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JUL.16.2020

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Get your EVIL To Go: Five things you should know about Dick Togo

All you need to know about EVIL’S pareja ahead of New Japan Road on July 20.

In chaotic scenes at Dominion this past Sunday, Tetsuya Naito was assaulted by a man in a BUSHI mask, securing double IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championship glory for the BULLET CLUB’s newest acquisition, EVIL. That man turned out to be EVIL’s ‘pareja’, Dick Togo. 

It won’t be long before we see these two new partners in action together, as New Japan Road in Korakuen Hall on July 20 sees a main event of EVIL, Togo and Taiji Ishimori facing Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI. Before that match goes down, here’s five things you need to know if you’re watching Togo for the first time.

1. A wealth of experience

Many fans might have seen Dick Togo for the first time on July 12, but he’s a familiar face to many around the world. Debuting in 1991, the 29 year veteran first made his mark in the now defunct Universal Pro-Wrestling organization before making a learning excursion to Mexico; growing alongside two figures we’ll see later on. Combining Mexican and Japanese styles with his own rough and ready approach made him at home in the hybrid Michinoku Pro group in the mid 1990s, and Togo continued to find success all over the world, from America to Bolivia through the 1990s and 2000s. After time away from the ring through the middle of the 2010’s, Togo restarted his career in 2016, and proved every bit as hard hitting and effective in the ring. In Togo, EVIL has enlisted a tough and seasoned wrestler, but also a man with a wealth of expertise to lend, especially when it comes to the art of rule breaking…

2. No stranger to hate 

Dick Togo has never been afraid to embrace negative crowd reaction. In 1996, Togo joined Shoichi Funaki and TAKA Michinoku in KAIENTAI DX, the group running roughshod over their home Michinoku Pro-Wrestling promotion before making their presence felt everywhere from Japan to America. Togo has gone onto be a more than effective team player for some of the most controversial factions in the game, which brings us to…

3. Not new to the blue 

Togo first appeared in an NJPW ring in 1994. While he hasn’t been a regular member of the New Japan roster, Togo has certainly gotten his feet wet in the cerulean blue, and with great success; he and TAKA Michinoku won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in May 2007 and held them an impressive 270 days. A hired gun on more than one occasion, Togo has since shown up by surprise to assist antagonistic forces like CHAOS, CTU and Team2000 in the past, always as a result of common threads that have lasted through his career…

4. Master Heater and the Playmaker

Togo may have entered NJPW as the pareja of new double IWGP Champion EVIL, but one has to wonder whether Jado & Gedo made the call. Togo’s connections to the two master manipulators stretch all the way back to the early stages of their respective careers in Universal. Sharing early career struggle and going on to be as widely travelled as all three men have been, their paths would inevitably cross several times since.

These meetings spanned promotions including WAR and Michinoku Pro, where Togo and Gedo formed the Far East Connection that won tag team gold in late 2001. That was the end of a successful year for Gedo; he and Jado had won Tokyo Sports’ tag team of the year, and were increasingly prominent in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of Team2000, with a vice like grip on the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. On January 4 2002, when a third man was needed to combat Jyushin Thunder Liger and a pair of Michinoku Pro originals in Tiger Mask and The Great Sasuke (watch on NJPW World!), it was Togo stepping in, as he would on several occasions since. Add to that Jado’s reaction to Togo’s appearance on Sunday (‘It’s like I’ve been warped back in time 30 years! Nowadays I never look at price tags when I go shopping or do anything, but back then we had nothing’), and it all seems like a little bit more than coincidence…

 

5. The Master of the Senton

So what can you expect from Togo in the ring? Although he has competed as a junior heavyweight for the bulk of his career, Togo’s agility has been supplemented by some heavy brawling tactics as his career has gone on. Togo’s incredible strength will come into play in his strikes, as well as the damage dealt by his version of the Pedigree, but it’s his top rope Senton that many a wrestler has come to fear. His involvement in the main event of Dominion should also give fans a hint as to what to expect from Togo when it comes to a liberal approach to rules; eye rakes, chokes and a closed fist are rarely far away, and doubtless fit in nicely with the house style in BULLET CLUB.

 

Watch the two newest BULLET CLUB acquisitions in action Monday night as New Japan Road comes to you live on NJPW World!

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