EVIL

EVIL in January 2022

###

Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan

**Takaaki Watanabe** (渡辺 高章, *Watanabe Takaaki*, born January 26, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name **EVIL** (stylized in all capital letters).

Watanabe made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on May 13, 2011, and worked as a "Young Lion" over the following three years. In May 2014, Watanabe was sent to the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion to further his wrestling training and gain international experience, a tradition with NJPW "Young Lions". Watanabe returned in October 2015, repackaged as "EVIL", complete with a new look and a villainous persona, becoming one of the fouding members of *Los Ingobernables de Japón*. During his time with the stable, EVIL became a former one-time NEVER Openweight Champion, a former four-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He would form a tag team with fellow stablemate SANADA and the two won the IWGP Tag Team Championship on two occasions and won the World Tag League on two occasions (2017 and 2018).

In July 2020, EVIL joined the Bullet Club stable, after turning on *Los Ingobernables de Japón* leader Tetsuya Naito, winning the 2020 New Japan Cup, before defeating him to win IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships, becoming NJPW's second Triple Crown Champion and first triple champion NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship simultaneously, holding all three titles until August. EVIL became a co-leader of Bullet Club due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. EVIL later formed his own sub-group known as the House of Torture and won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships and NEVER Openweight Championship for the second time, thus becoming the second person to hold both titles simultaneously.

## Professional wrestling career

### New Japan Pro Wrestling (2011–2013)

Watanabe made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on May 13, 2011, wrestling primarily as a Young Lion and in the lower cards of shows and remained with the promotion until October 2013, when after King of Pro-Wrestling, announced that he was being sent on a learning excursion to the United States.

### Ring of Honor (2014–2015)

At Global Wars '15 the first night May 15 he teamed with Silas Young in a losing effort against Gedo and Moose. The following night May 16, he was defeated by Silas Young.

On the June 27 episode of ROH Wrestling, he lost to Adam Page after Colby Corino attacked Watanabe. On the July 4 episode of ROH Wrestling Dalton Castle would defeat Watanabe. On July 23, ROH announced that House of Truth member Donovan Dijak will battle Watanabe in a singles match that will be taped exclusively for ROH's YouTube Wrestling Channel. This occurred July 24 at Death Before Dishonor XIII where Dijak defeated Watanabe.

On August 22 at Field of Honor, Watanabe qualified for an ROH World Television Championship match by winning a 9-man gauntlet match. On September 18 at All-Star Extravaganza VII, he teamed with Will Ferrara to defeat Donovan Dijak and Greg James. On September 19, Watanabe received his shot at The Television Title facing Jay Lethal but was unsuccessful in his attempt.

### Return to NJPW (2015–present)

#### Los Ingobernables de Japon (2015–2020)

On October 12, 2015, Watanabe returned to NJPW at King of Pro-Wrestling, where he was revealed as Tetsuya Naito's associate during his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Watanabe's outside interference in the match was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, leading to Naito suffering a loss. In a post-match interview, Naito gave Watanabe the new name "King of Darkness" EVIL. Under the new name, EVIL became affiliated with Naito's *Los Ingobernables de Japón* stable. In December, EVIL and Naito won their block in the 2015 World Tag League with a record of five wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, EVIL and Naito were defeated in the finals by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. In early March, EVIL took part in the 2016 New Japan Cup in which he was eliminated in the first round by Tomohiro Ishii. On March 20, EVIL unsuccessfully challenged Ishii for the ROH World Television Championship. Throughout July 18 to August 14, EVIL entered the 2016 G1 Climax where he finished his block with four wins and five losses, thus failing to advance. Despite his failure to advance, EVIL scored two big wins by defeating IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin and NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata on the last day.

On November 5 at Power Struggle, EVIL won his first title, when he defeated Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Ten days later, EVIL lost the title back to Shibata in Singapore. At the end of the year, EVIL took part in the 2016 World Tag League, teaming with stablemate Sanada. The two finished second in their block with a record of five wins and two losses, tied with block winners Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing the head-to-head match against Makabe and Honma. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, EVIL, BUSHI, and SANADA won a four-team gauntlet match to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, and Ryusuke Taguchi the next day, before regaining it on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka. In March, EVIL made it to the semifinals of the 2017 New Japan Cup, before losing to Bad Luck Fale. On April 4, L.I.J. lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet, and Ryusuke Taguchi in their second defense, before regaining it on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2017. During the 2017 G1 Climax on August 5, EVIL picked up a major win over reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Okada's first singles defeat in nearly a year. EVIL went on to finish third in his block with a record of six wins and three losses. On October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling, EVIL received his first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but was defeated by Okada. In December, EVIL and SANADA won their block in the 2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, they defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) in the finals to win the tournament. Six days later, EVIL, BUSHI, and SANADA lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale in their fourth defense.

On January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome, EVIL and Sanada defeated the Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time. They lost the titles to The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) on June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall. Later that night, EVIL saved his L.I.J. stablemate Tetsuya Naito from a post-match assault against Chris Jericho. From July 14 until August 11, EVIL took part in the 2018 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On October 8, at King of Pro-Wrestling, EVIL was scheduled to face Zack Sabre Jr., but he was attacked by Jericho during his entrance. He unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on November 3 at Power Struggle. From November 17 until December 7, EVIL and SANADA took part of the 2018 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of ten wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On December 9, EVIL and SANADA defeated reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) to win the 2018 World Tag League, becoming the second-ever team to win the tournament in two consecutive years. On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, EVIL and SANADA defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in a three-way match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the second time. They lost the titles to Guerrillas of Destiny on February 23, 2019, at Honor Rising: Japan. From July 6 until August 10, EVIL took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Despite this, EVIL against Kota Ibushi during the tournament, resulted in EVIL challenging Ibushi for his Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship match contract. On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, EVIL unsuccessfully challenged Ibushi for his Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate. From November 16 until December 8, EVIL and SANADA took part in the 2019 World Tag League. EVIL and SANADA entered the final day with a chance to win the tournament, but a loss against Juice Robinson and David Finlay cost them the chance to win the tournament. On January 5, 2020, on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, EVIL, BUSHI, and Shingo Takagi won a four-team gauntlet match to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.

#### Bullet Club (2020–present)

After New Japan Pro-Wrestling underwent a hiatus in late February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company resumed its activities with the 2020 New Japan Cup, which begun on June 16, 2020, with the winner receiving a title shot against Naito for both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. Entering the tournament, EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, and his *Los Ingobernables de Japon* stablemate SANADA to reach the finals, displaying a more aggressive attitude, notably cheating by low blowing Hirooki Goto in their match, injuring Yoshi-Hashi before their match, and using a chair to attack SANADA’s neck in their match. In the finals on July 11, EVIL defeated Kazuchika Okada in the finals to win the 2020 New Japan Cup, in part due to an interference by Bullet Club, who attacked Okada, although EVIL appeared unaware of Bullet Club's involvement in the match. When Testsuya Naito came out to congratulate him on his win, EVIL attacked him, turning heel and being soon joined by the other members of Bullet Club, establishing himself as a member of the stable and the first member of *Los Ingobernables de Japón* to leave the stable. The following day, at Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall, EVIL defeated Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships with help from his Bullet Club stablemates and Dick Togo, who joined Bullet Club and became EVIL's manager in the process. Afterwards, EVIL announced that he had taken over control of Bullet Club in Jay White's absence, with this EVIL became Bullet Club's first Japanese leader due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. EVIL's former stablemate Hiromu Takahashi challenged EVIL to a title match for both titles, before entering in an emotional breakdown due to EVIL's betrayal. Despite leaving *Los Ingobernables de Japon*, EVIL became NJPW's first triple champion, due to being recongnized as one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions alongside BUSHI, and Shingo Takagi. On July 25 at Sengoku Lord in Nagoya, EVIL defeated Takahashi to make his first succesfull title defense. Afterwards, EVIL was confronted by Testsuya Naito, challenged EVIL to a rematch for both titles. On August 1, after EVIL revealed that he had no interest in defending the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship with his former stablemates, NJPW decided to vacate the titles, ending his run as triple champion. On August 29 at Summer Struggle in Jingu, EVIL lost the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships back to Tetsuya Naito. From September 19 until October 17, EVIL took part in the 2020 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament, due to losing to SANADA in their head-to-head match. From November 15 until December 6, EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi took part in the 2020 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and six losses, failling advance to the finals of the tournament.

In March 2021, EVIL took part in the 2021 New Japan Cup. Due to being the winner of previous edition of the tournament, he progressed to the second round. EVIL lost in the semifinals to former *Los Ingobernables de Japon* Shingo Takagi on March 20. On July 25 at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, after Takagi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, EVIL appeared in a pre-tapped video, where he challenged Takagi to a title match, before laying him out with the *Everything Is EVIL*. On September 4 at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, EVIL formed Bullet Club subgroup the "House of Torture" with Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi and Sho, following Sho's addition to Bullet Club. The following day, EVIL unsuccessfully challenged Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. From September 19 to October 20, EVIL took part in the 2021 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of sevens wins and two losses, missing the finals of the tournament, after losing to Kazuchika Okada and Jeff Cobb in their head-to-head match. On November 6 at Power Stuggle, EVIL, Sho and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. From November 14 until December 12, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2021 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of eight wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 15, EVIL and Takahashi were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. During the final, Dick Togo interfered in the match, but Tomohiro Ishii, who was at ringside made the save, causing the House of Torture to lose the final.

EVIL then got involved in a rivalry with CHAOS member Tomohiro Ishii and afterwards, in a post-match interview, EVIL reignited his rivalry Ishii, challenging to a title match for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 16. At the event on January 1, 2022, EVIL defeated Ishii, following the interference from Togo to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the second time. In March, EVIL took part in the 2022 New Japan Cup, losing in the third round to former *Los Ingobernables de Japón* stablemate Hiromu Takahashi. This led to a rivalry between the two, with EVIL usually attacking him after his matches. On April 9 at Hyper Battle, EVIL sucessfully defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Takahashi. He lost the title to former Bullet Club stablemate Tama Tonga on May 1 at Wrestling Dontaku. On July 5, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh. From July 26 to August 16, EVIL took part in the 2022 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals. On September 23, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi defeated Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh in a Tornado Dog Cage Survival match to regain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. From November 22 until December 14, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2022 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament.

On January 5, 2023, at *New Year Dash!*, House of Torture attacked Ren Narita, before Minoru Suzuki and his former Suzuki-gun stablemate El Desperado, to assist him, quickly taking care of House of Torture. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, the three formed a team, leading to a title match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, where EVIL, Takahashi and Sho lost the titles to Narita, Desperado and Suzuki. They continued feuding with them over the following months, culminating in a No Count Out match on April 3, where EVIL, Takahashi and Sho failed to regain the titles. From July 16 to August 8, EVIL took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, on August 10, EVIL defeated reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, on August 12, EVIL was eliminated from the tournament by Kazuchika Okada. Following the tournament, on August 13, House of Torture embarked on a feud with Just 5 Guys. After a match between the two sides, EVIL attacked SANADA with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt, before hanging him by his injured bicep. Afterwards, EVIL forced ring announcer Makoto Abe to read a "company statement", which described SANADA as an inappropriate figure as champion and that he should turn his title over to EVIL, who proceeded to the steal it anyways, setting up a title match between the two at Destruction in Ryogoku. At the event EVIL unsuccessfully challenged SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. From November 25 until December 6, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2023 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins, and four losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Shortly after, EVIL and House of Torture embarked on feud with Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya, leading to two matches, with the first being on January 2, 2024 at NOAH The New Year, where House of Torture lost and the second two days later at Wrestle Kingdom 18, where EVIL and House of Torture's newest member Ren Narita got their revenge and defeated Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya, ending their feud. Later that night, EVIL as Tetsuya Naito was going to close the show, EVIL and the House of Torture tried to ruin his moment, after attacking Naito, only to be saved by SANADA.

Three days later, at *New Year Dash*, during a post-match interview, EVIL attacked Tama Tonga and made the challenge for his title, but also humiliated the newly crowned champion as he cut off some of his hair. On January 10, Tama Tonga’s profile was erroneously erased from the NJPW profile page, and EVIL was incorrectly listed as the NEVER Openweight Champion, after it was discovered by video evidence that EVIL had forced NJPW staff to those modifications. On January 22 at The New Beginning in Nagoya, EVIL faced Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The match originally ended in a no contest, after Tonga was attacked by the House of Torture. The match was restarted into a Lumberjack Deathmatch, where EVIL defeated Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the third time.

## Personal life

Watanabe is reportedly engaged to fellow wrestler Io Shirai.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Banshee Muzzle* (Arm trap facelock)
	+ *Darkness Scorpion / Scorpion Deathlock* (Sharpshooter)
	+ *Everything Is EVIL / EVIL* (STO)
* **Signature moves**
	+ Bronco buster
	+ *Darkness Falls* (Fireman's carry spinebuster)
	+ Discus corner lariat
	+ Discus elbow smash
	+ Fisherman buster
	+ *Mammoth Home Run* (One man con-chair-to) - adopted from Mammoth Sasaki
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Double arm
		- German
		- Half and half
	+ Running elbow
	+ Running lariat
	+ Senton
	+ Sidewalk slam
	+ Standing inverted Indian deathlock surfboard followed into a head stomp
	+ Stomp to the opponent's groin
	+ Swinging neckbreaker
	+ Uppercut
* **With Tetsuya Naito**
	+ **Double-team finishing moves**
		- *Out of Control* (Double-team gorilla press slam)
* **With SANADA/Dick Togo**
	+ **Double-team finishing moves**
		- *Magic Killer* (Aided snap swinging neckbreaker)
* **Managers**
	+ **Dick Togo**
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"King of Darkness"**
	+ **"Darkness Scorpion"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Go for Broke" by Yonosuke Kitamura (2011–2013)
	+ "Black Deeds" by Yonosuke Kitamura (2015–2020)
	+ **"Evolve"** by Nishi-ken (2020–Present)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ IWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
	+ IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with SANADA
	+ NEVER Openweight Championship (3 times, current)
	+ NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with BUSHI and SANADA (3), BUSHI and Shingo Takagi (1) and Sho and Yujiro Takahashi (2)
	+ Second Triple Crown Champion
	+ New Japan Cup (2020)
	+ World Tag League (2017, 2018) – with SANADA
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ PWI ranked him #**229** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
	+ PWI ranked him #**168** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Most Overrated (2021)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Evil's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile .
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Takaaki Watanabe's New Japan Pro Wrestling profile . Archived from the original on 2015-10-16.
3. ↑ King of Pro-Wrestling  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-10-12.
4. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2015-10-11. NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 10-11: Kazuchika Okada vs. A.J. Styles for IWGP heavyweight title . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2015-10-12.
5. ↑ ja:注目の“内藤のパレハ”の正体は元ヤングライオン渡辺高章=新日本 (in Japanese). *Sports Navi*. Yahoo! (2015-10-13). Archived from the original on 2015-10-13. Retrieved on 2015-10-13.
6. ↑ NJPW World Tag League Results & Standings . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved on 2015-12-06.
7. ↑ World Tag League 2015  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
8. ↑ New Japan Cup 2016  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-03-20.
9. ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2016  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-03-20.
10. ↑ *ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-12-08.
11. ↑ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-01-03). Retrieved on 2017-01-04.
12. ↑ *ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents New Year Dash !!* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-01-05.
13. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-02-10. NJPW New Beginning in Osaka live results: Naito vs. Elgin . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-02-11.
14. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-03-19. New Japan Cup semifinals results: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-03-19.
15. ↑ *ja:戦国炎舞-Kizna- Presents Road to Sakura Genesis 2017* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-04-04.
16. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-05-02. NJPW Wrestling Dontaku live results: Okada faces Bad Luck Fale . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-05-03.
17. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-08-05. NJPW G1 Climax 27 night 14 results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Evil . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-08-05.
18. ↑ *ja:【新日Ｇ１】オカダついに連勝ストップ　Evilに敗れリング上で大の字* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2017-08-06). Retrieved on 2017-08-06.
19. ↑ *ja:ローソンチケット Presents G1 Climax 27* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-08-12.
20. ↑ 鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-12-08.
21. ↑ 鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-12-11.
22. ↑ JRA presents Road to Tokyo Dome  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-12-17.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Renner, Ethan 2018-01-03. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 live results: Okada-Naito, Omega-Jericho . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2018-01-04.
24. ↑ Io Shirai Reportedly Unhappy In WWE NXT, Stardom To Offer Big Contracts To Shirai And Kairi Sane? .
25. ↑ 鉄拳7 Presents Best of the Super Jr.24  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-06-26.
26. ↑ Kizuna Road 2017  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-06-26.
27. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-05-03. NJPW Wrestling Dontaku results: Super Juniors lineups; IWGP champ Naito vs. Ishii . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-01-07.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 Evil . *Cagematch*. Retrieved on 2016-07-27.
29. ↑ NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-01-19.
30. ↑ *ja:鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2017-11-19.
31. ↑ Titantron music list . *RMLabel*. Retrieved on 2017-01-20.
32. ↑ *ja:新日本プロレスリングテーマ曲集CD『NJPWグレイテストミュージックIV (Vol.4)』が発売決定！1.4東京ドームでの先行販売を実施！* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2015-12-10). Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
33. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016 . *The Internet Wrestling Database*. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.