Yusuke Okada

###

Osaka, Japan

**Yusuke Okada** (岡田佑介, *Okada Yusuke*, born March 8, 1993) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT).

Okada was trained by the AJPW and working in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), for three years, being part of the Evolution stable. During his stint in the promotion, Okada won the 2019 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory, before leaving AJPW in December 2020.

## Early Life

Okada when he was young he played football, he was a classmate of later football player Ataru Esaka of the Kashiwa Reysol. After graduating from the Ashiya University, Okada went on to become a Police officer and later took part in the Riot Police Unit. He would quit his police career to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.

## Professional wrestling career

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2017-2020)

He would take an introductory test to the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo and passed. After six months of training, he would debut on January 9, 2017, losing to Yuma Aoyagi. As is customary for most professional wrestlers, Okada spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Okada some in-ring, televised, experience. At AJPW 45th Anniversary, on August 27 Okada faced Keiichi Sato in a losing effort, despite his shoulders were up. After the match, Okada went on to attack Sato, in which, the brawl was quickly braked up by the referee. In November Okada took part of the Jr. Tag Battle of Glory, teaming with Koji Iwamoto, finishing with a record fo one win and three losses.

On January 17, 2018, Okada made his debut in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) losing to fellow rookie Yuya Aoki. On February 3, after months of appealing to join Evolution, Okada was finally accepted to join stable after saving Suwama, from a post-match assault by Kazuyuki Fujita, Nosawa Rongai and Kendo Kashin. Later that same month, Okada took part of the Jr. Battle of Glory, finishing almost in the last place with a record of one win and four losses, having only defeated Keiichi Sato in a rematch. On May 2, it was announced that Okada suffered a right ankle injury. Okada made his return from injury on October 6, teaming with his Evolution stablemate Hikaru Sato in a losing effort against Sweeper (Jake Lee and Koji Iwamoto). On November 29, Okada challenged Iwamoto to a match for his World Junior Heavyweight Championship, losing to Koji Iwamoto on January 2, 2019. In July, Okada was supposed to team with Akira Francesco in the 2019 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory, but following Atsushi Aoki's death on June 3, Okada decided to replace him in order to honor his memory, teaming with their Evolution stablemate Hikaru Sato. Okada and Sato finished the tournament with a record of three wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On July 28, Okada and Sato defeated Kagetora and Yosuke♥Santa Maria in the finals to win the tournament.

On December 8, 2020 Okada announced that he was leaving AJPW after his contract expired on December 31 with his last match for the promotion being on December 13. On December 13, Okada made his last match for the promotion teaming with Chikara and Yoshitatsu in a losing effort against Jun Kasai, Kenji Fukimoto and Masashi Takeda.

### DDT Pro-Wrestling (2020-present)

On January 3, 2020, Okada made his debut in DDT Pro-Wrestling, challenging Sanshiro Takagi to a match, with the match being scheduled to January 9. On March 14, 2021 Okada unsuccesfully challenged Yuki Ueno for the DDT Universal Championship. On March 26, 2021 Okada officially signed with DDT after leaving AJPW a year prior. On July 24, Okada was invited in the Junretsu stable by Jun Akiyama who was his mentor in AJPW. On October 12, at Get Alive, Junretsu failed to capture the KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Championship from Team Olympian (Yoshiaki Yatsu, Akito, Hiroshi Yamato and Keigo Nakamura). As a result, and as per Junretsu leader Makoto Oishi's decision, the stable disbanded on October 23. On December 7, DDT announced that, at the request of Tetsuya Endo and Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi had endorsed the reformation of the Burning stable (originally formed in 1998, in AJPW) for its fourth incarnation Okada would be invited to join the stable alongside Yuya Koroku. On December 29, 2022, Okada, Endo and their new stablemate Kotaro Suzuki defeated Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata to win KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championships winning his first championship in professional wrestling. They lost the titles to Shinya Aoki, Super Sasadango Machine and Yuki Ueno on February 26, 2023.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Intercept* (Tornado DDT)
	+ *Sudden Death* (Fisherman buster)
	+ *Tricolore* (Tornado DDT twisted into a small package) – 2021–present
* **Signature moves**
	+ Big boot
	+ Camel clutch
	+ Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope
	+ Diving headbutt
	+ Elbow smash
	+ Multiple Boston crab variations
		- Elevated
		- Single leg
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Belly-to-back
		- Bridging fisherman
		- German
		- Vertical
	+ Running knee to an opponent's chest
	+ Spin-out powerbomb
	+ Suicide dive
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"When it Shines"** by Osamu Suzuki

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ Jr. Tag Battle of Glory (2019) – with Hikaru Sato
* **DDT Pro-Wrestling**
	+ KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tetsuya Endo and Kotaro Suzuki