Black Menso～re
Nakajima in August 2023
Born (1985-08-22) August 22, 1985 (age 38)
Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)AJ Ranger Red[2]
Menso～re Oyaji[3]
Yohei Nakajima
Black Menso-re
Billed height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Billed weight82 kg (181 lb)[1]
Trained byOkinawa Pro Wrestling
DebutJuly 5, 2008[3]

Yohei Nakajima (中島洋平, Nakajima Yōhei, born August 22, 1985), is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working under the name Black Menso-re (ブラックめんそーれ, Burakku Mensōre) for All Japan Pro Wrestling where he is a former four-time Gaora TV Champion. He was previously known as the similar masked character Menso～re Oyaji (めんそ～れ親父, Menso～re Oyaji), under which he performed for several independent promotions, most notably Okinawa Pro Wrestling.[4]

Professional wrestling career

Okinawa Pro Wrestling (2008–2012)

Nakajima, under the name Menso-re Oyaji, made his professional wrestling debut on July 5, 2008 for Okinawa Pro Wrestling. He portrays a unique character, wearing a kariyushi shirt to the ring, wearing a mask that has a cartoonish bowl of Ramen noodles on top of it, and drinking a brand of beer (Orion) which is brewed in Okinawa.[5] Oyaji's character has been described as comedic as well as "mellow" and "drunk," in some cases forgetting to put down his can of beer before wrestling a match.[5] Essentially, Oyaji's character is a compilation of several stereotypes of Okinawan people held by those from elsewhere in Japan.[6] "Menso～re" (めんそ～れ) is a stylisation of the okinawan word for "welcome". In addition to wrestling on Okinawa Pro Wrestling cards, Oyaji would occasionally sing for audiences who gathered to watch the company's wrestling shows.[7]

Oyaji has received multiple title shots thus far in his wrestling career. He has challenged for the Okinawa Wrestling Championship on two separate occasions, though he has not succeeded in winning the title.[8][9] Additionally, Oyaji has unsuccessfully challenged for the MWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[10] Oyaji is typically featured when Okinawa Pro wrestlers compete in larger companies, including three matches on New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual "Exciting Battle in Okinawa" shows between 2009 and 2011.[11]

Okinawa Pro Wrestling folded in late 2012.

Freelance (2012–2014)

On September 12, in his first wrestling appearance since the closure of Okinawa Pro, Oyaji lost to Kaijin Habu Otoko in the opening round of Pro Wrestling Zero1's Tenkaichi Jr. Tournament. Oyaji went on to make appearances for several major and independent promotions including All Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Kaientai Dojo, Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Union Pro Wrestling. On November 29, Oyaji and Ikuto Hidaka defeated Speed of Sounds (Hercules Senga and Tsutomu Oosugi) to win the UWA World Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles back to Speed of Sounds on July 15, 2013.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–present)

Nakajima in June 2016

On June 30, 2014, Oyaji would unsuccessfully challenge Kotaro Suzuki for the Gaora TV Championship. On July 27, after losing to Sushi, Oyaji revealed his true identity by unmasking and announced he would be working under his real name, Yohei Nakajima, from now on.[12] Nakajima also joined Xceed with Go Shiozaki, Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki. On September 12, 2014, All Japan announced that Nakajima had signed a contract to become officially affiliated with the promotion. In October, Nakajima teamed with Suzuki to take part in the 2014 Junior Tag Battle of Glory, finishing the tournament with no wins. On August 16, 2015, Nakajima defeated Billyken Kid to win the vacant Gaora TV Championship.[13] In October, Nakajima and Suzuki once again participated in the Junior Tag Battle Of Glory. Although they started poorly with two losses, they managed to bounce back with a time limit draw against Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto, and a win over Manjimaru and Takeshi Minamino. On November 15, Nakajima and Suzuki lost to Kodaka and Miyamoto in a decision match for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship.[14] On November 16, Xceed was disbanded, when Kotaro Suzuki also announced his departure from AJPW.[15]

On May 28, 2016, Nakajima took part in Toryumon Mexico's Dragonmanía XI event in Mexico City, where he was defeated by Jun Akiyama.[16] After three successful title defenses, Nakajima lost the Gaora TV Championship to Kazuhiro Tamura on June 9, 2016.[17] Nakajima regained the title six days later,[18] before losing it to Takeshi Minamino on July 14.[19] On August 11, Nakajima defeated Minamino in a rematch to win the Gaora TV Championship for the third time.[20] After a nine-day reign, Nakajima lost the title to Billyken Kid.[21] On September 19, Nakajima again regained the title from Billyken Kid.[22] On November 27, Nakajima lost the title to Jiro Kuroshio.[23] On February 15, 2017, after the Gaora TV Championship was vacated due to injury, AJPW president Jun Akiyama was going to award the title to the previous champion. Nakajima, however, refused as his main focus was the World Junior Heavyweight Championship and the upcoming Junior Battle of Glory[24] Placed in the B block, Nakajima gained four points with wins over Hikaru Sato and Kazuhiro Tamura but missed out on the finals by one point. On June 16, Nakajima unsuccessfully challenged Sato for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[25] On November 5, Nakajima would once again unsuccessfully challenge the World Junior Heavyweight Champion, this time losing to Tajiri.[26]

On May 13, 2018, Menso～re Oyaji made a one night return to unsuccessfully challenge Jun Akiyama for the Gaora TV Championship.[24] In July, Nakajima was announced with Black Tiger VII as a team in the upcoming Junior Tag Battle of Glory. On July 31, Nakajima announced he would be pulling out of the tournament due to a personal boycott of the league, as well as citing differences with Black Tiger VII. Nakajima would be repackaged as "Black Menso～re" and replaced himself as Black Tiger Vii partner; the duo finished the tournament with two wins. Black Menso～re went on to form a tag team with Takao Omori. They unsuccessfully challenged All Asia Tag Team Champions Naoya Nomura and Yuma Aoyagi on October 10 and January 3, 2019.[27][28] On February 11, Menso～re and Omori unsuccessfully challenged All Asia Tag Team Champions Jake Lee and Koji Iwamoto.[29]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c "Black Menso-re » Matches". Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  2. ^ "AJPW Super Power Series 2016 - Tag 4". Cagematch. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  3. ^ a b "Puroresu Central". Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  4. ^ "Move On Arena". Osaka Holiday Paradise. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  5. ^ a b Gottlieb, Matthew (2008-10-28). Is It Nationalism? History's Effect on Okinawan Identity (Thesis). Virginia Tech. hdl:10919/35677. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  6. ^ Gottlieb, Matthew (2010-09-07). "Orion: The National Beer of Okinawa". The Beer Connoisseur Online. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  7. ^ Byers, Ryan (2009-09-22). "Into the Indies 09.22.09: Okinawa Pro Wrestling!". 411mania. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  8. ^ Byers, Ryan (2010-01-05). "Into the Indies 01.05.10: Okinawa Pro Redux". 411mania. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  9. ^ Byers, Ryan (2010-05-01). "Into the Indies 05.10.11: Okinawa Pro Three-dux!". 411mania. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  10. ^ "MWF World Jr Heavyweight Title". Osaka Holiday Paradise. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  11. ^ "Menso-re Oyaji: Profile and Match Listing". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  12. ^ "【全日本プロレス】諏訪魔vsドーリングの三冠戦、青木vs光留の世界Jr戦". Battle News (in Japanese). 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  13. ^ a b "AJPW Summer Explosion '15 – Day 2". The Internet Wrestling Database. August 16, 2015. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  14. ^ 【11.15】全日本プロレス『八王子プロレスフェスティバル』. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  15. ^ 鈴木鼓太郎選手退団について. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-11-16. Archived from the original on 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  16. ^ Dark Angelita (2016-05-30). "Toryumon México: Resultados "Dragonmanía XI" – 28/05/2016 – El equipo de Último Dragón se impone al de Tiger Ali en trepidante encuentro". Superluchas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  17. ^ "6月9日(木)【チャリティープロレス伊勢崎69（ロック）】群馬・伊勢崎市第二市民体育館［観衆］450人(満員)". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  18. ^ a b "6月15日(水)【2016 ダイナマイトシリーズ[開幕戦]】 東京・後楽園ホール ［観衆］1227人". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  19. ^ "7.14東京・後楽園ホール大会[観衆] 1163人". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
  20. ^ a b "8.11長野・上田創造館 [観衆]299人(満員)". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  21. ^ "8.20兵庫・神戸サンボーホール大会［観衆］551人（満員）". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-08-21.
  22. ^ a b "9.19後楽園ホール大会[観衆]1183人". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  23. ^ "11.27東京・両国国技館大会試合結果②". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
  24. ^ a b Dark Angelita (2017-02-15). "AJPW: GAORA TV Championship is declared vacant, Jiro Kuroshio returns it". Superluchas. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  25. ^ "AJPW Dynamite Series 2017 - Tag 3". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  26. ^ "AJPW Starting Over 2017 - Tag 1". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  27. ^ "AJPW Raising An Army Memorial Series 2018 - Tag 4". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  28. ^ "AJPW New Year Wars 2019 - Tag 2". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  29. ^ "AJPW Excite Series 2020 - Tag 1". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  30. ^ "Wrestling Title Histories". Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  31. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

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