Genki Horiguchi

Infobox Wrestler
name=Hiromasa Horiguchi

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names=Genki Horiguchi
height= height|ft=5|in=11
weight= convert|183|lb|kg|abbr=on
birth_date = birth date and age|1978|9|15
death_date =
birth_place = Kumamoto, Japan
death_place =
resides=
billed=
trainer=
debut=September 17, 1998
retired=
website= |

nihongo|Genki Horiguchi|堀口 元気|"Hiromasa Horiguchi" ,(September 15, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He has competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor, and presently wrestles for Dragon Gate, most notably as a member of the heel faction Real Hazard. He is the current Open the Brave Gate Champion.

When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began to chant H-A-G-E (Japanese for 'bald') at him. He managed to use this to gain a sort of cult popularity, and his catchphrase, "Who has called me hage?", is one of the best known in Japan [ cite web |url=http://dragongate.shiningwizard.com/df.html |title=Do FIXER: Genki Horiguchi |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year=2004 |month= |format= |work= |publisher=DragonGate.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20061031160856/http://dragongate.shiningwizard.com/df.html |archivedate=2006-10-31 |quote= ] .

He has a younger brother named "Hiromi Horiguchi" who is currently working for Toryumon Mexico.

Career

Toryumon

Horiguchi debuted in Toryumon with a surfer gimmick. Initially a face, he began losing hair in 2001. He dropped the surfer gimmick and joined the original M2K as a replacement for Chocoflake K-ichi. He was the last wrestler to be added to the group.

During his days in the M2K stable, he held the NWA World Welterweight Title twice, defeating Ryo Saito to win it, vacating the title after a no-contest match with Dragon Kid, defeating Ricky Marvin to win it again, and finally losing it to M2K stablemate Darkness Dragon. As part of Do FIXER, he won the UWA World Trios Titles with Susumu Yokosuka and Ryo Saito.

He was responsible for bringing in Magnum TOKYO to lead the remnants of M2K after the name was sealed. In 2002, he would team with Magnum TOKYO and Darkness Dragon in a three-way trios tag team match against Ryo Saito, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid and CIMA, Don Fujii & Yoshikazu Taru and was pinned by CIMA. [ cite web |url=http://www.insidepulse.com/article_v3.php?contentid=4993&rssAuthor=1 |title=The SmarK Rant For The Best Of Japan 2002 - Volume 4 |accessdate= |author=Keith, Scott |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2003-12-27 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=InsidePulse.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

In December 2003, he scored a series of upset wins, most of them via backslide - this lead to the rise of the Backslide from Heaven.

Dragon Gate

While in Do FIXER, he formed a friendship with Ryo Saito that would endure for several years. He teamed with Saito to defeat The Florida Brothers at the 2004 Revolucion ppv event on January 31, 2004. [ cite web |url=http://www.wrestling101.com/101/article/PuroR/487/ |title=Toryumon January 2004 Revolucion PPV Review |accessdate= |author=Chedy, Jason |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2004-09-28 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Wrestling101.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] . He, Saito and Dragon Kid would win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship three times while teaming together in Do FIXER. The three of them would travel to Ring of Honor to take part in a match against Blood Generation's CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino, which would be given a rare five-star rating by famous wrestling columnist Dave Meltzer.

In January 2007, he betrayed Saito and Do FIXER to join heel stable Muscle Outlaw'z. This turn lead him to an Open the Brave Gate title run, and a pinfall victory over CIMA in an 8 man elimination match (incidentally not his first direct win over CIMA). He feuded with gaijin Matt Sydal over the title before dropping it to Yasushi Kanda. After dropping the title, his push was not maintained. He began wrestling mainly early on the cards, taking the falls in multi-person matches, and was winless during all of March 2008. He began to develop kleptomania, stealing Tozawa-juku's pants and Anthony W. Mori's ring costume.

During the unit turmoil in the early parts of 2008, Genki remained firmly on the heel side of Muscle Outlaw'z, and followed them to Real Hazard. He acted acted as secretary to the Brave Gate belt commissioner Yoshito Sugamoto, which was actually the Brave Gate champion (and his fellow MO'z stablemate) Gamma himself, enforcing the outrageous rules randomly put in place by him that allowed Gamma to win title matches or retain his title if he lost the match.

On July 27, 2008, Genki defeated m.c.KZ to win the vacant Open the Brave Gate title for a second time.

Outside the Dragon System

Appearing in Aja Kong's "Yo! All the Members Set" 20th anniversary card, he teamed with Ryo Saito and Naoki Tanisaki against CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on August 21, 2005. [ cite web |url=http://www.joshipuro.com/cutenews/show_archives.php?archive=1122167476&subaction=list-archive& |title=First matches announced for Aja's show |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2005-07-11 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=JoshiPuro.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

At the beginning of 2007 he was briefly affliated with the Wrestling Society X company that was run by MTV. He and Masato Yoshino were a tag team known as Team Dragon Gate. They would however only win an exploding cage timebomb deathmatch in their time in this promotion. At the time the team was active, he and Yoshino were in rival stables, as he was still aligned with face stable Do FIXER while Yoshino was in heel stable Blood Generation.

Wrestling facts

*Finishing and signature moves:*"Beach Break" (Back to belly piledriver):*"Hot Spicy" (Wrist-clutch sleeper suplex):*"Backslide from Heaven" (A normal Backslide pin):*"Backslide from Hell" (Low blow from behind followed by a backslide pin):*"G.H. Lock" (Modified headscissors armbar):*"Tope Toubiou" (Running reverse crossbody):*"Tope Morimoto" (Diving crossbody):*"Asian mist" (Blue is used primarily, red on rare occasions)

Championships and accomplishments

*Dragon Gate:*Open the Brave Gate (2 times, current):*Open the Triangle Gate (3 times) with Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito

*Toryumon Japan:*NWA World Welterweight Championship (2 times):*UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) with Susumu Yokosuka & Ryo Saito:*Young Dragons Cup 1998 [http://dgusa.puroresufan.com/toryumontitles.html]

*Pro Wrestling Illustrated:*PWI ranked him # 104 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*5 Star Match (2006) with Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino small|(ROH – "Supercard of Honor" – March 31):*Match of the Year with Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino small|(ROH – "Supercard of Honor" – March 31)

References

External links

* [http://puroresucentral.com/horiguchi.html Puroresu Central: Genki Horiguchi]
* [http://dgusa.puroresufan.com/genki.html Profile at Dragon Gate USA]
*imdb name|id=2501782|name=Genki Horiguchi