Kouki Iwasaki

Kouki Iwasaki
Iwasaki in July 2023
Born	(1991-04-30) April 30, 1991 (age 33)[1] Nemuro, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Kouki Iwasaki
Billed height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Billed weight	99 kg (218 lb)
Trained by	Kenichi Yamamoto
Debut	2014

Kouki Iwasaki (岩崎孝樹, Iwasaki Kouki) is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion and King of Dark Champion.^[3]

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2014–present)

Iwasaki is known for competing several promotions from the Japanese independent scene. One of them is Pro Wrestling Noah. The most notable of his appearances for the companies are first the one from the eleventh night of the NOAH Navigation For The Future from February 1, 2019, where he teamed up with Keisuke Ishii and unsuccessfully challenged Back Breakers (Hajime Ohara and Hitoshi Kumano) for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.^[4] At CyberFight Festival 2021 on June 6, Iwasaki teamed up with Shuichiro Katsumura and Yumehito Imanari to defeat Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii and Shota.^[5]

DDT Pro Wrestling (2014–present)

Iwasaki made his debut in DDT Pro-Wrestling at Dramatic Fanclub Vol. 1, an event promoted on October 18, 2014, where he went into a time-limit draw against Ryota Nakatsu in a dark match.^[6]

Iwasaki is known for competing in various of the promotion's signature pay-per-views. His first series of events he evolved in was the DDT Never Mind branch, making his first appearance at the 2014 edition from December 23, where he teamed up with Kazusada Higuchi to defeat Kota Umeda and Ryota Nakatsu.^[7] At Never Mind 2017 on December 24, he teamed up with Mizuki Watase and Rekka in a losing effort against All Out (Akito & Diego) and Kazusada Higuchi.^[8]

Iwasaki in January 2015

As for the DDT Judgement series of events, Iwasaki made his first appearance at the 2015 edition from March 29, where he competed in a Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract Battle Royal won by Harashima and also involving notable opponents such as Konosuke Takeshita, Soma Takao, Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo and others.^[9] At the 2016 edition from March 21, he teamed up with Rainbow Kawamura and Nobuhiro Shimatani in a losing effort against Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo and Mao Inoue.^[10] At the 2017 edition from March 20, he teamed up with his "Team DNA" stablemates Kazusada Higuchi and Mizuki Watase in a losing effort against NωA (Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata and Mao) and Smile Squash (Soma Takao, Akito and Yasu Urano) in a three-way match for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.^[11] At the 2018 edition from March 25, he teamed up with Shinichiro Tominaga in a losing effort against Kenshin Chikano and Joe Akira.^[12]

In the DDT Peter Pan series, Iwasaki made his first appearance at the 2015 edition from August 23, where he teamed up with Tomomitsu Matsunaga and competed in a Rumble rules tag team match won by Aja Kong and Makoto Oishi, and also involving other notable teams such as Great Kojika and Gorgeous Matsuno, and Mio Shirai and Hoshitango.^[13] At the 2016 edition from August 28, Iwasaki teamed up with Mizuki Watase in a losing effort against Kazusada Higuchi and Daiki Shimomura.^[14] At the 2017 edition, he teamed up with Yuki Iino in a losing effort against Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno.^[15] At the 2019 edition, he teamed up with Kota Umeda in a losing effort against Kazusada Higuchi and Ryota Nakatsu.^[16]

Another branch of events in which Iwasaki competed is DDT Into The Fight. He made his first appearance at the 2016 edition from February 28, where he teamed up with Kazusada Higuchi and Shunma Katsumata and defeated T2Hii (Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata) to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.^[17] At Into The Fight 2017 from February 19, he teamed up with Guanchulo and Mizuki Watase and competed in a Three-way match won by Smile Squash (Akito, Soma Takao and Yasu Urano) and also involving NωA (Makoto Oishi, Mao and Shunma Katsumata).^[18] At Into The Fight 2018 on February 25, he competed in a six-way match won by Danshoku Dino ans also involving Akito, Antonio Honda, Mizuki Watase and Saki Akai.^[19]

As for the DDT Ultimate Party branch of events, he made his only appearance at the 2019 edition where he teamed up with Shuichiro Katsumura and competed in a Gauntlet tag team match won by Nautilus (Yuki Ueno and Naomi Yoshimura) and also involving Yukio Naya and Cody Hall, Yukio Sakaguchi and Ryota Nakatsu, NEO Itoh Respect Army (Maki Itoh and Chris Brookes) and Bakuretsu Sisters (Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino).^[20]

Iwasaki competed once in the King of DDT Tournament, at the 2018 edition where he fell short to Antonio Honda in the first rounds from July 31.^[21]

Ganbare Pro-Wrestling (2019–present)

Iwasaki made appearances in Ganbare Pro-Wrestling ever since the promotion was still under the administration of DDT. In 2019 however it became independent and Iwasaki began working as a proper roster member ever since. He took part in the inaugural tournament to determine the first Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Champion where he fell short to Nobuhiro Shimatani in the first rounds on October 24, 2021.^[22] He took part into the Ganbare Climax for the first time in 2021 where he made it to the second rounds on November 7, where he was defeated by Shuichiro Katsumura.^[23] At DDT Ganbare Pro Hermit Purple 2020 on March 21, he unsuccessfully challenged Keisuke Ishii for the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship.^[24]

Championships and accomplishments

• DDT Pro-Wrestling
  • King of Dark Championship (1 time)
  • KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kazusada Higuchi and Shunma Katsumata (1); Kazusada Higuchi and Mizuki Watase (1)^[25]
  • GWC 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Harukaze and Keisuke Ishii
• Real Japan Pro Wrestling
  • UWA Asia Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[26]
• Tenryu Project
  • Tenryu Project World 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) – with Kengo and Gaina (1), and Koji Iwamoto and Shigehiro Irie (1)

References

1. Saalbach, Axel. "Kouki Iwasaki • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
2. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Kouki Iwasaki/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
3. InternetWrestling Database (IWD). "Kouki Iwasaki Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
4. Bilibili (February 10, 2019). "NOAH Navigation For The Future 2019 Tag 11 2019.02.01". bilibili.com (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
5. Pro Wrestling Noah (June 6, 2021). 2021年06月06日 （日） CyberFight Festival 2021｜サイバーファイトフェスティバル2021. noah.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved June 6, 2021.
6. DDT Pro-Wrestling (October 18, 2014). "DDT ProWrestling" 【FC興行リポート】DDTスーパースターズが花やしきで大暴れ！ スマスカvs酒呑童子は大激闘、石井&竹下vs入江&遠藤も実現、飯伏は土曜の昼下がりにパンダカーからムーンサルト・アタック！. ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
7. Dark Angelita (December 23, 2014). "DDT: Resultados «Never Mind 2014» – 23/12/2014 –". superluchas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 28, 2022.
8. Dark Angel (December 29, 2017). "DDT: Results "Never Mind 2017" Konosuke Takeshita reaches his tenth defense". superluchas.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
9. Wrestle Kulture (March 29, 2015). "DDT "JUDGMENT 2015", 29.03.2015 (Samurai! TV) Tokyo Korakuen Hall". wrestlekulture.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
10. Justin, Dylan (March 25, 2016). "DDT JUDGEMENT 2016 (MARCH 21) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
11. Justin, Dylan (March 26, 2017). "DDT JUDGEMENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY (MARCH 20) REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
12. Voices of Wrestling (March 22, 2018). "DDT JUDGEMENT 2018 (DDT 21ST ANNIVERSARY) PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
13. Dark angel (August 24, 2015). "DDT: Results «Ryogoku Peter Pan 2015 ~ With love from DDT» - 23/08/2015 - Yukio Sakaguchi wins the maximum title of the company". superluchas.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
14. Dark angel (August 31, 2016). "DDT: Results «Ryogoku Peter Pan 2016 - World's Hottest Summer» - 28/08/2016 - The giant Shuji Ishikawa is champion again". superluchas.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
15. Dark Angelita (August 23, 2017). "DDT: Resultados «Ryogoku Peter Pan 2017» 20/08/2017 La gran celebración por 20 años de existencia". superluchas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 25, 2022.
16. "Wrestle Peter Pan 2019". DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). July 15, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
17. Dylan, Jimmy (August 25, 2016). "DDT BEER GARDEN FIGHT 2016 REVIEW & RESULTS". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
18. Dark Angel (February 20, 2017). "DDT: Results "Into The Fight 2017" - 19/02/2017 - The company is ready for the celebration of 20 years of existence". superluchas.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
19. "Into The Fight 2018". DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 5, 2020.
20. Voices of Wrestling Staff (November 3, 2019). "DDT ULTIMATE PARTY 2019! (NOVEMBER 3) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
21. Riba, Michael (August 2, 2018). "DDT "Fighting Beer Garden 2018 – King of DDT 2018 First Round" Results – July 31, 2018 – Tokyo, Japan". gerweck.net. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
22. 【ガンプロ】初代スピリット・オブ・ガンバレ世界無差別級王座決定トーナメント組み合わせ決定！. Proresu Today (in Japanese). September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
23. DDT Pro-Wrestling (September 25, 2021). "DDT ProWrestling" ガンバレ☆プロレス最強を決めるシングル・トーナメント「LECクリンぱっ！ presents ガンバレ☆クライマックス2021」出場選手決定！／飯伏プロレス研究所所属・前口太尊が初参戦！ (in Japanese). Retrieved September 27, 2021.
24. Daly, Wayne (March 21, 2020). "NOAH Results: The Spirit 2020 Day 1 – Yamada, Japan (3/21)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
25. Wrestling Titles. "KO-D (King Of DDT) 6-man Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
26. 【試合結果】9･20 原点回帰後楽園ホール大会 河野真幸＆間下隼人＆“大鵬三世”納谷幸男vs雷神矢口＆崔領二＆KAZMA SAKAMOTO 【ＵＷＡアジアパシフィックヘビー級】レイ・アンヘルvs岩崎孝樹. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2021.