Jiro Kuroshio is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works for the Wrestle-1 promotion and is a former two-time UWA World Trios Championship holder. Higuchi's nickname, "Ikemen" is a reference to the Japanese slang term for "metrosexual".
Early life
Higuchi was born in Adachi, Tokyo. When he was young, he often attend professional wrestling events with his father, who was a fan. His father became friends with the elder brother of Yoshihiro Tajiri, which in turn led to a friendship with Tajiri himself. He started training with Tajiri's Hustle promotion when he was 14. However, without a definite plan towards making a professional debut plus other commitments beyond wrestling such as school, Higuchi's interest in wrestling waned and at one time he moved away from the sport. He eventually returned to wrestling by joining the Smash promotion's training camp.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Using the ring name Jiro Kuroshio, Higuchi made his professional wrestling debut on December 30, 2011 against fellow camp attendee Koji Doi at the "Smash 24" event. He adopted the name "Kuroshio" from the name of the nabemono restaurant operated by his parents, "Nabeya Kuroshio". The Smash promotion folded in March 2012 and on 5 April 2012 Kuroshio, along with Tajiri and all other wrestlers, referees and trainees, moved to the spin-off Wrestling New Classic promotion.
At WNC Before the Dawn, Kuroshio wrestled the very first match for Wrestling New Classic, losing to Josh O'Brien. At an event at Korakuen Hall on 30 August 2012, after defeating Koji Doi, Kuroshio announced he had become an apprentice of Hajime Ohara and joined Ohara's unit "DQN". On July 16, Kuroshio, Lin Byron and Tsubasa defeated The Bodyguard, Mio Shirai and Takuya Kito in the finals of a one night six person tournament to win the 2012 Kito Cup, with Byron pinning the tournament's creator Kito for the win He also participated in 2012's Dave Finlay Cup, losing to Koji Doi in the semi final. In 2013 he changed his ring name to "Jiro Ikemen Kuroshiro" and adopted an "ikemen" character. Like the year before, he participated in the Dave Finlay Cup, losing to Kaji Tomato. On July 1, 2014 Kuroshio moved to the Wrestle-1.
Wrestle-1 (2014–present)
Making his Wrestle-1 debut in April, Kuroshio became an official member of the roster on July 1, when Kuroshio along with Tajiri, Akira, Yusuke Kodama, Koji Doi and Rionne Fujiwara left WNC. Kuroshio quickly formed the stable Novus with fellow WNC alumni Kodama, Doi and Fujiwara. In August 2014 he defeated Andy Wu in a qualification bout, earning the right to enter the inaugural Wrestle-1 championship tournament, he would go on to lose to Masayuki Kono in the first round. In November 2014 he formed the "Ikemen Samurai" tag-team partnership with Masakatsu Funaki and competed in the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag-Team Championship. With Kuroshio teaming with Funaki and Doi joining Desperado, Novus quietly disbanded. On May 30, Kuroshio would win the Road to Keiji Mutoh tournament earning the right to face Keiji Mutoh in a one-on-one match, he would lose to Mutoh on June 18. Also in June, Ikemen Samurai would come to an end with Funaki leaving the promotion. Kuroshio would make it to the semi finals of the 2015 Wrestle-1 Grand Prix before losing to the eventual winner Manabu Soya but gained impressive wins over his former mentor Tajiri and former Wrestle-1 Champion Kai.
Following the tournament, Kuroshio formed the stable Jackets with Yasufumi Nakanoue and Seiki Yoshioka. On October 9, 2015 the trio defeated New Wild Order (Akira, Jun Kasai and Kumagoro) to win the vacant UWA World Trios Championship. On November 3, they lost the titles to Real Desperado (Kazma Sakamoto, Koji Doi and Nosawa Rongai) but would regain the belts on November 27. On January 7, 2016, Jackets would vacate the titles due to Yoshioka being sidelined following cecum surgery and being unable to attend a title defence set for January 10. On January 31, Jackets lost to Kaz Hayashi, Minoru Tanaka and Tajiri for the vacant title. In mid 2016 Jackets disbanded when Nakanoue left Wrestle-1.
On November 27, 2016, Kuroshio defeated Yohei Nakajima for Gaora TV Championship winning its first singles championship. On December 7 Kuroshio, Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba, Yusuke Kodama, Seiki Yoshioka, Koji Doi, Kumagoro and Kohei Fujimura formed a stable named New Era. In February 2017, Kuroshio was forced to vacate the Gaora TV Championship due to injury.
Championships and accomplishments
- Wrestle-1
- UWA World Trios Championship (2 times) with Yasufumi Nakanoue and Seiki Yoshioka
- Road To Keiji Mutoh Tournament (2015)
- Wrestling New Classic
- Kito Cup (2012) – with Lin Byron and Tsubasa
See also
- UWA World Trios Championship
- List of Wrestle-1 personnel