Monster Express
| Monster Express | |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Members | Masato Yoshino Akira Tozawa Shachihoko Boy Big R Shimizu Peter Kaasa Shingo Takagi Uhaa Nation Anthony Nese Ricochet |
| Debut | August 30, 2013 |
| Disbanded | October 12, 2016 |
| Promotions | Dragon Gate |
Monster Express is a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was founded on August 30, 2013, by Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi, and Uhaa Nation. On October 12, 2016, Monster Express was forced to disband after losing a match to VerserK.
History
On August 1, 2013, after Tozawa had led Mad Blankey to victory against -akatsuki- in a match where the losing stable would have to disband, the rest of Mad Blankey turned on him, kicking him out of the group and assuming Yamato as their new leader. On August 30, Mad Blankey turned on Uhaa Nation after he refused to wrestle Akira Tozawa. On September 12, Naruki Doi turned on Yoshino, signaling the end of World-1 International, and Yoshino, Ricochet, and Boy formed a stable with Tozawa, Takagi, and Nation. On October 6, Tozawa, Yoshino, and Takagi failed to capture the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, and they revealed the name of the stable as Monster Express. On October 10, Yoshino defeated YAMATO to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship for the second time. On December 22, Tozawa and Takagi defeated Naruki Doi and Yamato to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship.
On March 2, 2014, Yoshino dropped the Open the Dream Gate Championship to Monster Express stablemate Ricochet.[1] On July 20, 2014, Takagi and Tozawa lost the titles to Millennials (Eita and T-Hawk). On April 4 Ricochet won the Open The Freedom Gate Championship by defeating Johnny Gargano. On May 5, 2014, Ricochet lost the title to Yamato. On July 20, Ricochet and Matt Sydal unsuccessfully challenged Naruki Doi and Yamato for the Open the Twin Gate Championship.[2] and Ricochet left the stable after that night to focus on his tag team with Matt Sydal. On November 3, Anthony Nese began his first tour of Dragon Gate USA's Japanese parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and he joined the stable. He unsuccessfully challenged Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. Four days later, Nese left the stable.
On February 28, 2015, Tozawa defeated Kzy for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. On March 1, 2015, Yoshino and Boy defeated Cyber Kong and Yamato to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship, and Uhaa Nation left Dragon Gate to sign with WWE. On March 29, Tozawa defeated Yosuke Santa Maria for the Open the Owarai Gate Championship. On May 30, Yoshino defeated T-Hawk in the finals to win the 2015 King of Gate tournament.[3] On June 13, Yoshino and Boy lost the titles to Naruki Doi and Yamato. On June 14, Yoshino defeated BxB Hulk to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship for the third time. On August 16, Yoshino lost the title to Shingo Takagi. After the match, Takagi turned on his stablemates and created VerserK. After the end of Millennials, T-Hawk was taken at the beginning of the Summer Adventure Tag League in 2015 as a new member of the stable. Yoshino and Tozawa finished the Summer Adventure Tag League with 2 victories, 1 draw, and 1 loss, reaching the semifinals. They lost to Jimmy K-ness J.K.S and Jimmy Susumu, costing them a spot in the finals. On November 1, 2015, Tozawa lost the title to Kotoka. On November 23, 2015, Yoshino defeated Mr. Nakagawa via fan decision for the Open the Owarai Gate Championship.[4] On December 6, Tozawa, Yoshino, and T-Hawk defeated Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi, and Yamato in a decision match for the vacated Open The Triangle Gate Championship. On February 14, Big R Shimizu accepted T-Hawk's invite and joined the stable.
On March 6, 2016, T-Hawk and Shimizu defeated Doi and Yamato to win the Open the Twin Gate titles. On April 3, Yoshino was stripped of the Open the Owarai Gate Champion due to failure to defend it within the previous three months. From May 8 to June 12, Tozawa, T-Hawk, Yoshino, and Shimizu participated in the 2016 King of Gate. Tozawa was in block B, T-Hawk in block C, and Yoshino and Shimizu in block D. Tozawa finished his block with 7 points and then he defeated Eita in a playoff match to advance to the semifinals, but Tozawa lost to Yamato. T-Hawk finished his block with 6 points and failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Masaaki Mochizuki. Yoshino failed to advance to the finals, finishing block D with 7 points, and Shimizu finished with 8 points, advancing to the semifinals. At the semifinals, Shimizu defeated a former Dia.Hearts stablemate, Masaaki Mochizuki, to advance to the finals, but Shimizu lost to YAMATO in the finals. On June 19, Shimizu and T-Hawk lost the Twin Gate Titles to Jimmyz (Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy Kagetora). From August 6 to August 27, Tozawa, Shimizu, Yoshino, and T-Hawk participated in the 2016 Summer Adventure Tag League. Tozawa and Shimizu finished block B with 6 points, and Yoshino and T-Hawk finished block A with 6 points.
On September 4, Tozawa, Yoshino, and T-Hawk lost the Open the Triangle Gate Champions to Ryo "Jimmy" Saito, Jimmy Kanda, and Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!. On September 22, after Yoshino, Shimizu, Peter Kaasa, and T-Hawk lost to CIMA and Dragon Kid, Masaaki Mochizuki and Flamita, after the match T-Hawk insulted his stablemates and challenged Yoshino for the leadership of Monster Express. On September 22, during the loser leaves unit match between Masato Yoshino and T-Hawk, VerserK interfered in the match, and the match ended in no contest. T-Hawk turned on Yoshino and joined VerserK. Also, Tozawa announced his plans to leave Dragon Gate for WWE, and his last match will be on November 3 at the Gate of Destiny 2016. On September 29, Peter Kaasa officially joined the stable. On October 12, 2016, Monster Express was forced to disband after losing a match to VerserK.
Championships and accomplishments
- Dragon Gate
- Open the Dream Gate Championship (4 times) - Yoshino (2), Ricochet (1), and Takagi (1)
- Open the Brave Gate Championship (1 time) – Tozawa
- Open the Twin Gate Championship (3 times) – Tozawa and Takagi (1), Yoshino and Boy (1), T-Hawk and Shimizu (1)
- Open the Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – Tozawa, Yoshino, and T-Hawk
- Open the Owarai Gate Championship (2 times) – Tozawa (1) and Yoshino (1)
- King of Gate 2015 - Yoshino
- Dragon Gate USA
- Open the Freedom Gate Championship (1 time) - Ricochet
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
References
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2014-03-02). "Shocking title change in Japan". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ↑ ??&Yamato??????V1. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). July 21, 2015. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "King of Gate". Dragon Gate (in Japanese). Gaora. Retrieved 2015-05-30.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "11/23 CROWN GATE - iHeartDG". iHeartDG.com. 2015-11-23. Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
External links
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