Tomohiro Ishii

Tomohiro Ishii (石井 智宏) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (Riki Pro) promotion, where he worked backstage as the chairman.

Ishii made his professional wrestling debut at the age of twenty on November 2, 1996, facing Choden Senshi Battle Ranger Z at an event held by Genichiro Tenryu's Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) promotion in Kushiro, Hokkaido.

For the next years, Ishii remained affiliated with WAR, winning his first title on October 12, 1997, when he and Yuji Yasuraoka defeated Gokuaku Umibouzu and Masashi Aoyagi for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Ishii and Yasuraoka won the title once more on March 1, 1999, eventually becoming the final champions in the title's initial history due to Yasuraoka's retirement in June 1999 and WAR going out of business in 2000.

Being forced to become a freelancer, Ishii went on to work for several promotions during the following years, including Toruymon Japan, World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), and Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (Riki Pro), which he entered as the promotion's founder Riki Choshu's apprentice, later being appointed the chairman of the promotion.

In 2003, Ishii won Riki Pro's Young Magma Tournament.

In 2004, Ishii also made appearances for Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max, where he and Tatsuhito Takaiwa won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship.

Ishii made sporadic appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2004 and 2005, but only began working regularly for the promotion in 2006, while still representing Riki Pro.

Due to his short stature, Ishii had started his career as a junior heavyweight, but in 2005 Choshu recognized his strength and approved his transition into the heavyweight division.

In June of that year, Ishii formed the "Heisei no Gokudo Combi" tag team with Toru Yano and together the two took part in the 2006 G1 Tag League.

On October 16, Ishii and Yano joined Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Togi Makabe as the newest members of the villainous Great Bash Heel (G.B.H.) stable.

From 2006 onwards, several G.B.H. members, including Ishii, Makabe and Yano, also made sporadic appearances for the Apache Pro-Wrestling Army promotion, where Ishii won the WEW Heavyweight Championship on July 12, 2008.

Back in NJPW, Ishii worked as one of the lowest-ranked members of G.B.H. until April 2009, when he, along with Yano, Gedo, Giant Bernard, Jado, Karl Anderson and Takashi Iizuka turned on then-G.B.H. leader Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma and went on to form the new Chaos stable under the leadership of Shinsuke Nakamura.

While Chaos as a unit was involved in a storyline rivalry with Makabe, Honma and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ishii mainly remained outside of the top matches in the rivalry, continuing to work undercard matches, starting his own rivalry with Wataru Inoue.

In October 2009, Ishii received some exposure in North America, when he was featured in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) Global Impact 2 program on Spike TV, working in an eight-man tag team main event, where he, Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson and Takashi Iizuka were defeated by Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, Masahiro Chono and Riki Choshu.

The match had been taped during NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom III show the previous January.

On January 4, 2010, Ishii was involved in another big eight-man tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom IV, where he, Takashi Iizuka, Toru Yano and Abdullah the Butcher were defeated by Manabu Nakanishi, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu and Terry Funk.

In late 2010, Ishii started a storyline rivalry with masked wrestler Tiger Mask, going after his mask on several occasions.

This built to a match during the first Fantastica Mania weekend on January 23, 2011, where Tiger Mask defeated Ishii in a Lucha de Apuestas Mask vs. Hair match; as a result, Ishii was forced to have his head shaved.

After the shaving, Ishii once again attacked his rival and unmasked him.

During the next NJPW event three days later, Ishii continued his rivalry with Tiger Mask, but was now wearing the mask of Black Tiger, a longtime nemesis of the various Tiger Masks that have appeared in NJPW throughout the years.

The rivalry culminated on February 20 at The New Beginning, where Tiger Mask defeated Ishii in a Mask vs. Mask match, taking away his mask and ending the rivalry.

In June 2011, Ishii took part in the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano made it to the semifinals, before losing to Giant Bernard, Jyushin Thunder Liger and Karl Anderson.

Though Ishii worked the entire rivalry under his real name, he was officially recognized by NJPW as the sixth generation Black Tiger, when Kazushige Nosawa debuted in 2012, billed as the seventh generation Black Tiger.

After having worked for NJPW for eight years, Ishii received his first title shot in the promotion on May 20, 2012, when he unsuccessfully challenged Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in the main event of a show in Osaka.

The following November, Ishii took part in a tournament to determine the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion.

After wins over Daisuke Sasaki and Yoshi-Hashi, Ishii was defeated in the semifinals of the tournament by Chaos stablemate Masato Tanaka, who went on to win the entire tournament.

The following month, Ishii teamed with Chaos leader Shinsuke Nakamura in the 2012 World Tag League, where they picked up three wins out of their six matches, failing to advance from their round-robin block.

Though pushed for most of his career as an undercarder without any major championship wins, Ishii gathered a cult following, and in February 2013 was called "probably [one of the] most underrated guys in the business" by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Ishii's status in NJPW finally began rising in early 2013, culminating in him winning his first title in the promotion, the NEVER Openweight Championship, in February 2014, a title he would later win a record six times.

He went on to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship on one occasion, and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship three times.

Through NJPW's working relationship with the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and the British Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) promotions, he has also won the ROH World Television Championship once and is a two-time Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.

In January 2013, Ishii took part in the third Fantastica Mania weekend, winning a twelve-man torneo cibernetico on January 20.

Following the win, Ishii challenged Masato Tanaka to a rematch for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

The rematch between the two stablemates took place on February 3 in a main event at Korakuen Hall.

Despite having the audience noticeably behind him, Ishii was again defeated by Tanaka, who, as a result, retained his title.

The match was later praised by sports journalist Dave Meltzer, though he also expressed concern for the healths of both Ishii and Tanaka following the hard-hitting match.

For his fan following, Ishii earned himself the nickname "New Mr. Korakuen".