Último Dragón

Dragón in February 2022

###

Minato-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

**Yoshihiro Asai** (浅井嘉浩, *Asai Yoshihiro*) (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as **Último Dragón** (ウルティモ・ドラゴン, *Urutimo Doragon*) (Spanish for the "Last Dragon"). He is the forefather of the Dragon System style of wrestling. He is the creator and developer of the Toryumon promotions and the Último Drágon Gym and his also currently working for the successor of Toryumon Japan, which is Dragon Gate (DG). In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the "Asai Moonsault".

Asai holds a record as the professional wrestler with the most concurrent championships. On October 11, 1996, he won the J-Crown, a unification of eight lower weight division titles from various international promotions. At the time, he already held the NWA World Middleweight Championship; during this reign he also became the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, making him the most decorated wrestler in history. From December 29, 1996 through January 4, 1997 he was the active reigning and defending champion of ten titles, a record which still stands.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early years (1987-1991)

Asai trained to become a professional wrestler through the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, being taught the puroresu style of wrestling primarily by Antonio Inoki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. He graduated from the dojo in 1987 and wrestled in the New Japan promotion for a year. Struggling to move his way up to even mid-card status, he left New Japan and took a huge gamble moving to Mexico.

In Mexico, Asai was taken under the wing of Gran Hamada. Hamada trained him in the lucha libre style of wrestling and he was immediately booked by the Universal Wrestling Association. In 1988, a year into his career as a professional wrestler, Asai won his first championship, the UWA World Welterweight Championship.

In 1990, Asai returned to Japan and joined the Universal Wrestling Federation. He would also help Hamada start up in Japan Universal Lucha Libre, at the time known as Universal Pro-Wrestling. A year later, he would sign with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre to be the promotion he would wrestle for in Mexico.

### Mexico and overseas (1992-1997)

It was in CMLL that Asai was given the Último Drágon mask and persona for the first time. The name in Spanish roughly meant "Last Dragon," which was the basis for him being given the gimmick of claiming to be the final student taught by the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, whose nickname was "The Dragon." Overtime the gimmick would be forgotten, but the name would become his legacy in professional wrestling.

In 1993, Último left Universal Lucha Libre in Japan and signed with the Wrestle and Romance promotion, later renamed Wrestle Association R, run by Genichiro Tenryu. Through WAR, Último would make return trips to New Japan and would develop a lasting reputation in successfully mixing puroresu and lucha libre into a style of his own.

He would utilize moves that would later become synonymous with him that, out of respect and honor, they would be renamed after him. Moves such as the Dragon Bomb, Dragon Suplex, Dragonsteiner, Dragon Screw, and Dragon Sleeper. While it has since been discovered that he was not the innovator of the move, he was the first to use the standing shiranui as a finisher and it was called the Asai DDT to honor his extensive use. He would become the innovator of a springboard moonsault onto a standing opponent outside of the ring, which would become known as the Asai Moonsault.

### World Championship Wrestling (1996-1998)

Through the working relationship that existed at the time with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Último Drágon was used in World Championship Wrestling. He was originally called The Ultimate Dragon, the literal English translation of his name, before several months later they reverted back to Último Drágon. He was managed by Sonny Onoo and quickly pushed as the top heel in the company's cruiserweight division against Rey Misterio Jr.

As his push in WCW was taking place, Último won the J-Crown from the Great Sasuke on October 11, 1996. Also known as the J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship, it unified eight championships from eight different promotions into one: the British Commwealth Juniuor Heavyweight Championship from Michinoku Pro Wrestling, the IWGP World Junior Heavyweight Championship from New Japan, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship from the Wrestle Dream Factory, the NWA World Welterweight Championship from CMLL, the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship from the UWA, the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship from WAR, and the WWF World Light Heavyweight Championship from the World Wrestling Federation on loan to New Japan.

At the same time, Último was in possession of the NWA World Middleweight Championship from CMLL. On December 29, 1996, he defeated Dean Malenko for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship, thus completing his amassing of the record number ten championships at one time. His reign with all of the championships at once would only last six days before losing the J-Crown to Jushin "Thunder" Liger on January 4, 1997.

### Toryumon (1997-2003)

As Último was finding success working in Mexico, Japan, and America through various different promotions, he decided to open up the Último Drágon Gym. The idea being that aspiring Japanese wrestlers would have to follow his path by traveling to Mexico to learn from him. With the assistance of Dos Caras and Jorge "Skayde" Rivera, Último taught his students his style of wrestling, which mixed together puroresu from Japan, lucha libre from Mexico, and sports entertainment from America. Throughout 1997, his first six graduates Yoshiyuki Saito, Nobuhiko Oshima, Katsumasa Kuroki, Takahiro Suwa, Tatsuki Fuji, and Nobuyoshi Nakamura would be introduced through Mexico and later as enhancement talent in WCW.

In 1998, Último suffered an injury to his elbow that required surgery. However, the operation was botched, causing damage to the nerve system in his arm. It was believed that it was nearly impossible to fix, forcing him into retirement. He would concentrate his time and effort on the training of students at the Último Drágon Gym in Mexico and the development of the Toryumon promotions both in Japan and Mexico.

In September 2001, Último decided to undergo another surgery in the hope that there was a chance the damage done from the previous operation could be repaired. It was announced at the start of 2002 that the surgery was a success, restoring feeling and mobility he had previously lost. Speculation began to emerge as to when and where he would finally make his in-ring return, which took place at the ABSOLUTAMENTE 2002 pay-per-view show for Toryumon Japan on September 8, 2002 against Masaaki Mochizuki.

Taking his time getting back into ring shape, Último opened talks with World Wrestling Entertainment. In 2003, he signed a one-year contract with WWE. This meant he would have to step down as Director of the Toryumon promotion and appointed Takashi Okamura in his place.

### Freelancer (2004–2019)

One month later after being released from WWE, Asai quickly picked up a New Japan tour in May 2004. He has occasionally wrestled for the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. He also took part in the short lived Japanese independent promotion Dragondoor, ran by one of his students Noriaki Kawabata using mostly T2P and Toryumon X graduates. He would wrestle in matches against Último Guerrero and various other stars who wrestled in Mexico or Japanese based lucha libre promotions. Since the fall of Dragondoor he went back to Mexico to run another class of the Toryumon school, which has led to some standouts in Hajime Ohara, Kazuchika Okada, and Pequeño Ninja. The rest of the Toryumon students along with Asai joined the Tatsumi Fujinami promoted Dradition promotion in Japan. In 2006, Asai began promoting the annual "Toryumon Mexico: Dragon Mania" wrestling show. He also wrestled at UWA Hardcore Wrestling based outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has wrestled against Sonjay Dutt, M-Dogg 20, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Black Tiger all in the UWA. Since then he has been working in Japan for various independent promotions such as Pro Wrestling KAGEKI and Michinoku Pro. He has also been to Mexico as well as in Spain, working for Nu Wrestling Evolution.

On December 15, 2013, Dragón defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win All Japan Pro Wrestling's World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Atsushi Aoki on May 29, 2014. On August 27, 2017, Dragón defeated TAJIRI to win All Japan Pro Wrestling's World Junior Heavyweight Championship for his second time. He would lost the title to TAJIRI on October 21.

### Return to Dragon Gate (2019–Present)

Since January 16, 2019, Dragon Gate started celebrating its 20th anniversary when the promotion was founded as Toryumon Japan, one of his former students Masato Yoshino began asking for Dragón to make his return to Toryumon Japan's successor promotion Dragon Gate at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival on July 21. On May 9, a person with Último Dragón mask's came to the ring and mimicked his mannerisms, which was revealed to be one of his former students Toru Owashi, in which he revealed him that Dragón told him to dress like him, the rest of the roster came out and asked Owashi to tell Dragón to return the promotion. On June 6, Dragón returned to the promotion, leading Yoshino to ask him to take part of the event as part of the 20th-anniversary celebration. Dragón initially didn't have an answer, but the whole roster came out and asked him to take part in the event, which he accepted. At the event, on July 21, Dragón made his in-ring return to the promotion teaming with Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino in a winning effort against Shuji Kondo, Takuya Sugawara, and Masaaki Mochizuki, after Dragon pinned Mochizuki. Shortly after the event, Yoshino began asking Dragón to make his full-time return to the promotion, which Dragón was initially reluctant. However, on September 11, he was attacked by R.E.D and revealed as their next target, until his former students Darkness Dragon, Ryo Saito, and Super Shisa made the save. Afterwards, Dragón agreed to make his full-time return to the promotion. Afterwards, it was also announced that Dragón would become a senior advisor for the promotion. On October 8, Dragón, Saito, Shisa and Darkness Dragon defeated R.E.D. Afterwards, Dragón joined by his former students Kenichiro Arai and Yasushi Kanda (who turned on R.E.D) continuing a series of matches between the two sides. On November 7, Dragón and Kanda lost to Eita and Big R Shimizu, after Eita ripped Dragón's mask. Afterwards, General Manager Takayuki Yagi announced that Dragón and Eita would face each other on December 4 and if Eita won Dragón would be forced to leave the promotion. At the event on December 4, Dragón defeated Eita by disqualification, after Eita removed Dragón’s mask. Afterwards, R.E.D attacked Dragón until his former students Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino made the save. The Green and Red Masked Demons were forced to a match, leading Eita, Red and Green Mask Demons to face Dragón, Doi, and Yoshino in a winning effort, after Kaito Ishida revealed himself to be the Green Masked Demon, turning on MaxiMuM. In December, Dragón's feud with R.E.D escalated to a "Generation War" against Dragon Gate and R.E.D, with Dragón and his former students "brother" YASSHI, Don Fujii, Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, Kagetora, K-ness., Keni'chiro Arai, Konomama Ichikawa, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi, Ryo Saito, Shachihoko BOY, Super Shisa and Yasushi Kanda forming the Toryumon stable. On December 20, at Final Gate, Toryumon was forced to disband, after losing to R.E.D in No Disqualification Losing Unit Disbands match.

On April 5, 2023, Diamante made a shocking return to Dragon Gate since February, attacking Dragón, ripping his mask and holding his mask in his hand. Afterwards, Dragón was challenged by Diamante to a match for his mask, however on May 5 at Dead or Alive, Dragón refused. Six days later, Diamante pinned Dragón in a eight-man tag team match, after Diamante removed Dragón's mask to secure the win for his team. Following the match, Dragón continued to deny a match against Diamante, claiming that it was impossible for him to face match him at that time. On May 15, it was announced that Dragón was suspended indefinitely for refusing Dragon Gate General Manager Ryo Saito's multiple attempts to booking a match against Diamante. Saito stated that he would take strict measures if Dragón continued to refuse the match that has been proposed. As well as the suspension all of Dragón's merchandise have been pulled from being sold at events. On May 20, Diamante's Z-Brats stablemate Shun Skywalker called out Dragón to a have match against Diamante. The storyline later dragged out Strong Machine J and on June 1 Dragon Kid appeared and introduced a video message from Dragón, who accepted the match against Diamante. The following day, Saito announced a mask vs mask four-way steel cage match between all four of them, before Kid was added to the match on June 12. On July 2 at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, at the steel cage match, Drágon was the second wrestler to escape the cage, keeping his mask. After Diamante lost the match, as he was forced to unmask, he asked Drágon to remove his mask, revealing his identity, afterwards, before shaking hands on July 7, ending their feud.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Asai DDT* (Standing shiranui) - *Innovated*
	+ *Cancun Tornado* (Corkscrew moonsault)
	+ *Dragon Bomb* (Running sitout powerbomb)
	+ Dragon sleeper
	+ *Dragonsteiner* (With the opponent seated on the top turnbuckle, Dragon stands behind the opponent, twists around and performs a frankensteiner)
	+ *La Magistral* (Arm wrench inside cradle)

* **Signature moves**
	+ *Asai Moonsault* (Springboard moonsault onto a standing opponent outside of the ring) - *Innovated*
	+ *Atlantida Backbreaker Drop* (Spinning kneeling inverted backbreaker rack drop)
	+ Dragon screw
	+ Giant swing
	+ Jumping kneeling piledriver
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Multiple shoots
		- Rolling savate
		- Tiger feint
		- Turnbuckle headstand mule
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- *Aztec Suplex* (Straight-jacket bridging German suplex)
		- Dragon
		- Fisherman
		- German
		- Northern lights
		- Snap
		- Tiger
	+ Single leg boston crab
* **Manager**
	+ Sonny Onoo
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Kōchō" (Japanese for "Principal")
	+ **"Kyūkyoku Ryu"** (Japanese for the "Ultimate Dragon")
	+ **"Sekai no Kyūkyoku Ryu"** (Japanese for the "World's Ultimate Dragon")
* **Entrance Themes**
	+ **"Separados"** by Luis Miguel (AJPW/CMLL/DG/MPW/Toryumon)
	+ "Dragon" by Jim Johnston (WWE)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yoshinobu Kanemaru
	+ World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

* **Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre**
	+ NWA World Middleweight Championship (2 times)

* **Comision de Box y Lucha D.F.**
	+ Distrito Federal Trios Championship (1 time) – with Naoki Sano and Hirokazu Hata

* **International Wrestling Revolution Group**
	+ Copa Higher Power (1998) – with Judo Suwa, Lyguila, Magnum Tokyo, Ryo Saito, Shiima Nobunaga and Sumo Fujii

* **Michinoku Pro Wrestling**
	+ British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ Tohoku Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jinsei Shinzaki

* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ J-Crown (1 time)
	+ British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ NWA World Welterweight Championship (2 times)
	+ UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
	+ WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him **#12** of the 500 Best Singles Wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1997
	+ PWI ranked him **#61** of the 500 Best Singles Wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

* **Tokyo Sports**
	+ Technique Award (1992)

* **Toryumon**
	+ Differ Cup: 2003
	+ NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ Yamaha Cup: 2008 – with Yutaka Yoshie
	+ Yamaha Cup: 2012 - with Angélico
	+ Suzuki Cup (2007) - with Kensuke Sasaki and Marco Corleone
	+ Suzuki Cup (2008) - with Alex Koslov and Marco Corleone

* **Universal Wrestling Association**
	+ UWA World Middleweight Championship (5 times)
	+ UWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time)

* **World Championship Wrestling**
	+ WCW World Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)
	+ WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

* **Wrestle Association R**
	+ WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nobutaka Araya and Genichiro Tenryu

* **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards**
	+ Best Wrestling Maneuver (1996) Dragon Bomb
	+ Most Underrated (2003)
	+ Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)

## Notes

1. ↑ Asai also became a co-holder of the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship in October 1996, but it was retired that same day and was thus never defended by him
2. ↑ Tag team match, where Dragón and Masked Burning #2 defeated Sushi and Mr. Christmas. Sushi, as the loser of the fall, was as per stipulation supposed to unmask, but instead Mr. Christmas unmasked, revealing himself as Jun Akiyama.