Cima (wrestler)

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Cima (wrestler) bigraphy, stories - Japanese professional wrestler

Cima (wrestler) : biography

November 15, 1977 –

, (born November 15, 1977) better known by his ring name Cima (stylized as CIMA and pronounced Shima), is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate and its international expansion Dragon Gate USA. He is currently the Open the Dream Gate Champion.

Factions

  • Crazy Max (1997–2004)
  • Blood Generation (2005–2006)
  • Typhoon (2007–2008)
  • Warriors-5/Warriors (2009–2011)
  • Blood Warriors (2011–2012)
  • Team Veteran Returns (2012-)

Professional wrestling career

Nobuhiko Oshima, otherwise known as Cima, graduated from the first class of Último Dragón’s Toryumon dojo. He quickly became the Toryumon wrestling promotion’s biggest star. He first wrestled as Shiima Nobunaga (making a few appearances in WCW under that name), then as Shiima, until finally shortening his stage name to Cima, under which he still wrestles today. He was one of the founders of the Crazy Max stable, and had a years long feud with Magnum Tokyo, another first class graduate. He began as a high flyer, utilizing the Mad Splash as his finisher. This, however, took toll on his body and especially his knees. After returning from knee surgery he changed his style and started using the Schwein as his finisher. He wrestled in Toryumon Japan until 2004, when the promotion separated itself from Último Dragón’s dojo, and changed its name to Dragon Gate. He still wrestles in Dragon Gate today. He created the Blood Generation stable in 2005, which had its final match in January 2007.

Cima also made his first appearance in a North American wrestling promotion in about seven years in August 2005, appearing in Ring of Honor in a match against A.J. Styles, who Cima defeated.

Cima would return to North America for a three day tour with Ring of Honor. On March 30, 2006, in Detroit, Michigan, Cima teamed with fellow Blood Generation members Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino to defeat Ring of Honor faction Generation Next, represented by Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans.

On March 31, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, Cima would once again team with fellow Blood Generation members Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino in Ring of Honor, this time losing a match to another stable from Dragon Gate, Do Fixer (Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, and Genki Horiguchi). Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer gave the match the coveted 5 star rating.

On April 1, 2006, once again in Chicago, Illinois, at the third and final Ring of Honor show, Cima teamed with Naruki Doi in a losing attempt to win the Ring of Honor Tag Titles from champions Generation Next (Austin Aries and Roderick Strong).

In September 2006 during the Labor Day Weekend, Cima participated in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) Battle of Los Angeles super tournament. He was able to advance all the way to the finals where he lost to Davey Richards.

Cima’s next return to Ring of Honor happened in late December 2006. Cima teamed with Shingo on December 22 in Hartford, Connecticut to challenge Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal for the ROH World Tag Team Titles, but the Japanese stars came up short in the match. The next night, in Manhattan, New York, Cima and Shingo teamed with Matt Sydal to take on the team of Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Delirious. This time, they were successful in their outing, when Cima pinned Delirious. After the match, Cima proclaimed "Thank you US, thank you ROH, see you in 2007".

On January 6, 2007, Cima traveled to Australia and competed in the Australasian Wrestling Federation. In the main event, he wrestled the AWF Champion Steve Ravenous and TNT in a three-way elimination match, which Cima won to become the AWF Champion. The next night in Newcastle, TNT defeated Cima for the AWF Title.

On July 1, 2007, Cima won Dragon Gate’s main title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, from Jushin Liger in Kobe, Japan. Cima thus became the first wrestler to hold this title on two occasions.

On September 2, 2007, Cima won Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament, defeating Human Tornado, Shingo and Pac on his way to the finals where he eliminated both El Generico and Roderick Strong.