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52-559: The first seeds for World Elite were planted in March 2009, when Japanese wrestlers Kiyoshi and No Limit ( Naito and Yujiro ) aligned themselves with Sheik Abdul Bashir , forming an (unnamed) Anti-American faction. No Limit later left the company. In May, The British Invasion attacked Team 3D during an interview, much to the pleasure of Bashir and Kiyoshi, who were looking on. On the July 23, 2009, edition of Impact! , Eric Young joined

104-518: A live event in his hometown of New York City to win the X Division Championship for the third time. Red re-lost the title to Lethal two days later at a live event in Rahway, New Jersey . On the December 23 episode of Impact! , Red answered Jeff Jarrett 's MMA Challenge, but was defeated by submission. After the match Red, told Jarrett that he had a younger brother, who would answer the challenge

156-597: A 20-man X-Division Gauntlet match for the X Division Cup which was won by Héctor Garza . While working for TNA, he also wrestled for Ring of Honor as a member of the three-man tag team The S.A.T. with cousins, Jose and Joel Maximo. Eventually, he began to team with "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles , becoming known together as Amazing Phenomenon. The team would go on to win the ROH Tag Team Championship from The Prophecy, defeating Christopher Daniels and Xavier . The duo would subsequently feud with

208-594: A house show in Cardiff, Wales. On the following day's Impact! , Williams used Terry's "Feast or Fired" briefcase to get a shot at Amazing Red 's X Division Championship and quickly defeated him for the title. Soon after, the members of The World Elite began to focus on separate goals. On the January 4, 2010, edition of Impact! Homicide turned on Kiyoshi, after which both of them left World Elite. After months of abuse, Terry finally turned on Magnus and left World Elite on

260-406: A losing effort against the team of Gillette, Hiroshi Yamato and Kai , with Gillette pinning Raijin for the win. On April 1, Kawabata debuted as the masked character Sushi, when he entered the 2012 Junior Tag League alongside Bushi. Sushi and Bushi made it all the way to the finals of the tournament on April 14, where they were defeated by Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo. In July, Sushi took part in

312-458: A masked luchador , in a three-way match, where he defeated Jay Lethal and Chris Sabin. Sangriento made his Impact! debut on May 5, defeating Suicide. After defeating Suicide in a rematch the following week, Sangriento was not seen again for two months, until appearing in a backstage segment with Eric Young at Destination X on July 10. At the same pay-per-view Amazing Red wrestled in an X Division number one contender's Ultimate X match, which

364-431: A non-title match. The return match between the two was booked for Turning Point , where Red was able to retain his title. Afterwards Don West quietly broke off his affiliation with Red, while he went on to defend his title on TNA's weekly Webmatches against the likes of Chris Sabin and Homicide. At Genesis , Red retained his title in a match against the returning Brian Kendrick . On the January 28 episode of Impact! ,

416-497: A series of singles victories, Kowabata was put into a stable alongside Scott D'Amore and Conrad "Lights Out" Kennedy . D'Amore proclaimed that the team of Kowabata and Kennedy would reform JCW. At the following show, Kowabata and Kennedy defeated fan favorites The Ring Rydas. Raijin took part in two BSE Pro tournaments which included Adrenaline Cup and the Sudbury Scramble Cup, both of which he did not win. Kowabata

468-584: A shot at fellow World Elite members Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams TNA World Tag Team Championship and Terry a shot at the X Division Championship , while Bashir had gotten a pink slip and was as a result fired from TNA. On January 17, 2010, at Genesis , Williams and Magnus lost the World Tag Team Title to Matt Morgan and Hernandez. On January 27, 2010, Eric Young lost the Global Championship to World Elite team mate Rob Terry at

520-955: A shot at the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship which he lost. On March 13, 2010, Raijin took on Kevin Steen for the Capital City Championship Combat Championship and lost. Raijin, as Kowabata, returned to JCW on May 4, 2011, at the St. Andrews Brawl internet pay-per-view, where he defeated Bill Martel in a singles match. At the June 30 pay-per-view Kawabata defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a singles match. His final match in North America came on January 28, 2012, when he lost to Josh Alexander at Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW). In

572-661: A tag team match. Raijin left Japan to live in Windsor, Ontario , Canada with Scott D'Amore to gain "learning experience" in North America . Raijin would go on to work for various promotions within Canada and eventually branched off into the United States. Raijin wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, teaming with Brute Issei and losing to Havok and Martyr in a tryout dark match on July 15, 2007, prior to

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624-467: Is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former three-time X Division Champion and one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion . He has worked on the American independent circuit and appeared for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Figueroa is also the founder of House of Glory wrestling school , where he is also one of the head trainers. He

676-421: Is the cousin of wrestlers Joel and Jose Maximo and Zelina Vega . In April 2019, Red announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to a severe neck injury. However, he would return to the ring only a few months later, to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Figueroa originally wrestled as Red, but Savio Vega decided to expand his ring name to include the word "Amazing" while he worked for

728-492: The 2012 Junior Hyper League , where he finished with a record of three wins and two losses, failing to advance from his round-robin block. Following Bushi's departure from All Japan, Sushi formed a new partnership with rookie Andy Wu , with the two taking part in the Junior Hyper Tag League in early 2013, where they failed to advance to the finals. On April 26, Kawabata as Sushi received his first shot at

780-766: The All Asia Tag Team Championship but lost to Katsuhiko Nakajima and Tomoaki Honma . In November, Raijin and Kohei Suwama participated in the 2005 Real World Tag League but would not pass the round robin stage. On January 4, 2007, Raijin along with Kikutaro and Nobutaka Araya took on, and lost to, El Samurai , Masanobu Fuchi and Ryusuke Taguchi at New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome . On May 13, All Japan said farewell to Raijin along with Brute Issei, who both went on overseas training excursions. Raijin returned to All Japan on June 22, 2008, but just three months later it

832-794: The International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico, giving origin to his more common pseudonym, Amazing Red. Red, who was already known for his work in the United States independent circuit , joined NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA) at its 2002 inception, quickly establishing himself in its X Division . During his first run in TNA, Red held both the X Division Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Lynn , simultaneously. At Victory Road 2004 , Red competed in

884-819: The TNA Legends Championship . In a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match , the British Invasion lost the IWGP tag titles but won the TNA World Tag Team Championship . On the October 29 edition of Impact! Young renamed the Legends Championship to the "TNA Global Championship" and claimed he wouldn't defend it on U.S. soil or against any American wrestler. On the same night, after Angle announced

936-875: The Victory Road pay-per-view . On August 12, 2007, Raijin appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling 's premier show, Bloodymania . He teamed with Brute Issei in the 8 Team Tag Team Elimination match for the JCW Tag Team Championship , becoming the fifth team eliminated in the match. On August 18, at Chikara , Raijin took on Mike Quackenbush in a losing effort for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship . On April 23, 2008, Raijin took part in JCW's " Slam TV Tour 2008". He debuted as Kowabata, being managed by "The Guidance Counselor" Scott D'Amore . After

988-598: The World Junior Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated by the defending champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru . Sushi re-entered the title picture on October 12 by pinning Kanemaru in a six-man tag team main event. Sushi received his title shot on October 27, but was again defeated by Kanemaru. Afterwards, Sushi began petitioning for All Japan to restore the Gaora TV Championship , which had been quietly sidelined earlier in

1040-824: The ring name Sushi (stylized as SUSHI ). He is a two-time holder of the Gaora TV Championship . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under the ring name Akira Raijin ( 雷陣 明 , Raijin Akira ) and is also known for working in North America for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion under the ring names Kiyoshi and Suicide . Akira Kawabata was born on July 17, 1978, in Takarazuka , Hyōgo . Trained by former junior heavyweight contender Masanobu Kurisu, Kawabata made his debut in 1998, using

1092-567: The All Asia Tag Team Championship. The two were, however, defeated by the defending champions, Burning ( Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru). On May 17, Sushi lost the Gaora TV Championship to Kotaro Suzuki in his second defense. On December 14, Sushi put his mask on the line in a tag team match, where he and "Mr. Christmas" faced Último Dragón and Masked Burning #2 . Though Sushi was pinned for

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1144-521: The British Invasion attacked Red after his six-man tag team match. As Rob Terry was going to cash in his " Feast or Fired " briefcase, which gave him the right to challenge for the X Division Championship anytime, anywhere, his stable mate Doug Williams managed to convince him to hand it over to him and defeated Red to win the Championship. On the April 12 episode of Impact! , Red took the place of

1196-640: The February 18 edition of Impact . After being defeated by Terry at Destination X , Magnus left World Elite, while Williams moved on to wrestling in the X Division. Eric Young and Kevin Nash ended World Elite to join Scott Hall to re-form The Band . Akira Raijin Akira Kawabata ( 川畑 顕 , Kawabata Akira ) (born July 17, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler , currently working under

1248-654: The Light Heavyweights. The match was won by Archadia as he defeated Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon. In April 2009, it was announced via the TNA website that the Amazing Red would return to the company in the Team 3D Tag Team Invitational Tournament . On the April 30 episode of Impact! , he teamed with then- X Division Champion Suicide to defeat The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ). Suicide and Amazing Red were eliminated from

1300-799: The March 26, 2009, episode of Impact! , Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag team of No Limit, unsuccessfully challenged Suicide for the TNA X Division Championship . Kiyoshi and No Limit then aligned themselves with Sheik Abdul Bashir . After No Limit left the company in May 2009, the duo of Kiyoshi and Bashir went on to form an alliance with The British Invasion of Doug Williams , Brutus Magnus and Rob Terry as well as Eric Young , known as World Elite . The members represented anti–American faction of countries, with Williams, Magnus and Terry representing Great Britain, Bashir representing Iran, Young representing Canada, Kiyoshi representing Japan and Homicide , who joined

1352-607: The Prophecy and the Briscoes, but Homicide subbed in for Red for a successful title defense over Daniels and Dan Maff . Amazing Phenomenon's title reign lasted 158 days, and was vacated due to Red's injury. Through late 2003, Amazing Red wrestled as Misterio Red as well as Airwalk Spriggan, while on a tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling . During the tour, he suffered a near career-ending knee injury, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and having to undergo surgery which kept him on

1404-528: The September 10 edition of Impact! , World Elite recruited Homicide (representing Puerto Rico ) into their group, turning him heel in the process. On the October 1 edition of Impact! the alliance between World Elite and Main Event Mafia came to an end in an all out brawl between the two factions. At Bound for Glory Young pinned Kevin Nash in a three-way dance, which also included Hernandez , to win

1456-755: The United Kingdom). The following week, Young debuted a new look that included a shaved head and wearing new attire, as went on to defeat Daniels before helping Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus win the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Team 3D. On the August 6 episode of Impact! it was revealed that Kurt Angle and Eric Young had made a deal to turn the Main Event Mafia and the World Elite factions into one super faction. On

1508-433: The World Elite, ironically becoming the faction's American representative in the process despite the faction's anti-American leanings. At Final Resolution Young, Bashir, Homicide, Kiyoshi, Terry and Nash took part in the "Feast or Fired" match , with Nash, Terry and Bashir coming out of the match with briefcases despite Young ordering them not to get the briefcases. After the match it was revealed that Nash had earned himself

1560-673: The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). He also won the HOG Heavyweight Championship at House of Glory's "High Intensity 6" and would hold the title for a record setting 364 days. He lost the title almost a year later at "High Intensity 7" to Anthony Gangone in a No Ropes Match. Red would be forced to join the House of Gangone stable, and would then, of his own choice, turn heel by attacking two of his students, Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy). Red

1612-530: The death of the Main Event Mafia and turned face , Kevin Nash also became a face as he began feuding with Eric Young and the World Elite. However, the following month at Turning Point Nash helped World Elite members Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus retain their TNA World Tag Team Championship, thus once again becoming a heel. On the following edition of Impact! , Nash congratulated Young on outsmarting him at Bound for Glory and aligned himself with

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1664-464: The following week. The following week Red's storyline brother, billed simply as Little Red (later renamed Crimson), answered the challenge and was winning his match against Jarrett, before Jarrett was pulled away from the ring by his security guards Gunner and Murphy . Shortly afterwards, Crimson broke away from Red and the relation between the two was seldom mentioned again. On the April 19 episode of Xplosion , Figueroa debuted as Sangriento ,

1716-432: The group later, representing Puerto Rico. During the summer of 2009, Kiyoshi gradually faded out his Great Muta look and debuted a new look, complete with new ring attire and altered hair style. The World Elite split in early 2010, with Kiyoshi wrestled his last match so far for TNA on February 16, 2010, in an X Division three-way match, taped for Xplosion , where he and Homicide were defeated by Amazing Red . Kawabata spent

1768-475: The injured Hernandez and teamed up with Matt Morgan to successfully defend the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the Motor City Machine Guns. After the match, Morgan attacked Red for getting the pinfall in the match. After a few weeks out of action, Red returned to Impact! , on the June 10 episode, in a losing effort against Kurt Angle . On September 23 Red defeated Jay Lethal at

1820-410: The later half of 2008, Kawabata signed a two-year deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling after an appearance on Border City Wrestling 's (BCW) 15th anniversary show. He was given a heel gimmick , Kiyoshi , which resembled his mentor Great Muta, together with similar face paint and mannerisms . In his debut match on December 18, 2008, he defeated Consequences Creed with a moonsault to advance to

1872-467: The next four months wrestling part-time in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Kawabata returned to TNA on June 14, 2010, now under a mask portraying the face character of Suicide , losing to Magnus in a match taped for Xplosion . At the July 12 tapings of Xplosion , Kawabata picked up his first victory as Suicide, defeating Eric Young. After Kawabata's original two–year contract with TNA expired, it

1924-617: The number one contender to Samoa Joe 's X Division title by defeating Jay Lethal , Consequences Creed , Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi in a ladder match . On the following Impact! , Red won the X Division Championship for the second time by pinning Samoa Joe following interference by Bobby Lashley . On the October 15 episode of Impact! , Don West debuted as Red's new manager. On October 18, at Bound for Glory , Red retained his X Division title in an Ultimate X match against Homicide , Daniels, Suicide, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. The following week on Impact! , Red lost to Homicide in

1976-449: The promotion at the end of the month and becoming a freelancer . On January 28, Sushi was defeated by Jun Akiyama in his final AJPW match. After becoming a freelancer, Kawabata continued working under a mask as Sushi, but also resumed working unmasked as Kiyoshi. Amazing Red Jonathan Figueroa (born April 26, 1982), better known by his ring name Amazing Red , is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and promoter. He

2028-461: The ring name Akira Raijin, working primarily on the Japanese independent circuit. On August 28, 2004, Raijin debuted for All Japan Pro Wrestling losing to Ryuji Hijikata . His early years with All Japan would be mostly uneventful which is normal for a new wrestler in a Japanese promotion. On June 17, 2005, Raijin teamed with Nobukazu Hirai in a tournament to determine the number one conders for

2080-506: The semifinals in a tournament for the vacant TNA X Division Championship . On December 25, he lost to Chris Sabin , failing to advance into the finals of the tournament. On the March 5, 2009, episode of TNA Impact! , Kiyoshi, accompanied by the tag team No Limit ( Yujiro and Naito ), was unable to defeat the TNA X Division Champion Alex Shelley in a match for the title. On the March 14 edition of TNA Xplosion , Kiyoshi defeated Shark Boy with his signature Lightning Flash . On

2132-463: The sideline for an entire year. Red wrestled CM Punk in a dark match at a SmackDown taping on May 12, 2005. In June 2012, Red wrestled a tryout dark match for WWE . Red's last appearance was at a New York Wrestling Connection event at the beginning of 2006, where he lost his match to Javi-Air and re-injured his knee. After being on the sidelines with his injury, Red made his return on December 13, 2008, at Jersey All Pro Wrestling's Best of

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2184-448: The tag team of Chessman and Dark Ozz . On April 3 Kiyoshi entered All Japan's 2010 Champion Carnival . He defeated René Duprée and Suwama, but lost to Taiyō Kea and Masakatsu Funaki in the round robin stage of the tournament, finished third in his block and did not advance to the semifinals. On April 11, the final night of the tournament, Kiyoshi teamed with Satoshi Kojima to defeat Gurentai ( Nosawa Rongai and Taiyō Kea) in

2236-495: The team of A.J. Styles , Daniels and Beer Money, Inc. to face the British Invasion, Kiyoshi and Bashir in a ten-man tag team match. However, in the conclusion of the match, Young turned on the TNA originals by hitting Styles with a spike piledriver and allowing him to be pinned. Eric Young then became leader of a new faction named World Elite, consisting of himself (representing Canada), Bashir (representing Iran), Kiyoshi (representing Japan), and The British Invasion (representing

2288-432: The tournament on the May 14 episode of Impact! , by new stable The British Invasion , after interference from Shelley and Sabin. On the May 28 episode of Impact! , he challenged Suicide for the X Division Championship but was unsuccessful in winning the title for a second time. On August 16, at Hard Justice , Red competed in a Steel Asylum match in another losing effort. On the October 1 episode of Impact! , Red became

2340-507: The win by Dragón and was per stipulation supposed to unmask himself, Mr. Christmas instead offered to unmask in his place, revealing himself as Jun Akiyama. On June 4, 2015, Sushi defeated Kenso to win the Gaora TV Championship for the second time. On August 15, Sushi fractured his jaw in a match, which sidelined him indefinitely and forced him to forfeit the Gaora TV Championship. He made his return to in-ring action on November 1. On January 15, 2017, AJPW announced that Sushi would be leaving

2392-517: The year. After its restoration, Sushi entered a four-man tournament for the vacant title, defeating Hikaru Sato in his semifinal match on November 21. Three days later, Sushi defeated Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) representative Keisuke Ishii in the finals to win the tournament and become the third Gaora TV Champion. Sushi made his first successful title defense on January 3, 2014, against another DDT representative, Soma Takao. On February 23, Sushi, alongside Menso～re Oyaji , received his first shot at

2444-654: Was announced for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Super J Cup that takes place in late-August. He would be defeated in the first round by the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay . He would then be booked for the September U.S. tour Fighting Spirit Unleashed . Also, Red opened his own training school, House of Glory . During his initial stint in the company, he became one-time HOG Tag Team Champion with his former teammate Crimson after defeating

2496-458: Was announced on September 28, 2010, that he had signed a two–year contract extension with the promotion. On the October 8, 2010, edition of Xplosion Kawabata returned without the Suicide gimmick, working as Kiyoshi and forming a new tag team with compatriot Okada . They were defeated in their first match together by Ink Inc. ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ). On October 13, Suicide's profile

2548-508: Was announced that he would be travelling back to North America, to work for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), who had signed him to a contract. On October 11 Raijin lost to Suwama in his All Japan farewell match. On September 13, 2009, Raijin made a one-night return to All Japan, teaming up with Great Muta in a winning effort against Suwama and Shuji Kondo . On March 21, 2010, Raijin made another return to All Japan, now using his TNA ring name Kiyoshi, he teamed up with Bushi to defeat

2600-511: Was removed from TNA's official website, seemingly signaling the end of the gimmick. Kiyoshi and Okada had a rematch with Ink Inc. at the December 7 tapings of Xplosion , but were once again defeated. Shortly afterwards, Kiyoshi's profile was also removed from TNA's official website. On February 29, 2012, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Raijin would be returning to the promotion from his American excursion on March 20. In his return match, Raijin teamed with Kaz Hayashi and Minoru Tanaka in

2652-431: Was set to appear at the 2008 Hallowicked After Party , but was signed to TNA weeks prior to the event, resulting in him having to cancel the appearance. While part of TNA, Raijin continued to wrestle on the independent circuit. On December 20, Kowabata took on JCW Heavyweight Champion Corporal Robinson at Big Ballas X–Mas Party '08 in a losing effort. Raijin would mostly appear for Border City Wrestling and even had

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2704-419: Was won by Alex Shelley, and which would turn out to be his final match for the promotion. On August 4, 2011, Figueroa announced via his Twitter account that he had parted ways with TNA. On March 4, 2012, Red returned to Ring of Honor at the 10th Anniversary Show , where he teamed with T. J. Perkins in a losing effort against the House of Truth ( Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong ). In August 2019, Red

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