Hirai Kawato (川人拓来 Kawato Hirai, born March 13, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) but is currently working for the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling promotion under his surname Kawato (川人 Kawato).
Professional wrestling career
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-2018)
Kawato started wrestling for NJPW in 2016 and has been with the company since then. He started by training as a "young lion" in NJPW's dojo, becoming a part of their Junior heavyweight division. Kawato has competed in over sixty matches for NJPW and competes against fellow junior heavyweights such as David Finlay and Gedo.
On January 3, 2016, Kawato made his debut match against Yohei Komatsu in a losing effort.[1]
On February 9, 2017, Kawato teamed with Jushin Thunder Liger and Yuji Nagata to defeat the team of Henare, Tomoyuki Oka and Yoshitatsu in a six-man tag team match.[2] On June 2, Kawato was involved in his first big match when he teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi against Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi. In October Kawato participated in the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament teaming with KUSHIDA losing to Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh). On November 5, 2017, Hirai Kawato alongside Juice Robinson, Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA and Tiger Mask IV defeated Suzuki-gun at Power Struggle. From October 12 to December 21, Kawato took part in the 2017 Young Lion Cup, where he finished second with a record of four wins and one loss.[3]
Excursion (2018-present)
On January 9, 2018, CMLL announced on Twitter that Kawato would begin his excursion with them at the end of the month, and would actively compete in the promotion after taking part in New Japan's Fantastica Mania events.[4] During the Fantastica Mania tour, Kawato lost all of his matches after being pinned or submitted by his opponents. In his send-off match, he teamed with Atlantis in a losing effort against Barbaro Cavernario and Gedo.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Boston crab
- Dreamcast/Kaiten Enzuigiri (Spinning enzuigiri)[5][6] – adopted from Prince Devitt[7]
- Ude hishigi waki gatame
- Signature moves
- Dropkick
- Missile dropkick
- Rolling elbow
- Spinebuster
- Surfboard
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #478 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017[8]
References
- ↑ Yohei Komatsu vs. Hirai Kawato (NJPW – 01/03/16) (in en-US).
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. Matches « Hirai Kawato « Wrestlers Database .
- ↑ Lion's Gate Project10 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-12-21.
- ↑ KAWATO ARRIBARÁ A MÉXICO Es de los jóvenes talentos @njpw1972 que tendrá participación en esta Fantasticamanía 2018 y que arribará a México a finales de este mes de enero para participar activamente en el CMLL (in Spanish). Retrieved on 2018-01-09.
- ↑ Lion's Gate Project8 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
- ↑ Lion's Gate Project9 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
- ↑ Charlton, Chris 2017-10-23. Milano references Kawato's kick is a homage to Devitt (the Dreamcast) #njpst (in en).
- ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017 . The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved on 2017-09-08.
External links
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