| Ryohei Oiwa | |
| Names: | Ryohei Oiwa |
| Weight: | 200lb |
| Birth Date: | 7 November 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Kōnan, Aichi, Japan |
| Debut: | August 24, 2021 |
| Trainer: | NJPW Dojo Kaito Kiyomiya |
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and also appears in Pro Wrestling Noah.
Oiwa was born in Kōnan, Aichi, Japan on November 7, 1998. He began amateur wrestling at Zen Total Wrestling Club in his third year of junior high school, and won the bronze medal in the 86 kg freestyle division at the 2018 JOC Junior Olympic Cup.[1]
Oiwa passed New Japan Pro-Wrestling's new apprentice test held in December 2020, and joined the dojo in April 2021 after graduating from Hosei University's Faculty of Law. On August 24, 2021, he made his in-ring debut match against Kosei Fujita, at Korakuen Hall, ending in a 10-minute time limit draw.[2] On April 18, 2022, Oiwa defeated Fujita for his first professional victory.[3] He also defeated fellow young lion Yuto Nakashima on August 20.[4]
At night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 17, Fujita and Oiwa teamed up to take on Daishi Ozawa and Yasutaka Yano. In the end, Oiwa and Fujita tossed Yano over the ropes, allowing Fujita to lock in a Boston Crab submission, forcing Ozawa to tap out.[5] On August 13, 2023, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Oiwa and Kaito Kiyomiya teamed up to defeat Toru Yano and Oskar Leube in the G1 Climax 33 finals, winning their first match in four attempts. Backstage after the match, Kiyomiya proposed to Oiwa that they join forces in NOAH, to which Oiwa readily accepted. This marked the start of an unusual domestic training program for a Young Lion.[6] [7]
On September 3, 2023, in his first match since graduating from the Young Lions, Oiwa teamed up with Kiyomiya to face Zack Sabre Jr. and Yoshinari Ogawa at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium and won the match.[8] Five days later, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Korakuen Hall event, he unsuccessfully challenged Sabre Jr. for the NJPW World Television Championship.[9] On November 20th, Oiwa and Kiyomiya entered the A block of the World Tag League 2023. They faced Bullet Club's Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin, with Kiyomiya winning by ring out. At the Nagoya International Conference Center event on November 28, Oiwa and Kiyomiya faced Shota Umino and Ren Narita in the main event and lost,[10] As a result, WTL ended up with two wins and missed out on advancing to the finals.[11]
Oiwa and Kiyomiya entered the Victory Challenge Tag League, held on February 24, 2024. They advanced to the finals with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, defeating the team of Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher to win the tournament.[12] After that, they challenged for the GHC Tag Team Championship, but lost to Jack Morris and Anthony Greene and failed to win the title.[13] On May 7, Kiyomiya formed a new unit, "All Rebellion," with Kenoh and others.[14] On May 21, just as it seemed that Oiwa would follow suit, he suddenly attacked Kiyomiya and Kenoh, thus refusing to join All Rebellion.[15] [16]