Post by lordakiyama on Jun 28, 2012 22:07:49 GMT -5
July 22, 2012 will undoubtedly be the single most important night of Akira Tozawa's life.
On this night, he will be challenge CIMA for the Open The Dream Gate Championship in the main event of Kobe World Hall, the biggest show of the year for Dragon Gate.
Seven years ago, Tozawa made his debut as the third Dragon Gate Trueborn behind Shingo Takagi and BxB Hulk. Unlike them, however, he had a very rough start as he did not progressed as well as they did. In fact, he was forced to retrain at the dojo following a terrible performance in a ten-match series that was to evaluate his growth.
Shortly after he returned, he went on to form one of the most popular groups ever in company history, Tozawa-juku. And yet he still wasn't moving up in rank, with most of the talk being about his backstage behavior. In 2008, he made the decision to gain weight and join Yuki Ono in becoming a big fat man, but this only made things worse. He finally got the message and started losing weight, which in turn started his slow progress in moving up.
In 2010, he appeared in DGUSA and PWG for the first time. The overwhelming response he got from the fans in North America, particularly in PWG, led to his deciding to spend a full year across the Pacific on a learning excursion, similar to what Shingo, Hulk, and YAMATO did to great success. It was his Battle of Los Angeles tournament match with Chris Hero that would forever change his fortunes, giving him the career breakthrough he had been so desperately been seeking.
He returned to Japan full-time in 2011, better than ever and with the kind of confidence that allowed him to become the top tier star Dragon Gate was hoping he would become. This was apparent in his Kobe World Hall match against Shingo Takagi, defeating him in convincing fashion. He would later defeat YAMATO in a no-rope match and followed up challenging his master Masaaki Mochizuki for Dream Gate. While he was not successful, his potential had been realized and proved himself a main event player.
Tozawa finally won gold when he and Hulk claimed the Open The Twin Gate Championship. This was followed by his run in the King of Gate Tournament that led him to the finals before falling to Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! But the momentum did not stop, as he would go on to defeat virtually his generation peers Shingo, Hulk, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and YAMATO in the fifth CIMA Royale to earn the right to challenge CIMA for Dream Gate at Kobe World Hall.
The stage is set for his career to finally come full circle and perhaps achieve the top prize in all of Dragon Gate. On July 22, 2012, we could very well witness Akira Tozawa fulfill his destiny.
What's more, July 22 just so happens to be his birthday.
On this night, he will be challenge CIMA for the Open The Dream Gate Championship in the main event of Kobe World Hall, the biggest show of the year for Dragon Gate.
Seven years ago, Tozawa made his debut as the third Dragon Gate Trueborn behind Shingo Takagi and BxB Hulk. Unlike them, however, he had a very rough start as he did not progressed as well as they did. In fact, he was forced to retrain at the dojo following a terrible performance in a ten-match series that was to evaluate his growth.
Shortly after he returned, he went on to form one of the most popular groups ever in company history, Tozawa-juku. And yet he still wasn't moving up in rank, with most of the talk being about his backstage behavior. In 2008, he made the decision to gain weight and join Yuki Ono in becoming a big fat man, but this only made things worse. He finally got the message and started losing weight, which in turn started his slow progress in moving up.
In 2010, he appeared in DGUSA and PWG for the first time. The overwhelming response he got from the fans in North America, particularly in PWG, led to his deciding to spend a full year across the Pacific on a learning excursion, similar to what Shingo, Hulk, and YAMATO did to great success. It was his Battle of Los Angeles tournament match with Chris Hero that would forever change his fortunes, giving him the career breakthrough he had been so desperately been seeking.
He returned to Japan full-time in 2011, better than ever and with the kind of confidence that allowed him to become the top tier star Dragon Gate was hoping he would become. This was apparent in his Kobe World Hall match against Shingo Takagi, defeating him in convincing fashion. He would later defeat YAMATO in a no-rope match and followed up challenging his master Masaaki Mochizuki for Dream Gate. While he was not successful, his potential had been realized and proved himself a main event player.
Tozawa finally won gold when he and Hulk claimed the Open The Twin Gate Championship. This was followed by his run in the King of Gate Tournament that led him to the finals before falling to Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! But the momentum did not stop, as he would go on to defeat virtually his generation peers Shingo, Hulk, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and YAMATO in the fifth CIMA Royale to earn the right to challenge CIMA for Dream Gate at Kobe World Hall.
The stage is set for his career to finally come full circle and perhaps achieve the top prize in all of Dragon Gate. On July 22, 2012, we could very well witness Akira Tozawa fulfill his destiny.
What's more, July 22 just so happens to be his birthday.
