YAMATO

One of the most despised heels and thus one of the most hated wrestlers in Dragon Gate, YAMATO is also one of the promotion’s top tag team and trios wrestlers. After starting out in NEX he had a breakthrough 2008 after turning heel and joining the Real Hazard faction in DG, winning 3 Open The Triangle Gate titles and the Open The Twin Gate Title. Before joining DG he also was an MMA fighter in Pancrase under his real name, but went into DG almost immediately after his debut. He has made a few appearances in the US, first in Ring Of Honor and more recently in Dragon Gate USA, where in November ’09 he will be part of a tournament to crown the first Open The Freedom Gate Champion and looks to have at least a decent shot at winning the title. On the Japan side, he also won an second Open The Twin Gate Title as well as the Summer Adventure Tag League in ’09 as part of the new Kamikaze faction with stablemate Shingo Takagi. He frequently relies on heel tactics and foreign objects to win matches.
YAMATO capped off a major push from mid-2009 to early 2010 in March 2010 when he beat Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi to win the title for the first time and end Doi’s seemingly unstoppable reign at just short of 15 months. Like him or hate him, it can’t be denied that his time to shine is now.

Stats & Info:
Real name: Masato Onodera
Age: 29
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 180 pounds/82 kg
Experience: 4 years
Finishing move: Gallaria, CBV
Current affiliation: Dragon Gate
Ring entrance theme: “Yamato Spirit”

Titles won:
1-time Open The Dream Gate Champion
2-time Open The Twin Gate Champion
4-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion
1-time Open The Freedom Gate Champion

Tournaments won:
2007 NEX-1 Tournament
2008 Planning Jumbo 6 Man Tag Team Tournament
2009 Summer Adventure Tag League

Official website (Japanese):
http://spora.jp/dgyamato/