Shun Skywalker

Shun Skywalker
Skywalker in July 2024
Birth name	Shun Watanabe
Born	(1996-05-30) May 30, 1996 (age 28) Toki, Gifu, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Shun Watanabe Shun Skywalker
Billed height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Billed weight	90 kg (200 lb)
Trained by	Dragon Gate Dojo
Debut	April 22, 2016[1]

Shun Watanabe (渡辺俊, Watanabe Shun) (born May 30, 1996), better known by his ring name Shun Skywalker (シュン・スカイウォーカー, Shun Sukaiwōkā), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Dragongate. In Dragongate, he is a two-time Open the Dream Gate Champion, an Open the Twin Gate Champion and three-time Open the Triangle Gate Champion. He has also wrestled in promotions such as International Wrestling Revolution Group, as well as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Toryumon Mexico, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling NOAH, New Japan Pro-Wrestling,Major League Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling, DEFY Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Dragon Gate (2016–2019)

On September 24, 2018, at Dangerous Gate 2018, Skywalker received his first title shot when he teamed up with Masaaki Mochizuki and faced Tribe Vanguard (Yamato and BxB Hulk) for the Open the Twin Gate Championship, where they lost the match.^[2]

Excursion in Mexico (2019–2020)

From June 14 to August 30, 2020, Skywalker competed in IWRG's Rey del Ring, defeating El Hijo de Canis Lupus in the final to win the tournament.^[3] This earned him the right to face Demonio Infernal for the IWRG Rey del Ring Championship on September 6, losing to the latter.^[4][5]

Return to Dragongate (2020–present)

Masquerade (2020–2022)

On November 3, at Gate of Destiny, Skywalker returned to Dragon Gate, and challenged Eita for the Open The Dream Gate Championship.^[6][7] On November 15, at Kobe Puroresu Festival 2020, he defeated Eita to win the title.^[8][9] On December 2, alongside Ben-K's former stablemates from Dragon Gate Generation, Dragon Dia, Jason Lee and Kota Minoura, Skywalker announced the creation of their own stable, which would be joined by a mysterious member on December 15.^[10][11] On that date, the stable was named Masquerade and that their new member was announced as La Estrella.^[12] Five days later, at Final Gate 2020, Skywalker successfully retained his Open the Dream Gate title against Ben-K.^[13]

On March 7, 2021, at Champion Gate 2021 In Osaka - Tag 2, Skywalker retained his title against Kaito Ishida.^[14] Twenty days later, at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, he retained his title against Kazma Sakamoto.^[15] On August 1, at Speed Star Final 2021, Skywalker lost the Open the Dream Gate title to Yamato.^[16] On December 15, Skywalker, Jason Lee and Kota Minoura defeated R.E.D. (Eita, H.Y.O and Kaito Ishida) to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship and after the match Minoura challenged Skywalker to a match where if he lost, he would have to leave the stable.^[17] On December 26, at Final Gate 2021, H.Y.O and SB Kento of R.E.D tried to help Skywalker during his match against Kota Minoura by throwing a chair at him, while the referee was down, but he refused their help. Shortly after, he removed his mask and sent it into Minoura's hands while the referee was not looking.^[18] After the referee turned around and saw Minoura holding Skywalker's mask, he awarded Skywalker the victory by disqualification.^[19]

R.E.D. and Z-Brats (2022–present)

On January 12, 2022, Skywalker, Lee, Minoura lost the Open the Triangle Gate Championship against R.E.D. (Eita, H.Y.O and Kaito Ishida). During the match, Minoura accidentally hit him, after trying to protect himself from H.Y.O. After the match H.Y.O invited Skywalker to join R.E.D, which he accepted. However, Eita and Ishida were against his addition and Eita tried to expel H.Y.O, leading the rest of the group to turn against them and Skywalker to become the newest member of R.E.D.^[20] On February 4, the group was rebranded as Z-Brats in order to distance themselves from the concept of R.E.D. created by Eita.^[21]

On February 20, Skywalker, BxB Hulk and H.Y.O participated in a tournament to crown the new Open the Triangle Gate Champions. At the tournament, they defeated Riki Iihashi, Ishin Iihashi and Takuma Fujiwara in the semi-finals, before losing to Natural Vibes (Kzy, Jacky "Funky" Kamei and Yuta Tanaka) in the final.^[22] On March 23, Skywalker, H.Y.O and SB KENTo made their Pro Wrestling Noah debut by attacking Alejandro, Daisuke Harada and Junta Miyawaki, before challenging them to a match at the Majestic event which took place on April 29.^[23] On May 5, at Dead or Alive 2022, Skywalker won the with Open the Twin Gate Championship with new stablemate and Diamante, defeating Dragon Dia and Yuki Yoshioka.^[24][25] On July 30, they lost their titles to Kung Fu Masters (Jason Lee and Jacky "Funky" Kamei).^[26]

On November 6, at Gate of Destiny, Skywalker teamed up with, Kai and ISHIN and defeated M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki and Mochizuki Junior) to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship.^[27] On January 11, 2023, he became a double champion when he defeated Yuki Yoshioka to win his second Open the Dream Gate Championship.^[28] On March 3, 2024, Ishin, Kai and Skywalker, defeated D'courage (Dragon Dia, Madoka Kikuta and Ryoya Tanaka) to win the vacant Open the Triangle Gate titles.^[29]

Major League Wrestling (2022)

On September 18, 2022 at Super Series, Skywalker defeated Myron Reed to win the MLW World Middleweight Championship.^[30] On October 30, at Fightland, he lost the title to Lince Dorado.^[31]

Championships and accomplishments

• Dragongate
  • Open the Dream Gate Championship (2 times)
  • Open the Twin Gate Championship (1 time) - with Diamante
  • Open the Triangle Gate Championship (3 times) - with Kota Minoura and Jason Lee (1) and Kai and Ishin (2)
  • Rookie Ranking Tournament (2019)^[1]
  • Rookie of the Year (2018)
• International Wrestling Revolution Group
  • Rey del Ring (2020)^[32]
• Major League Wrestling
  • MLW Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[30]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 33 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023^[33]

References

1. "CageMatch Profile". CageMatch. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
2. "DRAGON GATE DANGEROUS GATE 2018 (SEPTEMBER 24) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
3. "Shun Skywalker to seek King of the Ring IWRG 2020". superluchas.com. 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
4. Lizarraga, Alfonso (September 7, 2020). "El Demonio Infernal sigue siendo el Rey". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved September 24, 2020.
5. "Demonio Infernal sigue como Rey del Ring; venció a Shun Skywalker". Mas Luchas (in Spanish). September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
6. ""KOBEプロレスフェスティバル 2020" 11.15 神戸ワールド記念ホール大会 追加決定対戦カード情報". spora.jp. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
7. "DDT ULTIMATE PARTY RESULTS, IBUSHI ON SANADA, DG GATE OF DESTINY, TRIPLE RINGS FOR BIG JAPAN AND MORE FROM JAPAN". pwinsider.com. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
8. "【ドラゴンゲート】11.15 KOBE プロレスフェスティバル 2020 凱旋のシュン・スカイウォーカーがEitaに勝利しドリームゲートを戴冠！次期挑戦者にかつての盟友のBen-Kが名乗りをあげる！吉野は2021年8月1日に引退記念試合". proresu-today.com. 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
9. Dark angel (November 24, 2020). "Dragon Gate: «Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2020» Shun Skywalker, maximum champion". superluchas.com. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
10. "DRAGONGATE FANTASTIC GATE (DECEMBER 2) RESULTS AND REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
11. "Dragon Gate Fantastic Gate 2020 Quick Results 12.02.20". 411mania.com. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
12. "シュン・スカイウォーカーが新ユニット"MASQUERADE"を結成！新メンバーのラ・エストレージャは横須賀ススムに圧勝！". バトルニュース. 2020-12-16. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
13. "DRAGONGATE THE FINAL GATE 2020 (DECEMBER 20) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
14. "DRAGONGATE CHAMPION GATE IN OSAKA (MARCH 7) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
15. "Dragon Gate: «Memorial Gate 2021 In Wakayama»". superluchas.com. 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
16. Pollock, John (August 1, 2021). "Masato Yoshino's retirement, new Open the Dream Gate champion in Kobe". postwrestling.com. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
17. "DRAGONGATE FANTASTIC GATE (DECEMBER 15) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
18. "Dragongate Final Gate 2021 (December 26) Results & Review". sportsnewsuk.com. 2021-12-27. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
19. "DRAGONGATE FINAL GATE 2021 (DECEMBER 26) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
20. "【ドラゲー】マスカレード崩壊でシュンが「Ｒ・Ｅ・Ｄ」電撃加入　リーダーのＥｉｔａと石田が追放に". tokyo-sports.co.jp (in Japanese). 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
21. Lowe, Case (February 7, 2022). "DRAGONGATE TRUTH GATE (FEBRUARY 4) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
22. "Dragon Gate: "Truth Gate 2022" New monarchs of thirds". superluchas.com (in Spanish). 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
23. "3/23後楽園ホール大会 試合後コメント　復活・潮崎が"I am NOAH"解禁でGHCヘビー挑戦へ 真っ向撃破で中嶋に雪辱". noah.co.jp (in Japanese). 2022-03-24. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
24. "Dragon Gate: "Dead or Alive 2022" KAI retiene, Diamante campeón de parejas". superluchas.com. 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
25. "Diamante es Campeón Twin Gate con Shun Skywalker". maslucha.com (in Spanish). 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
26. "Dragongate Ultimo Dragon 35th Anniversary Show (July 30) Results & Review". voicesofwrestling.com. 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
27. "Dragongate Gate of Destiny (November 7) Results & Review". voicesofwrestling.com. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
28. "Dragon Gate Open The New Year Gate Results (1/12): New Open The Dream Gate Champion". Fightful. 2023-01-14. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
29. Black, Ethan (March 3, 2024). "Dragon Gate Champion Gate Results – March 3, 2024". PWMania.
30. "SPOILER: TITLE CHANGE AT MLW TV TAPING IN GEORGIA". PWInsider.com. September 18, 2022.
31. Renner, Ethan (October 31, 2022). "MLW Fightland spoilers: Title change, Jacob Fatu vs. Lio Rush MLW held their Fightland 2022 TV taping on Sunday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia". yardbarker.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
32. Lizarraga, Alfonso (August 31, 2020). "Shun Skywalker en busca de ser el segundo japonés en convertirse en Rey del Ring". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved September 24, 2020.
33. Ruth, Sondra (September 14, 2023). "Complete 2023 PWI 500 List Revealed, Top NJPW Star Absent". tjrwrestling.net. Retrieved September 17, 2023.

External links

• Shun Skywalker's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database