Master Wato
Real Name: Hirai Kawato
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 176 lbs.
Date of Birth: March 13, 1997
Hometown: Ikeda, Osaka (Japan)
Pro Debut: January 1, 2016
Trained By: NJPW Dojo
Finishing Move: RPP
Biography
– Kawato entered the New Japan dojo in 2015
– Kawato debuted on January 3, 2016, losing to Yohei Komatsu
– As per tradition, Kawato spent his early career working as an enhancement talent
– Kawato won his first match on September 6, 2016, defeating Henare
– At Wrestling Toyonokuni 2017, Kawato, Jushin Liger & Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tiger Mask, Shota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2017, Kawato & Yoshitatsu defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura
– At Destruction in Kobe 2017, Kawato & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura
– At Power Struggle 2017, Kawato, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA defeated Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr, TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Taichi)
– In early 2018, Kawato was sent to Mexico’s CMLL on a learning excursion, where he would take on the name ‘Kawato San’
– On June 30, 2019, Kawato defeated Audaz to win the vacant CMLL Lightweight Title
– Kawato lost his hair to Dulce Gardenia at Sin Piedad 2020
– Kawato returned to New Japan following the Covid-19 pandemic under a new gimmick, ‘Master Wato’
– At The New Beginning in Nagoya 2021, Wato, Tomoaki Honma, Kota Ibushi & SHO defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA)
– At The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021, Wato, Honma & SHO defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)
– At NJPW’s 49th Anniversary Show, Wato, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Gabriel Kidd defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, DOUKI & Taichi)
– On the Wrestle Kingdom 16 pre-show, Wato, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)
– At the NJPW/NOAH Wrestle Kingdom 16 special, Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hajime Ohara, Daiki Inaba, Daisuka Harada, Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura
– On February 19, 2022, Six Or Nine (Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) defeated BULLET CLUB (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo), Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) and Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
– On April 9, Six Or Nine defeated BULLET CLUB (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2022, Six Or Nine defeated Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
– At New Year Dash 2023, Wato, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Hikuleo defeated BULLET CLUB (Jay White, Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & KENTA) by DQ
– At the 2023 All Star Junior Festival, Wato defeated Atsushi Aoyagi
– Wato won the 2023 Best Of The Super Juniors Tournament, defeating Titan in the final
– On the NJPW STRONG Independence Day 2024 pre-show, Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Oleg Boltin defeated Takahiro Katori, Dragon Libre & Rekka
– At Destruction in Ryogoku 2023, Wato, Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino defeated Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita
– At Power Struggle 2023, Wato & El Desperado defeated Bullet Club (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney), TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) and YOH & MUSASHI
– At New Year Dash 2024, Wato, El Desperado, Shota Umino, Tama Tonga, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Ren Narita, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
