Blood WARRIORS (ブラッド・ウォリアーズ Buraddo uoriāzu) ("Warriors" stylized in all capitals) or BW for short, was the top heel stable in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dragon Gate, formed on October 13, 2010 after Naruki Doi turned on WORLD-1 and formed a stable with Yasushi Kanda, Kzy, Naoki Tanizaki and Takuya Sugawara. The stable later included Gamma and the was no name given and was dubbed as Team Doi (土井軍 Doi-gun). On January 14 WARRIORS joined Team Doi and later named their stable Blood WARRIORS.
Since the formation of BW, they started a feud with all stables in Dragon Gate, including WORLD-1, KAMIKAZE and Veteran-Gun. The three stables formed Junction Three and primarily feuded with Blood Warriors in a ten-month rivalry. During this rivalry, several members of BW were kicked out of the stable such as Dragon Kid and Gamma and several members joined the stable such as Cyber Kong, Tomahawk T.T, BxB Hulk, Akira Tozawa, Austin Aries and Uhaa Nation, also expanding in Dragon Gate USA winning the Open The United Gate Championship. By the end of 2011 Blood Warriors held every active single championship title in Dragon Gate including Open The Dream, Open The Brave, Open The Twin, Open The Triangle and Open The Owarai Gate Championship.
On January 19, 2012, Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk turned on Blood Warriors leader CIMA, causing him to lose a ten-man "Loser Leaves Unit" tag team match; as a result, CIMA was kicked out of Blood Warriors. Later Yasushi Kanda, Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito, Naruki Doi and Naoki Tanizaki, were kicked out of Blood Warriors after he returned from the injury and saving CIMA from a post-match attack, and Doi, Horiguchi, Saito and Kanda after not needing their services. This led on March 1, Tozawa renaming the stable to MAD BLANKEY.
History[]
Formation and Doi's leadership (2010-2011)[]
On October 13, 2010, Deep Drunkers were forced to split up, after losing a match against World–1 (BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi), but after the match Doi turned on Yoshino and joined Takuya Sugawara, Yasushi Kanda and Kzy the former Deep Drunkers to form a new heel stable.[1] They however decided that Kenichiro Arai was not needed in the new group and kicked him out. On October 25 Sugawara, Tanizaki and Kanda defeated CIMA, Gamma and Genki Horiguchi to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship.[2] On November 13, Gamma betrayed WARRIORS by revealing his partner as Naruki Doi for his upcoming Open The Twin Gate Championship match at Gate of Destiny, joining Doi's unnamed unit.
On November 23, 2010, Gamma and Doi defeated K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship.[3] On December 26 Sugawara, Tanizaki and Kanda lost the Open The Triangle Gate Champions to WARRIORS (CIMA, Dragon Kid and Ricochet). After that Sugawara left the stable. Later in the main event, Doi unsuccessfully challenged his former partner Masato Yoshino for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. Also Kzy was sidelined with a leg injury. On January 10, 2011 Gamma and Doi lost the Open The Twin Gate Champions to Veteran-Gun (Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki).
On January 14 CIMA and WARRIORS turned heel, revealing themselves as Metal Warriors who had been interfering in matches, and attacking Masato Yoshino and the WORLD-1 unit, before joining forces with Naruki Doi's unit.
Championship Persuits, CIMA's leadership and Feud with Junction Three (2011)[]
On January 18 the new group was named Blood Warriors, a combination of the names of CIMA's two previous stables, Blood Generation and WARRIORS. On February 10 CIMA, Naruki Doi and Gamma defeated World–1 representatives Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk and Susumu Yokosuka in a six-man tag team match and as a result, PAC was forced to leave WORLD–1 and join Blood Warriors. However, Ricochet blocked the move as he felt that he, not PAC, was the top high flyer in the world and instead challenged him to a match for his Open The Brave Gate Championship.[4] On February 6, 2011, Horiguchi and his Blood WARRIORS stablemate Ryo Saito defeated Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Two days later after the disbanding of KAMIKAZE Cyber Kong joined the stable. The title match between PAC and Ricochet took place on March 1 and ended with PAC retaining his title.[5] On April 3 at Dragon Gate USA at the Open The Ultimate Gate Austin Aries turned on Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann the trio known collectively as Ronin and joined the stable claiming to have found his purpose under the leadership of CIMA.[6] On May 15, the rest of Blood Warriors turned on Dragon Kid and kicked him out of the group, despite the fact that he still held the Open The Triangle Gate Championship with CIMA and Ricochet, and replaced him with Tomahawk T.T. As a result, the titles were declared vacant.
On May 27, it was announced that one of the members of Blood WARRIORS would be expelled from the stable initallý CIMA was the one who was attacked but Metal Warrior attacked Gamma and the rest of Blood Warriors turned on him and gave his spot in the group to Kzy that was the Metal Warrior. On June 5 at Enter The Dragon Blood Warriors and Ronin faced each other in a six-man elimination tag team match which Ronin won after Johnny Gargano managed to submit both CIMA and Aries.[7] On June 8, before BxB Hulk was scheduled to team with Shingo Takagi, Naoki Tanizaki came out dressed as Black Hulk. With Takagi distracted with Tanizaki, Hulk hit Takagi with a chair, turning heel and joining Blood Warriors also Akira Tozawa made his return to Dragon Gate, joining Blood Warriors.[8] One Day later Aries left Dragon Gate USA and the unit. On June 19 Horiguchi and Saito would lose the twin gate titles to rival group Junction Three representatives, Dragon Kid and PAC, after the match all of the members of the stable attacked all members of Junction Three and CIMA and Ricochet stole the twin gate titles.
On July 17, CIMA and Ricochet defeated Dragon Kid and PAC of rival group Junction Three to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship, after the match CIMA and Ricochet started to show respect to Dragon Kid and PAC, but they attacked them, and in the process Naoki Tankizaki stole PAC's Open The Brave Gate Championship, claiming that he was the champion.[9] Later in the main event Hulk received his shot at the Open The Dream Gate Championship but was defeated by Masaaki Mochizuki.[10] On August 3 to August 7 Tozawa and Hulk, Kong and Tomahawk TT, Doi and Kanda, Kzy and Tanizaki and Horiguchi and Saito participated at the Summer Adventure Tag League but Horiguchi and Saito and Kong and Tomahawk TT were eliminated at the first round, at the second round Kzy and Tanizaki were eliminated and at the semifinals Doi and Kanda were eliminated and Tozawa and Hulk defeated Masaaki Mochizuki and YAMATO to win the Summer Adventure Tag League. On September 2, Kzy, Naoki Tanizaki and Naruki Doi defeated Gamma, Masato Yoshino and YAMATO to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On September 11 at the Dragon Gate USA's Way of the Ronin 2011, CIMA and Ricochet defeated Masato Yoshino and PAC in a title vs. title match to win Open The United Gate Championship.[11] On September 24 CIMA defeated "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa to win the Open The Owarai Gate Championship but vacated title immediately after winning it. On November 4, 2011, Blood Warriors faced Junction Three in a ten-man tag team match with the stipulation that the loser of the fall had to leave his unit. In the end, YAMATO managed to win the match for Junction Three by submitting Kong with a sleeper hold, who was then kicked out of Blood Warriors.[12] On November 19, Ricochet defeated PAC for the Open The Brave Gate Championship.[13]
On November 30, in their PPV "Blood WARRIORS Independence Performance 1st Blood", Uhaa Nation joined the stable and later that night CIMA and Ricochet after their third successful defense, and vacated the twin gate titles in order for Ricochet to concentrate on defending the Open The Brave Gate Championship and CIMA to concentrate on chasing the Open The Dream Gate Championship.[14] On December 1, Tozawa and BxB Hulk defeated KAGETORA and Susumu Yokosuka to win the vacant Open The Twin Gate Championship, Tozawa's first title in Dragon Gate, and as a result Susumu and KAGETORA were forced to change their ring names to Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy KAGETORA. On December 25 at the Final Gate 2011, CIMA defeated Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship for the third time.[15]
Disbanding, Tozawa leadership and end of the feud with Junction Three (2011-2012)[]
On January 19, 2012, BxB Hulk and Akira Tozawa with the help of Cyber Kong turned on CIMA, causing him to lose a ten-man "Loser Leaves Unit" tag team match; as a result, CIMA was kicked out of Blood Warriors and Cyber Kong rejoined the stable.[16] After Ricochet continued to team with CIMA in Dragon Gate USA, later on February 9, he alongside Saito and Horiguchi were also kicked out of Blood Warriors. Later that night Tozawa-led Blood Warriors won their feud with Junction Three by defeating them in a fourteen-man elimination tag team match, forcing their rival group to disband.[17] On February 26 Kanda was kicked out of the stable and later Doi was also kicked out. On March 1, Tozawa renamed the stable to MAD BLANKEY.[18]
In wrestling[]
- Double team finishing moves
- CIMA and Kid
- Avalanche Huricarrana (Kid) followed by a Meteora (CIMA)
- Kzy and Tanizaki
- Adios, Mother Fucker (Implant (Tanizaki) / Impact (Kzy) combination)
- CIMA and Kid
- Aries's Finishing moves
- Hulk's Finishing moves
- CIMA's Finishing moves
- Crossfire (Double pumphandle sitout powerbomb,[24][25] sometimes transitioned into a straight jacket triangle choke)[25]
- Egoist Schwein (Pumphandle sidewalk slam)[25]
- Mad Splash (Frog splash)[26][27][24][25][28]
- Meteora[27][24][25]
- Nagoya Castle / Drug Bomb (Crucifix dropped into a sitout facebuster)[25]
- Schwein (Over-the-shoulder back-to-belly piledriver,[26][27][24][25][28] sometimes while applying a wrist-clutch,[24][25] dropped over the knee and transitioned into a figure four leglock,[25] or from the top rope)[29]
- Doi's Finishing moves
- Gamma's Finishing moves
- Blitzen (Crucifix hold flipped forward into a sitout facebuster)[30]
- Blitzen B4 (Crucifix hold flipped forward into a sitout facebuster from the second rope)[30]
- Gamma Special (Over the shoulder back-to-belly piledriver)[30]
- Gamma Special Gekokujoh (Diving elbow drop)[30]
- Nadare-Shiki Tombstone Piledriver (Super kneeling reverse piledriver)[30]
- Shin Gamma Special (Diving double knee drop to a seated opponent's chest)[31]
- Skytwister Press (Corkscrew moonsault)[30]
- Nation's Finishing moves
- Kong's Finishing moves
- Kzy's Finishing moves
- Kanda's Finishing moves
- Sugawara's Finishing moves
- Buckingham Backbreaker (Backbreaker rack)
- Shiisanpuuta (Reverse over the shoulder back to belly piledriver)
- TCO – The Crime Operation (Running reverse Samoan drop)
- Horiguchi's Finishing moves
- Backslide From Hell (Low blow followed by a backslide)
- Beach Break (Back-to-belly piledriver)
- Tanizaki's Finishing moves
- Tozawa's Finishing moves
- Saito's Finishing moves
- Ricochet's Finishing moves
- Brodie Lee's Finishing moves
- Tomahawk TT's Finishing moves
- Knife-edge chop
- Kneeling reverse piledriver
- Entrance themes
- "Dress For Exellence Pyramid" by ACMA
- "Glitter" by YO-HEI feat. Aki (used by Team Doi Darts)
- "WE ARE THE WARRIORS" by ACMA (used by Maraha Isappa)
Members[]
| * | Founding member |
|---|---|
| I | First leader |
| II | Second leader |
| III | Third leader |
| Member | Duration | |
|---|---|---|
| Akira Tozawa | III | June 8, 2011 – March 1, 2012 |
| Austin Aries | April 3, 2011 – June 9, 2011 | |
| BxB Hulk | June 8, 2011 – March 1, 2012 | |
| Brodie Lee | January 14, 2011 – November 13, 2011 | |
| CIMA | II | January 14, 2011 – January 19, 2012 |
| Cyber Kong | February 6, 2011 – November 4, 2011 January 19, 2012 – March 1, 2012 | |
| Dragon Kid | January 14, 2011 – May 15, 2011 | |
| Gamma | November 13, 2010 – May 27, 2011 | |
| Genki Horiguchi | January 14, 2011 – February 9, 2012 | |
| Kzy/Tomahawk Kzy | * | October 13, 2010 – March 1, 2012 |
| Naoki Tanisaki/Tomahawk T.T | May 15, 2011 – March 1, 2012 | |
| Naoki Tanizaki | * | October 13, 2010 – March 1, 2012 |
| Naruki Doi | I* | October 13, 2010 – March 1, 2012 |
| Takuya Sugawara | * | October 13, 2010 – December 26, 2010 |
| Ricochet | January 14, 2011 – February 9, 2012 | |
| Ryo Saito | January 14, 2011 – February 9, 2012 | |
| Yasushi Kanda | * | October 13, 2010 – February 26, 2012 |
| Uhaa Nation | November 30, 2011 – March 1, 2012 | |
Sub-groups[]
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Doi Darts | Naruki Doi Naoki Tanizaki Kzy |
2011-2012 | Trio | Dragon Gate |
| Darkside Tension | Akira Tozawa BxB Hulk |
2011 | Tag Team | Dragon Gate Dragon Gate USA EVOLVE |
| CK-1 | CIMA Dragon Kid |
2011 | Tag team | Dragon Gate |
| Maraha Isappa | Genki Horiguchi Ryo Saito |
2009-2011 | Tag team | Dragon Gate |
| Osaka06 | CIMA Gamma |
2011 | Tag team | Dragon Gate |
| Spiked Mohicans | CIMA Ricochet |
2010-2011 | Tag team | Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate USA |
Timeline[]
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Dream Gate Championship (1 time) – CIMA
- Open The Brave Gate Championship (1 time) - Ricochet
- Blood Warriors Authorized Open The Brave Gate Championship (1 time)3 - Tanizaki
- Open The Owarai Gate Championship (2 times) – CIMA (1), Tanizaki (1)4
- Open The Twin Gate Championship (4 times) – Doi and Gamma (1), Horiguchi and Saito (1), CIMA and Ricochet (1) and Tozawa and Hulk (1)
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (3 times) – Sugawara, Kanda and Tanizaki (1) and CIMA, Ricochet and Dragon Kid (1) and Kzy, Tanizaki and Doi (1)
- Summer Adventure Tag League (2011) – Tozawa and Hulk
- Dragon Gate USA
- Open The United Gate Championship (1 time) – CIMA and Ricochet
Luchas de Apuestas record[]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kzy (hair) | Kotoka (hair) | Sapporo, Japan | Live event | December 5, 2010 | [Note 1] |
| Cyber Kong (mask) | YAMATO (hair) | Osaka, Japan | Gate of Destiny | October 16, 2011 | [Note 2][52] |
Notes[]
- ↑ Hair vs. Hair Captain's Fall Tag Team Match, where Kzy teamed with Yasushi Kanda and Kotoka with BxB Hulk.
- ↑ This was a six-way steel cage match, also involving Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk, Kagetora and Shingo Takagi.
3Championship not recognized by Dragon Gate.
4Tanizaki never won the championship, he stole it from Rich Swann and proclaimed himself champion in his place.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2010-10-15. Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2010-10-16.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2010-10-29. Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2010-11-26. Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2010-11-26.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2011-02-18. Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2011-03-02.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2011-03-04. Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2011-03-05.
- ↑ Tylwalk, Nick 2011-04-05. Austin Aries pulls a swerve at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Ultimate Gate 2011 . Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2011-04-06.
- ↑ Devries, Eric 2011-06-03. 6/5 DGUSA in New York City: Live perspective on Internet PPV event with technical issues - DGUSA Title match, six-man tag, Fray! . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-06-09.
- ↑ 6/8 Gate of Maximum Kickoff - 08 Jun 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-06-08). Retrieved on 2011-06-08.
- ↑ 7/17 Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling Festival in Kobe 2011 - 17 Jul 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-07-17). Retrieved on 2011-07-17.
- ↑ 7/17 Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling Festival in Kobe 2011 - 17 Jul 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-07-17). Retrieved on 2011-07-17.
- ↑ Radican, Sean 2011-09-11. Radican's DGUSA Internet PPV report 9/11: Ongoing coverage of DGUSA show from Milwaukee . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-09-11.
- ↑ 11/4 CROWN GATE - 04 Nov 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-11-04). Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
- ↑ 11/19 Crown Gate - 19 Nov 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-11-19). Retrieved on 2011-11-19.
- ↑ 11/30 Blood Warriors Independent Performance - 1st Blood. - 30 Nov 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-11-30). Retrieved on 2011-11-30.
- ↑ Final Gate 2011 - 24 Dec 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-12-25). Retrieved on 2011-12-26.
- ↑ 1/19 Primal Gate - 19 Jan 2012 . iHeartDG (2012-01-19). Retrieved on 2012-01-19.
- ↑ 2/9 Truth Gate, Blood Warriors vs. Junction Three Finale - 09 Feb 2012 . iHeartDG (2012-02-09). Retrieved on 2012-02-10.
- ↑ 3/1 Truth Gate Finale - 01 Mar 2012 . iHeartDG (2012-03-01). Retrieved on 2012-03-04.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedOWW - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedGenesis2012 - ↑ Wiswell, John. John Wiswell ranks the year's best 100 matches . Wrestling Observer. Retrieved on 2009-12-07.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 CageMatch profile . CageMatch. Retrieved on 2011-07-11.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 BxB Hulk's profile at the official Dragon Gate USA website .
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 24.6 Cagematch profile . Cagematch. Retrieved on 2009-12-31.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 25.8 Puroresu Central profile . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2009-12-31.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 OWOW Profile . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 ja:ウーハー・ネイション (in Japanese). Dragon Gate. Gaora. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved on 2013-05-05.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 28.8 Dragon Gate USA profile . Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved on 2009-12-31. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "DGUSA" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "DGUSA" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Caldwell, James 2007-09-03. Caldwell's PWG Weekend Road Report: Battle of Los Angeles Coverage and Results . PWTorch. Retrieved on 2009-12-31.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedPuro - ↑ Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling - "Fantastic Gate 2010" (in German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-03.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedWWE - ↑ Dobson, Jamie 2012-07-16. My Interview with the One Man Nation – Uhaa Nation! . 911 Wrestling. Retrieved on 2012-11-25.[dead link]
- ↑ Drinkwater, Jamie 2015-04-05. Blog: Top 5 PCW Finishing Moves . Preston City Wrestling. Retrieved on 2015-09-18.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 CageMatch Profile . CageMatch. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ Puroresu Central Profile . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedKzy profile - ↑ 38.0 38.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedKzy profile at Cagematch - ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 Puroresu Central profile . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2014-01-02. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "PuroCentral" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin profile . iHeartDG.com.
- ↑ Puroresu Fan profile . Puroresu Fan. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ 2010 Battle of Los Angeles - Night One . Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Retrieved on 2010-09-09.
- ↑ Puroresu Central Profile . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2011-09-10.
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedDGProfile - ↑ 45.0 45.1 Evolve profile . Evolve. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved on 2010-06-27.
- ↑ Best of the Super Jr.XXI (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2014-06-06.
- ↑ Road to Power Struggle (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2015-10-28.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcage - ↑ 49.0 49.1 Roster . Alpha-1 Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved on 2012-03-16.
- ↑ Chikara Fans profile . Chikara Fans. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved on 2010-05-31.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNeverKneel - ↑ 10/16 Gate of Destiny - 16 Oct 2011 . iHeartDG (2011-10-16). Retrieved on 2011-10-18.