Yota Tsuji

Young lion and foreign excursion (2017–2023)

In April 2017, Tsuji was signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under New Japan's "young lion" system.^[2][3] A year later, Tsuji as well as fellow young lion, Yuya Uemura, made their pro-wrestling debuts at Lion's Gate Project 11 where Tsuji was defeated by Tomoyuki Oka.^[4][5][6] In his second match, he was defeated by Ren Narita.^[7] During night one of Wrestling Dontaku 2018, Tsuji and Shota Umino were defeated by Bullet Club (Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi).^[8] At Lion's Gate Project 12, Tsuji and Uemura went to a time-limit draw.^[9] At Lion's Gate Project 13, Tsuji and Uemura wrestled to a draw.^[10] On September 5, at Aichi, Tsuji teamed with Narita to defeat Uemura and Umino, winning for the first time.

After three years, New Japan reported that Tsuji would be going on overseas excursion along with Uemura as of August 1, 2021. On that day, Tsuji wrestled his last match as a young lion, facing Tetsuya Naito, with whom he had a minor feud, in a losing effort. He then joined Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) in England where we remained for 14 months before joining Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (2023–2025)

Tsuji returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in May 2023 at Wrestling Dontaku 2023, attacking IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada and the remainder of the Just 5 Guys stable, whilst challenging Sanada for the title.^[11] The title match was made official for Dominion. On June 3 at the press conference the day before the event, Tsuji officially joined Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ).^[12] The day after at the event, Tsuji unsuccessfully challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.^[13]

In July, Tsuji made his debut in the annual G1 Climax tournament, competing in the A Block.^[14] Tsuji finished the tournament with 7 points, narrowly missing out on qualifying to advance to the quarter-final round.^[15] On August 13, Tsuji pinned reigning IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay in an eight-man tag team match, leading Tsuji to held the IWGP United Kingdom Championship over the fallen Ospreay, setting up at title match at Destruction on September 24, which Tsuji failed to win the title from Ospreay.^[16] In October, Tsuji returned to the UK at Royal Quest III, defeating Luke Jacobs.^[17] The following month, Tsuji participated in the World Tag League, teaming with Zandokan Jr. of CMLL. The duo finished with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.^[18] Following the tournament, Tsuji renewed a feud with former Young Lion dojo stablemate Yuya Uemura, who had joined Just 5 Guys, which started after Uemura pinned Tsuji in a tag-team match. Due to this, a singles match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 was set.^[19] On January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom, Tsuji was defeated by Uemura.^[20]

Tsuji and Uemura continued their feud further into the new year. This culminated on February 24, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, where Tsuji defeated Uemura in a Hair vs. Hair match, forcing Uemura to shave his hair.^[21] Tsuji attempted to use his momentum, by entering the New Japan Cup, the following month.^[22] Tsuji defeated Jeff Cobb, El Phantasmo and Ren Narita, in the first 3 rounds.^[23] In the semi-finals, he defeated Evil, to advance to the tournament finals.^[24] In the New Japan Cup final, Tsuji defeated three-time cup winner, Hirooki Goto, to win the 2024 New Japan Cup, his first major accolade in NJPW. After the match, Tsuji claimed he was the face of a new era in NJPW, before being joined in the ring by LIJ leader and stablemate, Tetsuya Naito. Tsuji's New Japan Cup win has earned him a shot at Naito's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis, on April 6.^[25] At Sakura Genesis, Tsuji was defeated by Naito. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji teamed with fellow LIJ members Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Oleg Boltin, and Toru Yano to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This would be Tsuji's first ever championship in NJPW. They dropped the titles back to them seven days later at New Japan Soul. Tsuji participated in the G1 Climax, competing in the B Block. Tsuji finished with 10 points, and was able to qualify for the playoff stage, where he defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the quarter-final, David Finlay in the semi-final, but lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in the grand finals.

On January 4, 2025, at Wrestle Kingdom 19, Tsuji defeated Finlay to win the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship,^[26] his first NJPW singles title and became the first Japanese holder of the title. The next night at Wrestle Dynasty, Tsuji successfully defended the title against Jack Perry.^[27] On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tsuji defended his title against Gabe Kidd, where the match ended in a double knockout.^[28] On April 4 at Sakura Genesis, Tsuji successfully defended his title against Evil.^[29] After the disbandment of LIJ, Tsuji and the remaining members would form a new stable called "Unaffilated." On June 15 at Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tsuji lost his title to Gabe Kidd, ending his reign at 162 days.^[30] On October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Tsuji regained the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship from Kidd after a submission victory. After the match, the Unaffiliated formed an alliance with Kidd's stable the Bullet Club.^[31]

Unbound Co. (2026–present)

On January 4, 2026, at Wrestle Kingdom 20, Tsuji defeated Konosuke Takeshita in a Winner Takes All match, retaining the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and capturing the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Following the victory, he declared himself the "IWGP Heavyweight Champion" rather than the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Shortly afterward, he was attacked by Jake Lee. The next day at New Year Dash!!, Tsuji announced the dissolution of Bullet Club and Unaffiliated, replacing both groups with Unbound Co., a complete merger of the two factions.^[32] During the event, Tsuji also unveiled the V4 design of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. With the approval of NJPW president Hiroshi Tanahashi, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was officially revived. Its lineage was merged with those of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, recognizing Tsuji as the 87th IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the final IWGP Intercontinental Champion.^[33] On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tsuji successfully defended IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Jake Lee.^[34] In the following months, Tsuji lost both of his championships: the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Callum Newman on April 4 at Sakura Genesis, and the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship to Andrade El Ídolo on Night 1 of Wrestling Dontaku on May 3.^[35][36] After losing the Global title, Tsuji renewed his rivalry with Newman and regained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on June 14 at Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 14.^[37][38]