Oji Shiiba

Oji in November 2022

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Aso, Kumamoto, Japan

**Oji Shiiba** (椎葉旺詞, *Shiiba Ouji*, ring name: 椎葉おうじ) is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained and known for his work for Dragon Gate. He is currently working for GLEAT. Oji has a older brother Kotoka, whom he faced in his retirement on March 6, 2018.

## Professional wrestling career

### Dragon Gate (2017-2021)

Shiiba debuted at the Dragon Gate NEX Sanctuary.160 on December 8th, 2017, losing to Shun Skywalker. On December 23, he made his main roster debut at Final Gate, teaming with Hyou Watanabe losing to Skywalker and Yuki Yoshioka in a dark match. Shortly, after his brother Kotoka announced that he was going to retire, Oji participated in a tag team match with his brother on January 21, 2018, ultimately losing to Osaka06 (CIMA and Gamma). Afterwards, CIMA praised Oji's efforts and wished him good luck in his career. Instead of having a traditional trainee attire with black colors, Oji used his own ring attire and also adopted Kotoka's catchphrase "Veeeh!!!". As it is customary for most professional wrestlers, Oji spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Oji some in-ring, televised, experience. During Kotoka's retirement tour, Oji occasionally teamed with his brother. On March 3 Oji made his televised debut at Champion Gate in Osaka, teaming with Kotoka losing to Dragon Kid and Kzy. On March 6, Oji faced his brother in his retirement match in a losing effort. On September 30, 2019, Oji returned after being sidelined with an injury, in a match with Jason Lee in a losing effort against R.E.D (Kazma Sakamoto and Diamante). In December 2019, he aligned with the Dragon Gate Generation in order to unite all Dragon Gate generation of wrestlers against Toryumon and R.E.D in a "Generational War". On December 27, 2020, after R.E.D forced Toryumon to disband, YAMATO decided to disband the Dragon Gate Generation stable, ending the "Generational War". On April 30, 2021, Shiiba announced that he would be leaving Dragon Gate to go freelance where he later would rehabilitating from a knee injury.

### Dove Pro Wrestling (2021–present)

Shiiba took a year and a half hiatus from professional wrestling and mad his return at *Dove Pro Bump Bump Revolution 17* on December 18, 2021, where he fell short to Kohei Kinoshita. At a house show from February 18, 2023, he defeated Naoki Tanizaki to capture the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship, bringing the title under the jurisdiction of Dove Pro. At *Indie Junior Festival ~ We Are All Alive 2*, an independent event organized by the Japanese independent circuit on May 31, 2023, Shiiba dropped the title to Yasu Urano only to win it back the same night.

### Tenryu Project (2022–present)

Another promotion in which Shiiba appears is Tenryu Project. He made his debut in the promotion at *Tenryu Project Osaka Crush Night 2022* on April 2, where he teamed up with Kazumasa Yoshida in a losing effort against Leona and Kengo. He continued to make appearances in the "Crush Night" series of events and appeared again at a house show from June 4, 2022, where he teamed up with Tsubasa and "brother" YASSHI in a losing effort against Naoki Tanizaki, Toru and Yusuke Kodama. He saw himself competing in other kinds of match gimmicks such as a battle royal from *Tenryu Project Wrestle And Romance Vol. 8* on November 12, 2022, bout which he won, defeating various notable opponents such as Drew Parker, Kaji Tomato, Kohei Sato, Masayuki Kono, Kouki Iwasaki, Sushi, Mizuki Watase and many others. At *Tenryu Project Wrestle And Romance Vol. 11* on March 26, 2023, Shiiba teamed up with Takuro Niki and defeated Kenichiro Arai and Rey Paloma to capture the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

### GLEAT (2022–present)

Another promotion in which Shiiba appears is GLEAT. He made his debut in the promotion at *GLEAT Face-Off ~ Access 2 TDCH 2022* on June 5, where he fell short to El Lindaman. He continued to seldomly make appearances at various shows. At *GLEAT G PROWRESTLING Ver. 33* on September 10, 2022, he teamed up with The Rule (Ayato Yoshida and Shigehiro Irie) in a losing effort against Bulk Orchestra (Kazma Sakamoto, Quiet Storm and Ryuichi Kawakami). Shiiba joined the "60 Seconds" stable at the end of 2022. At *GLEAT Ver. EX Face-Off ~ Access 2 TDCH 2023* on June 7, 2023, he teamed up with stablemates Jun Tonsho and Keiichi Sato in a losing effort against Black Generation International (Kotaro Suzuki, Yutani) and Emperador Azteca.

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2022–present)

Shiiba started competing regularly in All Japan Pro Wrestling since 2022. He made his first appearance in the promotion at *AJPW Champions Night 4 ~ 50th Anniversary Tour* on June 19, 2022, where he picked up a win over Ryo Inoue. He competed in one of the promotion's signature events, the AJPW Junior Tag League, making his first appearace at the 2023 edition, where he teamed up with Ryo Inoue and scored a total of two points after going against the teams of Black Generation International (Kaito Ishida and Kotaro Suzuki), Zennichi Shin Jidai (Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO), Naoki Tanizaki and Naruki Doi, and Dan Tamura and Hikaru Sato.

## Personal life

Oji also has an older brother named Kotoka who has wrestled for Dragon Gate before his retirement. He faced his older brother Kotoka on his retirement match on March 6, 2018.

## In wrestling

* **Signature moves**
	+ Dropkick sometimes to a seated opponent
	+ Elbow smash
	+ Hurricanrana into a pin
	+ Open-handed chop
	+ Springboard moonsault
	+ Vertical suplex
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Live my dreams"
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Dragon Storm 2007" (Instrumental Version)" by JAM Project
	+ "Live my dreams" (VerserK Version) by Masakazu Murada (used while teaming with Kotoka and in singles competition)
	+ "Live my dreams #2" by Masakazu Murada (Trinote)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Dove Pro-Wrestling**
	+ Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times, current)
* **Hard Hit**
	+ 1st Break Through Tournament (2022)
* **Tenryu Project**
	+ International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Takuro Niki