Ryu Fuda’s young career has been defined by struggle.
Debuting as part of the class of 2021, Fuda distinguished himself from his classmates – and most of his promotion – by focusing his offense on hard kicks and strikes, befitting of his background in Muay Thai. Where a lot of his peers opt for the flashy route, often to great results, and fairly quickly ascend up the mountain, Fuda is scrappy, rough around the edges, and wears his imperfections like a badge of honor. He swims against the current, follows a path few have yet chosen – or maybe ever dared – to venture on.
For most of his time as a rookie, he remained largely on the undercard, a combination of poor timing and daunting injuries meaning that he stayed behind a lot of the other young wrestlers in Dragongate. Perhaps the most notable beat in his story came in early 2022 – only two odd months into his career – when he challenged Keisuke Okuda, a man he admires and aspires to emulate, to a singles match. Okuda, true to form, pulled no punches and Fuda lost, of course, in decisive fashion. His tears as Okuda showed him respect after the bout told the entire story. Like many before him, past and present, Ryu Fuda craves one thing above all: recognition.
Fast forward two years, and he may well finally be on his way to getting it.
Following the Okuda match, Fuda continued on his way, though an injury in the spring of 2022 slowed his momentum down for a time. After his return, he got right back on his path, even wrestling more established roster members along the way – never to victory, but the experience is the most invaluable prize anyway. Eventually, he reached a first milestone – his first career victory, coming August 26, 2023, in a tag team bout that saw him join forces with none other than premier Dragongate striker Masaaki Mochizuki, and get the win over freshly debuted rookie Ryoya Tanaka. But as he was truly starting to pick up steam, tragedy struck – again – for Fuda. In September of 2023, he suffered a hand injury right as he was scheduled to challenge ISHIN for the Open the Brave Gate Championship, taking him out of action for nearly half a year. During that time, he sat on the sidelines, and continued watching as his classmates, and later, even his juniors, passed him by.
When he returned in early March of 2024, Fuda’s path was still unclear, but his intentions, on the other hand, were stated loudly and proudly: he would finally take a hold of this world, and never let go again.
The story is simple.
Ryu Fuda wants to be a kick boy, and if you want to be a kick boy in Dragongate, there’s a very obvious – and very high – bar you have to measure up to.
That bar, of course, is Masaaki Mochizuki.
A former karateka, one of the longest tenured Dragongate roster members, leader of one of the most iconic stables in Dragon System history in M2K (later re-formed and renamed M3K to accommodate Mochizuki’s son), celebrating his 30th anniversary this year, the “Iron Man” of Dragongate is a three-time Dream Gate champion, last winning it in 2017, aged 47 – to this day, still the oldest champion in the belt’s history. But make no mistake, for Mochizuki, age truly is merely a number. Generations come and go, and Mochizuki continues to show exactly why and how he’s earned his nickname, refusing to take a day off and still performing at a level that leaves most of his younger competitors playing catch-up. Two months before this, at his anniversary show, Mochizuki wrestled former Dragongate mainstay Shingo Takagi, in a highly anticipated rematch1 of their classic – and perhaps today, even legendary – 2015 Kobe World main event. Though he was not victorious, “Mocchy” reminded everyone watching, once again, why so many young guys flock to him when it’s time to learn a lesson.
On March 6th, 2024, it was Ryu Fuda’s turn to learn.
An official singles match in Korakuen Hall is a big deal for a young dragon like Fuda. It’s a chance to establish a difference between yourself and the rest, an opportunity to show the world exactly who you are.
An official singles match in Korakuen Hall against Masaaki Mochizuki is another ballgame entirely.
Mochizuki and Fuda had met in the ring one-on-one before – most notably, for Fuda’s debut match, in November of 2021. Back then, Mochizuki had made short work of Fuda – as is tradition after all – and though the rookie showed some aggression and threw himself at his opponent with all he had, the result could not be avoided. Time has passed since then, of course, and things have changed, the tides have turned for many, but Fuda still looks to prove what he hasn’t been able to: that he belongs.
Making his return at Champion Gate, mere days before this match, Fuda had debuted a new look, bleached blonde hair, to go with his black attire accented with purple – a color near universally associated with power and royalty – for a new beginning. There, he had teamed up with Mochizuki, and then sought him out directly for a singles contest in Korakuen Hall the following week. As the battle lines kept rapidly shifting, Ryu Fuda no longer had time to waste.
In an era of Dragongate defined, in part, by generational conflict, this singles match, between a 30 year veteran who’s done it all and then some, and a young man determined to prove he can trace his own path ahead, distilled that concept to its purest essence.
Masaaki Mochizuki was born in 1970, and made his debut in 1994. Ryu Fuda was born in 2001, and made his debut in 2021. Mochizuki celebrated his fifth anniversary in wrestling the year Fuda was born. He won the Dream Gate championship for the first time when Fuda was just three years old. Fuda is barely seven months older than Mochizuki’s own son.
Masaaki Mochizuki has been around the block a few times, to say the least, and Ryu Fuda has barely just moved in.
And yet, after the initial exchanges, it’s Fuda who fully declares war first, landing a hard strike across Mochizuki’s face.
The look on said face then is a sight to behold. Mochizuki is amused, but only slightly, by this blatant act of disrespect. He may have come to the ring expecting this to be over and done in a minute, but there’s very obviously a side of him that enjoys this, this initiative from Fuda, this defiant declaration.
Of course, it doesn’t go unanswered.
Fuda gets one back for his troubles, and then we’re off to the races.
I’ll gladly go down in a flame,
If the flame’s what it takes to remember my name.2
There’s no heavy backstory here, by Dragongate standards at least, no unit warfare involved, no big dramatic blowout. It’s the classic, tried and true young guy vs veteran narrative. It’s a young, hungry guy returning to the ring and deciding he has to finally make a big statement, and the monument of a man that stands in front of him, stories just like this one etched into every part of his soul. It could have just been a repeat of their previous encounters, but there’s something more that permeates through Fuda’s performance and lets you know you’re watching something special unfold.
Masaaki Mochizuki does not take it easy, and Ryu Fuda learns that the hard way – again. Try as he might, Mochizuki has an answer for everything he does. Fuda strikes as hard as he can, as hard as he knows how to, but Mochizuki strikes harder, and faster, and there’s no beating him. Fuda knows this, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try with all his might.
In the heart of the contest, Mochizuki gets downright mean, targeting Fuda’s left leg, even utilizing the ring post, and, most importantly, visibly deriving great enjoyment out of the whole thing. He wasn’t too enthused about working a singles match, in the opener no less, for the first time in a while, and while he may have wanted to treat this as a formality, there’s no keeping down the part of himself that lives for the fight. This is what he does, after all, stand as a wall for the younger guys to overcome, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t give them exactly what they all come to him first. Yes, Mochizuki may not have youth on his side anymore, but experience often trumps all, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t demonstrate that every time he gets the opportunity.
As the match goes on, Mochizuki even starts demanding more, offering himself up to Fuda as target practice, encouraging the kid to hit him with all he’s got, and again for good measure, before he retaliates to show Fuda exactly how it should be done. By the time Fuda gets it, Mochizuki has already shifted gears, and a crack rings through Korakuen Hall as he nails Fuda with a nasty slap, nearly knocking the young dragon out cold.
The first thing Fuda does when he gets back to his feet is punch Mochizuki square in the jaw.
This match, for Fuda, was never about the result. It was about proving he can hang in the ring with one of the pillars of the promotion, with someone who represents everything Fuda wants to be. And yet, in the midst of Mochizuki teaching the kid a lesson, there’s a moment, just seconds, where you think Ryu Fuda might just do it. He pulls out some well timed offense, gets Mochizuki in a prone position and lays everything in that one shot. It’s not enough – it won’t be enough for a while, most likely. Luckily, it’s all Fuda needs, right now.
A lot of the time, the beauty of pro wrestling is found when you let yourself get lost in the story, however simple it may be. Throw away everything you think you know, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the show.
Watch as this young man, barely an adult, gets the toughest life lesson of all, and keeps getting back up, sometimes seemingly in spite of himself, wills himself to keep fighting. Watch as his body turns red, and as his eyes grow wilder with passion, and marvel at the fact that he’s even still standing. Feel the urgency as he struggles against the current, desperately making up for lost time. Listen as the crowd grows louder each time Fuda gets one over Mochizuki, their cheers and claps matching the beating of his heart.
Sometimes, the true birth of a professional wrestler isn’t their debut. The first few months, even years in this case, are a ground for trial and error, for figuring themself out in all the ways that will make their star shine the brightest. Much like in life, they do not come into this topsy-turvy world fully formed, and it is all these experiences, good and bad, uplifting and heartbreaking, that shape the self and open a window to the future. Ryu Fuda may have debuted nearly two and a half years prior, but in a lot of ways, it’s on this day, in this ring, on these hallowed grounds, under these bright lights, with the Spring wind at his back, that he declared his arrival for all to witness.
The conclusion of this bout was foregone – Mochizuki hangs Fuda between the second and third rope, and a knee to the stomach finishes the job for good. No one expected anything else, not really, but there’s still a bittersweet feeling as Fuda lays on the mat, defeated, but a little more grown up than he was ten minutes ago.
Mochizuki sees this too. He shakes the effects of the match off easily, but doesn’t just leave Fuda hanging there. Instead, he helps Fuda up, acknowledges the effort he put in, and even, in his own way, congratulates him for a job well done. At the end of the day, despite the gap between them, Mochizuki understands what Fuda wants, what he relentlessly and recklessly fights for. He’s seen it before, and it’s likely he will see it again. In the here and now, though, it’s Fuda who brought the fight to him, and so he raises Fuda’s hand, giving Fuda what he truly came here for.
There will hopefully be many more landmark matches in Fuda’s career, and he will keep evolving and facing challenges head on, there’s little doubt about that now. One loss doesn’t define you, especially not after a performance like this. You take the pain and turn it into progress.
For now, only one thing is certain, after these ten minutes in Korakuen Hall: as the future unfolds in front of him, Ryu Fuda will no longer be a bystander. He may still have some catching up to do, and it may not be a straight road to the top – great stories rarely are – but there is a fire there that, if nurtured correctly, could set the whole damn place ablaze.
Sometimes the page is not enough, so this article has a playlist.
- The rematch had, in fact, technically already happened at 2017 King of Gate but that first rematch did not seem half as momentus as this one, so the point stands. ↩︎
- “Bigger than my body” John Mayer ↩︎