Akira Tozawa

Real name: Akira Tozawa
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 180 lbs.
Date of birth: July 22, 1985
Born: Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan
Pro debut: April 3, 2005
Trained by: Kenichiro Arai & Masaaki Mochizuki
Finishing move: Package German Suplex

Biography

– Tozawa began his career with the Dragon Gate promotion. He often wrestled simply as ‘Tozawa’ at this stage of his career
– He lost his debut match to Don Fujii
– On October 8, 2005, Tozawa won his first professional match, defeating Katsuo
– In April 2006, Tozawa formed the Tozawa-juku stable, though the group found only limited success
– In January 2009, Tozawa defeated Shinjitsu Nohashi & Shinobu to reach the final of the Battle of Tokyo tournament, but lost to KAGETORA
– In May 2010, Tozawa left Dragon Gate to embark on a year-long tour of the USA
– Tozawa entered the 2010 CHIKARA Young Lions Cup, defeating Green Ant before losing to Frightmare
– Tozawa entered the 2010 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Tournament, defeating El Generico before losing to Chris Hero
– The Nightmare Violence Connection (Tozawa & Kevin Steen) reached the final of the 2010 PWG DDT4 Tournament, losing to The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
– On May 15, 2011, Tozawa defeated ACH, Arik Cannon & Gary Jay in a Fatal 4-Way Match to win the ACW U-30 Young Gun Title
– A week later, Tozawa defeated Mat Fitchett to retain the ACW U-30 Young Gun Title, before losing it to Gerald James later that day
– On June 8, 2011, Tozawa returned to Dragon Gate and joined the Blood Warriors faction
– On August 7, 2011, Blood Warriors (Tozawa & BxB Hulk) defeated Junction Three (YAMATO & Masaaki Mochizuki) to win the Dragon Gate Summer Adventure Tag Tournament
– On December 1, 2011, Blood Warriors defeated Junction Three (KAGETORA & Susumu Yokosuka) to win the vacant Dragon Gate Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On December 25, 2011, Blood Warriors defeated Junction Three (Shingo Takagi & YAMATO) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On January 15, 2012, Blood Warriors defeated Junction Three (Masaaki Mochizuki & Masato Yoshino) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– In March 2012, Tozawa, now the leader of Blood Warriors, renamed the faction ‘Mad Blankey’
– In May 2012, Tozawa reached the final of the King of Gate Tournament, but lost to Genki Horiguchi HAGeeMee
– On August 19, 2012, MAD BLANKEY (Tozawa, BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanizaki) defeated Team Veteran Returns (CIMA, Gamma & Magnitude Kishiwada) to win the Dragon Gate Summer Adventure Tag League and the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On September 1, 2012, MAD BLANKEY defeated Team Veteran Returns (CIMA, Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki) to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On September 23, 2012, MAD BLANKEY defeated Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi HaGeeMee, Naoki Tanizaki & Ryo Jimmy Saito) to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On June 15, 2013, MAD BLANKEY (Tozawa & BxB Hulk) defeated Akatsuki (Shingo Takagi & YAMATO) to win the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– In August 2013, Tozawa was kicked out of MAD BLANKEY and went on to form a new stable known as ‘Monster Express’
– On December 22, 2013, Monster Express (Tozawa & Shingo Takagi) defeated Mad Blankey (Naruki Doi & YAMATO) to win the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On February 2, 2014, Monster Express defeated CIMA & T-Hawk to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On March 1, 2014, Monster Express defeated Mad Blankey (YAMATO & Cyber Kong) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– Two weeks later, Monster Express defeated Mad Blankey (BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On May 5, 2014, Monster Express defeated We Are Team Veteran (Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On June 15, 2014, Monster Express defeated Jimmyz (Jimmy Kanda & Naoki Tanizaki) to retain the Open the Twin Gate Titles
– On February 8, 2015, Tozawa defeated Kzy to win the Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Title
– On March 24, 2015, Tozawa defeated Flamita to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– 5 days later, Tozawa defeated Yosuke Santa Maria to win the Open the Owarai Gate Title
– On April 19, 2015, Tozawa defeated Kotoka to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– On May 5, 2015, Tozawa defeated Dragon Kid to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– On June 13, 2015, Tozawa defeated K-ness to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– On July 20, 2015, Tozawa defeated Eita to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– On August 16, 2015, Tozawa defeated Punch Tominaga & Super Shisa in a 3-Way Dance to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title
– On September 22, 2015, Tozawa defeated Stalker Ichikawa to retain the Open the Owarai Gate Title
– On November 14, 2015, Tozawa again defeated Ichikawa to retain the Open the Owarai Gate Title
– On December 6, 2015, Monster Express (Tozawa, Masato Yoshino & T-Hawk) defeated VerserK (Naruki Doi, YAMATO & Shingo Takagi) to win the vacant Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On December 27, 2015, Monster Express defeated Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi, Jimmy Susumu & Ryo Saito), VerserK (Cyber Kong, Mondai Ryu & Naoki Tanizaki) and Dia.HEARTS (Big R Shimizu, Dragon Kid & Masaaki Mochizuki) in an Elimination Match to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On March 5, 2016, Monster Express defeated Genki Horiguchi SUMO, Ryo Sumo Saito & Sumo Fuji to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On March 21, 2016, Monster Express defeated VerserK (YAMATO, Kotoka & Naruki Doi) to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On March 31, 2016, it was announced that Tozawa would be competing in WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic tournament. He went on to defeat Kenneth Johnson and Jack Gallagher before losing to Gran Metalik in the quarter finals
– On April 24, 2016, Monster Express defeated Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi, Jimmy Susumu & Ryo Jimmy Saito) to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– On July 24, 2016, Monster Express defeated Tribe Vanguard (BxB Hulk, Flamita & Kzy) and Over Generation (CIMA, Dragon Kid & Peter Kaasa) in an Elimination Match to retain the Open the Triangle Gate Titles
– In September 2016, it was revealed that Tozawa had signed with WWE and would be part of their revived Cruiserweight division
– Tozawa made his first Raw appearance on February 3, 2017, defeating Drew Gulak
– On the Fastlane ’17 pre-show, Tozawa & Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick & Noam Dar
– On August 14, Tozawa defeated Neville to win the WWE Cruiserweight Title, but would lose it back to Neville at the Summerslam Kickoff show later that week
– In October 2019, Tozawa was drafted to Raw
– In 2020, Tozawa took on a more comedic character and began competing for WWE’s 24/7 Title. He would hold the title 16 times between June 2020 and July 2022