Makoto Saito (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Makoto Saito, better known by his stage name K-ness (born April 16, 1974 in Nerima, Tokyo
, Japan
) is a Japanese professional wrestler for Dragon Gate
.
, and then went on to wrestle on the Japanese indy circuit.
, and eventually was kicked out of the stable after losing to TARU in a loser leaves match.
He returned to Toryumon as Darkness Dragon, a takeoff on the Ultimo Dragon lineage, joining heel stable M2K. With the help of his stablemates he became a main event performer. He had a bitter feud with Dragon Kid that ended in 2002 with Kid winning the feud after winning a best of 3 falls mask vs mask match. Darkness Dragon unmasked and briefly went face, forming a face stable called Do FIXER with Kid and Ryo Saito. His face turn, however, was a ruse designed to cause dissention between the faces. He would soon turn heel again, joining the remnants of M2K and revealing that they were the real Do FIXER. He remasked and reinvented himself as K-ness, and engaged in a major feud and rivalry with YOSSINO
.
In November 2003 he suffered a major shoulder injury which caused him to miss out on the majority of 2004, and the switch from Toryumon to Dragon Gate.
On returning, K-ness re-united members from the various M2K factions that had split up over the past few years and created Final M2K. He had a relatively quiet 2005. He faced long term rival YOSSINO for the Open the Brave Gate title, but was defeated.
In 2006, he spent a lot of time on the shelf again, recovering from nagging injuries. When he returned at the end of the year, he was no longer himself in terms of his health, and began to wrestle in the opening matches on Dragon Gate cards to reduce the possibility of re-injuring himself. He then held an office position as field manager and booker.
In late 2007 he began to take matches in the upper card again. Teaming with Masaaki Mochizuki
and Don Fujii
, he ended up with a reign as one third of the Open the Triangle Gate champions. After dropping the titles, K-ness primarily returned to his background role. During that time, he unofficially allied with the "Over 30" veterans of Mochizuki, Fujii and Magnitude Kishiwada
, and occasionally took upper card matches with them.
In 2009, K-ness began wrestling as 'X' although no one knew who exactly X was. Genki Horiguchi eventually called out X, who turned out to be K-ness. He stopped teaming with the other veterans and joined Real Hazard, reuniting the K-neSuka team with Susumu Yokosuka
. On January 11, 2010, he defeated Naoki Tanisaki to become the Open the Brave Gate Champion.
On January 10, 2010, Genki Horiguchi announced that Real Hazard would start winning matches through teamwork rather than illegal tactics. He initially started out alone on this mission, but six days later, Yokosuka and K-ness decided to help him in his pursuit of clean fights. However, they all found themselves on the losing end of trios matches, with Horiguchi taking the fall every time, and a divide formed in Real Hazard over the clean fights issue, with them on one side and Yasushi Kanda, Kzy, and Takuya Sugawara - who wanted to win through illegal methods - on the other. On February 10, after KAGETORA accidentally cost Sugawara a shot at becoming the next challenger for the Open the Dream Gate Title, tensions boiled over. Yokosuka and K-ness left Real Hazard, along with Horiguchi. K-neSuka also agreed to stop teaming with Horiguchi, since they all did not like how Horiguchi was losing constantly, and they all felt that that was preventing K-neSuka from getting to the top of the tag team division.
On February 27, K-ness dropped the Brave Gate title to Super Shisa. On May 13, 2010, K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka defeated Cyber Kong
and Shingo Takagi
to win the Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
. After the longest reign in the title's history, with four successful defenses, K-ness and Yokosuka lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to Gamma and Naruki Doi
on November 23, 2010. On December 4 K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka joined World-1. In a match on February 6, 2011, K-ness suffered a dislocated right shoulder and took time off to heal. On April 14, 2011, World-1 was forced to disband after losing a match to the Blood Warriors.
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 professional wrestler for Dragon Gate
Dragon Gate
is 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,...
.
Early years
He debuted in Michinoku Pro around the same time as GammaGamma (wrestler)
Yoshito Sugamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Gamma. He is currently working for the Dragon Gate promotion.-Professional wrestling career:...
, and then went on to wrestle on the Japanese indy circuit.
Toryumon
He joined Toryumon in 1999 as MAKOTO, with a vampire style gimmick. As MAKOTO he was a member of the legendary Crazy Max stable. However, he did not get along with TARUYoshikazu Taru
Yoshikazu Taru is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name TARU. He works for All Japan Pro Wrestling and El Dorado Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...
, and eventually was kicked out of the stable after losing to TARU in a loser leaves match.
He returned to Toryumon as Darkness Dragon, a takeoff on the Ultimo Dragon lineage, joining heel stable M2K. With the help of his stablemates he became a main event performer. He had a bitter feud with Dragon Kid that ended in 2002 with Kid winning the feud after winning a best of 3 falls mask vs mask match. Darkness Dragon unmasked and briefly went face, forming a face stable called Do FIXER with Kid and Ryo Saito. His face turn, however, was a ruse designed to cause dissention between the faces. He would soon turn heel again, joining the remnants of M2K and revealing that they were the real Do FIXER. He remasked and reinvented himself as K-ness, and engaged in a major feud and rivalry with YOSSINO
Masato Yoshino
Masato Yoshino is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion.-Toryumon:...
.
In November 2003 he suffered a major shoulder injury which caused him to miss out on the majority of 2004, and the switch from Toryumon to Dragon Gate.
Dragon Gate
By the time K-ness returned, Ultimo Dragon had left the promotion and taken the Toryumon trademark with him.On returning, K-ness re-united members from the various M2K factions that had split up over the past few years and created Final M2K. He had a relatively quiet 2005. He faced long term rival YOSSINO for the Open the Brave Gate title, but was defeated.
In 2006, he spent a lot of time on the shelf again, recovering from nagging injuries. When he returned at the end of the year, he was no longer himself in terms of his health, and began to wrestle in the opening matches on Dragon Gate cards to reduce the possibility of re-injuring himself. He then held an office position as field manager and booker.
In late 2007 he began to take matches in the upper card again. Teaming with 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...
and 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...
, he ended up with a reign as one third of the Open the Triangle Gate champions. After dropping the titles, K-ness primarily returned to his background role. During that time, he unofficially allied with the "Over 30" veterans of Mochizuki, Fujii and Magnitude Kishiwada
Magnitude Kishiwada
, better known under his current stage name Magnitude Kishiwada is a Japanese wrestler.-Career:...
, and occasionally took upper card matches with them.
In 2009, K-ness began wrestling as 'X' although no one knew who exactly X was. Genki Horiguchi eventually called out X, who turned out to be K-ness. He stopped teaming with the other veterans and joined Real Hazard, reuniting the K-neSuka team with Susumu Yokosuka
Susumu Mochizuki
Susumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...
. On January 11, 2010, he defeated Naoki Tanisaki to become the Open the Brave Gate Champion.
On January 10, 2010, Genki Horiguchi announced that Real Hazard would start winning matches through teamwork rather than illegal tactics. He initially started out alone on this mission, but six days later, Yokosuka and K-ness decided to help him in his pursuit of clean fights. However, they all found themselves on the losing end of trios matches, with Horiguchi taking the fall every time, and a divide formed in Real Hazard over the clean fights issue, with them on one side and Yasushi Kanda, Kzy, and Takuya Sugawara - who wanted to win through illegal methods - on the other. On February 10, after KAGETORA accidentally cost Sugawara a shot at becoming the next challenger for the Open the Dream Gate Title, tensions boiled over. Yokosuka and K-ness left Real Hazard, along with Horiguchi. K-neSuka also agreed to stop teaming with Horiguchi, since they all did not like how Horiguchi was losing constantly, and they all felt that that was preventing K-neSuka from getting to the top of the tag team division.
On February 27, K-ness dropped the Brave Gate title to Super Shisa. On May 13, 2010, K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka defeated Cyber Kong
Cyber Kong
Takashi Yoshida is a Japanese wrestler better known by his ring name, Cyber Kong. He currently wrestles for Dragon Gate.-Biography:...
and 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...
to win the Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Championship
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...
. After the longest reign in the title's history, with four successful defenses, K-ness and Yokosuka lost the Open the Twin Gate Championship to Gamma and 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....
on November 23, 2010. On December 4 K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka joined World-1. In a match on February 6, 2011, K-ness suffered a dislocated right shoulder and took time off to heal. On April 14, 2011, World-1 was forced to disband after losing a match to the Blood Warriors.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Darkness Buster (Cross-armed scoop brainbuster)
- Signature moves
- Darkness Dragon Driver / D3 (Cross-armed sitout powerbomb)
- Darkness Bottom (Standing side slam)
- Aoki Hikari (Armlock camel clutch / Crossface combination)
- Shouryuukyaku (Jumping high-angle leg lariat into a pin)
- Tatsumakishoryuukyaku (Jumping corkscrew roundhouse kick540 kickIn martial arts and tricking, the 540 kick, also known as inside turning kick, jump inside kick, tornado kick and Xuanfengjiao , is a jump kick move...
) - Hikari No Wa (Rolling sunset flip into a pin)
- Kaishaku (Gamengiri to a seated opponent)
- Judah (Modified over the shoulder single leg Boston crab, as a counter to Dragon Kid's Christo)
- Sol Noches El (Inverted scissored armbar as a counter to Masato Yoshino's Sol Naciente)
- Multiple pinfall variations
-
-
- Inside cradle
- Schoolboy
- Cradle
- Running crucifix
- STF / Armbar combination, as a counter to a hurricanrana
- Rope hung dragon sleeper
- BrainbusterBrainbusterA brainbuster is a professional wrestling throw in which a wrestler puts his/her opponent in a front facelock, hooks his/her pants, and lifts him/her up as if he/she was executing a vertical suplex. The wrestler then falls onto his/her back so that the opponent lands on his/her head while remaining...
- Enzuigiri
-
Factions
- Crazy MAX (1999–2000)
- M2K (2000–2002)
- Do FIXER (2002–2004)
- Final M2K (2004–2006)
- Real Hazard (2009–2010)
- WORLD-1 (2010)
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,...
- 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 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 Don FujiiDon 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... - 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 Susumu YokosukaSusumu MochizukiSusumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion... - Open the Brave Gate ChampionshipDragon Gate Open the Brave Gate ChampionshipThe Open the Brave Gate Championship is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate; it has a weight limit of , though it has been defended against heavier wrestlers in the past. It can be considered the secondary singles title in Dragon Gate and is more of a light heavyweight...
(1 time)
- Toryumon JapanDragon 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,...
- 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...
(1 time) - 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 Susumu MochizukiSusumu MochizukiSusumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...
and Hiroyuki Kanda, 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 Susumu MochizukiSusumu MochizukiSusumu Mochizuki , better known by his ring name Susumu Yokosuka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate professional wrestling promotion...