(born December 4, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name and is one-half of Bakusai with Shinsuke Nakamura. He is best known for his sixteen-year tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Takahashi made his debut for NJPW on August 28, 2010, and worked as a "Young Lion" for three years. In January 2014, Takahashi, renamed , was sent to the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion to further his wrestling training and gain international experience, a tradition with NJPW "Young Lions". In January 2016, he won his first professional wrestling championship, the CMLL World Lightweight Championship. After leaving CMLL, he worked for the American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) until the fall of 2016, with Takahashi returning to NJPW in November, once again working under his real name. Upon his return, Takahashi became a five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with Yota Tsuji and Bushi, and a record four-time Best of the Super Juniors tournament winner (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022). He also wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
He departed NJPW in February 2026 and signed with WWE that August as .
Early life Takahashi was born on December 4, 1989, in Hachiōji, a city in Tokyo. At the age of 12, he became a fan of professional wrestling, especially Masahiro Chono, who inspired Takahashi to work hard in school to become a member of the track and field team.
Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2010–2026) Young Lion and foreign excursion (2010–2016) Takahashi attended New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) annual open tryout test in May 2009 and passed, being accepted into the NJPW Dojo. He made his in-ring debut at NEVER.1 on August 24, 2010, losing to Kyosuke Mikami in a short opening match. Takahashi followed the traditions of NJPW's "Young Lions" (their term for rookies), wrestling in all black trunks and boots, usually losing the majority of their matches as part of their ongoing training regimen. He lost every match he competed in until he and Tomoaki Honma defeated King Fale and Mikami on February 6, 2011. His pay-per-view debut was a loss to Tama Tonga at The New Beginning on February 20. Exactly six months after his debut, Takahashi won his first singles match against Dramatic Dream Team (DDT)'s Kazuki Hirata at NEVER.5. On April 7, Takahashi was given an opportunity to compete for a spot in the annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament, participating in the "Road to the Super Juniors" tournament, but lost in the first round to DDT's Keisuke Ishii. Takahashi, Honma and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Gedo, Jado and Killer Rabbit at Wrestling Dontaku 2011 on May 3, followed by a loss to Koji Kanemoto at Dominion 6.18 on June 18. Three days later, Takahashi, Mikami and Takaaki Watanabe lost to Madoka, Shinobu and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in the first round of the "J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament".
In May 2012, Takahashi replaced Black Tiger for the 2012 Best of Super Juniors. He finished the tournament with only two points after seven losses and one win at the end over Taka Michinoku, faling to advance to the semi-finals. At Destruction on September 23, he and Wataru Inoue lost to Laughter7 (Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba). He participated in a tournament to determine the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion on November 15, losing to Shiori Asahi in the first round. On January 4, 2013, Takahashi competed in his first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show in a dark match at Wrestle Kingdom 7, teaming with Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask in a loss to Bushi, Kushida and Ryusuke Taguchi. Four months later, he competed in that year's Best of the Super Juniors, but scored no points after losing all eight of his tournament matches. NJPW often sends their "Young Lions" on a learning excursion outside Japan, and in June, it was announced that Takahashi would travel to the United Kingdom, where he worked regularly for a number of local British independent wrestling promotions.
Joining Los Ingobernables de Japón (2016–2019)
In August 2016, a cryptic video started appearing on NJPW programming featuring a time bomb counting down to November 5, 2016, the day of Power Struggle. At the event, Takahashi, under his real name, made a surprise appearance after Kushida defeated Bushi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, challenging him to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome. On December 10, Takahashi accepted Tetsuya Naito's offer to join the Los Ingobernables de Japón (L.I.J.) stable. At the event on January 4, 2017, Takahashi defeated Kushida to win the title for the first time. He successfully defended the title against longtime rival Dragon Lee at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, Taguchi at NJPW's 45th anniversary show on March 6, Kushida at Sakura Genesis 2017 on April 9 (in one minute and 56 seconds), and Ricochet on April 29. Takahashi suffered his first loss since returning on May 17, losing to Lee in his opening match in the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors. He finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. At Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 11, he lost the title back to tournament winner Kushida.
In late 2017, Takahashi started teaming regularly with L.I.J. stablemate Bushi in NJPW's junior tag team division. They entered the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament in October, defeating Lee and Titán in the first round, before being eliminated in the semi-finals by Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh). At Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4, 2018, he competed in a fatal-four-way match for the title, which was won by Will Ospreay. He unsuccessfully challenged Ospreay for the title on February 10 at The New Beginning in Osaka. Months later, Takahashi competed in the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors, winning his block with five wins and two losses, defeating Kushida to advance to the finals. On June 4, Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori to win the tournament. At Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo-Hall five days later, Takahashi defeated Ospreay to win his second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On July 7, at G1 Special in San Francisco, he successfully defended his title against Lee. After the match, it was reported that Takahashi suffered a broken neck due to a botched Phoenix-Plex, which would cause him to miss 9 to 12 months of action due to the severity of the injury. As a result, the title was declared vacant on August 20.
Junior division success (2019–2024)
At Power Struggle on November 3, 2019, Takahashi returned from injury, challenging Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4, 2020, which he won for the third time in his career. On the second night of the event, Takahashi and Ryu Lee defeated Liger and Naoki Sano in what was Liger's retirement match, with Takahashi pinning Liger. At The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9, he defeated Lee to retain the title. On June 16, Takahashi entered the New Japan Cup, defeating Honma, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii to advance to the semi-finals on July 3, where he lost to Kazuchika Okada. At Sengoku Lord in Nagoya on July 25, Takahashi unsuccessfully challenged Evil for both his IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship. At Summer Struggle in Jingu on August 29, he lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Ishimori, ending his reign at 238 days. On December 11, Takahashi won the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors, defeating El Desperado in the finals.
On Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 4, 2021, Takahashi defeated Super J-Cup winner El Phantasmo to face Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on Night 2, winning it for the fourth time. However, he vacated the title on February 25, after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in a match the week prior. He returned at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome on July 25, challenging the winner of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match between El Desperado and Robbie Eagles. On Night 2 of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on September 5, he failed to win the title from the winner, Eagles. On December 15, Takahashi defeated Yoh to win the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors, his third time winning the tournament, becoming the second wrestler to win back-to-back finals after Tiger Mask IV in 2004 and 2005. He lost his title match to El Desperado on Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16 on January 4, 2022. During the New Japan Cup in March, Takahashi defeated Sho, Minoru Suzuki and Evil in the first three rounds, but lost to L.I.J. stablemate Shingo Takagi in the quarterfinals. He failed to win Evil's NEVER Openweight Championship on April 9 at Hyper Battle. On June 3, Takahashi defeated El Desperado in the finals of the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors, winning the tournament for a third consecutive time and becoming the only wrestler to win it four times. He unsuccessfully challenged Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on June 21.
On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17, Takahashi defeated El Desperado, Ishimori and Master Wato in a four-way match to win his fifth IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He successfully defended the title against Yoh on February 5 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, and Eagles on April 8 at Sakura Genesis. Following the main event, Takahashi challenged new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Sanada for his title, which he accepted on the condition that his Just 5 Guys stablemate Yoshinobu Kanemaru challenged for Takahashi's title first. He retained the title against Kanemaru later that month, but failed to win Sanada's title at Wrestling Dontaku 2023 on May 3. At Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 4, he retained his title against Wato. At Destruction in Ryōgoku on October 9, Takahashi retained the title in a three-way match against Mike Bailey and Yoh, after which he was attacked by a returning Ishimori. At Power Struggle on November 4, after successfully defending his title against Ishimori, Takahashi challenged El Desperado to a title match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4, 2024, where he lost the title, ending his reign at 365 days. He lost to Mustafa Ali at Windy City Riot on April 12. The following month, he entered the 2024 Best of the Super Juniors, but failed to advance to the semi-finals with six wins and three losses. At Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 9, Takahashi, Bushi and Yota Tsuji defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Oleg Boltin and Yano for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, but lost it in a rematch the following week. He then defeated Ali at Capital Collision on August 30.
Teaming with Tetsuya Naito and departure (2024–2026)