Shingo Takagi

Shingo Takagi
Takagi in 2020
Birth name	Shin Takagi
Born	(1982-11-21) November 21, 1982 (age 41)[1] Chūō, Yamanashi, Japan[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Shingo Takagi Shingo
Billed height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Billed weight	100 kg (220 lb)[1]
Trained by	Dragon Gate dojo[2] Animal Hamaguchi[3]
Debut	October 3, 2004[1]

Shin Takagi (鷹木 信, Takagi Shin),^[4] known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, Takagi Shingo), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a member of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable and is a five-time NEVER Openweight Champion. Takagi is best known for his appearances in NJPW and Dragongate (then known as "Dragon Gate"), as well as Ring of Honor (ROH), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and the puroresu independent circuit.

Takagi first became known for his work with Dragongate, where he competed from his debut in 2004 up until 2018. Known during his tenure as the "Pumping Hawk", he was recognized as the promotion's top heel for many years and incantations, and went on to become one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company's history, winning the Open the Dream Gate Championship, the top championship in the promotion, four times in eight years. He was also known as the leader of the New Hazard, Real Hazard, KAMIKAZE, -akatsuki-, VerserK and ANTIAS stables in Dragongate, and for his long-lasting rivalry with BxB Hulk, with whom he faced off against in several prominent events. He had his last contracted Dragongate match on October 7, 2018, where he would lose to BxB Hulk. During his time in Dragongate, he also spent an extended amount of time with American promotions such as Full Impact Pro, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor (ROH); In ROH, he became a ROH World Tag Team Champion alongside then-stablemate Naruki Doi in 2007.

On October 8, 2018, Takagi made his surprise debut in NJPW as the foreshadowed sixth member ("pareja") of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable as "The Dragon" (not to be confused with fellow NJPW wrestler Tatsumi Fujinami, who was also known as "The Dragon"). Originally performing in the Junior Heavyweight division, he went on to be undefeated as a singles competitor and overall unpinned and unsubmitted until the BOSJ 2019 final. He also held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once with fellow Ingobernables member Bushi from January to March 2019. Takagi moved to the Heavyweight division in June 2019, debuting at G1 Climax 29. From February to August 2020, Takagi held both the NEVER Openweight Championship and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (with Bushi and Evil), making him the first person to hold both NEVER titles at the same time. After losing the NEVER Title in August, he regained it in November for a second time. By winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall in 2021, Takagi became the only wrestler that won the top championships in NJPW and Dragongate.

Takagi has been praised for his wrestling abilities in both NJPW and Dragongate,^[5][6] to which has garnered him numerous accolades. He was recognized and voted as the "Rookie of the Year" in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards in 2005. In 2021, he notably placed 9th on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "PWI 500" list, received the MVP Award at the Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards, and was ranked as the "Most Outstanding Wrestler" and Japanese wrestling's most valuable player by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.