Keni'chiro Arai
Encyclopedia
Keni'chiro "AraKen" Arai (新井 健一郎) (born July 7, 1972 in Nerima, Tokyo
, Japan
) is a Japanese
wrestler for Dragon Gate.
baseball team, and for his very hard head. Arai frequently no-sells attacks to the head when wrestling. Earlier in his career, he played an alcoholic, and would spit beer in his opponent's faces, but this aspect of his character was quietly dropped.
Arai started as a midcarder, but gradually lost card position over the years, until he was fighting mainly in opening matches and rarely winning. However, his career changed for the better when he joined the cram school based stable Tozawa-juku in early 2007. It saw the first ever alteration of his character, and he formed a tag team with Taku Iwasa
that gave his career a resurgence. The two won the Open the Twin Gate
championship from inaugural champions Naruki Doi
and Masato Yoshino
on February 8, 2008, successfully retaining the titles twice before dropping them to Ryo Saito
and Susumu Yokosuka on May 5. However, he would find championship success again the following month, for on June 28, he – along with Iwasa and newest Tozawa–juku member Shinobu – would capture the Open the Triangle Gate Titles from Shingo Takagi
, YAMATO
and Gamma. Unfortunately for them, they lost the titles in their first defense on July 12, losing them to Yasushi Kanda
, YAMATO and Gamma.
On November 16, he, Iwasa & Tozawa fought the Triangle Gate champions Masaaki Mochizuki
, Don Fujii
& Magnitude Kishiwada
for the titles, but they had agreed to end Tozawa-juku if they lost. Arai ended up being pinned, bringing the stable to an end, and he and the others were given a graduation ceremony.
On January 18, 2009, Arai shocked everyone when he joined the heel group Real Hazard, turning heel for the first time since 1998. It came about when he came to the ring seemingly to assist Yasushi Kanda from suffering a beatdown from Real Hazard, after he lost a Real Hazard banishment match to Gamma, but instead, he joined the group, and then he joined Kanda and the other group members in beating down and ousting Gamma. He adopted a violent fight style and also re-introduced the alcoholic aspect of his character, carrying large amounts of alcohol bottles to the ring, which he used in his matches.
Since joining Real Hazard, Arai's career has been relatively uneventful. He has won matches on a semi-regular basis, usually via a low blow followed by a flash pinfall, but he has not been in title contention. In January 2010, during Real Hazard's disagreement on whether to fight clean matches or continue to cheat, Arai continued to team with the "cheat" side but didn't take a strong position on the issue. When the clean fight side of Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness left Real Hazard on February 10, Arai stayed with the heels, and with them became one of the founding members of the new DEEP DRUNKERS stable a couple of weeks later.
Since the formation of the Deep Drunkers, Arai has been mostly absent from cards and losing matches in short order when he does appear.
On October 13, 2010, the Deep Drunkers lost a six man tag team match to World-1 and were as a result forced to split up. However, following the match World-1 member Naruki Doi turned on his stablemates and joined the former Deep Drunkers and Takuya Sugawara
to form a new heel group. They however decided that Arai was not needed in the new group and kicked him out.
Nerima, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it calls itself Nerima City.As of August 1, 2007, the ward has an estimated population of 703,005 , and a density of 14,443 persons per km². 12,897 foreign residents are registered in the ward. 18.4% of the ward's population is over the...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) is a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
wrestler for Dragon Gate.
Biography
Keni'chiro Arai, also known as AraKen, is a second term graduate of Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon Japan group, and has been a mainstay on the roster ever since. He participated in FMW before joining Toryumon. He debuted as a heel, but turned face within the year and remained so for over a decade. He is known for his love of the Hanshin TigersHanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...
baseball team, and for his very hard head. Arai frequently no-sells attacks to the head when wrestling. Earlier in his career, he played an alcoholic, and would spit beer in his opponent's faces, but this aspect of his character was quietly dropped.
Arai started as a midcarder, but gradually lost card position over the years, until he was fighting mainly in opening matches and rarely winning. However, his career changed for the better when he joined the cram school based stable Tozawa-juku in early 2007. It saw the first ever alteration of his character, and he formed a tag team with Taku Iwasa
Taku Iwasa
Taku Iwasa is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Early:Iwasa graduated as part of the Toryumon T2P class. He initially portrayed Takamichi Iwasa, a Satanic character. Injuries derailed his career, and he soon ended up as a jobber to the stars. He was briefly...
that gave his career a resurgence. The two won the Open the Twin Gate
Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
The Open the Twin Gate Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate had used the WAR IJ Tag Team Championship since 2006, until 2007 when Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino introduced the new Twin Gate after winning the Summer Adventure Tag League...
championship from inaugural champions Naruki Doi
Naruki Doi
is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, where he is currently one third of the Open the Triangle Gate Champions. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi, as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
and Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...
on February 8, 2008, successfully retaining the titles twice before dropping them to Ryo Saito
Ryo Saito
, is a Japanese professional wrestler . he wrestled for Dragon Gate, where he was a member of the Blood Warriors stable. His name is sometimes abbreviated as SaiRyo, so as not to confuse him with Toryumon/DG alumni SAITO.-Toryumon:...
and Susumu Yokosuka on May 5. However, he would find championship success again the following month, for on June 28, he – along with Iwasa and newest Tozawa–juku member Shinobu – would capture the Open the Triangle Gate Titles from Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi is a former Japanese bodybuilder, turned professional wrestler. Shingo is currently competing for the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate and American promotion Dragon Gate USA...
, YAMATO
Masato Onodera
is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, known by his ring name Yamato , who competes for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA.-Dragon Gate:...
and Gamma. Unfortunately for them, they lost the titles in their first defense on July 12, losing them to Yasushi Kanda
Yasushi Kanda
Hiroyuki Kanda, better known as Yasushi Kanda, born on August 29, 1978 in Inage-ku, Chiba, Japan, is a Japanese wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion in Japan. He is considered one of Toryumon's greatest heel characters, and was a founding member of the M2K stable...
, YAMATO and Gamma.
On November 16, he, Iwasa & Tozawa fought the Triangle Gate champions Masaaki Mochizuki
Masaaki Mochizuki
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Dragon Gate, where he is the current Open the Dream Gate Champion in his second reign and the leader of the Junction Three stable...
, Don Fujii
Don Fujii
, is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate, best known by his ring name Don Fujii. He was one-half of the inaugural Open the Owarai Twin Gate Champions and a former Open the Twin Gate Champion with Masaaki Mochizuki. He was previously in the Crazy MAX and Blood Generation stables.-Biography:He was...
& Magnitude Kishiwada
Magnitude Kishiwada
, better known under his current stage name Magnitude Kishiwada is a Japanese wrestler.-Career:...
for the titles, but they had agreed to end Tozawa-juku if they lost. Arai ended up being pinned, bringing the stable to an end, and he and the others were given a graduation ceremony.
On January 18, 2009, Arai shocked everyone when he joined the heel group Real Hazard, turning heel for the first time since 1998. It came about when he came to the ring seemingly to assist Yasushi Kanda from suffering a beatdown from Real Hazard, after he lost a Real Hazard banishment match to Gamma, but instead, he joined the group, and then he joined Kanda and the other group members in beating down and ousting Gamma. He adopted a violent fight style and also re-introduced the alcoholic aspect of his character, carrying large amounts of alcohol bottles to the ring, which he used in his matches.
Since joining Real Hazard, Arai's career has been relatively uneventful. He has won matches on a semi-regular basis, usually via a low blow followed by a flash pinfall, but he has not been in title contention. In January 2010, during Real Hazard's disagreement on whether to fight clean matches or continue to cheat, Arai continued to team with the "cheat" side but didn't take a strong position on the issue. When the clean fight side of Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness left Real Hazard on February 10, Arai stayed with the heels, and with them became one of the founding members of the new DEEP DRUNKERS stable a couple of weeks later.
Since the formation of the Deep Drunkers, Arai has been mostly absent from cards and losing matches in short order when he does appear.
On October 13, 2010, the Deep Drunkers lost a six man tag team match to World-1 and were as a result forced to split up. However, following the match World-1 member Naruki Doi turned on his stablemates and joined the former Deep Drunkers and Takuya Sugawara
Takuya Sugawara
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently wrestling for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX and Dragon Gate.-Toryumon/Dragon Gate:He debuted in the 9th term of T2P as Henry III Sugawara, a Prince character. He joined with and eventually with Anthony W. Mori and Phillip J. Fukumasa, forming the Royal...
to form a new heel group. They however decided that Arai was not needed in the new group and kicked him out.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- 450° splash
- Hanshin Tiger Suplex (Tiger suplex)
- Kokyuuyama (Swan dive double foot stomp)
- Kubiyama (Tombstone piledriver)
- Tobidashichuii (Swan dive headbutt, sometimes while diving off of his tag team partner's shoulders)
Championships and accomplishments
- Dragon GateDragon Gateis a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling,...
- Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Taku Iwasa
- Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate ChampionshipDragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate ChampionshipThe Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling trios title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was created on November 7, 2004 when The Italian Connection faction of Milano Collection AT, Anthony W. Mori & YOSSINO defeated Aagan Iisou's Shuji Kondo, Takuya Sugawara &...
(1 time) – with Taku Iwasa and Shinobu - Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate ChampionshipDragon Gate Open the Twin Gate ChampionshipThe Open the Twin Gate Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate had used the WAR IJ Tag Team Championship since 2006, until 2007 when Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino introduced the new Twin Gate after winning the Summer Adventure Tag League...
(1 time) – with Taku Iwasa
- Toryumon Japan
- NWA World Welterweight ChampionshipNWA World Welterweight ChampionshipThe NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de...
(2 times) - UWA World Trios ChampionshipUWA World Trios ChampionshipThe UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995....
(2 times) – with Masaaki MochizukiMasaaki Mochizukiis a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Dragon Gate, where he is the current Open the Dream Gate Champion in his second reign and the leader of the Junction Three stable...
and Dragon KidDragon KidDragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...
(1), Dragon KidDragon KidDragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Professional wrestling career:...
and Naruki Doi (1)