Shinjiro Otani

Otani in January 2020

###

Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Perfecture, Japan

**Shinjiro Otani** (大谷晋二郎, *Ōtani Shinjirō*, born July 21, 1972) is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work Pro Wrestling ZERO1 where he is also the acting President of the company.

## Career

### New Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–2001)

Otani was the first WCW World Cruiserweight Champion, defeating Wild Pegasus in a tournament final to be crowned champion on March 20, 1996. This was the start of his push as a legitimate junior heavyweight contender. Over the years, Otani earned the J-Crown and was also part of the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions with Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

In 2000, New Japan booker Riki Choshu, eager to push his protégé Kensuke Sasaki above everyone else, downgraded the junior heavyweight members to mere jobbers for the heavyweights. Otani protested and was sent abroad to bulk up. Returning in 2001 as a full-fledged heavyweight, Otani challenged Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but failed.

### Pro Wrestling Zero-One/Zero-1 Max/Zero1 (2001–present)

He then joined Shinya Hashimoto in creating their own promotion, Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he became one of the top stars after Hashimoto's departure in 2004 and subsequent death. During the company's relaunch following Hashimoto's death it was renamed to Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. In ZERO1 he formed a tag team with Masato Tanaka called Emblem; Team Emblem (as they were later known) would appear in the US promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling, and include Keiji Sakoda. This tag team has formed, disbanded, and reformed numerous times during Otani's time in ZERO1. EMBLEM would go on to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (ZERO1's top Tag Team Title Belt) two times. (Otani has held that title 4 times) Otani has won ZERO1's annual round-robin tournament the Fire Festival three separate times (2001, 2002, 2005). On January 22, 2006, Otani defeated Steve Corino for the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. On December 24, 2007 it was announced by ZERO1's parent company FIRST ON STAGE that Otani would become the President of ZERO1. Otani took office officially on January 23, 2007, replacing previous President Yoshiyuki Nakamura who became Director of FIRST ON STAGE. He defeated Yuji Nagata on February 27, 2009, to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Otani made a special return to New Japan, when he replaced an injured Daichi Hashimoto in a tag team match, where he and Keiji Mutoh were defeated by Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima.

Beginning in September 2015, Otani downgraded himself back to the junior heavyweight division, proclaiming that the division had "lost its way" and "needed more heart". On September 23, he reformed his junior heavyweight team with Tatsuhito Takaiwa and defeated NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champions Takuya Sugawara and "brother" YASSHI to win the titles, the team's fourth tag team title overall and their first in 15 years. On October 11 Otani defeated Minoru Tanaka (who had defeated him and Takaiwa in 2000, along with Koji Kanemoto, to end their second IWGP junior tag reign) to win both the Zero1 International and NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championships. On Febuary 3, 2017 Otani lost the Zero1 International and NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championships to Kotaro Suzuki. On May 12 Otani and Takaiwa defeated Minoru Tanaka and Koji Kanemoto to won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champions in which he and Takaiwa lost the titles on May 21 to Ikuto Hidaka and Takuya Sugawara. On June 17, 2021 Otani announced that he was leaving ZERO1 to wrestle more regulary for Ganbare☆Puroresu from July 27 onwards. On March 10, 2022 during a match against Takashi Sugiura, he would take a German Suplex to the turnbuckle. However, he announced to the referee that he could not move. The match was stopped immediately, with being taken immediately to a nearby hospital. On March 13, he underwent a successful spinal surgery, with him currently recovering in the hospital.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Bridging dragon suplex
	+ *King Cobra Clutch* (Bridging cobra clutch or a cobra clutch with bodyscissors)
	+ *Spiral Bomb* (Spinning sitout powerbomb)
* **Signature moves**
	+ DDT
	+ Facewash
	+ Multiple Suplex Variations
		- Belly to back
		- Release dragon
		- Release german
		- Snap
	+ Springboard into either a DDT or a spinning wheel kick
	+ Wheel kick

* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Honō no Senshi"** (Japanese for the "Warrior of the Flame")

### Wrestlers trained

* Buffa
* Medianoche
* Jo Kyung Ho
* Daichi Hashimoto
* Shoji Fukushima

## Championships and accomplishments

* **HUSTLE**
	+ Hustle King Hashimoto Memorial Six-Man Tag Tournament (2006) – with Tadao Yasuda & Masato Tanaka
* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tatsuhito Takaiwa
	+ J-Crown (1 time)
	+ NWA World Welterweight Championship (2 times)
	+ UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ UWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ Super Grade Junior Heavyweight Tag League (1994) – with Wild Pegasus
	+ One Night Eight Man Tag Team Tournament (1994) – with El Samurai, Gran Hamada and Great Sasuke
* **Pro Wrestling Zero1**
	+ AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Yuki Ishikawa (1), Masato Tanaka (2), Akebono (1), Takao Omori (1), Kamikaze (1) and Yumehito Imanari (1)
	+ NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tatsuhito Takaiwa
	+ NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ Fire Festival (2001, 2002, 2005, 2010)
	+ Furinkazan (2009) – with Akebono
	+ Furinkazan (2020) – with Yumehito Imanari
* **Premier Wrestling Federation**
	+ PWF Universal Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Masato Tanaka
* **Premium**
	+ Yuke's Cup Tag Tournament (2008) – with Hiroyoshi Tenzan
* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him #**125** of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
	+ PWI also ranked him #**42** of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Tatsuhito Takaiwa in 2003
* **Wrestle Association "R"**
	+ WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tatsuhito Takaiwa
* **Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards**
	+ Best Technical Wrestler (1999)
	+ Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Tatsuhito Takaiwa
* **Real Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ RJPW Legend Championship (1 time)

1The championship was won in Tokyo, Japan as part of an interpromotional card between New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Profile at Puroresu Central . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2013-11-26.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Pro Wrestling llustrated 500 – 2004 :87 Shinjiro Ohtani". *Pro Wrestling Illustrated*. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. October 2004. p. 27. December 2004.
3. ↑ Brady, Hicks. "2006: The year in wrestling". *PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts* (2007 ed.). Kappa Publications. p. 17.
4. ↑ Wrestle Kingdom 7 ～Evolution～ in 東京ドーム  (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2013-01-04.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *ja:10/11Zero １『 Change the World 』後楽園大会　試合結果* (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Zero1* (2015-10-11). Retrieved on 2015-10-11.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=605&page=14
7. ↑ http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/hustle/tournaments.html#sixman
8. ↑ Super Grade Junior Heavyweight Tag League . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2015-06-19.
9. ↑ "1994 Especial!". *Box y Lucha Magazine*Spanish. January 8, 1994. pp. 2–28. issue 2176.
10. ↑ 9月23日後楽園ホール大会試合結果  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Zero1*. Retrieved on 2015-09-23.
11. ↑ http://www.puroresumission.com/tournaments/zero1\_firefestival.html
12. ↑ Independent Wrestling Results – November 2002 . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-07-06.