Masaya Takahashi

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Masaya Takahashi was trained by former WWE wrestler Tajiri and was due to debut for Smash in May 2012 but the promotion closed down in March due to financial issues. He followed Tajiri to his new promotion Wrestling New Classic and participated in an exhibition bout at WNC's first show on April 26. Prior to his official debut, he claimed to be abducted by aliens and changed his name to Hoshito Takahashi (高橋 星人, Takahashi Hoshito; lit. "Starman Takahashi"). On May 24, he defeated 15 year veteran Takuya Kito with assistance from referee Soft Imai. He went on to win 12 consecutive singles matches whilst seemingly being possessed by an alien. On August 30, Takahashi suffered his first singles loss after being defeated by Veneno and woke up from his possession. Since then, he has reverted to his real name Masaya Takahashi.

Takahashi remained with WNC until its closure on June 26, 2014. Takahashi and several other former WNC wrestlers would form phoenix promotion Asuka Project and held their first show on April 23 which saw Takahashi lose to Hikaru Sato. He participated in the Asuka Project section of the 24 Hours Pro-Wrestling event at Shunjuku Face held on July 25 and 26; he unsuccessfully challenged Isami Kodaka for the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He left the promotion in August 2017 to sign full time with Big Japan Pro Wrestling.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2013–present)

Takahashi debuted for Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) on February 4, 2013, teaming with Kazuki Hashimoto in a losing effort against Shadow WX and Takashi Sasaki. Having wrestled basic hardcore matches, his deathmatch debut came on July 2, teaming with Ryuji Ito and losing to Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba. From September 1 to November 24, Takahashi underwent a seven match deathmatch trail series which saw him wrestle Masashi Takeda, Ryuji Ito, Takashi Sasaki, Isami Kodaka, Yuko Miyamoto, Jaki Numazawa and Jun Kasai in singles matches. He was unable to win any of his matches but it was no doubt influential in the Japan Indie Awards awarding him the Newcomer Award for 2013. He continued wrestling deathmatches for experience in 2014 and 2015. He entered the 2015 Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor tournament and finished last in the A Block but managed to score a win over veteran Kankuro Hoshino. On March 31, Takahashi pinned Abdullah Kobayashi in an eight man tag team match and immediately requested a BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship shot from Ryuji Ito. At Endless Survivor, on May 5, Takahashi lost to Ryuji Ito. Afterwards, he would form a tag team with Takayuki Ueki known as the Third Generation Chimidoro Brothers (三代目血みどろブラザーズ, Sandai-me Chimidoro Burazāzu). At Ryōgokutan 2016, BJW's annual Ryōgoku Kokugikan show, on July 24, the Third Generation Chimidoro Brothers won the vacant Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship with Abdullah Kobayashi. From September 4 and October 31, the Third Generation Chimidoro Brothers participated in the 2016 Saikyo Tag League and finished runner up in the Deathmatch Block A, moving onto the quarterfinals. During the group stages, Takahashi unsuccessfully challenged BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion Kankuro Hoshino on September 11. After defeating Abdullah Kobayashi and Jaki Numazawa in the quarterfinals, they lost to Yankee Nichokenju (Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto) in the semifinals.

In February 2017, Takahashi was announced to participate in the 2017 Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor as part of the B Block. He won four out of his five block matches, advancing to the semifinals. On April 8, Takahashi defeated Kenji Fukimoto and went on to defeat Isami Kodaka in the main event to win the tournament. His success continued at Endless Survivor 2017, on May 5, where he defeated Abdullah Kobayashi in a spike nails & 150 light tubes deathmatch for the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship. Ten days later however, he lost the Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Moon Vulcan (Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura and Yoshihisa Uto). On June 10, after making his first successful title defence against Takumi Tsukamoto, Takahashi nominated his tag team partner Takayuki Ueki as his next title challenger at Ryōgokutan 2017. On July 17, Takahashi successfully defended his BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship against Ueki. After the match, he announced that he had officially signed with BJW as a permanent member of the Deathmatch BJ division. On August 11, the Third Generation Chimidoro Brothers unsuccessfully challenged Abdullah Kobayashi and Ryuji Ito for the BJW Tag Team Championship. Takahashi's BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship reign came to an end on August 19 when he lost to Masashi Takeda in a light tubes & double glass board deathmatch. He attempted to regain the title from Takeda on December 17 but lost. Despite missing out on the title, Takahashi ended his career year by winning the Best Bout Award from the Japan Indie Awards for his December 17 match against Takeda.

Personal life

Takahashi has a son born November 8, 2018. In November 2022, he was diagnosed with Stevens–Johnson syndrome.

Championships and accomplishments

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

BJW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sagat

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship (9 times) – with Abdullah Kobayashi and Takayuki Ueki (1), and Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda (8)

Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor (2017)

6-Man Sacred Ground City of Forest Sendai Tournament (2018) – with Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda

Japan Indie Awards

Newcomer Award (2013)

Best Bout Award (2017) vs. Masashi Takeda on December 17