Yuji Nagata

The only man to win the G1 Climax, Champion Carnival, and Global League.

Yuji Nagata (born April 24, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the fifth longest-reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion with a reign of 392 days, and formerly held the record for most successful title defenses with 10, until Hiroshi Tanahashi broke the record at Wrestle Kingdom VI. He is the only wrestler to have won Japanese professional wrestling's three biggest singles tournaments: NJPW's G1 Climax (2001), All Japan Pro Wrestling's Champion Carnival (2011) and Pro Wrestling Noah's Global League (2013).

Quick Facts

Ring names

Maybach Blue Justice
Super Strong Machine Justice
Yuji Nagata

Height

1.83 m / 6 ft

Weight

108 kg / 238 lb

Born

24 April 1968

Birthplace

Togane, Chiba, Japan

Family

Katsuhiko Nagata (brother)

Spouse

Chieko Yuji (m. 2002)

Children

Lore & Background

Nagata debuted for NJPW in 1992 and was recognized as the company's ace in the early 2000s. He is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight Champion. He also won the New Japan Cup in 2007 and 2011, the G1 Tag League in 2000 and 2010, and the G1 Climax in 2001. Outside NJPW, he held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the GHC Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah, making him a four-time world champion and one of five men to have held all three major heavyweight championships in Japanese professional wrestling. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2018.

Reader's Guide

Nagata formed the stable Fighting Club G-EGGS in March 2000 with Manabu Nakanishi, Masakazu Fukuda, Yutaka Yoshie and Brian Johnston. Fukuda died in April 2000 from a brain hemorrhage after taking a flying elbow drop in a match against Katsuyori Shibata. Nagata disbanded G-EGGS on June 16, 2001. In April 2005, he formed 'Team JAPAN', a group of former amateur wrestlers. In fall 2009, he formed Seigigun ('Blue Justice Army') with Wataru Inoue, Mitsuhide Hirasawa and Super Strong Machine. On May 3, 2010, Nagata and Inoue won the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a three-way match. On November 7, 2010, they won the G1 Tag League, ten years after Nagata's first win in the tournament.

Did You Know?

Nagata represented Japan in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1991 World Championships, placing twenty-first.
Nagata defeated Kensuke Sasaki at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2004, after 12 minutes of action.