Yuma Aoyagi

Yuma in September 2023

###

Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan

**Yuma Aoyagi** (青柳優馬, *Aoyagi Yūma*, born November 2, 1995), is a Japanese professional wrestler trained and signed by All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He is also the older brother of professional wrestler, Atsuki Aoyagi.

Aoyagi made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on December 14, 2014, and worked in the mid-card, in order to gain experience in AJPW's junior heavyweight division. In September 2016, Aoyagi became part of the Nextream stable, alongside Kento Miyahara, Naoya Nomura and Jake Lee, they became known as the "new Four Pillars of Heaven". The stable marked a major turning point for the career of Aoyagi, a junior heavyweight that ascended into heavyweight division, which led him to win the All Asia and World Tag Team Championships. As his status began rising over the following years, AJPW began positioning him as one of their next "faces of the company" in the main event picture, leading him to win AJPW's premier tournament, the Champion Carnival in 2022 and AJPW's top title, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in July 2023.

## Early Life

Yuma Aoyagi was born on November 2, 1995, in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture of Japan. Up to Junior High School, Aoyagi would be playing soccer and watching professional wrestling on television and in live venues, along with his father who also was a pro wrestling fan. While giving his high school exams at Tagawa High School in Nagano Prefecture, he would go from liking pro-wrestling to telling his parents that he was determined to become a pro wrestler.

## Professional Wrestling Career

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2014-present)

After graduating from high school, Yuma Aoyagi joined All Japan Pro Wrestling's dojo system on April 1, 2014. After 8 months in a trainee period, he made his debut as a Junior Heavyweight on December 14 losing to Kento Miyahara in Korakuen Hall. Aoyagi debuted in blue short tights reminiscent of Jun Akiyama's original debut color. It was later revealed that the tights were Akiyama's as he gave them to the young rookie as a gift for his hard work. On July 7, 2015, Aoyagi picked up his first win by defeating fellow rookie Naoya Nomura. In November, Aoyagi and Nomura took part in the 2015 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the tournament with a record of one win and five losses, failing to advance to the finals.

On January 3, 2016, Aoyagi challenged Yohei Nakajima to a title match for the Gaora TV Championship, which he failed to win on February 12. On July 20, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Super J-Cup, Aoyagi lost to Suzuki-gun's Taichi at the first round. On May 4, AJPW president Jun Akiyama made a surprise appearance for Wrestle-1, facing off with Keiji Mutoh with the two agreeing to a tag team match against each other on August 11. On August 11, Wrestle-1 presented an interpromotional 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 Aoyagi, Akiyama and were victorious over the Wrestle-1 trio of Mutoh, Koji Doi and Kumagoro. Koji Doi and Kumagoro.

Shortly after, Aoyagi formed a team with Nomura and on September 19, they became part of Nextream, after accepting Kento Miyahara and Jake Lee's offer to join the stable. Shortly after, the four became known as the "new Four Pillars of Heaven". In November, Aoyagi and reigning World Junior Heavyweight Championship Soma Takao took part in the 2016 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory with the reigning World Junior Heavyweight Championship Soma Takao, finished the tournament with a record of two wins, one loss and one draw, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On November 17, Aoyagi and Takao were defeated by Atsushi Aoki and Hikaru Sato in the finals. In December, Aoyagi and Nomura took part in the 2016 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the tournament with a record of one win and four losses, failing to advance to the finals. On January 3, 2017 Aoyagi unsuccessfully challenged Keisuke Ishii for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

In August, Aoyagi entered in a feud with Suzuki-gun member Taichi. This led to a rematch billed as a "revenge match", with Taichi portraying the heel. At the All Japan 45th Anniversary Show, Aoyagi lost to Tachi in their rematch.

After graduating to the heavyweight division on September 12, 2017, Aoyagi and Nomura defeated Taka Michinoku and Black Tiger VII to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship on September 30. After four successful title defenses, they were forced to relinquish the titles, after fracturing his leg in a match with Ryoji Sai on January 25, 2018. On June 5, Aoyagi made his return from injury, teaming with Nomura, Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu in a losing against Dylan James, Jake Lee, Koji Iwamoto and Ryoji Sai. Aoyagi and Nomura received their rematch for the All Asia Tag Team Championship on June 12 losing to Yuji Nagata and Jun Akiyama. They manage to regain the titles in their second attempt on July 29. From November 13 to December 11, Aoyagi and Nomura took part in the 2018 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and seven losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. They vacated the titles later that year, after Nomura joined Sweeper.

On January 3, 2020, after his Nextream stablemate Kento Miyahara made his ninth title defense against Jake Lee, Aoyagi turned on Miyahara and challenged him to a title for his Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On January 11, Aoyagi announced that if Miyahara defeated him in a singles Championship contest, he would leave Nextream. Miyahara would do so, and thus Aoyagi would be forced to leave the stable which he had been a member of for the past years. During this time Izanagi would offer Aoyagi a place in the Purple Haze stable, yet he would decline, and would go on during this time tagging with his brother Atsuki Aoyagi.

In September, Aoyagi took part of the 2020 Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and two losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament. Following the tournament, on November 15, Aoyagi approached Miyahara to reform Nextream for the upcoming 2020 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, which led Miyahara to accept. From November 22 until December 7, Aoyagi and Miyahara took part in the 2020 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, winning the tournament, with a record of five wins and two losses. On January 2, 2021, Aoyagi and Miyahara defeated Suwama and Shuji Ishikawa to win the World Tag Team Championship. From April 9 to May 3, Aoyagi took part in the 2021 Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and four losses. On September 7, Aoyagi and Miyahara lost the World Tag Team Championship to Suwama and Shotaro Ashino. In April, Aoyagi took part in the 2022 Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins, one draw and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament, after drawing with Nextream stablemate Kento Miyahara on the final day. On May 4, Aoyagi defeated Jake Lee in the finals to win the 2022 Champion Carnival in the process, he became the youngest wrestler to win the tournament at 26 years old. On May 15, Aoyagi unsucessfully challenged his Nextream stablemate Kento Miyahara for the for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Aoyagi requested his former ally Naoya Nomura to return to AJPW in the future. On May 29, Aoyagi announced on Twitter that he was leaving Nextream in order to focus on his singles career. In August, Aoyagi took part in the 2022 Ōdō Tournament, losing in the first round to Naoya Nomura. On October 30, Nomura asked Aoyagi to form an alliance for the Real Blood show on December 26, which he accepted.

On January 2, 2023, Aoyagi and Nomura defeated The Saito Brothers (Jun Saito and Rei Saito) to become the number one contenders to the World Tag Team Championship. On January 22, Aoyagi and Nomura defeated Kento Miyahara and Takuya Nomura to win the World Tag Team Championship. On February 4, Aoyagi unsucessfully challenged Miyahara for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Aoyagi, Miyahara, his brother Atsuki and Rising HAYATO, formed a stable dubbed "Zennichi Shin Jidai" (New Age of All Japan in English), alongside Shuji Ishikawa, Yuma Anzai and Ryo Inoue, as a reaction against the influence of wrestlers from other promotions, who appeared or held titles in AJPW making them an anti-invader stable. On March 21, Aoyagi and Nomura lost the World Tag Team Championship to Pro Wrestling Noah's KONGOH (Kenoh and Manabu Soya). From April 8 and May 7, Aoyagi took part in the 2023 Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On June 15, Aoyagi and Miyahara defeated Kenoh and Manabu Soya to win the World Tag Team Championship. On June 10, Aoyagi and his brother Atsuki defeated Masayuki Kono and Yusuke Kodama in a tournament final to become the inaugural Tenryu Project's United National Tag Team Champions. On June 17, Aoyagi challenged Yuji Nagata to a title match for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On July 2, Aoyagi defeated Nagata to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time, becoming a sextuple crown champion in the process. On July 16, Aoyagi and his brother Atsuki lost the United National Tag Team Championship to Suwama and Dan Tamura. On July 22, Aoyagi made his first successful defense of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Hokuto Omori. His second successful defense took place on August 6 against Suwama, followed by his third against Satoshi Kojima on September 3. At the end of the month, Aoyagi made his fourth title defense against Ryuki Honda on September 23. On October 9, Ayoagi and Miyahara lost the World Tag Team Championship to Jun Saito and Rei Saito. His made his fifth title defense on October 21 against Kento Miyahara. On November 5, Aoyagi lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Katsuhiko Nakajima.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *End Game* (Hammerlock guillotine choke)
	+ *Rockstar Buster* (Modified leghook fisherman buster)
	+ *The Fool* (Spinning modified leghook fisherman buster) - 2022
* **Signature moves**
	+ Backslide
	+ Brainbuster
	+ Corkscrew somersault plancha
	+ DDT on the apron (Sometimes to the floor)
	+ Diving crossbody
	+ Diving elbow drop
	+ Dropkick
	+ German suplex
	+ Jumping forearm smash
	+ Piledriver
	+ Snap suplex
	+ Spin kick - adopted from Koki Kitahara
	+ *Staff Roll* (Hammerlock guillotine choke transitioned into a small package)
* **With Naoya Nomura**
	+ Spear (Nomura) into a Jackknife hold (Aoyagi) combination
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Rockstar"
	+ **"Inshitsu faitā"** (Japanese for "Insidious Fighter")
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Disillusion" (used in his debut)
	+ "**Rockstar**" by tA2

## Championships and Accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ All Asia Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Naoya Nomura
	+ World Tag Team Championship (3 times) –with Kento Miyahara (2) and Naoya Nomura (1)
	+ Champion Carnival (2022)
	+ New Year Battle Royal Championship (2016)
	+ Nemuro Shokudō Cup 6-Man Tag Tournament (2017) – with Kento Miyahara and Jake Lee
	+ World's Strongest Tag Determination League (2020, 2021) – with Kento Miyahara
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ PWI ranked him #**322** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
	+ PWI ranked him #**228** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021
* **Tenryu Project**
	+ United National Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Atsuki Aoyagi
	+ United National Tag Team Championship tournament (2023) – with Atsuki Aoyagi
* ***Tokyo Sports***
	+ Rookie of the Year (2017)
	+ Technique Award (2023)

## References

1. ↑ *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.
2. ↑ *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.
3. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017 . *The Internet Wrestling Database*. Retrieved on 2017-09-08.
4. ↑ *ja:【プロレス大賞】全日・青柳優馬が“滑り込みセーフ”で新人賞* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2017-12-14). Retrieved on 2017-12-13.