Ryusuke Taguchi

Ryusuke Taguchi (田口 隆祐) is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

He is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, seven-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion.

Pursuing several sports in high school, Taguchi competed in 76 kg class amateur wrestling in college before entering the NJPW Dojo in March 2002 and debuting in November of that year at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, wrestling in New Japan's famous junior heavyweight division.

Taguchi's best known gimmick is akin to a disco dancer, often sporting a short afro and colorful, flamboyant attire and celebrating victories with a post-match dance, encouraging his partners to join in during tag team matches.

This earned Taguchi the nickname "Funky Weapon".

During high school, Taguchi dabbled in many athletic pursuits, including baseball, soccer, and track and field, before entering the 76 kg class in amateur wrestling at Tōkai University.

He enrolled in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo in March 2002, training under Kotetsu Yamamoto, passing the promotion's notoriously tough entry test, before debuting on November 22, 2002, in a losing effort against Toru Yano.

Taguchi continued to wrestle in minor matches through early 2003, before being entered into the tenth annual Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ) tournament by default after Heat pulled out.

Taguchi finished in last place with zero points, losing all of his matches.

In November 2003, Ryusuke Taguchi and fellow New Japan graduate Hirooki Goto won a 4-team tournament to decide the number one contenders to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, defeating Wataru Inoue and El Samurai in the semifinals and Masahito Kakihara and Masayuki Naruse in the finals.

When the title was vacated just days later due to injury, Taguchi and Goto instead faced Gedo and Jado (who had won a separate tournament) on November 29, 2003, to decide the new champions; Gedo and Jado won the match and the title.

On December 27, 2003, Taguchi defeated Naofumi Yamamoto to gain a spot on the card for New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, Wrestling World.

He went on to defeat Akiya Anzawa at the event on January 4, 2004, in under five minutes.

On March 21, 2004, Taguchi and Goto received their second opportunity at the junior tag titles, falling to champions American Dragon and Curry Man.

On the April Strong Energy tour, Taguchi was entered into the eight-man round-robin Young Lion Cup (YLC) tournament, earning nine points in the group stage and defeating Hirooki Goto and Michinoku Pro's Kazuya Yuasa in the semifinals and final, respectively.

Winning the tournament earned Taguchi his first singles title opportunity, as he unsuccessfully challenged U-30 (under 30) Openweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi on May 13, 2004.

Taguchi once again competed in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in June 2004, finishing with 4 points by wrestling to 20-minute time limit draws with El Samurai and American Dragon, and defeating Jyushin Thunder Liger in 45 seconds.

Taguchi again finished in last place for his block.

In October and November 2004, Taguchi competed in the 7-man, single-elimination Young Lion Toukon Tournament, a sort of "sequel" to the Young Lion Cup; he received a bye to the semifinals as a result of winning that tournament, defeating Hiroshi Nagao and Katsuhiko Nakajima in his two matches to punctuate his YLC victory.

On January 6, 2005, Taguchi announced that he would be going on a learning excursion to Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), a common practice for young Japanese juniors, wrestling simply as "Taguchi".

He competed in two farewell matches in New Japan, losing to Wataru Inoue in the first and teaming with Taiji Ishimori to defeat Tiger Mask and El Samurai in the second.

Taguchi made his CMLL debut on February 11, 2005, in the Arena México, teaming with Black Tiger and Shigeo Okumura to defeat Negro Casas, Felino and Safari.

Taguchi also wrestled in Último Dragón's Toryumon Mexico, teaming with Hiromi Horiguchi to win the 4-team Yamaha Cup tournament on February 27, 2005.

Taguchi continued to compete in CMLL throughout much of 2005, often teaming with fellow New Japan alumni Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

He returned to Japan on October 7, 2005 and wrestled his official return match on October 22, 2005, teaming with Masahito Kakihara to defeat Sangre Azteca and Hirooki Goto.

On February 19, 2006, Ryusuke Taguchi and veteran junior El Samurai defeated heel faction CTU's (Counter Terrorist Unit) Minoru and Hirooki Goto to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, giving Taguchi his first title.

They made their first defense on March 19, 2006, defeating another veteran-young lion duo in Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue, followed by three-time title holders Gedo and Jado on May 7, 2006, in a match that lasted over 30 minutes.

Taguchi again competed in the BOSJ in June 2006, finishing in fourth place out of seven in his block with seven points, defeating Jyushin Thunder Liger, Sangre Azteca and Fuego, and wrestling to a double count out with Jado.

Taguchi and Samurai faced Gedo and Jado in a title rematch on July 8, 2006, losing the belts to their challengers in another 30-minute match.

On September 3, 2006, Taguchi made his debut in New Japan's WRESTLE LAND brand, teaming with Pegasus Kid II to defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Makai Rey Cobra #3; he also wrestled in a brief "bonus track" match later in the night, winning a 14-man tag team match along with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tanaka, Jado, Gedo, Pegasus Kid and Gran Naniwa against Toru Yano, Milano, and five members of the Makai Club.

Taguchi continued to participate in WRESTLE LAND through 2006 and 2007.

On September 24, 2006, Taguchi made his first attempt at a major singles junior title by challenging Tiger Mask for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, losing in 13 minutes.

At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome event on January 4, 2007, Taguchi teamed with El Samurai and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Masanobu Fuchi to defeat Kikutaro, Nobutaka Araya and Akira Raijin, pinning Kikutaro after the Dodon.

Four days later on January 7, 2007, Taguchi suffered a right eye injury in a tag team match with Tiger Mask against Jyushin Thunder Liger and Milano Collection A.T., forcing him out of action for two months.

He had been scheduled to compete in a four-man tournament to decide the number one contender to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was removed as a result of the injury; Taguchi returned on March 3, 2007.

On March 11, 2007, Taguchi was introduced as the first member of El Samurai's new Samurai Gym faction, and was later joined by Yujiro on March 18, 2007.

On April 13, 2007, Taguchi challenged Minoru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in his first shot at the title, albeit unsuccessfully.

Minoru also stole the Samurai Gym signboard after the match, carrying it as a trophy for the next several months.

Taguchi entered the 14th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament in June 2007, having his strongest showing to date, winning five out of six group stage matches by defeating Tetsuya Naito, Koji Kanemoto, El Samurai, Dragon Gate's BxB Hulk, and junior champion Minoru, finishing in first place for his block with 10 points.

He was also the winner of the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors.