Shota Umino

Shota Umino
Umino in November 2023
Birth name	Shota Umino
Born	(1997-04-17) April 17, 1997 (age 27) Tokyo, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Shota Umino[1] Shota Unno[2]
Billed height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Billed weight	93 kg (205 lb)[1]
Billed from	Tokyo, Japan
Trained by	Hiroshi Tanahashi Hiroyoshi Tenzan Jon Moxley Jushin Thunder Liger NJPW Dojo[3] Yuji Nagata
Debut	April 13, 2017[1]

Shota Umino (海野 翔太, Umino Shōta, born April 17, 1997) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Early life[edit]

Umino was born on April 13, 1997, in the special ward of Setagaya in Tokyo, Japan.^[1] He is the son of NJPW referee Hiroyuki Umino (also known under his ring name of "Red Shoes Unno").^[1]

Professional wrestling career[edit]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling[edit]

Young Lion (2017–2019)[edit]

Umino made his professional wrestling debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)'s developmental territory Lion's Gate on April 13, 2017, losing to Taka Michinoku at the Lion's Gate Project 4.^[2] He then made his debut for NJPW's main roster at Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2017 on April 22, under the slightly modified ring name of Shota Umino, as a "young lion", losing to fellow young lion Hirai Kawato.^[4] Umino obtained his first win in a six-man tag team match on the first night of the Best of the Super Juniors 24 event, teaming with Tomoyuki Oka and Volador Jr. to defeat Tetsuhiro Yagi, Katsuya Kitamura and ACH, after Oka pinned Yagi.^[5] Throughout the following months, Umino would split his time between NJPW's main roster and Lion's Gate. Umino would compete in the 2017 Young Lion Cup, but did not win, with a final standing of 4 points (two wins and three losses).^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

In April 2018, Umino main evented Lion's Gate Project 11, where he teamed with Yuji Nagata in a loss to Ayato Yoshida and Go Asakawa.^[11] Umino would then lose to Yoshida in a singles match in the main event of Lion's Gate Project 13 in June.^[12] Umino and Yoshida would subsequently form a tag team and competed in the 2018 World Tag League later that year, but lost all of their matches and ending with a final tally of 0 points (0 wins and 13 losses).^[13] Umino also wrestled in the 2019 New Japan Cup tournament, but lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first round.^[14]

At Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 9, Umino lost to IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley.^[15] Following the loss, Moxley would state his appreciation of Umino's efforts and adopt Umino as his tag team partner and manager for matches - dubbing him "Shooter".^[16][17] Their debut as a team was a loss to Jeff Cobb and Ren Narita on July 14, which they lost after Umino was pinned by Cobb.^[18] The two's partnership was halted when Moxley took a hiatus from NJPW after the end of the 2019 G1 Climax in August and began to wrestle more regularly for American promotion All Elite Wrestling.^[19]

At Royal Quest on August 31, Umino teamed with Ren Narita and Ryusuke Taguchi in a loss to Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, Sho and Yoh).^[20] Umino would then move onto compete in the 2019 Young Lion Cup. Although he would lose his first tournament match to Clark Connors,^[21] Umino would win his next four matches against Ren Narita,^[22] Michael Richards,^[23] Yuya Uemura,^[24] Alex Coughlin^[25] and Yota Tsuji,^[26] but lost the final match of the tournament to Karl Fredericks, failing to win the tournament with a final score of 10 points.^[27] Following the end of the tournament, it was announced that Umino would begin a learning excursion in the United Kingdom.^[28]

Foreign excursion (2019–2022)[edit]

Umino made his debut for Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) at the New Beginnings event on November 9, 2019, in a loss to Kyle Fletcher.^[29] He had previously wrestled for RevPro in 2018, during NJPW and Revpro's collaborative two-night event Strong Style Evolved UK.^[30][31] Umino also made his debut for Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) at the promotion's Stickin' Out event on January 5, 2020, where he lost to Scotty Davis.^[32] On January 18, Umino won RPW's 40-man Revolution Rumble battle royal.^[33] After an absence of over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Umino made his return to wrestling at RevPro Live In Bristol 3 event in July 2021, defeating Dan Moloney.^[34] At RevPro's Uprising event in November, Umino challenged Will Ospreay for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated.^[35] In May of the following year, Umino challenged Michael Oku for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship, but was defeated.^[36] In July, Umino unsuccessfully challenged Pac for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.^[37]

Return from excursion (2022–present)[edit]

Umino would make his return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, on April 16, 2022, at Windy City Riot, where he answered Jay White's open challenge but was defeated.^[38] At AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, Umino teamed with Eddie Kingston and Wheeler Yuta in a six-man tag-team match, where they lost to Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki.^[39] In September, Umino made his NJPW Strong debut, defeating Q.T. Marshall at Autumn Action.^[40] In October at Royal Quest II, Umino lost to Will Ospreay.^[41] Umino made his return to Japan on November 5 at Battle Autumn, where he confronted and attacked Ospreay and his United Empire stablemates, challenging Ospreay to a rematch, however this time for Ospreay's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.^[42] The match took place on November 20 at Historic X-Over, where Umino once again was defeated by Ospreay.^[43] On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17, Umino teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Keiji Muto to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Bushi and Sanada), in Muto's NJPW retirement match, where Umino pinned Bushi for the win.^[44]

In March, Umino participated in the New Japan Cup, defeating Yujiro Takahashi in the first round.^[45] In the second round, Umino won in an upset victory over the Cup's previous year's winner and current NJPW World Television Champion, Zack Sabre Jr..^[46] In the quarterfinals, Umino lost to David Finlay, eliminating him from the tournament.^[47] The second round victory over Zack Sabre Jr, earnt Umino a NJPW World Television Championship match against Sabre Jr at Sakura Genesis in April, where Sabre Jr defeated Umino.^[48] On May 21 at Resurgence, Umino reunited with Jon Moxley teaming with Blackpool Combat Club (Moxley and Wheeler Yuta), to defeat Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero and Tomohiro Ishii).^[49] Umino continued to team with the stable the following month, teaming with Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, where they failed to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, after being defeated by reigning champions, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii.^[50] 5 days later at All Together: Again, Umino defeated Yoshi Tatsu of All Japan Pro Wrestling.^[51] On June 25 at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, Umino teamed with Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli) and Konosuke Takeshita, losing to The Elite ("Hangman" Adam Page, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii.^[52] The following month, Umino participated in his first G1 Climax tournament, where he'd be placed in the A Block.^[53] Umino finished his tournament with 6 points, narrowly missing out on a place to advance to the quarterfinals.^[54]

In September, Umino teamed with Yuji Nagata and Master Wato to face off in a Best of Seven Series, against El Desperado, Ren Narita and Minoru Suzuki. The series culminated on October 9 at Destruction in Ryōgoku, where Umino pinned Narita in the final match to draw the series, at a record of 3–3–1. After the match, Umino shook hands with rival Narita.^[55] This started an alliance between the two men, as they teamed at Royal Quest III, to defeat United Empire (Francesco Akira and Great-O-Khan). Later in the night, after retaining his IWGP United Kingdom Championship, which he had renamed from the United States Championship, Will Ospreay called out anybody to challenge him next for his championship. Umino answered Ospreay's challenge and soon after the match was officially made for Power Struggle.^[56] On November 4 at the event, Ospreay defeated Umino to retain his title. The match was critically acclaimed, earning a 5.75-star rating by Wrestling Observer Newsletter's, Dave Meltzer, marking Umino's first 5+ star singles match.^[57]

In November, Umino continued his alliance with Narita, with the two teaming in the annual World Tag League, with the duo participating in the A-Block.^[58] However, in their final match of the tournament, Narita turned on Umino and sided with their opponents, House of Torture. This ended their campaign with 6 points, meaning they failed to advance to the semi-finals.^[59][60] Umino sought his revenge heading into the new year, teaming with Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo and Junta Miyawaki to defeat House of Torture at Noah The New Year on January 2, 2024.^[61] Two days later at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Umino teamed with Kiyomiya once more to face House of Torture's Evil and Ren Narita, but failed to win the match.^[62]

On January 13 at Battle in the Valley, Umino teamed with Jacob Fatu and Fred Rosser to defeat Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs) in a six-man tag-team match. Following the match, Umino was attacked by Jack Perry of AEW, Perry then ripped up his AEW contract.^[63] The following month, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Umino challenged Evil for the NEVER Openweight Championship, but was unsuccessful.^[64] The following month, Umino entered the New Japan Cup, where he faced attacker Jack Perry in the first round. On February 6, Umino was defeated by Perry, who joined House of Torture after the match.^[65] in Windy City Riot on April 12, he defeated Perry. After the match, they shook hands and gave respect.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

• ESPN
  • Ranked No. 30 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30 in 2023^[66]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 334 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019^[67]
• Revolution Pro Wrestling
  • Revolution Rumble (2020)^[33]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Shota Umino's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile
• Shota Umino's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database