Katsuyori Shibata

Real Name: Katsuyori Shibata
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 209 lbs.
Date of Birth: November 17, 1979
Hometown: Kuwana, Mie (Japan)
Pro Debut: July 21, 1999
Trained By: NJPW Dojo
Finishing Move: Penalty Kick (PK)

Biography

– Shibata is a former national level amateur wrestler
– Shibata made his professional wrestling debut on July 21, 1999, competing in a Battle Royal
– Shibata had a brief run in Mexico’s CMLL in April 2002
– Shibata joined the Makai Club stable in early 2003, working as Makai #4
– At Wrestling World 2003, Makais #4 and #5 defeated Takashi Iizuka & Masahito Kakihara
– At the 2004 King Of Sports event, Shibata, Makai #1, Mitsuya Nagai & Ryushi Yanagisawa defeated Shinya Makabe, Blue Wolf, Yutaka Yoshie & Toru Yano
– In May 2004, Shibata made his MMA debut, defeating Wester Dauphiney by submission at Jungle Fight 2
– In late 2004, Shibata joined the Black New Japan stable under Masahiro Chono
– Shibata left New Japan in January 2005
– Shibata walked away from wrestling entirely to focus on MMA in 2007
– Shibata would accumulate a 4-11 record over the following four years of competition
– Shibata returned to wrestling for IGF on December 31, 2011, teaming with Kazushi Sakuraba to defeat Shinichi Suzukawa & Atsushi Sawada
– In August 2012, Shibata returned to New Japan, teaming with Kazushi Sakuraba as ‘Laughter7’
– At Destruction 2012, Laughter7 defeated Wataru Inoue & Hiromu Takahashi
– At King Of Pro Wrestling 2012, Laughter7 defeated Wataru Inoue & Togi Makabe
– At Power Struggle 2012, Laughter7 defeated Jushin Liger & KUSHIDA
– At The New Beginning 2013, Laughter7 defeated Wataru Inoue & Hirooki Goto
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Shibata fought Hirooki Goto to a double knockout
– At Dominion 2013, Shibata defeated Hirooki Goto
– At Destruction 2013, Laughter7 (Shibata & Kazushi Sakuraba) defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata
– At King Of Pro Wrestling 2013, Shibata defeated Tomohiro Ishii
– At Power Struggle 2013, Shibata defeated Tomoaki Honma
– At NJPW’s 42nd Anniversary Show, Shibata & Hirooki Goto defeated BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2014, Shibata & Goto defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata
– At Dominion 2014, Shibata & Goto defeated Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma
– At Destruction in Okayama 2014, Shibata & Goto defeated Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
– At King Of Pro Wrestling 2014, Shibata & Goto defeated CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI)
– Goto & Shibata won the 2014 World Tag League, defeating BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) in the final
– At Wrestle Kingdom 9, Shibata & Goto defeated BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles, but would lose them back at the following month’s New Beginning event
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2015, Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba)
– At Dominion 2015, Shibata defeated Kazushi Sakuraba
– At Destruction in Okayama 2015, Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu defeated Jay White, Tetsuya Naito, Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay
– At Power Struggle 2015, Shibata & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada & Kazushi Sakuraba
– At Wrestle Kingdom 10, Shibata defeated Tomihiro Ishii to win the NEVER Openweight Title
– At New Year Dash 2016, Shibata, Hirooki Goto, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & Beretta)
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2016, Shibata defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– On March 19, Shibata defeated Satoshi Kojima to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Invasion Attack 2016, Shibata defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Dominion 2016, Shibata defeated Yuji Nagata to regain the NEVER Openweight Title, having lost it at the previous month’s Wrestling Dontaku event
– On July 3, Shibata defeated Tomoaki Honma to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Death Before Dishonor XIV, Shibata defeated Silas Young
– At Destruction in Tokyo 2016, Shibata defeated Bobby Fish to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At King Of Pro Wrestling 2016, Shibata defeated Kyle O’Reilly to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Global Wars UK 2016, Shibata defeated Zack Sabre Jr to win the RevPro British Heavyweight Title, before defending the title against Chris Hero the next day
– At the 2016 Wrestling World in Singapore event, Shibata defeated EVIL to regain the NEVER Openweight Title
– On January 21, 2017, Shibata defeated Matt Riddle to retain the RevPro British Heavyweight Title
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2017, Shibata defeated Will Ospreay to retain the RevPro British Heavyweight Title
– Shibata won the 2017 New Japan Cup, defeating Bad Luck Fale in the final
– Following a match against Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis 2017, Shibata collapsed backstage and was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, for which he underwent successful emergency surgery that night
– Shibata appeared at the 2017 G1 Climax finals to address the audience
– Shibata signed full-time as a coach in mid-2017, leading New Japan’s new Los Angeles Dojo
– At Dominion 2019, Shibata introduced the debuting KENTA
– On August 12, Shibata was beaten down by KENTA and other members of Bullet Club after KENTA had abandoned New Japan to align with the stable. This was Shibata’s first physical wrestling activity since his injury
– Shibata wrestled Zack Sabre Jr to a time-limit draw in a UWF Rules (essentially, traditional grappling) match
– Shibata returned to full competition at Wrestle Kingdom 16, defeating Ren Narita
– Shibata appeared at the NJPW/AEW Forbidden Door event, saving Orange Cassidy from a post-match beatdown. He would later lose to Cassidy in a match for the AEW All-Atlantic Title
– At Supercard Of Honor 2023, Shibata defeated Wheeler Yuta to win the ROH Pure Title
– On the following episode of ROH On HonorClub, Shibata defeated Christopher Daniels to retain the ROH Pure Title
– On May 24, Shibata defeated Alex Coughlin to retain the ROH Pure Title
– On May 31, Shibata defeated Lee Moriarty to retain the ROH Pure Title
– At Death Before Dishonor 2023, Shibata defeated Daniel Garcia to retain the ROH Pure Title
– On July 29, Shibata defeated Josh Woods to retain the ROH Pure Title
– At RevPro’s 11th Anniversary Show, Shibata & El Phantasmo defeated David Finlay & Gabe Kidd
– On September 16, Shibata defeated Nick Wayne to retain the ROH Pure Title
– On November 15, Shibata defeated Trent Beretta to retain the ROH Pure Title
– On the 2023 Dynamite Thanksgiving special, Shibata, Orange Cassidy & Hook defeated Jake Hager, Matt Angelo Parker & Matt Menard
– In December 2023, Shibata officially signed with AEW
– On the Dynasty 2024 pre-show, Shibata & Orange Cassidy defeated Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty
– At Forbidden Door 2024, Shibata, Hook & Samoa Joe defeated Chris Jericho, Jeff Cobb & Big Bill
– At Beach Break 2024, Shibata, Hook & Joe defeated Cage Of Agony (Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun)
– On the All In 2024 pre-show, Shibata, Dustin Rhodes, The Von Erichs (Marshall & Ross) & Sammy Guevara defeated Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona, Mike Bennett & Matt Taven