The Big Guns

Zeus at left and Bodyguard in the right

**The Big Guns** (ザ・ビッグガンズ, *Za Biggu Ganzu*) were a professional wrestling tag team consisted of Zeus and The Bodyguard. Their name derived from Zeus boxing background and Bodyguard's being a former bodybuilder. They were best known for their work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where they are former four-times World Tag Team Champions.

The Big Guns were also known for their time at Osaka Pro Wrestling, where they are former two-times Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions and the winners of 2013 Osaka Tag Festival. The team was formed after Bodyguard was kicked out of JOKER for not attacking Zeus, thus forming a team.

They have also worked for numerous independent wrestling such as Smash, DDT, Wrestling New Classic, and Pro Wrestling Zero1.

## History

### Osaka Pro Wrestling (2011–2013)

On January 29, 2011 Zeus defeated The Bodyguard in a singles match, despite having his JOKER stablemates at ringside. After the match, Zeus was attacked by JOKER, but Bodyguard refused to attack Zeus. This led JOKER turning on him, but Zeus went on to help Bodyguard and the two formed a team. On February 12, Zeus and Bodyguard defeated JOKER’s Kuuga and Orochi to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. They would lose the titles to Orochi and Tadasuke in a three-way tag team match also involving Daisuke Harada and Atsushi Kotoge on March 19. The two would later name their team The Big Guns due to Zeus boxing background and Bodyguard's being a former bodybuilder.

The Big Guns also competed for Pro Wrestling Zero1 and Wrestling New Classic, where they produced their own shows. The year of 2012 wasn't a good year for the two, they would mostly compete in mid-card matches winning the most of them and even took part of the Osaka Tag Festival and received an opportunity for the vacant Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. The following year they ended up doing better, despite starting badly the year, after losing to Kazuaki Mihara and Tadasuke for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. The two ended up winning the 2013 Osaka Tag Festival, after finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and two losses. This led them facing Mihara and Tadasuke in a rematch for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship, which they ended up losing on July 21. The Big Guns managed to finally win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship on October 27, defeating Mihara and Tadasuke in a second rematch. On December 23 Zeus and Bodyguard faced each other in the finals of the Tennozan, where Zeus ended up winning the tournament.

On January 19, 2014 Zeus defeated Quiet Storm to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. On March 1, 2014, it was announced that Osaka Pro Wrestling would be folding due to financial difficulties on April 20 with all of its workers becoming freelancers. However, it was later announced that Osaka Pro would continue under new management. This led Zeus and The Bodyguard relinquishing their titles, due to leaving the promotion. The Big Guns made their last match at Osaka Pro on April 20 teaming with Quiet Storm in a losing effort against Billyken Kid, Bull Armor Takuya and Black Buffalo.

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–2019)

On March 28 Zeus and The Bodyguard made their debut in AJPW by defeating Menso re-Oyaji and Sushi. On May 16 Zeus and The Bodyguard unsuccessfully challenged Evolution's Joe Doering and Suwama for the World Tag Team Championship. In November Zeus and The Bodyguard took part of the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League for the vacant World Tag Team Champions, finishing with a record of four wins and three losses, falling to advance to the finals. On January 12, 2015 Zeus faced KENSO in 1º contenders match to the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, in which he ended up being victorious. On February 7 Zeus unsuccessfully challenged Go Shiozaki for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Zeus and Bodyguard received a second shot for the World Tag Team Championship unsuccessfully challenging Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara on May 31. Despite losing to Shiozaki and Miyahara, Zeus and Bodyguard defeated former World Tag Team Champions Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie on August 15. The following day, Zeus unsuccessfully challenged Akebono for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. In November Zeus and The Bodyguard took part of the 2015 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing with a record of three wins and two losses, advancing to the finals. In the finals, Zeus and Bodyguard were defeated by Kento Miyahara and Suwama.

After numerous attempts, Zeus and Bodyguard managed to win the vacant World Tag Team Champions by defeating Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori) on December 23. On February 12, 2016 Zeus faced Kento Miyahara for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. They lost the title to Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi) on June 15, before regaining it on November 27. They lost the title to KAI and Kengo Mashimo in their fifth title defense on May 21, before regaining it on June 11. Zeus and Bodyguard lost the titles to Nextream's Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura on July 17. Zeus and Bodyguard received their rematch on July 28 failing to win the title back from Lee and Nomura. In December Zeus and The Bodyguard took part of the 2017 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals. On January 2, 2018 Zeus unsuccessfully challenged Joe Doering for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On February 25, Zeus and Bodyguard defeated Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu to regain the World Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Ryoji Sai and Dylan James on March 25. On July 29, Bodyguard defeated Ryoji Sai to win the All Asia Heavyweight Championship. In the main event, Zeus defeated Kento Miyahara to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On October 21, 2018 Zeus lost the title back to Miyahara. From November 13 to December 11, Zeus and Bodyguard took part in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. In November 2019 The Big Guns would quietly disband after Zeus and Bodyguard started to focus on their singles careers.

## Personal lives

Kurakawa (Bodyguard) and Obayashi (Zeus) co-own "King Gym", a power and strength gym in their hometown of Osaka, Japan.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing tag team moves**
	+ *Muscle Explosion* (Doomsday Device)
* **The Bodyguard's finishing moves**
	+ *The Bounce* (Military press into a falling powerslam)
	+ *Bodybreak* (Argentine backbreaker rack into a Samoan drop
* **Zeus's finishing moves**
	+ *Jackhammer* (Vertical Suplex Powerslam)
	+ *Jihad* (Argentine Neckbreaker)

## Championships and Accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ World Tag Team Championship (4 times)
* **Osaka Pro Wrestling**
	+ Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (2 times)
	+ Osaka Tag Festival (2013)

## References

1. ↑ Philip Kreikenbohm. Matches « Big Guns . cagematch.net.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Philip Kreikenbohm. Matches « Big Guns . cagematch.net.