Early career (1994–1998) Tajiri originally wanted to become a
kickboxer and began training in the sport. However, after watching countless wrestling matches from Mexico, he entered the
Animal Hamaguchi Wrestling gym and won its test match tournament. Tajiri debuted professionally in 1994 for
International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan) with a loss to Takashi Okano. In 1996, Tajiri left CMLL to join the
hardcore wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in Tokyo, Japan. He debuted for BJW under the name Aquarius. On July 19, 1996, he defeated
Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the
CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship but lost it to him on July 27. The championship changes were not approved by CMLL but done by Dr. Wagner Jr. and Aquarius as part of the tour. Since CMLL did not approve the championship reign they do not officially recognize Aquarius' championship reign, listing Dr. Wagner as one continuous reign during the time he toured Japan.
World Wrestling Federation (1996–1997) In 1996 and 1997, Tajiri made several appearances for the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the name Yoshihiro Tajiri as enhancement talent. His first match was teaming with Tim Patterson losing to The
Godwinns on the episode of
Monday Night Raw on April 22, 1996. On an episode of
Monday Night Raw in July 1997, he lost to
Taka Michinoku, whom the WWF was
pushing as its rising star in the
Light Heavyweight division at the time. Tajiri's final appearance was a tag match with
Brian Christopher, losing to
Scott Taylor and Michinoku on October 21. He would briefly work for CMLL in Mexico both in 1997 and 1998, before leaving in December 1998 to work for
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) full-time.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998–2001) Beginnings and World Television Champion (1998–2000) After working in Mexico, Tajiri was hired by
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made his television debut in ECW on the December 24, 1998, episode of
Hardcore TV, clad in traditional blue and white trunks with an insignia of
Japan's rising sun, and picked up a victory over Antifaz Del Norte. He began a notable
storyline rivalry with
Super Crazy. The duo traded wins throughout 1999. His other notable single feuds included
Little Guido and
Jerry Lynn. In early 1999, Tajiri began to emulate
The Great Muta, who was one of Tajiri's wrestling heroes growing up. His wrestling trunks were replaced with baggy
Karate gi pants, and he began spraying green mist into the face of his opponents. and on an episode on
ECW on TNN but failed to capture the title on both occasions. In 2000, he earned another shot at the championship against
Justin Credible but lost once again. During this time, Tajiri went up against Super Crazy for the
ECW World Television Championship in a Japanese
death match, a match with no disqualification and all weapons are legal. He lost but gained the title back in a
three-way dance involving Super Crazy and Little Guido. Shortly after becoming champion, Tajiri was asked by Cyrus to relinquish the belt to The Network so they could award the title to
Rhino. Tajiri refused to turn the belt over and turned his back on the Network, becoming a babyface in the process. His first defense of the title ended in a no contest with Tommy Dreamer. Tajiri lost the title to Rhino on April 22. His rematch came on May 6, but he was unable to regain the title. Shortly after his alliance with Whipwreck, Tajiri's amusing antics in the ring, stiff contact with opponents, and comedic backstage vignettes made him one of the most popular wrestlers in ECW. Tajiri remained loyal to the company until it folded in April 2001. He participated in ECW's final two shows: on January 12, where he picked up a victory over Super Crazy, and January 13, 2001, when he lost to Super Crazy. During this period, Tajiri had multiple
CZW World Heavyweight Championship matches in the
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. His first would be against
Justice Pain. Tajiri lost to Pain twice but would later go on to beat
Nick Berk to become CZW World Heavyweight Champion on February 28, 2001; however, Tajiri lost the title that same night to Zandig.
Return to WWF/E (2001–2006, 2008) Championship reigns (2001–2004) Soon after the closure of ECW, Tajiri was hired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Tajiri debuted on the May 24, 2001, episode of
SmackDown! as a
face. He was given the
gimmick of
WWF Commissioner William Regal's comedic assistant. With the help of Regal, Tajiri made his in-ring debut defeating
Crash in a
King of the Ring qualifying match on the June 14 episode of
SmackDown!. He was later eliminated by Rhyno on the June 18 episode of
Raw. Tajiri would win his first championship in WWF by defeating
X-Pac for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship on the August 6 episode of
Raw. X-Pac would quickly capture the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, Tajiri would quickly bounce back as he began an on-screen relationship with
Torrie Wilson and defeated
Chris Kanyon for the
WCW United States Championship on the September 10 episode of
Raw. However, Tajiri would lose the belt to Rhyno soon afterward at
Unforgiven on September 23. After Regal
turned heel by joining
The Alliance, Tajiri feuded with him throughout late 2001. '' on
Robért Conway. Tajiri won his first
WCW Cruiserweight Championship on the October 22 episode of
Raw. The WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, and the roster was divided into two "brands": Raw and SmackDown!. Tajiri, along with Torrie Wilson, was
drafted to
SmackDown!, therefore making the Cruiserweight Championship a
SmackDown! exclusive title. Tajiri went on to lose the title to
Billy Kidman on the April 4, 2002 episode on
SmackDown!. He also participated in his first
Royal Rumble match on January 19, 2003. Tajiri would leave the Cruiserweight division and moved to the tag team division where he formed various tag teams, many of which were somewhat comical. These included
Rey Mysterio,
Funaki, and
Rikishi. Five days prior to the 2003
Judgment Day show,
Chavo Guerrero tore his biceps, forcing
Eddie Guerrero to look for another partner. He chose Tajiri. They won the
WWE Tag Team Championship, at Judgment Day on May 18 by defeating
Team Angle (
Charlie Haas and
Shelton Benjamin) in a
ladder match. Tajiri would mark his return to the cruiserweight division by taking on the champion Rey Mysterio and after losing he spat green mist in Mysterio's eye, turning him heel once again. On the September 25 episode of
SmackDown!, Tajiri would beat Rey Mysterio for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship which would be his third and last reign. Tajiri would, however, lose the championship after 93 days to Mysterio on the January 1, 2004, episode of
SmackDown!.
Various storylines (2004–2008) In 2004, Tajiri had two chances to earn a shot at the
WWE Championship. The first chance was in the
2004 Royal Rumble, where the winner would get a championship match at WrestleMania XX, but he was eliminated by Rhyno. His second chance was in a battle royal on
SmackDown!, in which the winner would face then-champion
Brock Lesnar at
No Way Out. However, he lost once again when he was eliminated by the
Big Show. Following WrestleMania XX, Tajiri was drafted to
Raw, where he turned face once again and feuded with the group of
Eric Bischoff,
Jonathan Coachman, and
Garrison Cade. He would later feud with the
Evolution stable for a good portion of 2004. Also that year, Tajiri formed a tag team with Rhyno. This team dissolved quietly after a failed attempt at winning the
World Tag Team Championship from
La Résistance at
Unforgiven. On February 4, 2005, in
Saitama Super Arena, Tajiri reunited with William Regal to defeat La Résistance for the World Tag Team Championship on an episode of
Raw emanating from Japan. Tajiri lost a 3-Way Dance (that also featured Little Guido) to Super Crazy at
ECW One Night Stand 2005 on June 12. Later that year, he formed a short-lived team with
Eugene. In December 2005, Tajiri left WWE, stating that he wanted to try to become a journalist and spend more time with his wife and family in Japan. His final televised WWE match was a loss to
Gregory Helms on
Heat. After the match, he received a standing ovation as a farewell. Tajiri returned for a one-night appearance at WWE's
ECW One Night Stand 2006 pay-per-view, teaming with Super Crazy to lose to The Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.). On February 12, 2008, Tajiri made an appearance at a WWE house show in Tokyo, where he accompanied William Regal to the ring for a match against
Ric Flair, which Regal lost.
Hustle (2006–2010) Tajiri's return to Japan came at
Hustle on March 5, 2006, defeating
Kohei Sato, The Monster PTA and
Yoji Anjo with
Razor Ramon Hard Gay and
Shinjiro Otani. In the Hustle promotion, he was originally aligned with the babyface Hustle Army, a group which defends the sport of professional wrestling against the Monster Army (led by
Monster General and
Monster K, who aim to destroy the sport). However, he was hypnotized by
Yinling into joining the Monster Army. In 2006, Tajiri took
Yujiro Kushida under his wing and trained him while at Hustle. They participated in multiple tag team matches and tag team tournaments, and they also had several matches against one another. Tajiri and Muta would team up for a few matches, the most notable of which was against
Kaz Hayashi and Satoshi Kojima when the pair used double Asian mist to achieve victory. Tajiri was a title contender in All Japan Pro Wrestling throughout 2007, including a feud with
Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Minoru Suzuki. This feud started on March 30, 2007, at the final
Champion Carnival 2007 event, following Tajiri's victory over Suzuki via count-out when Tajiri tied Suzuki's foot to the guardrail and went on to steal the Triple Crown championship belts following the match. Tajiri would then bring Smash's biggest stars to AJPW for a one-night event where he and his partners
Akira and
StarBuck defeated
Bushi,
Keiji Muto, and
Shuji Kondo. Tajiri participated in
G1 Climax 2009 and won his first match of the tournament and his first match of his return. On August 13, Tajiri pinned the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match during the G1 Climax tournament, after using the green mist. Tajiri ended the tournament with only four points, finishing bottom of block A. Hustle folded in October 2009, after which Tajiri began wrestling for NJPW full-time. He would score two more pinfall victories over the now former IWGP Heavyweight Champion in multiple man tag team matches, but in the end lost the feud, when Tanahashi pinned him cleanly in a one-on-one match on December 5. Afterwards, Tajiri set his sights on
Seigigun, led by
Yuji Nagata. On January 4, 2010, at
Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Tajiri teamed up with fellow ECW alumnus
Masato Tanaka and together they defeated the Seigigun team of Nagata and
Akebono when Tajiri pinned Nagata after the green mist and a Buzzsaw kick. On February 14 Nagata defeated Tajiri in a one-on-one match in under five minutes to seemingly end the feud and Tajiri's run with the company. On June 19 at
Dominion 6.19, Tajiri returned to New Japan, turning face and saving former rival Hiroshi Tanahashi from
Toru Yano and
Takashi Iizuka. He then helped Tanahashi shave Yano's head following their
Hair vs. Hair match. On June 28 Tajiri, Tanahashi, and Kushida entered the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, where they made it all the way to the finals on June 30, before being defeated by
Prince Devitt,
Ryusuke Taguchi, and
Hirooki Goto. In October and November 2010, Tajiri teamed with Tanahashi in New Japan's
2010 G1 Tag League. After a strong start in the tournament, Tajiri and Tanahashi were defeated by the
IWGP Tag Team Champions Bad Intentions (
Giant Bernard and
Karl Anderson) on November 6, the last day of group stages, and slipped to third place in their block, narrowly missing the semifinals of the tournament.
Smash (2010–2012) In 2010, Tajiri was placed in charge of
Smash, a new promotion taking the place of Hustle. The promotion held its first show on March 26 which saw Tajiri wrestle two matches in one night. The first was a
hardcore match against
Tommy Dreamer. Tajiri lost to Dreamer but then beat Mentallo in his second contest. Later that same night, Tajiri and Dreamer saved Kushida from Leatherface. To end the show, Dreamer paid tribute to Tajiri which led him to break into tears. During 2010, Tajiri, along with other Smash talent made crossover appearances in
Finnish promotion Fight Club Finland (FCF). At Smash.3 on May 29, 2010, Tajiri defeated Valentine to win the FCF Finnish Heavyweight Championship for the first time. On September 8 at Smash.21, Tajiri defeated Akira in the semifinals of the
Smash Championship tournament. On October 28, Tajiri was defeated in the finals of the tournament by StarBuck. On February 10, 2012, Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event, following a disagreement between Tajiri and financial backer Masakazu Sakai. On February 19 at
Smash.25, Tajiri unsuccessfully challenged
Dave Finlay for the Smash Championship. On March 14, Tajiri wrestled in Smash's final match, where he and AKIRA defeated Hajime Ohara and StarBuck. Following the match, Tajiri announced his intention of starting a new promotion.
Wrestling New Classic (2012–2014) On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash,
Wrestling New Classic (WNC), which would hold its first event on April 26. On April 26, Tajiri was defeated by Akira in the main event of WNC's first event. For WNC's second event on May 24, Tajiri reunited with former ECW tag team partner, Mikey Whipwreck, to defeat Gedo and Jado in a hardcore tag team match. Two days later, Tajiri and Whipwreck defeated
Yo-Hey and
Yusuke Kodama in another hardcore tag team match. On June 22, Tajiri's longtime partner Akira turned on him and, the following month formed a new alliance with StarBuck and
Syuri. Tajiri, Hajime Ohara, and
Kana, the former partners of the three formed an alliance of their own to battle the three, but were on August 2 defeated in the first match between the two groups. Following the match, Ohara also turned on Tajiri and WNC, forming a new partnership with debuting female wrestler
Nagisa Nozaki. On August 30, Tajiri teamed with Kana and the returning Mikey Whipwreck in a
Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch, where they were defeated by Akira, StarBuck and Syuri. In a September 1 match, Whipwreck pinned StarBuck for the win, ending the villainous trio's win streak in the process. On September 20, Tajiri defeated Syuri in an intergender match at Korakuen Hall. On October 26, Tajiri entered the
WNC Championship tournament, defeating
Carlito in his first-round match. On November 28, Tajiri defeated Hajime Ohara to advance to the finals of the tournament. On December 27, Tajiri was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Akira. On August 8, 2013, Tajiri defeated
Osamu Nishimura in his home prefecture of
Kumamoto to become the third WNC Champion. After five successful title defenses, Tajiri lost the title to StarBuck on February 27, 2014. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Effective July 1, six former WNC wrestlers, Tajiri included, transferred over to the
Wrestle-1 promotion.
Wrestle-1 (2014–2016) Tajiri wrestled his first match under a Wrestle-1 contract on July 6, 2014, teaming with Yusuke Kodama in a tag team match, where they defeated the
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) team of
Ethan Carter III and
Rockstar Spud. On September 22, Tajiri entered the
Wrestle-1 Championship tournament but was defeated in his first-round match by Masakatsu Funaki. Tajiri then entered a storyline, where he began helping Funaki train for his semifinal match in the tournament. However, on October 8, Tajiri turned on Funaki, costing him his semifinal match against
Masayuki Kono. Post-match, Tajiri was announced as the newest member of Kono's villainous Desperado stable. In November, Tajiri and Masayuki Kono took part in the First Tag League Greatest tournament, set to determine the inaugural
Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions, where they won their block with a clean record of four wins and zero losses, advancing to the semifinals. On November 30, Tajiri and Kono were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Akira and
Manabu Soya. On May 16, 2015, Tajiri defeated
Minoru Tanaka at a Wrestle-1 event to capture the European Wrestling Promotion (EWP) Intercontinental Championship. A week later, Tajiri unsuccessfully challenged Tanaka for the
Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. On May 30, Tajiri lost the EWP Intercontinental Championship back to Tanaka in a Title vs. Title match also contested for the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. Following the match, Desperado turned on Tajiri and kicked him out of the stable. On June 19, Wrestle-1 announced a new contractual status for Tajiri, which would see him work only sporadic Wrestle-1 events from July onwards due to looking for a new career as an
acupuncturist abroad. On January 31, 2016, Tajiri, Kaz Hayashi and Minoru Tanaka won the vacant
UWA World Trios Championship. On July 29, Tajiri, Hayashi, and Tanaka lost the UWA World Trios Championship to
Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba and
Seiki Yoshioka in their fifth defense.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014) Tajiri debuted at the August
Impact Wrestling tapings in
New York City, defeating
Robbie E on August 5 (aired September 24), and working matches on the August tapings; Tajiri and
Austin Aries lost to
James Storm and
Sanada and then on the September 24 episode of
Impact Wrestling, he competed in the NYC Gold Rush Final fatal five-way match which also included
Abyss,
Mr. Anderson,
MVP and Austin Aries with Anderson winning the match. His final appearance for the promotion was at the October 12,
Bound for Glory pay-per-view event in Tokyo, teaming with The Great Muta in a tag team main event, where they defeated James Storm and
The Great Sanada.
Second return to WWE (2016–2017) On June 13, 2016, Tajiri was announced as a participant in WWE's
Cruiserweight Classic tournament. The tournament kicked off on June 23 with Tajiri defeating
Damian Slater in his first-round match. On July 14, Tajiri was eliminated from the tournament by
Gran Metalik. On December 3, at the
NXT special at Osaka, Japan, Tajiri teamed with
Akira Tozawa, losing to
NXT Tag Team Champions DIY (
Tommaso Ciampa and
Johnny Gargano). On December 4, 2016, Tajiri announced he signed a full-time contract with WWE, and that he would make his return in early 2017. On the December 13 episode of
205 Live, vignettes for Tajiri's return began airing. On January 3, 2017, Tajiri debuted on
205 Live defeating
Sean Maluta. Following the match,
The Brian Kendrick tried to welcome him back to the WWE, only for Tajiri to spit green mist onto his face. In January, Tajiri suffered a knee injury at an
NXT taping. After weeks of recovery, Tajiri returned at a 205 Live taping in February, following a match between
Lince Dorado and Brian Kendrick. On April 22, Tajiri officially announced his departure from the WWE. According to him, he had been medically cleared to return and compete from a knee injury, but WWE decided not to use him due to his age.
Return to AJPW (2017–2022) Following his departure from WWE, Tajiri returned to Japan, with All Japan announcing his first post-WWE booking for June 11. On July 30, Tajiri defeated
Hikaru Sato to win the promotion's
World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to
Último Dragón on August 27, before regaining it on October 21. AJPW further pushed Tajiri as he and tag team partner
Koji Iwamoto were entered into the 2018
Jr. Tag Battle of Glory tournament. The duo won four of the six first-round matches, then defeated Atsushi Aoki and Hikaru Sato in the finals to win the tournament.
Major League Wrestling (2021–2022) On October 2, 2021, Tajiri made his MLW debut at
Fightland where he defeated
Myron Reed, Arez, and
Aramis to become the new
MLW World Middleweight Champion. Tajiri will defend the MLW World Middleweight Championship in England at Cheltenham Town Hall February 19 when he will face Jody Fleisch on a card promoted by World Pro Wrestling. He would lose the title in January 2022 against Myron Reed.
Kyushu Pro-Wrestling (2023–present) On January 3, 2023, Tajiri made his
Kyushu Pro-Wrestling debut at Jokyo 2023 where he defeated Kodai Nozaki to win the Kyushu Pro-Wrestling Championship, then announced he had signed full-time with the promotion. He lost the title to Mentai☆Kid, on February 5, at the Kitakyushu Genki Festival event. ==Professional wrestling persona and style==