn Bout」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-11-03). Retrieved on 2015-11-03.
20. ↑ Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Autumn Bout  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-11-27). Retrieved on 2015-11-27.
21. ↑ 土肥孝司選手欠場のお知らせ  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-11-28). Retrieved on 2015-11-28.
22. ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2016 Trans Magic」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2016-03-13). Retrieved on 2016-03-13.
23. ↑ 6月15日（水）「WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2016 OUTBREAK」東京・新宿FACE大会　試合結果  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2014-07-22). Retrieved on 2016-06-15.
24. ↑ *ja:Ｗ－１　秋山が武藤との“全日社長対決”勝利も若手に激怒！* (in Japanese). *Daily Sports Online*. Kobe Shimbun (2016-08-11). Retrieved on 2016-08-11.
25. ↑ *ja:【Ｗ―１】武藤vs秋山３年ぶり対戦 それぞれの思惑* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2016-08-12). Retrieved on 2016-08-12.
26. ↑ 10月2日（日）「WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2016 UPDRAFT」埼玉・川口産業技術総合センター大会 試合結果  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2016-10-02). Retrieved on **"date=2016-10-02" is not a valid date.**.
27. ↑ 若手軍改め「NEW ERA」始動！後楽園でのベルト独占を宣言！  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2016-12-06). Retrieved on 2016-12-06.
28. ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2017 W-Impact  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-02-22). Retrieved on 2017-02-22.
29. ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2017 Trans Magic」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-03-20). Retrieved on 2017-03-20.
30. ↑ 「THE GOLDEN BATTLE IN KOBE FOP支援チャリティー大会  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-04-16). Retrieved on 2017-04-16.
31. ↑ 「WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2017 TRIUMPH」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-05-04). Retrieved on 2017-05-04.
32. ↑ 「WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2017 OUTBREAK」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-06-06). Retrieved on 2017-06-07.
33. ↑ 「Wrestle-1 Tour 2017 Outbreak」  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2017-06-24). Retrieved on 2017-06-24.