is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes appearances for NJPW partner Impact Wrestling.
He is best known for his tenures with NJPW, where he is a former six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (twice with Time Splitters teammate Alex Shelley and once with Kevin Knight). He was the winner of the 2015 and 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournaments, the 2016 Super J-Cup, and the 2017 Pro Wrestling World Cup, a tournament co-promoted by NJPW with What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro). Kushida previously made appearances for NJPW's American partner Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion. In 2019, Kushida signed with WWE, who assigned him to perform on the 205 Live and NXT brands. In WWE, he is a former one-time NXT Cruiserweight Champion. In 2022, he departed from WWE and returned to NJPW.
Kushida began training for a mixed martial arts (MMA) career at Nobuhiko Takada's Takada Dojo while in junior high school. He made his professional MMA debut in 2003 for the ZST promotion, winning the following year's ZST Genesis Lightweight Tournament. In 2005, he retired from MMA, ending his career with an undefeated record.
MMA and professional wrestling career
Takada Dojo and ZST (2003–2005) Kushida joined Nobuhiko Takada's Takada Dojo during his junior high school years, where he started learning both pro wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) under Takumi Adachi. He had his MMA debut five years later for ZST, defeating Kenji Mizuno by disqualification after the latter grabbed the ropes to defend a takedown. Kushida followed his debut with a draw, a win, and a three-match tournament victory at the 2004 ZST Genesis Lightweight Tournament. Around the same time, he held a part-time job with the Tokyo Sports magazine and began attending Senshu University.
His performance in the tournament earned him offers from multiple MMA promotions, but he would turn them down instead choosing to embark on a professional wrestling career. Soon after his final MMA fight, Kushida was granted a one-year temporary absence from the Senshu University, during which he would travel to Mexico with money borrowed from his mother. In Mexico, he learned the style of lucha libre under Oriental in his Aztec Budokan wrestling school, where he had his professional debut on September 16, 2005, as the masked wrestler Yujiro. This Mexican endeavour is not acknowledged by many wrestling sites, which label his first match in Hustle as his professional wrestling debut.
Hustle (2006–2009) Kushida returned to Japan on February 10, 2006, and signed up with his trainer Takada's promotion Hustle after being scouted by Tajiri and Hiroshi Nagao. Tajiri eventually took Kushida under his wing. Kushida debuted as a pro wrestler on September 7, 2006, with Tajiri to take on Red Onigumo and Blue Onigumo. Kushida quickly earned the title "Hustle Supernova" and became one of the top up-and-comers of the babyface faction Hustle Army, forming a team with Tajiri and fellow apprentice Banzai Chie. Kushida and Chie, assisted by guest tarento Hitomi Kaikawa, entered a feud with villainous Monster Army member Giant Vabo (Nagao), but they were mostly unsuccessful. Moreover, their alliance with Tajiri broke up when he was brainwashed in a storyline by Yinling into joining Monster Army, so they enlisted Ryoji Sai to help them to turn Tajiri back into his former self. They eventually brought Tajiri back to his senses in 2007, returning to their usual trios matches.
In 2009, Kushida got into a heated rivalry with his Monster Army counterpart, NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion Ray Ohara. Kushida faced Ohara several times for his title, but was defeated each time despite Tajiri's best efforts to help him. Ohara allied himself with Minoru Fujita as his mentor to counter Tajiri, and stipulated a last title match in which Kushida would put his Hustle career in line. Kushida accepted, but was defeated due to a miscommunication with Tajiri, forcing him to abandon the Hustle Army and the promotion itself.