Daiki Inaba

Inaba in January 2022

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Yamagata, Kumamoto, Japan

**Daiki Inaba** (稲葉 大樹, *Inaba Daiki*, born February 28, 1988) is a Japanese professional wrestler who works for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a current one-half of the GHC Tag Team Champions in his first reign.

He is best known for his time in the Wrestle-1 promotion, where he was a former two-times Wrestle-1 Champion, a one time Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion, a former two-times UWA World Trios Champion and the winner of 2019 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix. Inaba was one of a few trainees who left All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) to follow Keiji Mutoh's new promotion Wrestle-1.

Inaba also competed in Canada at Altantice Grand Prix Wrestling and Mexico at rnational Wrestling Revolution Group. Inaba when he made his professional wrestling debut in Canada.

## Early Life

Inaba has a history of training in judo from back when he was in school.

## Professional wrestling career

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–2013)

He was accepted to the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo after he passed an audition that took place in January of 2012. He would remain under training for almost a year and a half and would embark on his first overseas expedition in April of 2013 as he went to Canada. While he was in Japan he would make his professional debut in the Altantice Grand Prix Wrestling against Bobby Sharp on May 24, 2013. Inaba would compete in Canada with face paint much like his mentor Keiji Mutoh or Great Muta, did back when he competed in North America. Inaba was noted as being more than ready for his debut and gained a bit of notoriety amongst some of his peers, namely the man he debuted against Bobby Sharp and even René Duprée. Inaba would then follow Seiya Sanada, who was with him in Canada, to Mexico and he would train some there with another Japanese wrestler in Andy Wu, who was already training and competing there.

### Wrestle-1 (2013–2020)

He would return to Japan in September and would make his official debut in Japan for Wrestle-1 on September 8, 2013. Inaba teamed with Hiroshi Yamato and they defeated Tokyo Gurentai Nosawa Rongai and Mazada. On March 12, Inaba injured his right shoulder during a match in the Wrestle-1 and ZERO1 Kaisen Outbreak. On November 27, 2015, he made his ring singles return against Shotaro Ashino but he lost. Every stable in Wrestle-1 tried to recruit Inaba but he left the ring and didn't accept. After Hiroshi Yamato won the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship, Yamato nominated Inaba to be his first challenger of the title. On February 10 Inaba failed to capture the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. On June 29 Inaba, Andy Wu and Seiki Yoshioka won the UWA World Trios Championship. After the match, Inaba stated that he was going after the Wrestle-1 Championship. After Manabu Soya had been sidelined with a shoulder injury Inaba was given a larger role at Wrestle-1 when on August 6 Inaba defeated Shuji Kondo to become the number one contender for the Wrestle-1 Championship and main event the Pro Wrestling Love PPV. On August 11 Inaba defeated KAI to win his first singles champion the Wrestle-1 Championship and then defeated KAI in a rematch for the title to make his first successful title defense. On November 2 Inaba lost the Wrestle-1 Championship to Masayuki Kono.

On December 7 Inaba, Andy Wu, Yusuke Kodama, Jiro Kuroshio, Seiki Yoshioka, Koji Doi, Kumagoro and Kohei Fujimura formed a stable named NEW ERA. On December 9 Inaba, Wu and Yoshioka lost the UWA World Trios Championship in their third title defense to Jun Kasai, Nosawa Rongai and Shuji Kondo. On February 22, 2017 Inaba regained the UWA World Trios Championship this time with Kodama and Fujimura defeating Shuji Kondo, Manabu Soya and Nosawa Rongai. On April 9 Inaba, Fujimura and Kodama lost the UWA World Trios Championship to TriggeR (Masayuki Kono and Shuji Kondo) and Kaz Hayashi. On April 19, 2018, after some dimension between the group and some infighting NEWERA officially decided to disband. On June 2, 2019, Inaba first defeated Masayuki Kono int the first round then he would Kuma Arashi in the semifinals and then Shotaro Ashino in the finals to win the 2019 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix to become the number one contender for T-Hawk's Wrestle-1 Championship on July 2. On September 1, Inaba defeated T-Hawk to win the Wrestle-1 Championship for his second time. On January 12, 2020, Inaba lost the title to Katsuhiko Nakajima. On March 15, Inaba and Koji Doi defeated Ashino and Yusuke Kodama to win the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship, to become the last Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions. Their title reign ended on March 31, when Inaba and Doi were released by Wrestle-1, after the promotion suspended its activities on the following day.

### Pro Wrestling Noah (2020–present)

On June 1, 2020, at *New Hope*, Inaba confronted Kaito Kiyomiya, after he defeated Yoshiki Inamura in the main event of the show, signaling a match between the two. On July 5 on the third night of New Hope, Inaba was defeated by Kiyomiya in a singles match. Afterwards, Inaba asked Kioyomiya to form a team with him, which he accepted. In September 2021, Inaba took part in the 2021 N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of one win and two losses, failling to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

On January 8, 2023 at New Sunrise and Reboot, after Inaba and Masa Kitamiya faced Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura and Timothy Thatcher) in a winning effort, afterwards, Kitamiya called out for a title match the GHC Tag Team Championship, with Inaba being his partner. On February 12 at Great Voyage in Osaka, Inaba and Kitamiya defeated Sugiura and Thatcher to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Shuhei Taniguchi and Takashi Sugiura on Apri 16 at Green Journey in Sendai. In August, Inaba took part in the 2023 N-1 Victory. After securing two wins from his opening four matches, on August 19, it was announced that Inaba would be pulled out of the tournament, due to an injury, leading him to forfeit the remainder of his matches. On September 24 at Grand Ship In Nagoya, Inaba formed a stable with Manabu Soya and Masa Kitamiya.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *#178* (Elevated bridging German suplex)
	+ *DDD* (Delayed sitout scoop slam piledriver)
	+ *Gokusori Manjigatame* (W-1) /*Extreme Warp* (NOAH) (Octopus stretch, sometimes preceded by running)
	+ *Tiger Suplex #178*(Elevated bridging tiger suplex)
* **Signature moves**
	+ DDT
	+ Diving headbutt
	+ Diving elbow drop
	+ Dropkick
	+ Enzuigiri
	+ Lariat
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Belly to back
		- German
		- Tiger
	+ Running facewash
	+ Running elbow
	+ Spin-out sitout powerbomb
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Mad Dog"
	+ **”NEVER BACK DOWN”**
* **Theme songs**
	+ "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy (W-1)
	+ **"Dive"** by MAN WITH A MISSION (W-1/NOAH)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pro Wrestling Noah**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Masa Kitamiya
* **Wrestle-1**
	+ Wrestle-1 Championship (2 times)
	+ Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Koji Doi
	+ UWA World Trios Championship (2 times) – with Andy Wu and Seiki Yoshioka (1) and Kohei Fujimura and Yusuke Kodama (1)
	+ Wrestle-1 Grand Prix (2019)

## References

1. ↑ ?Wrestle-1 NEW ERA?  (in English). *Wrestle-1* (2016-12-08). Retrieved on 2016-12-08.
2. ↑ ?Wrestle-1 Tour 2016 Shining Winter?  (in Japanese). *Wrestle-1* (2016-12-09). Retrieved on 2016-12-09.

## External links

* Wrestle-1 profile
* Cagematch profile