Oleg Boltin

Kazakh professional wrestler (born 1993) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oleg Igorevich Boltin[a] (born February 10, 1993) is a Kazakh professional wrestler and former freestyle wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he performs under the ring name Boltin Oleg[b] (ボルチン・オレッグ, Boruchin Oreggu), and is a double champion: he is the current Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign, and one-third of the current NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions with Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi). He is also a former one-time NEVER Openweight Champion. As a freestyle wrestler, he was the gold medalist of the 125 kg (275 lb) division at the 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships.

BornOleg Igorevich Boltin
(1993-02-10) February 10, 1993 (age 33)[1]
Ringname(s)Boltin Oleg
Masked Boltin
Oleg Boltin
Billedheight187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Billedweight120 kg (265 lb)
Quick facts Personal information, Born ...
Oleg Boltin
Oleg Boltin in 2024
Personal information
BornOleg Igorevich Boltin
(1993-02-10) February 10, 1993 (age 33)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Boltin Oleg
Masked Boltin
Oleg Boltin
Billed height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Billed weight120 kg (265 lb)
Billed fromAlmaty, Kazakhstan
Trained byNJPW Dojo
Yuji Nagata
DebutApril 2, 2023[1]
Sports career
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Kazakhstan
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Almaty125 kg
Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place2018 New York125 kg
Silver medal – second place2019 Taras125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2017 Minsk125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2017 Taras125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2018 Ulaanbaatar125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2019 Sassari125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2021 Kaspisk125 kg
Bronze medal – third place2022 Bucharest125 kg
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Early life

Oleg Igorevich Boltin was born on February 10, 1993[1][2] in Ridder, East Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan.[3][4]

Freestyle wrestling career

Boltin at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships

Boltin had been training in freestyle wrestling in Japan since the early 2010s.[4] In 2017, he joined the Bushiroad Club (later known as Team New Japan).[5]

In 2020, Boltin won the gold medal at the Kazakhstani Wrestling Championships in the 125 kg category.[6] In the same category, he won the gold medal at the 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships.[7][8] Boltin finished in fifth-place at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships.[9][10] In October 2022, he retired from amateur wrestling after he signed a contract with the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[11]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022–present)

On October 10, 2022, at Declaration of Power, Yuji Nagata introduced Boltin as a future NJPW wrestler, the first from Kazakhstan since Vladimir Berkovich in 1990. Boltin, in turn, expressed a desire to become as "strong and famous as possible", and cited The Rock and Brock Lesnar as role models.[5] Boltin's first in-ring match as "Young Lion" took place on January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17, where he had a three-minute exhibition match against Ryohei Oiwa on the pre-show. The match ended in a draw.[12][13] He made his official in-ring debut on April 2, at night two of Road To Sakura Genesis, where he, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Shota Umino lost to TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles, and Kosei Fujita).[14][15] On May 28, at day 12 of the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors, Boltin earned his first win when he teamed up with Togi Makabe to defeat Yuto Nakashima and Oskar Leube.[16]

In March 2024, Boltin began teaming up with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano. The trio defeated House of Torture (Evil, Sho, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) at Wrestling World 2024 in Taiwan to win the vacant NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.[17] Yano, Tanahashi, and Boltin lost the titles to Yota Tsuji, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, but regained them the following week at New Japan Soul 2024.[18][19] Boltin then competed in his first ever G1 Climax tournament, where he was placed in B-Block and finished with 8 points and failed to advance to the playoff stage. During the tournament, Boltin retired his black "Young Lion" gear in favor of light blue gear and a malahi for his entrance. officially graduating from his "Young Lion" status.[citation needed]

Oleg Boltin Entrance at G1 Climax 35, Fukuoka in August 2025

In January 2025, Yano, Tanahashi, and Boltin lost the titles to House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, and Sho).[20] At Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Boltin defeated Konosuke Takeshita to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. This marked Boltin's first ever singles championship in his career.[21] His reign as NEVER Openweight Champion ended on October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling after losing to Evil.

On February 27, 2026 at The New Beginning USA, Boltin wrestled his first match in the United States and defeated Tomohiro Ishii to win the Strong Openweight Championship.[22]

Name clarification

Although NJPW had occasionally referred to Oleg by his birth name "Oleg Boltin",[7] the promotion has since given him the ring name "Boltin Oleg".[3] This ring name follows Japanese language naming customs.

Personal life

He is of Kazakh descent. Boltin speaks Japanese fluently.[5]

Championships and accomplishments

Freestyle wrestling

Professional wrestling

Notes

  1. Kazakh: Олег Игоревич Болтин
  2. As it is custom in Japan when it comes to Slavic languages (akin to Japanese language names and customs), the name as stated is ordered Boltin Oleg.

References

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