Francesco Akira

Francesco Begnini (born November 12, 1999), better known by his ring name Francesco Akira, is an Italian professional wrestler working for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

He is a part of the Catch 2/2 tag-team alongside T. J. Perkins.

Akira is a member of the United Empire stable.

Begnini has also wrestled for All Japan Pro-Wrestling (AJPW), where he was a former AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Begnini debuted as a professional wrestler in the Italian wrestling circuit, working for the Italian Championship Wrestling, the promotion where he trained, for the Rising Sun Wrestling Promotion, ASCA Wrestling, and also for Irish and British promotions such as Over the Top Wrestling and Attack! Pro Wrestling.

Begnini made his debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling at AJPW Excite Series 2019 on February 7, where he teamed up with Black Menso-re, Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu in a losing effort to Evolution (Hikaru Sato, Suwama and Yusuke Okada).

He continued his tenure with the company, working for various events such as AJPW Chiba Extra Dream In Narita on July 15, 2019, where he teamed up with Hikaru Sato, Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Okada to defeat Atsushi Maruyama, Black Menso-re, Keiichi Sato and Koji Iwamoto in an eight-man tag team match.

He made his first appearance at the 2019 edition of the event, placing himself in the Block A and scoring a total of two points after competing against Atsushi Maruyama, Yusuke Okada, Tajiri, Kotaro Suzuki and Koji Iwamoto.

At the 2021 edition of the event, he came out champion after defeating Tajiri in the first round, Takuya Sugi in the second round, Tatsuhito Takaiwa in the semi-finals and El Lindaman in the finals on June 3, 2021.

On June 26 he won the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Iwamoto, becoming the first European since Dynamite Kid to stand atop AJPW's junior heavyweight division.

Another signature event of the promotion in which Begnini took part is the AJPW Junior Tag League, making his first appearance at the 2019 edition of the event, where he teamed up with Hokuto Omori and scored a total of three points after competing against the teams of Keiichi Sato and Koji Iwamoto, Banana Senga and Tsutomu Oosugi, Atsushi Maruyama and Black Menso～re, Hikaru Sato and Yusuke Okada, and Kagetora and Yosuke♥Santa Maria.

On the first night of the AJPW New Year Wars 2020 on January 2, where he participated in a 13-man battle royal also involving Jake Lee, Takao Omori, Osamu Nishimura and others.

Begnini is known for competing in the AJPW Junior League.

At the 2020 edition, he teamed up with Takayuki Ueki and fell short to Jin (Koji Iwamoto and Fuminori Abe) in the first round from December 27.

On March 28, 2022, a video, titled 'BRUCIARE' ("Burn" in Italian) was posted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling which showed United Empire leader Will Ospreay on a unknown location walking over pictures of the junior division wrestlers of New Japan on the floor, declaring the division wasn't the same since he graduated, and that he would rebuild her with a then unknown protegé, that would join him soon.

On April 9, Begnini made his NJPW debut at Hyper Battle '22, after the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, where El Desperado successfully defended his belt against Sho, where Begnini unveiled a United Empire shirt, thus joining the group and announcing he would compete in the Best of the Super Jrs. tournament in May.

On May 1, Akira was announced to be competing in the A Block, where he would finish it with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses, finishing with 8 points, therefore failing to advance to the finals.

On the finals day, Akira and United Empire stablemate T. J. Perkins defeated IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi in a non-title match.

On June 20, Akira and Perkins would beat the duo of Taguchi and Wato to win the titles, that being Akira's first championship in NJPW and making him the first Italian champion in NJPW history.

Akira and TJP defended the championships against Wato and Taguchi at Burning Spirit.

The duo, now going under the name Catch 2/2, defended the titles once more against Los Ingobernables de Japon's Bushi and Titán.

In November, the team entered the Super Junior Tag League, although they failed to make it to the final, finishing with 12 points.

At Wrestle Kingdom 17, the duo defeated tournament winners Lio Rush and Yoh.

Akira and TJP continued to defend the titles into the new year, defeating Douki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru at The New Beginning in Sapporo in February.

In April, the duo lost the titles to Jet Setters (Kushida and Kevin Knight), ending their reign at 311 days.

The following month, Akira entered the Best of the Super Juniors 30 tournament, competing in the B Block.

Akira finished his campaign with a total of 8 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.

On June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-Jo Hall, Catch 2/2 regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in a rematch against Jet Setters.

After the match, the duo was confronted by Clark Connors who berated the duo from the entrance ramp, only for the duo to be attacked from behind by United Empire stablemate Dan Moloney, who defected to Bullet Club alongside Connors.

Moloney and Connors received their title shot on July 4 on night 1 of NJPW Independence Day, defeating Catch 2/2 to win the titles, ending Akira and TJP's second reign at 30 days.

In August, Akira participated at the All Star Junior Festival USA, competing in the All-Star Junior Festival USA tournament.

In the first round, Akira was eliminated by Mike Bailey.

At Multiverse United 2, Catch 2/2 defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles).

In October at Royal Quest III, Akira teamed with United Empire stablemate Great-O-Khan, but both men were defeated by Ren Narita and Shota Umino.

Later that month, Akira teamed with TJP once again in the annual Super Junior Tag League, where the duo finished joint top of the block with 12 points, thus advancing to the tournament finals.

In the finals, Catch 2/2 defeated House of Torture, to win their first Super Junior Tag League tournament, thus earning an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship rematch against Connors and Moloney at Wrestle Kingdom 18.

Ahead of the match at Wrestle Kingdom, the two teams faced off in NJPW's first ever coffin match, which was won by Bullet Club, after they locked TJP in the coffin.

TJP remained out of NJPW programming including being absent at the Wrestle Kingdom 18 press conference, leaving Akira by himself.

On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, TJP returned alongside Akira, wearing a monstrous mask with red eyes and using mist, in reference to the Aswang, which are evil creatures in Filipino folklore.

Ultimately at the event, Akira and TJP defeated Bullet Club's Connors and Moloney, to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for a third time, only to lose it back to them a month later.