Trained by Okinawa Pro Wrestling Weight 76 kg Height 1.72 m | Name Menso-re Oyaji Debut July 5, 2008 | |
Ring name(s) Menso～re Oyaji
Yohei Nakajima Profiles | ||
Yohei Nakajima (中島洋平, Nakajima Yōhei, born August 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former four-time Gaora TV Champion. He is best known as the masked character Menso～re Oyaji (めんそ～れ親父, Menso～re Oyaji), under which he performed for several Japanese independent promotions, most notably Okinawa Pro Wrestling, a promotion spun off of Osaka Pro Wrestling.
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Professional wrestling career
Menso-re Oyaji made his professional wrestling debut on July 5, 2008 for Okinawa Pro Wrestling. He portrays a unique character, wearing a kariyushi shirt to the ring, wearing a mask that has a cartoonish bowl of ramen noodles on top of it, and drinking a brand of beer (Orion) which is brewed in Okinawa. Oyaji's character has been described as comedic as well as "mellow" and "drunk," in some cases forgetting to put down his can of beer before wrestling a match. Essentially, Oyaji's character is a compilation of several stereotypes of Okinawan people held by those from elsewhere in Japan.
In addition to wrestling on Okinawa Pro Wrestling cards, Oyaji will occasionally sing for audiences who have gathered to watch the company's wrestling shows. Oyaji has received multiple title shots thus far in his wrestling career. He has challenged for the Okinawa Pro Wrestling Singles Championship on two separate occasion, though he has not succeeded in winning the title. Additionally, Oyaji has unsuccessfully challenged for the MWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Oyaji is typically featured when Okinawa Pro wrestlers compete in larger companies, including three matches on New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual "Exciting Battle in Okinawa" shows between 2009 and 2011. Oyaji revealed his true identity by unmasking at an All Japan Pro Wrestling event on July 27, 2014, and announcing he would be working under his real name in the future.
On September 12, 2014, All Japan announced that Nakajima had signed a contract to become officially affiliated with the promotion. On August 16, 2015, Nakajima defeated Billyken Kid to win the vacant Gaora TV Championship. On May 28, 2016, Nakajima took part in Toryumon Mexico's Dragonmanía XI event in Mexico City, where he was defeated by Jun Akiyama. After three successful title defenses, Nakajima lost the Gaora TV Championship to Kazuhiro Tamura on June 9, 2016. Nakajima regained the title six days later, before losing it to Takeshi Minamino on July 14. On August 11, Nakajima defeated Minamino in a rematch to win the Gaora TV Championship for the third time. After a nine-day reign, Nakajima lost the title to Billyken Kid. On September 19, Nakajima again regained the title from Billyken Kid. On November 27, Nakajima lost the title to Jiro Kuroshio.