Gleat
Japanese promotion blending pro wrestling and MMA.
Gleat, written in all caps as GLEAT and said like "great," is a Japanese promotion for both professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. It started in 2020, founded by Lidet Entertainment, the former parent company of Pro Wrestling Noah, after CyberAgent bought Noah and DDT Pro-Wrestling. Hiroyuki Suzuki and Kiyoshi Tamura, a former mixed martial artist and pro wrestler, oversee it. The promotion focuses on the UWFi combat sports wrestling style.
Quick Facts
- Established
- August 20, 2020
- Style
- Puroresu
- Shoot style
- Mixed martial arts
- Location
- Yūrakuchō, Tokyo, Japan
- Founder
- Hiroyuki Suzuki; Kiyoshi Tamura
- Owner
- Hiroyuki Suzuki
- Parent
- Lidet Entertainment
Facts from the source article.
History
In November 2018, Lidet Entertainment began investing in professional wrestling ventures, including Riki Choshu's Power Hall show in December 2018. On January 29, 2019, Lidet bought 75% of Pro Wrestling Noah, aiming to make it Japan's second-largest promotion after New Japan Pro-Wrestling. A year later, due to Noah's financial struggles, Lidet sold all shares to CyberAgent. Lidet's President Hiroyuki Suzuki, wanting to remain in wrestling, met with Kiyoshi Tamura days after the sale. Suzuki then announced Gleat, with Kaz Hayashi as Chief Technical Officer and Nosawa Rongai as Chief Strategy Officer. Gleat promotes shows via two sub-brands: G Prowrestling (traditional puroresu) and Lidet UWF (UWFi-inspired shoot style). The inaugural event, Gleat Ver. 0, took place on October 15, 2020, airing on Fighting TV Samurai on October 22; its main event featured NOAH's Sugiura-gun against Jun Akiyama, Shuhei Taniguchi, and Daisuke Sekimoto. NOAH wrestlers stopped appearing after Nosawa Rongai resigned to focus on his NOAH booker role. Gleat then featured wrestlers from other promotions, such as Sho from NJPW and Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka from Zero1. In February 2021, shoot style veterans Minoru Tanaka and Daijiro Matsui signed, with Tanaka becoming UWF Rule Technical Officer. In May, Cima, El Lindaman, T-Hawk, Issei Onitsuka, and Ryuichi Kawakami joined Gleat. The promotion also operates a developmental division with trainees Yu Iizuka, Soma Watanabe, and Takanori Ito. In December 2021, a 12-man tournament was announced for January 26 to February 22, 2022, to crown the inaugural G-Rex Champion, won by El Lindaman.
Personnel
Gleat divides its roster based on its two wrestling sub-brands: G Prowrestling and Lidet UWF. A third division, Gleat MMA, includes wrestlers with legitimate martial arts experience who may compete on either brand. The roster includes Abdullah Kobayashi, Akane Fujita, Ami Miura, Atsuki Aoyagi, Bandido, Chihiro Hashimoto, Daijiro Matsui, Daisuke Nakamura, Daisuke Sekimoto, Drew Parker, Flamita, Gringo Loco, Hartley Jackson, Jake Lee, Janai Kai, Josh Barnett, Jun Akiyama, Jun Masaoka, Kazuyuki Fujita, Kendo Kashin, Koji Iwamoto, Komander, Kota Ibushi, Kota Sekifuda, Masakatsu Funaki, Masato Kamino, Masato Tanaka, Maya Fukuda, Mochi Miyagi, Musashi, Nosawa Rongai, Seichi Ikemoto, Shigehiro Irie, Shinjiro Otani, Sho, Shuhei Taniguchi, So Daimonji, Syuri, Takashi Sugiura, Takuya Nomura, Tomoaki Honma, Thekla, Tyson Maeguchi, Yukari Hosokawa, and Yutaka Yoshie.
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