Rionne Fujiwara

###

Sydney, Australia

**Rionne McAvoy** pronounced rye-own (born on July 2 1986) is an Australian professional wrestler of English and Irish descent, most known for his work with Wrestle-1. He his better known under the ring name Rionne Fujiwara.

## Early Life

At the end of 2011, McAvoy had a chance meeting with then Smash wrestler Akira Nogami and convinced him that his future lay in pro wrestling. When Smash closed its doors in January 2012, McAvoy joined the Wrestling New Classic (WNC) dojo in April of that year. Wrestling New Classic was operated by Yoshihiro Tajiri.

## Professional wrestling career

### Wrestling New Classic (WNC) (2013-2014)

McAvoy debuted on 28 February 2013 and adopted the Koji Clutch as his finish, later tweaking it and renaming it the "Rionne Clutch". He has since stopped using this after becoming Fujiwara. At the 29 August Shinjuku Face event, Rionne defeated Jiro Kuroshio. He announced straight after the match that he wanted to wrestle the legendary Yoshiaki Fujiwara at WNC's 31 October Korakuen Hall event. After losing to Fujiwara, McAvoy was given the new ring name Rionne Fujiwara as he was accepted as the latest recruit to the Fujiwara Gumi (group).

On June 18, 2014, Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Effective July 1, six former WNC wrestlers, Kodama included, transferred over to the Wrestle-1 promotion. WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Face.

### Squared Circle Wrestling (2014)

McAvoy made his North American debut for Syracuse, New York–based Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) on April 18th, 2014, taking on Jay Freddie in Watertown, New York. The following night, April 19th, Rionne wrestled former WWE superstar Matt Hardy.

### Wrestle-1 (2014-2015)

After being transfered to Wrestle-1 Fujiwara formed a stable with three other former WNC wrestlers; Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Yusuke Kodama named Novus. Fujiwara then would compete as a jobber to gain more experience in the company. On April 19, 2015 Fujiwara took part in a tournament to crown the first Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. Fujiwara would loose at the first round to Hiroshi Yamato.

On June 26, Wrestle-1 announced the results of their recent contract negotiations with their wrestlers. Fujiwara became the second person became the second wrestler to leave the promotion following his contract expiring at the end of the month.

### Freelancer (2015-Present)

After almost one year later Fujiwara made his professional wrestling return match at Pro Wrestling Heat Up teaming with Fuminori Abe and Minoru Tanaka losing to Hiroshi Watanabe, Kazuhiro Tamura and Mineo Fujita. Then Fujiwara would compete in Dramatic Dream Team and in Land's End Pro Wrestling.

In December 2016 after the Suzuki-gun storyline with Pro Wrestling Noah the president of NOAH Masayuki Uchida announced that he would let freelancers to wrestle in NOAH. On December 9 Fujiwara made his debut in Pro Wrestling Noah losing to Kaito Kiyomiya. Fujiwara continued working for Noah in January 2017, working a number of dates on the First Navig. 2017 tour and also February on the Second Navig. 2017.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Fujiwara armbar - adopted from Yoshiaki Fujiwara
	+ Rolling cutter
* **Signature moves**
	+ Bulldog
	+ Crossface chickenwing
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Arm wrench hook
		- Roundhouse
		- *Nidan Geri* (Bicycle kick)
		- Scissors
		- Shoot
		- Running drop, from the apron to an opponent draped on the ropes
	+ Step-up high knee
	+ Suicide dive
	+ Vertical suplex

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pacific Pro Wrestling**
	+ Pacific Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Rionne Fujiwara  (in Japanese). *Wrestle One*. Retrieved on 2013-05-13.
2. ↑ WNC Results August 29th .
3. ↑ http://keepingthespiritalive.tumblr.com/post/65611476723/wnc-tajiri-vs-taka-michinoku-results-for-october-31
4. ↑ 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.
5. ↑ ＷＮＣ超満員のラスト興行  (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2014-06-27). Retrieved on 2014-06-27.
6. ↑ 2CW results . *Squared Circle Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-04-20.
7. ↑ 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.
8. ↑ *ja:契約選手に関するお知らせ* (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2015-06-26). Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
9. ↑ *ja:Wrestle-1が武藤らと契約更新* (in Japanese). *Daily Sports Online*. Kobe Shimbun (2015-06-26). Retrieved on 2015-06-27.

## External links

* Rionne Fujiwara (Japanese)
* Yankee Rionne Bio