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Shinjirō Ōhtani
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Mr. Otani (Europe) Shinjirō Ōtani
Billed height	5 ft 11 in (181 cm)
Billed weight	236 lbs (107 kg)
Born	July 21, 1972 Yamaguchi
Resides	Houston, Texas
Trained by	Animal Hamaguchi
Debut	June 25, 1992

Shinjirō Ōtani (大谷晋二郎, born 21 July 1972 in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi) is a Japanese professional wrestler.

Contents 1 Career 2 Wrestling facts 2.1 Finishing and signature moves 2.2 Managers 3 Trivia 4 Championships and accomplishments

Career

Ōtani was the first WCW Cruiserweight Champion, defeating The Pegasus Kid in a tournament final to be crowned champion on March 20, 1996. This was the start of his push as a legitimate junior heavyweight contender. Over the years, Ōtani earned the J-Crown and was also part of the first IWGP junior tag team champions with Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

In 2000, New Japan booker Riki Chōshū, eager to push his protege Kensuke Sasaki above everyone else, downgraded the junior heavyweight members to mere jobbers for the heavyweights. Ōtani protested and was sent abroad to bulk up. Returning in 2001 as a full-fledged heavyweight, Ōtani challenged Sasaki for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, but failed. He then joined Shinya Hashimoto in creating their own promotion, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, where he became one of the top stars after Hashimoto's departure in 2004 and subsequent death. In ZERO-ONE he formed a tag team with Masato Tanaka called Emblem; Team Emblem (as they were later known) would appear in the US promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling, and include Keiji Sakoda but they later split. On January 22, 2006, Ōtani defeated Steve Corino for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

• Spiral Bomb (Spinning sitout powerbomb)
• King Cobra Hold (Bridging Cobra clutch)
• Cobra Hold (Cobra clutch with body scissors)
• Dragon suplex pin
• Springboard missile dropkick
• Springboard DDT
• Springboard spinning heel kick
• Springboard plancha
• Rolling sole butt
• Facewash

Managers

• Sonny Onoo

Trivia

• Ōtani was Yokozuna's last opponent before his death.

Championships and accomplishments

• New Japan Pro Wrestling

• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Tatsuhito Takaiwa
• J-Crown (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX

• AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• ZERO1-MAX Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Yuki Ishikawa (1), Masato Tanaka (2) and Takao Omori (1)

• Premier Wrestling Federation

• PWF Universal Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Masato Tanaka

• World Championship Wrestling

• WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

• WAR

• WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tatsuhito Takaiwa

• Universal Lucha Libre

• UWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 125 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
• PWI also ranked him # 42 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 1998 Tag Team of the Year (with Tatsuhito Takaiwa)
• 1999 Best Technical Wrestler