Evil (wrestler)


Takaaki Watanabe is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Evil and is a one-time world champion. He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is currently the first triple champion in the company's history: he is both the current IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champions in his first reign for each. After debuting in NJPW in 2011, Evil competed in the United States on excursion, working for companies such as Global Force Wrestling and Ring of Honor from 2014 to 2015. He was one of the three original members of the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable in November 2015, until he turned on them in July 2020 to join Bullet Club, which he is still a member of.
A former NEVER Openweight Champion, Evil was also known for his tag team with former Los Ingobernables de Japon member Sanada, with whom he was a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and two-time World Tag League winner; he is also a record-tying four-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, making him an overall seven-time champion in NJPW. He is also the winner of the 2020 New Japan Cup.

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2011–2013)

Watanabe made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on May 13, 2011, wrestling primarily as a Young Lion and in the lower cards of shows and remained with the promotion until October 2013, when after King of Pro-Wrestling, announced that he was being sent on a learning excursion to the United States.

Ring of Honor (2014–2015)

At Global Wars '15 the first night May 15 he teamed with Silas Young in a losing effort against Gedo and Moose. The following night May 16, he was defeated by Silas Young.
On the June 27 episode of ROH Wrestling, he lost to Adam Page after Colby Corino attacked Watanabe. On the July 4 episode of ROH Wrestling Dalton Castle would defeat Watanabe. On July 23, ROH announced that House of Truth member Donovan Dijak would battle Watanabe in a singles match taped exclusively for ROH's YouTube Wrestling Channel. This occurred July 24 at Death Before Dishonor XIII where Dijak defeated Watanabe.
August 22 at Field of Honor, Watanabe qualified for an ROH World Television Championship match by winning a nine-man gauntlet match. September 18 at All Star Extravaganza VII he teamed with Will Ferrara to defeat Donovan Dijak and Greg James. On September 19, Watanabe received his shot at the Television Title in a match against champion Jay Lethal, but was unsuccessful.

Return to NJPW

The King of Darkness (2015–2017)

On October 12, 2015, Watanabe returned to NJPW at King of Pro-Wrestling, where he was revealed as Tetsuya Naito's associate during his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Watanabe's outside interference in the match was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, leading to Naito suffering a loss. In a post-match interview, Naito gave Watanabe the new name "King of Darkness" Evil. Under the new name, Evil became affiliated with Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japon stable. In December, Evil and Naito won their block in the 2015 World Tag League with a record of five wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, Evil and Naito were defeated in the finals by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.
In early March, Evil took part in the 2016 New Japan Cup in which he was eliminated in the first round by Tomohiro Ishii. On March 20, Evil unsuccessfully challenged Ishii for the ROH World Television Championship. From July 18 to August 14, Evil took part in the 2016 G1 Climax where he finished his block with four wins and five losses, thus failing to advance. Despite his failure to advance, Evil scored two big wins by defeating IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin and NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata on the last day.
On November 5 at Power Struggle, Evil won his first title, when he defeated Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Ten days later, Evil lost the title back to Shibata in Singapore. At the end of the year, Evil took part in the 2016 World Tag League, teaming with stablemate Sanada. The two finished second in their block with a record of five wins and two losses, tied with block winners Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing the head-to-head match against Makabe and Honma.
On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, Evil, Bushi and Sanada won a four-team gauntlet match to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi the next day, before regaining it on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka. In March, Evil made it to the semifinals of the 2017 New Japan Cup, before losing to Bad Luck Fale. On April 4, L.I.J. lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi in their second defense, before regaining it on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2017.
During the 2017 G1 Climax on August 5, Evil picked up a major win over reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Okada's first singles defeat in nearly a year. Evil went on to finish third in his block with a record of six wins and three losses. On October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Evil received his first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Okada. In December, Evil and Sanada won their block in the 2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, they defeated Guerrillas of Destiny in the finals to win the tournament. Six days later, Evil, Bushi and Sanada lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale in their fourth defense.

Championship reigns with Sanada (2018–2020)

On January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome, Evil and Sanada defeated the Killer Elite Squad to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time. Evil and Sanada would successfully defend the IWGP Tag Team Championship on two occasions before losing the title to The Young Bucks at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall ending their reign at 156 days. The same night, Chris Jericho defeated Tetsuya Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. After the match, Jericho put Naito into Walls of Jericho and refused to release the hold. This resulted in Evil running in to make the save. Evil entered the 2018 G1 Climax and finished with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses, failing to advance from his block. At King of Pro-Wrestling, Evil was scheduled to compete in a singles match against Zack Sabre Jr.. Before the match could begin, however, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho, would return and attack Evil forcing the match to be a no contest.
On November 3, 2018, at Power Struggle, Evil challenged Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Evil was unsuccessful, however, and was forced to submit to Chris Jericho's Liontamer submission hold. In December, Evil and Sanada entered the 2018 edition of World Tag League. The pair scored a record of ten wins and three losses advancing them to the finals where they would meet the Guerillas of Destiny in a rematch of the previous year's final. On December 9, they defeated the Guerillas of Destiny in the finals to win their second World Tag League and the challenge right for an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome.
At Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, Evil and Sanada won IWGP Tag Team Championship in a Three-way tag team match, that also included Guerillas of Destiny and Young Bucks. They retained their titles at The New Beginning In Sapporo against Zack Sabre Jr. and Minoru Suzuki. At, Evil and Sanada lost the titles in their second defense against Guerillas of Destiny. Evil was announced to take part in the 2019 New Japan Cup, but lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in the first round. Evil entered the 2019 G1 Climax, finishing with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses, failing to make it to the finals.
On January 5, 2020 at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Evil, Bushi and Shingo Takagi defeated four other teams in a Gauntlet match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, making both Evil and Bushi record-tying four time holders of the title.

Bullet Club and IWGP Heavyweight Champion (2020–present)

After New Japan Pro-Wrestling underwent a hiatus in late February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company resumed its activities with the 2020 New Japan Cup, which begun on June 16, 2020, with the winner receiving a title shot against Naito for both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. Entering the tournament, Evil defeated Satoshi Kojima, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, and his teammate Sanada to reach the finals, displaying a more agressive attitude, notably cheating by low blowing Hirooki Goto in their match, injuring Yoshi-Hashi before their match, and using a chair to attack Sanada’s neck in their match.
In the finals on July 11, Evil defeated Kazuchika Okada, in part due to an interference by Bullet Club, who attacked Okada; although Evil appeared unaware of Bullet Club's involvement in the match, when Naito came out to congratulate him on his win, Evil attacked him, turning heel and being soon joined by the other members of Bullet Club, establishing himself as a member of the stable and the first member of Los Ingobernables de Japon to ever leave the stable.
At Dominion the following day, Evil defeated Naito to capture both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships with the help of Bullet Club, including Dick Togo, who joined Bullet Club in the process. A fews weeks later, NJPW vacated the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship.

Professional Wrestling Style and Persona

Personal life

Watanabe is reportedly engaged to fellow professional wrestler Io Shirai.

Championships and accomplishments