Often seen accompanied by his muse, diva Miho Abe, “The holy emperor”, Taichi always revels in a booing crowd. Debuting for All Japan Pro Wrestling in December 2002, he later wrestled in many organizations before joining New Japan in 2006. Forming a friendship with other outsiders joining NJPW at a difficult time in its history, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Tomoaki Honma & Milano Collection A.T. called themselves the 4 Black Saints.

Taichi originally joined forces with Satoshi Kojima after his excursion to Mexico in 2010 but quickly betrayed him alongside TAKA Michinoku when Minoru Suzuki offered him a chance to join forces. After joining Suzuki-gun and adopting an even dirtier fighting style, he was one of the most reviled wrestlers on New Japan’s roster. He bears the dubious honor of being one of the few wrestlers to provoke Jyushin Thunder Liger into his “Kishin Liger” form, during a match in June 2012. Taichi and Michinoku formed an effective tag team in the Jr. division, winning the title together. When Suzuki-gun invaded Pro-Wrestling Noah in 2015, he won the Pro Wrestling Noah GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, and on Suzuki-Gun’s return to NJPW, he claimed the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Championships with Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 

In 2018, Taichi made the transition to heavyweight, and immediately attempted to make a name for himself at the expense of Tetsuya Naito. Although he would come out on the losing end of their feud in 2018, and again when it was reignited at New Beginning 2019, Taichi showed that he had a hard hitting style behind a cowardly exterior. The long yelled chants of ‘Taichi go home!’ were now accompanied by shouts of ‘let’s go Taichi!’, and those shouts grew louder when Taichi squared off in a classic encounter with Tomohiro Ishii during the 2019 New Japan Cup. Taichi rode on the back of this surge in popularity and managed to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for a second time at Wrestling Dontaku 2019 when he defeated Jeff Cobb, before losing it a month later to his old nemesis Tomohiro Ishii at Dominion. Despite not being able to defend his title, NJPW officials permitted him entry into G1 Climax 29 which he ended with a respectable total of 8 points. In his final singles match of the tournament, he dropped the tricks & the weapons and went blow-for-blow against rival and former Black Saint Ishii, finally coming out on top.

Taichi’s singles grit would see him to a strong New Japan Cup 2020 campaign, one where he pinned both IWGP Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi. That led to Dominion on July 12, where Taichi and ‘Dangerous Tekkers’ partner Zack Sabre Jr. successfully seized the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Equally comfortable with breaking bones and breaking rules, Taichi is a threat to any tag team or singles wrestler.