Mao (wrestler)

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Mao
Mao in February 2024
Birth nameMao Inoue
Born (1997-01-28) January 28, 1997 (age 27)[1]
Osaki, Miyagi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mao Inoue
Mao
Billed height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Billed weight80 kg (176 lb)
Trained byYasu Urano
Debut2015

Mao Inoue (井上 麻生, Inoue Mao, born January 28, 1997), better known by his ring name Mao (stylized in all capital letters as MAO), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) where he is the current DDT Universal Champion in his second reign.[3]

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Independent circuit (2015–present)[edit]

Mao in 2018

Mao made his professional wrestling debut as Mao Inoue at DDT Pro-Wrestling's Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2015 event from August 23, 2015, where he teamed up with Mizuki Watase and Kota Umeda, losing to Ryota Nakatsu and Smile Squash (Akito and Yasu Urano) in a six-man tag team match.[4] He is known for tenures with other promotions such as Pro Wrestling Noah, participating in the NOAH Summer Navigation 2017 ~ 11th Global Junior Heavyweight Tag League ~ multiple-night event where he teamed up with his New Wrestling Aidoru (NωA) stablemate Shunma Katsumata. They faced other infamous wrestlers such as Ratel's (Hayata and Yo-Hey) which they defeated on July 15, and Phil Atlas and Seiya Morohashi whom they lost to on July 16.[5] A couple of months later, on the second night of The Great Voyage 2017 In Yokohama event from October 1, 2017, Mao and Katsumata challenged Hayata and Yo-Hey again, third time for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship but unsuccessfully.[6] Mao worked for Evolve, teaming up with Konosuke Takeshita to unsuccessfully challenge The Unwanted (Eddie Kingston and Joe Gacy) for the Evolve Tag Team Championship at EVOLVE 125 on April 4, 2019.[7] On April 18, 2019, he made an appearance for Oriental Wrestling Entertainment on the first night of OWE First Time Japan event, where he teamed up with Kazuki Hirata and Yuki Ueno to defeat Michael Nakazawa, Tang Huaqi and Yang Hao.[8] At the Revolution Pro Wrestling's Live At The Cockpit 47 show, Mao teamed up with Mike Bailey as Moonlight Express to defeat Deadly Sins (JK Moody & Kane Khan) for the SWE Tag Team Championship.[9]

DDT Pro-Wrestling (2015–present)[edit]

Mao worked almost his entire career for DDT, where he is a former KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion alongside Makoto Oishi and Shunma Katsumata as NωA, title which they won at Judgement 2017: DDT 20th Anniversary on March 20 after defeating Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki and Mizuki Watase.[10] On July 22, 2018, at Summer Vacation, Mao teamed up with Mike Bailey to defeat Damnation (Mad Paulie and Tetsuya Endo to win the KO-D Tag Team Championship.[11] Mao is a former multiple-time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, last time winning it at WrestleCon Joey Ryan's Penis Party, a freelance event held and produced by Joey Ryan, in a 7-person gauntlet match also involving Danshoku Dino, Makoto Oishi, Sanshiro Takagi, Antonio Honda, Maki Itoh and Yoshihiko (a love doll).[12]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "MAO/General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Mao-Personal Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "MAO • Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  4. ^ DDT “両国ピーターパン2015～DDTより愛をこめて～” 8/23 両国国技館大会その３. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. ^ Dark angel (July 18, 2017). "Pro Wrestling NOAH: Results «Summer Navigation 2017 ~ Jr. Heavy Tag League» 15/16/07/2017". superluchas.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  6. ^ Remy, JoJo (September 28, 2017). "NOAH GREAT VOYAGE 2017 IN YOKOHAMA VOL.2 PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Rev. Claire Elizabeth (April 4, 2019). "Evolve 125 live results: Theory vs. O'Reilly, Henry vs. Allin, and more!". cagesideseats.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (February 14, 2019). "#OWE lands in Japan! - 19:00 April 18th, Shinjuku Tokyo". twitter.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  9. ^ Post Wrestling Staff (November 3, 2019). "Live Report: Revolution Pro Live at The Cockpit 47". postwrestling.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  10. ^ Judgement2017～DDT旗揚げ20周年記念大会～. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  11. ^ DDT PRO-WRESTLING (July 22, 2018). "ウチコミ！presents Summer Vacation 2018" (in Japanese). Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Greer, Jamie (April 5, 2019). "#WrestleManiaWeek Preview: WrestleCon presents Joey Ryan's Penis Party (4/5/19)". Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ironman Heavymetalweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "KO-D (King Of DDT) 6-man Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. November 14, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  15. ^ KO-D8人タッグ／KO-D10人タッグ選手権. Syu-Kaku Kombu (in Japanese). Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  16. ^ "KO-D (King Of DDT) Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. October 25, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  17. ^ "Kaientai Dojo Strongest-K Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "The 33rd Annual PWI 500". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 2023. ISSN 1043-7576.
  19. ^ "Southside Wrestling Entertainment Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
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