I have fallen for a rogue and a gambler. A wrestler whose 8x10s are him sitting in a pachinko parlour. Shameless. Or perhaps just honest.
Admittedly TORU might be my ‘type’ when it comes to characters in wrestling. Losers, gremlins, those who wear their heart on their sleeve. TORU is in the centre of the venn diagram. Comedian, stubborn, surprisingly perceptive. All of that too. But mostly, TORU is a rogue.
Rogue is a surprisingly multifaceted word. Rogues can be dangerous, cheats and liars. They can be skillful, charming, clever, even sweet. They are unconventional, rebels, and can be selfish or principled, though not necessarily consistent in either. In spite, or perhaps because of its ambiguity, the word fits TORU exceptionally well. He’s been known to wrap his opponent up in the ring apron, leaving only the sponsor’s logo visible and brandishing this at the camera. Torment, but not without consideration for who might pay his gambling bills.
Admittedly, I am a recent convert, floored by the earnestness of his post-Tennozan victory speech that was followed shortly after by gleefully stomping on the seemingly more principled leader of his faction. However, it seems to me that despite a career spanning multiple companies and roles – heel and face, champion and nobody – TORU has remained consistently a rogue in one way or another.
TORU’s career spans 17 years in primarily ‘indie’ companies, several of which he was with from the start – TTT, SHI-EN, Ryukyu Dragon, Burst – and several in which he rose to become their Ace figure, at least for a time. He has been something of an ‘indie darling’, and in 2018 was identified (however accurately) as the wrestler working in the most promotions across Japan. He is a traveller, a vagabond, though it’s his connections to his home region of Osaka that run deepest. He might have now found a logical home as the leader of Rogue Nation, Osaka Pro’s only and dominant rudo faction, but the way that he has played out his rogue character has led to compelling stories, relationships, and matches for several years.
I’d like to introduce you to just a few of my favourite examples of TORU the rogue, his relationships, and the matches that go with them. This is not ‘the best of TORU’ – consider it more a family album.
YouTube links throughout and full references at the end of this article.
EASY TO BE FREE: Jun Masaoka
TORU is somewhat responsible for the delightful gremlin that is Jun Masaoka, recently of NOAH, Freedoms and 666, though you can find him in many places and many factions. TORU convinced Masaoka to try wrestling when they were both still in school and also seemingly talked him back into wrestling when Masaoka retired after injury. TORU also claims to have taught Masaoka a variation of the now signature move Masaoka has named ‘ambitions’, though Masaoka hasn’t verified this. TORU and Masaoka regularly use each other’s moves, part homage, part theft, regardless of legitimate claims. Both came up through the same indie companies and even founded a relatively short-lived faction together, TRIBE, in Pro Wrestling SHI-EN. They have faced off against each other repeatedly in different companies, with TORU almost a marker for the progress of Jun’s career. Friendship aside, their singles matches are intense in emotion and/or violence and it’s clear that they share the same roguish charm and a general disregard for the ‘rules’ of wrestling.
I would love to point you in the direction of one of Masaoka’s early favourite matches of his career against TORU, then Agu Matsunaga – a deathmatch from March 2011 where they both attacked each other with scissors and did things with chairs I still think about regularly. It’s like they had watched one deathmatch in their lives and decided they could top it using only things they found in the school supplies closet (spoiler: they were right). Sadly, it’s not freely available. Nor is their 2013 match which saw TORU welcome Masaoka back from a period of injury and get revenge for the scarring he still had from the aforementioned scissor incident. That match resulted in the formation of TRIBE. Then there is their 2022 match for the Indie Unified Openweight Championship in TTT, where TORU acknowledged Masaoka as a rival, not a junior (but still beat him). Or their double KO in Burst from 2024, which I’m still mad about not being able to see.
Enough about what I can’t give you though, because there is one that I can. On 25th February 2018, TORU and Masaoka faced each other in Pro Wrestling SHI-EN. This was a match Masaoka had asked for nearly 6 months previously, when he was placed first in the fan popularity contest. TORU was no longer a regular at SHI-EN, being now based primarily at Dotonbori Pro Wrestling and its current singles Champion.
In many ways this is, in wrestling terms, an incredibly conventional story – one wrestler facing the trial of an older, more experienced rival and, on the other side, their seasoned opponent facing the skills and attitudes they themselves helped to cultivate. What is less conventional is that TORU and Masaoka have managed to maintain this story across multiple small companies in different regions. This is one stage in a story that serves a purpose for both of them and keeps them connected outside the lines of companies or location.
There is a certain respect accorded to wrestlers who go through a dojo system. It implies a level of merit and acts as a seal of approval for their abilities. Conversely, wrestlers who do not have that background can face negative stereotypes of being less skilled or less committed. It is not always easy to be outside the system, nor is it therefore possible to tell the same longer-term stories with consistency. To be a rogue is to be an outsider, to walk a different path, whether by choice or exclusion.
At this point in Masaoka and TORU’s story, it is TORU who is the outsider, having left the company where they both spent a significant proportion of their careers. Masaoka is established in a promotion, a fan favourite, with a point to prove. The match begins with a handshake but from that point on TORU is anything but friendly. It is little time before he’s slapping and stomping on his protoge with a ‘that all you got?’. TORU, despite returning to a company that was once his home, is no returning hero. It is only Masaoka’s request that has brought him back. He has no need to win favour here, though he does have a few supporters in the crowd. Throughout this match Masaoka is tenacious, reckless even, but TORU’s growth has not slowed, waiting for Masaoka to catch up. TORU does his best to make certain that the gap between them is abundantly clear to Masaoka and to the audience. It is a painful defeat for Masaoka, who has been waiting months to clear this stage in his career.
Although not a happy story of progress for Masaoka, this match does something important. For both TORU and Masaoka, it demonstrates a commitment to wrestling and to storytelling that they, as outsiders, often have to fight harder to have believed. It is one contact point among many more that they will have in their careers.
FLASH AND SHADOW: Zeus
TORU is utterly transparent. He is not apologetic or ashamed of his actions, whether that be spitting water in the face of his opponent or declaring his gratitude for the opportunity to wrestle in Osaka Pro. He spent almost the entirety of one of his blog updates reminiscing on the experience of bursting his hemorroids during a match. There is little he seems to hide. But this is also the strength of the rogue, appearing completely predicatable and open so as to create cover for the moment he deceives or acts contrary to expectation. It is TORU exercising this skill that is the story that wraps around TORU’s relationship to Zeus and to the Osaka Pro Championship.
When it comes to Zeus and Osaka Pro, TORU has always seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. He was the first wrestler publicly invited by Zeus to join the new Osaka Pro Wrestling, despite never having previously wrestled there. TORU, as an Osaka native, was of course a fan of Osaka Pro Wrestling growing up and was part of Tigers Mask’s wrestling class in high school, alongside Konosuke Takeshita and Daisuke Harada (who was also teaching, albeit in a very junior role). However, although he wrestled in the Kansai region when Osaka Pro was still very much active, TORU was not invited to be part of it, so he never had an opportunity to compete for the championships he grew up coveting. His later career in Dotonbori Pro brought him into close contact with many Osaka Pro stalwarts, including Zeus, though they only met in the ring a handful of times, but by then Osaka Pro was almost entirely inactive. Zeus’ invitation seems to have touched on a hope long since buried in TORU – that he could belong in the place he had found a love of wrestling as a child.
TORU worked to find a place for himself in New Osaka Pro from the outset, working alongside and against Osaka Pro legends and the newer Osaka-born wrestlers who similarly had grown up watching the promotion. He made it to the final of the relaunched Tennozan tournament, falling at the last hurdle to his former teacher, Tigers Mask. Alongside Kazuaki Mihara, he claimed the first revived Osaka Pro Tag Festival victory, beating the team of Zeus and Aran Sano in the process. Then, on April 9 2023, he announced his challenge for the one achievement that really mattered to him – against Zeus, for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. That match on 21st May 2023 was a hard-hitting affair, with TORU trying to overpower the champion and match up to Zeus’ equally heavy offence. TORU’s strength was evident. But it wasn’t enough – something was missing. Zeus saw it too, asking TORU ‘isn’t there something more?’
By the time TORU stood in front of Zeus in a singles match again, he was a different TORU. One, I’d argue, who had come closer to finding the place in Osaka Pro he really sought but still was not yet fully confident in his role. In August, TORU had become one of the founding members of New Osaka Pro’s first and only rudo group, Rogue Nation. Led by Quiet Storm, the group set themselves against Zeus as company President, determined to usher in a more ‘exciting’ era with, naturally, Rogue Nation members as Champions. TORU, the first wrestler Zeus invited, someone who seemed to understand what the revival of Osaka Pro meant for Kansai wrestling and a generation of local wrestlers, turning his back on being a central part of the company was a significant shock.
In some ways, this second singles clash between Zeus and TORU, part of the October 2023 Tennozan tournament, is very similar to the first, as TORU attempted to prove himself against Zeus’ strength. When his own strength didn’t lead TORU to victory early on, it was the strength of his fellow Rogue Nation members storming the ring that added to his power. However, yet again, this strategy was TORU’s downfall, as Rogue Nation were thrown out of the arena and TORU was left facing Zeus’ full fury. Attempting to match the strength of a man who, on his debut, entered the venue and bent a frying pan in half, was always a bold strategy, but it also shows a lack of self-awareness and self-belief. To me, it appears that TORU was trying to match up to someone he still saw as a leader and a Champion largely on their terms, not on the basis of his own abilities and strengths. Too conventional a path for a real rogue.
Their third match, a year later in the same tournament, was the first time Zeus truly faced TORU the Rogue. Again, this match bears similarities to those previous. TORU still faced Zeus’ fearsome chops head on and responded with similarly heavy offence; this was still a clash of power. However, in contrast to the previous year, there were no incursions from Rogue Nation; TORU wanted this victory for himself. He was prepared to fight alone and to fight hard. But fighting hard isn’t what gave TORU the victory. In the months preceding, TORU had grown into, and then moved beyond, his role as mouthpiece of Rogue Nation. As he strengthened the unit’s numbers and its purpose, he began to find the place in Osaka Pro he had hoped for, just not as its hero. He had a different role to play.
Over 25 minutes, TORU fought. He appeared to hold nothing back, desperate and determined. His chest was streaked red from Zeus’ hands. Zeus was brutal in his offence, giving TORU no space to breathe, almost cruel in his repeated assaults on TORU’s chest and neck. As TORU seemed to finally crumble beneath Zeus’ aggression, barely able to lift his head from the mat, Zeus pushed referee Keigo Yoshino aside in his eagerness to end the battle. Pulling TORU’s head upwards by his hair, Zeus was met not by the tired face of a vanquished opponent, but by a spray of green mist that covered his vision. Rolling up the President for a 3-count was then easy work for the laughing TORU. An audience that had held its breath during a grim battle, had even extended TORU its sympathies, was reminded of who TORU is. He never truly pretended to be otherwise.
When TORU won Tennozan that year, beating Shigehiro Irie in a grueling final, he made a speech in which he spoke of Osaka Pro as a place for his wrestling. In his description, Osaka Pro was both inspiration and home, origin and destination, inseparable from himself. His speech was heartfelt and impassioned, almost an assertion of his right to be there beyond just the trophy that stood beside him. It was charming, a speech worthy of a leader, which, as it turned out, was precisely what TORU intended to be. As Quiet Storm, Rogue Nation’s ‘boss’, took the microphone to close the show, TORU and the other members of Rogue Nation moved against him. Only moments after seemingly opening his heart to the crowd, TORU was grinning as he and his companions staged a coup and stomped on their former teammate. TORU is, after all, a rogue.
TORU’s Tennozan victory set the stage for his title challenge against Zeus in December 2024, a match that is one of my favourites of the year, maybe even my favourite of the new Osaka Pro. Based on his previous words and deeds, TORU seemed as like to try to earn his victory through his less ‘approved’ talents as through his considerable wrestling skill. TORU’s Tennozan speech and his step up to the leadership of Rogue Nation made this more than just a match for the title, it was also a match of Rogue against Osaka Pro’s highest authority, of TORU’s wrestling against the wrestling of a current and historic Osaka Pro Champion. How would TORU repay the man who invited him here?
This was everything and nothing like the matches that came before.
In the days leading up to the match TORU wrote of his desire to repay Zeus’ faith in him, to show Zeus that there was, as Zeus had suggested back in 2023, more. Whatever the motives that drove TORU to prove himself to Zeus, the feelings were honest, even principled. He was charming, and genuine. He wrote of the matches that had come before and of the journey he had travelled to start to create a place for himself in Osaka Pro. That might not be the place that Zeus had imagined for him but it was, for TORU, a place where he could be more.
Rogue Nation are not a mistake, not an imperfection, not an aberration. They are as essential to Osaka Pro’s future as its President and heroes. Osaka Pro has always had heel units. Almost every young wrestler in Osaka Pro who grew up watching the company names its heel units or wrestlers as their favourite or even their main inspiration. Rogue Nation are integral, essential, important. They are Osaka Pro. Similarly, neither is TORU himself or his roguish ways an aberration. They are simply a different path. He may not comply with expectations but this does not mean he has failed them. Zeus believed that TORU could help him build Osaka Pro, that TORU could be a leader. He was right.
The TORU that fights in their December title match is more. So too, is Zeus. More than their previous matches, they play off each other and fight as equals. Their differences are their strengths. They both have to try things that they have not before. There is no interference from Rogue Nation. They are not even at ringside. But neither do they need to be. TORU wins because, at that moment, for both himself and the company he finally belongs to, he is enough.
Perhaps TORU chose not to employ less conventional ways of winning because he wanted a ‘clean’ victory for this belt. Perhaps he wanted to prove to Zeus that he didn’t need to. Perhaps the opportunity just never presented itself. Nonetheless, TORU’s victory didn’t come in spite of his being a rogue but because of it. In Rogue Nation he found a home he had built for himself, a purpose, and a belief in his own victory. He won the Osaka Pro Championship as Osaka Pro’s TORU, a leader and a rogue.
A NEW STYLE WAR: Rogue Nation
After winning the Championship in December 2024, TORU appealed to hold, just once, the original Osaka Pro Championship belt so that he could connect with its history and pour that into his own Championship reign. His request was granted and TORU responded with gratitude and respect. The history of his Championship has real meaning for TORU and he cares both for it and for the company it represents. There is a humility and sentimentality in TORU’s request that might seem out of place for the leader of a rudo faction. Not for Rogue Nation though. As a unit, their connections run surprisingly deep and they do not fear emotion. They find joy in their connections, in standing outside the main unit, and in the way that they wrestle. They do not skulk in the shadows, except Goliath if he’s confused, and accept victory and defeat with (mostly) good humour. It would also be fair to say that they share a little of TORU’s sentimentality. Asakawa has grown used to buying his teammates chocolate milk when he accidentally hits them with his kendo stick, and Goliath might just be mastering the art of the handshake after significant practice. They work on their relationships. This is not just an alliance of convenience.
Much of this I credit to TORU’s leadership. Even before he officially stood at Rogue Nation’s head, he was building the unit around relationships. They are not close entirely by happy accident. TORU’s first invitation into the group, Goliath, may have been found wandering somewhere between Ikuno and Katano, though he is known by another name in those parts. Under that name, TORU saw not-Goliath grow from debut to taking a title from him. TORU knew what Goliath was capable of when he invited him into Rogue Nation. His second entrant, Oosera, was not initially someone TORU knew well, but their team and friendship has grown so strong that they now compete together in the Hanazono Kingdom as TORU-boy and Sera-boy. His latest addition, TiiiDA, was the first local wrestler to debut in Okinawa for Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling. His debut opponent was one Typhoon J Rick, TORU’s masked alter-ego while he spent six months helping Gurukun Mask to establish RDPW. TiiiDA names TORU as his trainer, someone he has yet to beat to prove himself. Yes, this is a band of misfits. But a carefully curated one who have faith in TORU’s leadership and each other. They are a classic band of rogues and thick as thieves.
As a team, they work incredibly well together, able to mix up their teams, and often supporting each other at ringside, whether ‘actively’ or not. Personally, some of my favourite Rogue Nation team matches are in the less ‘official’ Osaka Pro shows, where a festival atmosphere and lots of space for crowd brawling plays to their strengths. Matches like the FULALI KYOBASHI tournament or the Dome Kansai Festival. TORU also has an unusual fondness for malls, so I’d recommend any mall show he’s in – he seems to be in a good mood. Officially though, it is probably their runs as tag champions that stand out, including the June 2024 Osaka Castle Festival Match between TORU & Goliath and Billy Ken Kid & Tsubasa and the 2025 Tag Festival final and semi-final matches.
They have faced each other officially only once, when TORU and Oosera met in the semi-final of the 2024 Tennozan. The match is a testament to the strength of their relationship and to Rogue Nation’s belief in its wrestling, less conventional tactics included. Here, they have the kind of trust that comes from knowing your opponent will poke you in the eye and take your title but still applaud your performance and make sure to buy you a drink later.
Mere moments after TORU had beaten Zeus in the second round, when he was still wiping the sweat from his forehead, Oosera was already on the way to the ring. He faced the not-yet-boss of Rogue Nation directly, telling him that they may be in the same faction but that he, Oosera, would bring everything he had. They clashed foreheads, smirks appearing at the edge of both their mouths.
The digest version of this match is clipped but really, very little is missed. Not the humour, nor the violence, nor the trust in their relationship. They start as many wrestling matches do, locking hands, but within moments they are laughing this off, TORU extending a handshake and then a hug. Oosera offers to lie down for the pin, giving way for TORU to have an easier ride in the final that will happen on the same show. It’s a generous gesture. And a completely false one. Oosera kicks out and everything from there is whatever they can throw at each other, including themselves. Of course there are fouls (but only Oosera’s is successful) and, of course, they know enough to counter each other at points. It’s something of a whirlwind, barely time to consider that they are teammates as they race each other for victory. TORU wins. Oosera could have. There is no wounded pride here. In fact, both look prouder, having proven the value of their own and Rogue Nation’s fight.
ON THE ROAD: Towa Iwasaki
Wrestlers are, at some point, generally expected to settle down, to have a ‘home’ promotion. As in wider society, travellers are looked at with some suspicion, though sometimes also a curiosity or envy. They are unconventional, supposedly unshackled by some of the rules and responsibilities others have to follow. TORU remains a traveller. Being ‘on the road’ is at his core. But that doesn’t mean he does not have a home.
Our last series of stories and matches takes us to Fukuoka and to Towa Iwasaki’s growing promotion, BURST. In May 2021, TORU was invited to be Iwasaki’s opponent for his return to the ring after 5 months away. They had no prior connection but that match, held in the newly opened One Step dojo, was the start of an ongoing professional relationship and friendship. When Iwasaki established BURST later in 2021, TORU was invited back to Kanzaki Base and has become a regular fixture where his schedule allows. He continues to return there despite the considerable distance from Osaka. His list of opponents over that time is extensive and fascinating but I’m going to focus on just his matches with Iwasaki himself because they do an excellent job of illustrating TORU’s capacity to be both an absolute nightmare and a heartfelt charmer. Often at the same time. Take for example, TORU’s break for some mid-match popcorn in an early singles match. Or him wandering away from Okabayashi (not unrelatable) when on Iwasaki’s side.
The story here is not complex, as the matches largely speak for themselves. They show an essential part of who TORU is in his many years ‘on the road’. He is a showman, a comedian, a charmer, adept at reading his surroundings and thinking (and talking) fast. He is all these things but he is not only these things. There is more to the rogue than what he presents on the surface. There is one match in particular that captures some of the heart within and beyond the tomfoolery. Two years after Iwasaki’s return match, he chose to face TORU again in a singles match. By this time they had been teammates multiple times, crossing paths even outside BURST. They were connected. This match is both at their more serious.
TORU is clearly the bad guy here. He’s the first to get frustrated, to be pulling hair, using slaps, even chairs. Not that it does him any good. This fight is a struggle. There’s nothing particularly special about it, nothing surprising anyway, but there is a moment about halfway through where, exhausted, they are butting heads and grinning like a couple of happy drunks. Simple as it is, this fight has meaning. Their post match comments reflect their affection for each other, how far BURST and Iwasaki have come in two years, and the importance of making connections.
TORU has chosen an unconventional life, even within an unconventional profession. He is a rogue amongst rogues. Within that, he has built a family and not one home but several. The list of those who count the still relatively young TORU as a respected senior is not short. Even informally, several name him as important in their training and career – Masaoka and Tiiida are named here, but TORU is also mentioned as a teacher by NOAH & Dotonbori’s Yuuto Kikuchi. SHI-EN’s Tetsuya Goto had his debut match against TORU and described him as someone he always looked up to, in part because they both were part of the same student wrestling group. TORU connects with people and they choose to connect back.
‘On the road’ is an expression of the type of wrestling life TORU has pursued and his matches at BURST go some way to showing why it suits him.
If you somehow got all this way and are not convinced that TORU is a rogue, here’s TORU and Risa Sera beating up some old folks (Gabai-jichan and Jaguar-baachan) and not quite getting away with it. I rest my case.
Match references
*Note: Section titles are song and album titles from the discography of Shogo Hamada, one of TORU’s favourite artists, and used for one of TORU’s previous entrance themes – TORU does the same for his own blog, so let’s call it an homage. On The Road is also the name TORU uses for his independently produced anniversary show.
EASY TO BE FREE
12th March 2011, Pro Wrestling SHI-EN: Jun Masaoka v Agu Matsunaga (DVD: Best of Jun Masaoka, 2010-2015)
9th March 2013, Pro Wrestling SHI-EN: Jun Masaoka v Agu Matsunaga (DVD: Best of Jun Masaoka, 2010-2015)
6th October 2013, Pro Wrestling SHI-EN: Agu Matsunaga, Jun Masaoka, Rapaichi Isobe (TRIBE) vs Kiai Ryuuken Ecchan, Hiroto Okubo, Bull Armour TAKUYA (Kansai Genki) (SHI-EN High High Town Top Battle)
25th February 2018, Pro Wrestling SHI-EN: TORU v Jun Masaoka (SHI-EN YouTube)
22nd July 2022, TTT: TORU v Jun Masaoka (TTT Innovation 5)
18th February 2024, BURST: TORU v Jun Masaoka (Someone beg Iwasaki for this please)
FLASH AND SHADOW
21st May 2023, Osaka Pro Wrestling: TORU v Zeus (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #17)
29th October 2023, Osaka Pro Wrestling: TORU v Zeus (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #22)
22nd September 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: TORU v Zeus (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #32)
29th December 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: TORU v Zeus (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #35)
A NEW STYLE WAR
2nd June 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: Zeus, Matsufusa & Billy Ken Kid vs Quiet Storm, TORU & Yasutaku Oosera (FULALI KYOBASHI tournament Day 2)
23rd June 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: Billy Ken Kid & Tsubasa vs TORU & Goliath (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #29)
23rd September 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: TORU vs Yasutaka Oosera (GAORA Sports, Naniwa Battle Entertainment Osaka Pro #33)
23rd November 2024, Osaka Pro Wrestling: Zeus, Matsufusa & Ultimate Spider Jr vs Yasutaka Oosera, Shu Asakawa & Goliath (Dome Kansai Festival)
24th February 2025, Osaka Pro Wrestling: Ryuya Matsufusa & Kohei Kinoshita vs TORU & Yasutaka Oosera, Aran Sano & Tigers Mask vs TORU & Yasutaka Oosera (2025 Tag Festival final and semi-final matches)
ON THE ROAD
9th May 2021, TORU vs Towa Iwasaki
24th April 2022, BURST: TORU vs Towa Iwasaki; Kohei Sato & Towa Iwasaki v Mizuki Watase & TORU. (Burst Energy Garden)
23rd September 2022, BURST: Kohei Sato & Yuji Okabayashi vs TORU & Towa Iwasaki (BURST Millenium Night Market)
26th March 2023, BURST: TORU vs Towa Iwasaki (BURST Believe Step)