Wikipedia

Gleat

Gleat (stylized as GLEAT and pronounced as "great") is a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2020 by former Pro Wrestling Noah parent company Lidet Entertainment after the acquisition of Noah and DDT Pro-Wrestling by CyberAgent. The promotion is overseen by Hiroyuki Suzuki and former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura. The promotion emphasizes the use of the UWFi combat sports-based wrestling style.[2][3][4]

Gleat
FoundedAugust 20, 2020
StylePuroresu
Shoot style
Mixed martial arts
HeadquartersYūrakuchō, Tokyo, Japan
Founder(s)Hiroyuki Suzuki
Kiyoshi Tamura
Owner(s)Hiroyuki Suzuki
ParentLidet Entertainment[1]
Websiteent.lidet.co.jp/gleat

History

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In November 2018, Japanese advertising company Lidet Entertainment began investing in various business ventures in the professional wrestling industry including Riki Choshu's Power Hall show in December 2018. On January 29, 2019, Lidet Entertainment bought 75% shares of Pro Wrestling Noah, with the goal of transforming the promotion into the second largest promotion in Japan after New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A year later due to Noah's financial struggles, Lidet Entertainment sold all shares of Pro Wrestling Noah to internet advertising company CyberAgent. Lidet's President Hiroyuki Suzuki wanting to continue to be involved with professional wrestling met with Kiyoshi Tamura several days after the sale of Noah.[5] Suzuki later announced the formation of a new promotion, Gleat – it was additionally revealed that Kaz Hayashi and Nosawa Rongai would become the Gleat Chief Technical Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, respectively. Gleat promotes shows via its two sub-brands – G Prowrestling, a traditional puroresu brand, and Lidet UWF, a UWFi-inspired shoot style brand.

Gleat held its inaugural event, "Gleat Ver. 0", on October 15, 2020, which aired on Fighting TV Samurai on October 22, with the main event pitting Noah's Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita and Kendo Kashin) against Jun Akiyama, Shuhei Taniguchi, and Daisuke Sekimoto.[6] The participation of Noah wrestlers on Gleat events would cease after Nosawa Rongai resigned from his positions at Gleat to focus on his role as Noah booker.[7][8] Following the end of the Noah partnership, Gleat would see the participation of wrestlers from other Japan-based wrestling promotions, such as Sho from NJPW and Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka from Pro Wrestling Zero1.

In February 2021, shoot style veterans Minoru Tanaka and Daijiro Matsui were signed by the company, shortly after Tanaka was given the UWF Rule Technical Officer executive role.[9][10] In May, it was announced that Cima, El Lindaman, T-Hawk, and Issei Onitsuka would be leaving Oriental Wrestling Entertainment and Ryuichi Kawakami would be leaving Big Japan Pro Wrestling to join Gleat.[11][12] Gleat also operates a developmental division, with Yu Iizuka, Soma Watanabe, and Takanori Ito being the promotion's inaugural trainees.[13]

In December 2021, Gleat announced a 12-man tournament would be held from January 26 to February 22, 2022 to crown the inaugural G-Rex Champion.[14][15] The tournament and championship were won by El Lindaman.

In July 2022, Gleat announced the creation of the G-Infinity Championship for its G Prowrestling brand. A four-team tournament was held from August 20, 2022, to August 24 to crown the inaugural champions.[16] The tournament was won by Bulk Orchestra (Kazma Sakamoto and Ryuichi Kawakami).[17] On December 14, Gleat promoted its first mixed martial arts (MMA) event, Gleat MMA Ver. 0.[18]

Personnel

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Background

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Gleat divides their roster based on its two wrestling sub-brands, G Prowrestling and Lidet UWF. Gleat also recognizes a third roster division, Gleat MMA – wrestlers affiliated to Gleat MMA have legitimate martial arts experience and may wrestle on either G Prowrestling or Lidet UWF events.[19][20]

  • G – Wrestlers affiliated to G Prowrestling, Gleat's sub-brand that promotes matches using traditional professional wrestling rules.
  • U – Wrestlers affiliated to Lidet UWF, Gleat's sub-brand that promotes matches using UWFi-inspired shoot style rules.[21]
  • M – Wrestlers that have legitimate mixed martial arts (MMA) experience or are affiliated to Gleat MMA, Gleat's sub-brand that promotes MMA fights.

Wrestlers

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Contracted

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Ring name Real name G U M Unit Notes
Brass Knuckles Jun [ja][22] Jun Tonsho   Anti-Gle Monsters
Check Shimatani[23] Nobuhiro Shimatani   Bulk Orchestra
Cima[24][25] Nobuhiko Oshima   #StrongHearts Chief Strategy Officer
El Lindaman[24][26] Yuga Hayashi     #StrongHearts
Go Miyake[27] Go Miyake   Gleat Main Unit
Hayato Tamura[28] Hayato Tamura   Bulk Orchestra G-Rex Champion
Issei Onitsuka [ja][24][29] Issei Onitsuka   Yan's Family
Junjie[30] Zhao Junjie   Gleat Main Unit
Kaito Ishida[31] Kaito Ishida   Black Generation International
Kazma Sakamoto[32] Unknown   Bulk Orchestra
Kotaro Suzuki[33][34] Yasuhiro Suzuki   Black Generation International
Michiko[35] Michiko Miyagi     Diamond Egoist
Minoru Tanaka[36][37] Minoru Tanaka       Gleat Main Unit UWF Rule Technical Officer
Ryo Aitaka[38][39] Ryo Aitaka     Gleat Main Unit
Soma Watanabe [ja][40] Soma Watanabe       Gleat Main Unit
T-Hawk[24][41] Takuya Onodera   #StrongHearts
Takanori Ito[42] Takanori Ito     Yan's Family
Takehiro Yamamura [ja][43] Takehiro Yamamura   #StrongHearts
Tetsuya Izuchi [ja][44] Tetsuya Izuchi       Black Generation International
Yu Iizuka [ja][45] Yu Iizuka       Gleat Main Unit

Regular outsiders

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Ring name Real name Unit Notes
Chris Vice Unknown Anti-Gle Monsters Affiliated with Real Zero1
Hartley Jackson Unknown Black Generation International Freelancer
Hideki "Shrek" Sekine Hideki Sekine Hard Hit Freelancer
Hikaru Sato Hikaru Sato Hard Hit Freelancer affiliated with Pancrase Mission
Katsuhiko Nakajima Katsuhiko Nakajima — Lidet UWF World Champion
Freelancer
Keiichi Sato Keiichi Sato Black Generation International Freelancer
Kouki Iwasaki Unknown Bulk Orchestra Freelancer
Masato Kamino Masato Kamino Yan's Family Affiliated with Pro-Wrestling Basara
Oji Shiiba Oji Shiiba — Freelancer
Quiet Storm Unknown Bulk Orchestra Freelancer
Ryuichi Kawakami[46] Ryuichi Kawakami Anti-Gle Monsters Freelancer
Seiki Yoshioka Seiki Yoshioka #StrongHearts Freelancer
Shigehiro Irie Shigehiro Irie #StrongHearts Freelancer
Yusuke Kodama Yusuke Kodama Yan's Family Freelancer
Yutani Unknown Black Generation International Freelancer

Other personnel

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Ring name Real name Notes
Chiho Tomiyama Chiho Tomiyama Ring announcer (G Prowrestling)
Haruo Murata Haruo Murata Commentator
Freelancer
Hiroyuki Suzuki Hiroyuki Suzuki Owner
President of Lidet
Katsumi Tamagawa Katsumi Tamagawa Referee (G Prowrestling)
Kaz Hayashi[24][47] Kazuhiro Hayashi Chief Technical Officer[3]
Kiyoshi Tamura[48] Kiyoshi Tamura Executive Director[3]
Commentator
Masato Yoshino[49] Masato Yoshino Gleat Championship Belts Manager
G Prowrestling Commissioner
Riki Choshu[50] Mitsuo Yoshida Observer[3]
Ryogaku Wada Ryogaku Wada Referee (Lidet UWF)
Soft Imai Daisuke Imai Referee (G Prowrestling)
Takahiro Yoshimizu Takahiro Yoshimizu Ring announcer (Lidet UWF)
Affiliated with Aoni Production
Takehiro Yamamura Takehiro Yamamura Ring announcer (G Prowrestling)
Yoshinori Umeki Yoshinori Umeki Referee (Lidet UWF)
Affiliated with Pancrase
Yoshiro Yabu Yoshiro Yabu Ring announcer (G Prowrestling)

Notable alumni/guests

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Championships

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Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days
held 		Location Notes Ref.
G-Rex Championship
Hayato Tamura 1 December 30, 2023 357 Tokyo, Japan Defeated T-Hawk at Gleat Ver.7. [51]
G-Infinity Championship   The Rascalz
(Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel) 		1 October 6, 2024 76 Osaka, Japan Defeated Black Generation International (Kaito Ishida and Tetsuya Izuchi) at Gleat Ver.Mega in Osaka. [52]
Lidet UWF World Championship
Katsuhiko Nakajima 1 July 1, 2024 173 Tokyo, Japan Defeated Takanori Ito to win the vacant title at Gleat Ver.12. [53]

Lidet UWF World Championship

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Lidet UWF World Championship
 
Current design of the title (2023–present)
Details
PromotionGleat
Date establishedApril 2023
Current champion(s)Katsuhiko Nakajima
Date wonJuly 1, 2024
Statistics
First champion(s)Takanori Ito
Longest reignFujita "Jr." Hayato
(356 days)
Shortest reignTakanori Ito
(24 days)
Oldest championFujita "Jr." Hayato
(36 years, 284 days)
Youngest championTakanori Ito
(29 years, 260 days)
Heaviest championTakanori Ito
(209 lb (95 kg))
Lightest championFujita "Jr." Hayato
(172 lb (78 kg))

The Lidet UWF World Championship (LIDET UWF世界王座, Ridetto UWF Sekai Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship owned and created by the Japanese company Lidet Entertainment and is currently disputed in the Gleat promotion. The main characteristic of the championship is that it can be defended and won only under UWF rules matches and in combat sports-based wrestling style bouts.

As of December 21, 2024, there have been a total of three reigns shared between three different champions and one vacancy. The current champion is Katsuhiko Nakajima who is in his first reign.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Takanori Ito June 7, 2023 Gleat Ver.EX "Face-Off" Access 2 TDCH Tokyo, Japan 1 24 0 Defeated Shinya Aoki in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. [54]
2 Fujita "Jr." Hayato July 1, 2023 Gleat Ver.6: 2nd Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan 1 356 1 [55]
— Vacated June 21, 2024 Michinoku 2024 Tokyo Conference Vol.1: Buryō Tōgen Tokyo, Japan — — — Due to illness, Fujita "Jr." Hayato had been on a hiatus since his appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4, 2024. On June 21, at a Michinoku Pro Wrestling event, Fujita announced he was relinquishing both the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight and Lidet UWF World Championships. [56]
3 Katsuhiko Nakajima July 1, 2024 Gleat Ver.12 Tokyo, Japan 1 173 1 Defeated Takanori Ito to win the vacant title. [57]

Gleat events

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Main article: List of Gleat events

Most Gleat events are separated into the three brands G Prowrestling, Lidet UWF and Gleat MMA. Numbered "Gleat Ver." events air bigger cards featuring a mix of the three brands. Specials events such as "Gleat Ver.EX", "Gleat Ver.Mega" and "Gleat Ver.&" are held in larger venues and usually feature wrestlers from other wrestling promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) or Pro Wrestling Freedoms. All events air live on Gleat's YouTube channel.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "GLEAT". Cagematch. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. ^ Blanchard, Matthew (August 21, 2020). "Former Pro Wrestling Noah Owners LIDET To Debut New Promotion, GLEAT". Overtimer. The Overtime. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Daly, Wayne (August 20, 2020). "Former Pro Wrestling NOAH Owner Announces Launch Of New Promotion GLEAT". Wrestling News. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (August 20, 2020). "Former Pro Wrestling NOAH Owner Announces New Promotion GLEAT". Fightful. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ^ "GLEAT " History "". Cagematch (in German). Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  6. ^ "GLEAT Ver. 0". Cagematch. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  7. ^ 【試合後バックステージ】10.15「GLEAT Ver.0 」NOSAWA論外 vs カズ・ハヤシ｜GLEAT公式YouTube, 22 October 2020, retrieved 2021-05-10
  8. ^ "NOSAWA論外｜PROFILE｜LIDET ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS｜国内外のプロレスとコラボして企画・運営するイベント会社". ent.lidet.co.jp. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  9. ^ "【GLEAT】田中稔の入団を発表、UWF Technical Officerに就任！「もう一回、UWFスタイルのプロレスですごい熱狂的な時代を作りたい」 | プロレスTODAY" (in Japanese). 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  10. ^ "田中 稔｜PROFILE｜LIDET ENTERTAINMENT｜国内外のプロレスとコラボして企画・運営するイベント会社". ent.lidet.co.jp. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  11. ^ #STRONGHEARTS GLEAT入団インタビュー｜GLEAT公式YouTube, 13 March 2021, retrieved 2021-05-10
  12. ^ GLEAT緊急記者会見 生配信 2021年3月17日(水)14:00｜GLEAT公式YouTube, 16 March 2021, retrieved 2021-05-10
  13. ^ "【HEAT-UP！】の生え抜き #飯塚優 電撃退団から急転直下GLEAT入団を発表！緊急会見をYouTube(ヒートアップ公式)生配信‼️ #heatuppw #GLEAT #プロレス #prowrestling". Togetter (in Japanese). 28 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  14. ^ Gleat [@LIDET_ENT] (December 30, 2021). GLEAT初のベルト"G-REX"初代王者を巡り 12選手が勝ち抜き戦 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved January 25, 2022 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Gleat [@LIDET_ENT] (January 13, 2022). G-REX初代王座争奪戦 トーナメント表発表 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved January 25, 2022 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Gleat [@LIDET_ENT] (July 1, 2022). "GLEAT ni taggu beruto "G-INFINITY" shinsetsu" GLEATにタッグベルト「G-INFINITY」新設 [New tag team belt "G-Infinity" established in Gleat] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ 8月24日 【GLEAT】河上＆KAZMAが初代G-INFINITY王者に 田村＆島谷との同門対決V1戦が浮上. Professional Wrestling Martial Arts DX (in Japanese). August 24, 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  18. ^ "【大会生配信】2022年12月14日 後楽園ホール[GLEAT MMA Ver.0]". Gleat. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  19. ^ "G PROWRESTLING (G PRO / #GPRO) GLEATの純プロレス部門 LIDET UWF (#LIDETUWF) GLEATの格闘プロレス部門 7.1(木)18:30開始 TOKYO DOME CITY HALL「GLEAT Ver.1」". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  20. ^ "【GLEAT実験マッチ 第6弾】第3試合 配信開始！｜LIDET ENTERTAINMENT". LIDET ENTERTAINMENT (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  21. ^ UWFルール説明動画｜GLEAT公式YouTube, retrieved 2021-07-26
  22. ^ ブラスナックルJUN. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  23. ^ チェック島谷. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  24. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Oliver (March 12, 2021). "GLEAT ANNOUNCES BIG SIGNING, NJPW, BIG JAPAN AND MORE FROM JAPAN". PWInsider. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  25. ^ "CIMA". Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  26. ^ エル・リンダマン. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  27. ^ 三宅豪. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  28. ^ 田村ハヤト. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  29. ^ 鬼塚一聖. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  30. ^ 俊桀(ジュンジェ). Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  31. ^ 石田凱士. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  32. ^ "KAZMA SAKAMOTO". Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  33. ^ Thompson, Andrew (September 24, 2024). "Kotaro Suzuki signs contract with LIDET Entertainment, officially becomes member of GLEAT". POSTWrestling. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024.
  34. ^ 鈴木 鼓太郎. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  35. ^ 宮城倫子. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  36. ^ Thompson, Andrew (February 11, 2021). "Minoru Tanaka joins GLEAT promotion". POST Wrestling. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  37. ^ 田中 稔. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  38. ^ Thompson, Andrew (October 1, 2024). "Ryo Aitaka signs contract with LIDET Entertainment, officially joins GLEAT". POSTWrestling. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024.
  39. ^ 愛鷹 亮. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  40. ^ 渡辺 壮馬. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  41. ^ "T-Hawk". Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  42. ^ 伊藤 貴則. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  43. ^ 山村武寛. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  44. ^ 井土徹也. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  45. ^ 飯塚 優. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  46. ^ 河上隆一. Gleat (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  47. ^ カズ・ハヤシ. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  48. ^ 田村 潔司. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  49. ^ 吉野正人. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  50. ^ 長州力. Gleat (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  51. ^ G-REX選手権 [G-Rex Championship]. Syu-Kaku Kombu (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  52. ^ G-INFINITY選手権 [G-Infinity Championship]. Syu-Kaku Kombu (in Japanese). Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  53. ^ LIDET UWF選手権 [Lidet UWF Championship]. Syu-Kaku Kombu (in Japanese). Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  54. ^ Daly, Wayne (June 7, 2023). "GLEAT Results: Ver. EX ~ Face-Off: Access 2 TDCH – Tokyo, Japan (6/7)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  55. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 1, 2023). "GLEAT Ver. 6 ~ 2nd Anniversary". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  56. ^ ガンの再発で欠場中の山本”KID”徳郁の愛弟子・フジタ”Jr”ハヤトが王座返上「また強いハヤトが帰ってくる日が絶対来る」 [Fujita "Jr." Hayato, apprentice of Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto, who has been sidelined due to a recurrence of cancer, relinquished his titles: "The day will definitely come when a strong Hayato will return."]. battle-news.com (in Japanese). June 22, 2024. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024.
  57. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 1, 2024). "GLEAT Ver. 12". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
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