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Gedo (wrestler)

Keiji Takayama is a Japanese professional wrestler, manager and booker. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Gedo . Gedo has been the main booker of NJPW since the early 2010s. As a wrestler, Gedo is best known for his tag team work with partner Jado, forming a very successful tag team from 1990 through the mid-2010s.

Professional wrestling career
Early career (1989–2001) Gedo debuted on March 19, 1989, for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) during the Takeshi Puroresu Gundan (TPG), NJPW's parody of World Wrestling Federation's ''Rock 'n Wrestling'' era. His debut match was against Magic Monkey Wakita, who would later be known as Super Delfin, on March 19, 1989. After TPG died out, Gedo, Wakita, and TPG comrade Jado left NJPW. Jado and Gedo went on to become one of the premiere tag teams in Japan. Jado and Gedo headed to the Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico as Punish (Jado) and Crush (Gedo), and defeated Silver King and El Texano for the UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship on November 8, 1991. They would win these belts on two more occasions in 1992. Gedo was in the 1995 Super J-Cup and reached the finals, losing to Jushin Thunder Liger in his fourth match of the night. Gedo won his first singles title when he defeated Lionheart in a tournament final to become the inaugural International Junior Heavyweight Champion on March 26, 1995. Gedo would win this belt again, defeating Último Dragón for it. Jado and Gedo left WAR, which was declining, and headed to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, one of Japan's top independent promotions. Gedo, with Jado and Kodo Fuyuki, won the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, defeating the Headhunters and Hisakatsu Oya on March 21, 1997. It was also in 1997 that Gedo toured North America, appearing at the 1997 WCW Halloween Havoc show wrestling Chris Jericho, and winning the CRMW North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship defeating Ricky Fuji on August 31, 1997. During the Halloween Havoc show, Mike Tenay called Gedo the Dusty Rhodes of Japan. He further said that Gedo was a fan of 1970s U.S. Southern style brawling. In July 2007, Gedo and Jado joined the Great Bash Heel (GBH) faction. The tag team would compete in the 2007 G1 Tag League, but failed to win, with a final tally of 6 points. In April 2009 Gedo and Jado left GBH and became founding members of the Chaos stable. On November 13, 2010, Jado and Gedo returned to the top of New Japan's Junior Tag Team division by defeating their Chaos team mates Davey Richards and Rocky Romero in the finals of a five-day-long tournament to win the 2010 Super J Tag League. As a result of their victory, Gedo and Jado received a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which took place at a Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) event on December 26, 2010, where they were defeated by the defending champions, the Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi). At the end of 2011, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Gedo and Jado the bookers of the year. They have won the award three more times since then. Main booker and manager (2013–2018) On July 5, 2013, Gedo received his first shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in nearly a decade as he attempted to stop Prince Devitt from earning a shot at Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Gedo, however, failed in his challenge and Devitt advanced to the match with Okada. On November 1, Gedo and Jado received their first shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in three years, but were defeated by the defending champions, Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku). In early 2015, Gedo became the primary booker of New Japan, when Jado took over as the new booker of Pro Wrestling Noah. Bullet Club (2018–2026) At the 2018 G1 Climax Finals, Okada parted ways with Gedo. Gedo returned at Destruction in Kobe, where it appeared he was going to save Okada but instead, hit him with a chair, becoming Jay White's new manager. At King of Pro-Wrestling, Gedo, White, and longtime tag partner Jado all completed their defection from Chaos to align themselves with Bullet Club. Throughout White's tenure as Bullet Club leader, Gedo managed White, as well as still wrestling occasionally, mostly in tag matches with White and other Bullet Club members. After White's departure from NJPW, Gedo began managing David Finlay, who became the new leader of Bullet Club. Gedo and Finlay later formed a sub-group to Bullet Club called "Bullet Club War Dogs", which consisted of the duo with Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Gabe Kidd, with wrestlers such as Jake Lee, Sanada, and Taiji Ishimori joining later on. On November 8, 2025, Gedo reunited with Kazuchika Okada as the latter made his surprise return to NJPW as a heel and was confirmed to be Hiroshi Tanahashi's opponent in his retirement match at Wrestle Kingdom 20. At the event on January 4, 2026, Okada defeated Tanahashi with Gedo in his corner. Unbound Co. (2026–present) After Wrestle Kingdom 20, at New Year Dash!!, David Finlay and Yota Tsuji announced the dissolution of Bullet Club and Mushozoku, replacing the alliance with Unbound Company, which was a complete merger. Pro Wrestling Noah (2016) On June 12, 2016, Gedo made a surprise appearance at a Pro Wrestling Noah event. He reunited with Jado to unsuccessfully challenge Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada for Noah's GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a three-way match, also involving Taichi and Taka Michinoku. On October 8, Gedo and Jado defeated Kotoge and Harada to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. They lost the title back to Kotoge and Harada on December 24. ==Championships and accomplishments==
Championships and accomplishments
Big Japan Pro WrestlingBJW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with JadoFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling / World Entertainment WrestlingFMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Koji NakagawaWEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jado • WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa (1), Koji Nakagawa and Jado (2), Jado and Kaori Nakayama (1), and Jado and Masato Tanaka (1) • WEW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Koji Nakagawa (1), Kodo Fuyuki (1) and Masato Tanaka (1) • DREAM* Win Jr. Tag Team Tournament (2002) – with El Samurai • Super J Tag League (2010) – with Jado • Pro Wrestling NoahGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jado • Toryumon XUWA World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Jado and Katsushi TakemuraUniversal Wrestling AssociationUWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Punish (2), Pat Tanaka (1) and Dick Togo (1) • Wrestle Association "R"WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) • WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Hiromichi Fuyuki and Jado • Best Booker (2016–2019) • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) ==References==
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