On March 11, the Tohoku region was devastated by a 9.0 magnitude Earthquake and following Tsunami that destroyed much of the infrastructure of the northern regions of main land Japan. Few promotions were hit as hard as CRIMSON as not only were the CRIMSON offices damaged, the Miyako 1000 Tokuji Gymnasium was heavily damaged, and many wrestlers lost their homes. As a result, CRIMSON was indefinitely dissolved when it was obvious the promotion could not continue operations. This has been the situation since March 2011, but now in May 2012 there are rumors beginning to swell again as the Japanese people use their heart and will to pull themselves back together.
Below is a list of what happened from January 2011 to March 2011, along with updates on where the CRIMSON roster has gone since including wrestlers involved with CRIMSON historically.
January 2011: CRIMSON kicked off the new year with the FUSION Tag League. KYORUUI 6's newest member, the mysterious "Mr. Zero" was eventually revealed in the final to be none other then Goro Iijima, making his return to the promotion. In the end, HEAVY WAR's Akuma Toyota & Masakazu Fujimoto were victorious in the finals over Hiroyuki Takano and Goro Iijima.
February 2011: CRIMSON held "CRIMSON SONATA ~ MIDNIGHT LULLABY" in Iwate headlined by Takayuki Ariwa defeating Jake Bishop to retain the C-1 Heavyweight Championship. Akuma Toyota & Masakazu Fujimoto defeated Tenshin Komatsu and Makoto Saigo to win the C-1 Tag Team Championships, and Ikuji Royama defeated Kaisen Tiger to retain the C-1 Jr. Heavyweight championship. In a special challenge match, Hiroyuki Takano defeated Kenjiro Amagawa.
March 2011: CROSSxDESTINATION was set to have Takayuki Ariwa defend against Hiroyuki Takano in a rematch from DUE TIME on March 27th, but the March 11th 9.0 magnitude Earthquake and the ensuing Tsunami ruined the plans forcing CRIMSON to shut down indefinitely.
Now, Fourteen months later; here is where the CRIMSON roster has ended up:
Yuki Nomura: Few were hit as hard as Yuki Nomura in the aftermath of the Tsunami. Not only was Nomura's family home destroyed, and the CRIMSON offices badly damaged, butNomura's youngest daughter Mizuki (11) was injured during the incident. Mizuki made a full recovery but Nomura was forced to accept a work offer from a wealthy CRIMSON fan who also happened to be a business owner. Nomura is currently working full time to push Chihiro Nomura through college abroad.and keep his family going.
Nobuyori Shimizu: Following the Tsunami, Shimizu continued to wrestle for various independent companies while becoming active in the local relief efforts. Shimizu leads the charge to revive CRIMSON along with Toyota.
Toshiro Noguchi: Since the incident, Toshiro Noguchi decided to hang up the boots holding an independent show in Tochigi main evented by Noguchi vs. Shimizu for the last time. Noguchi is said to be interested in helping revive CRIMSON in a management position.
Hayato Saigo: Saigo suffered a setback in recovery from his torn knee suffered at DUE TIME 2010 while training in September 2011 forcing his return back even further. Saigo has opened a local junior heavyweight promotion called Okinawa Pro where he has gained a reputation as a skilled owner and booker while still trying to gear up for his eventual return.
Akuma Toyota: Like Shimizu, Toyota has remained active in the local scene including running his own charity themed events in Tokyo. Toyota has offered Nomura and Shirai to be the new president or vice of CRIMSON if they reopened but as of yet has not received a reply.
Masakazu Fujimoto: Fujimoto returned to acting full time, revisiting his "Darker then Abyss" Shigeki Kamiya character; a hyper violent serial killer in a sequel directed by American-Japanese director Robert Takahashi. Fujimoto also made a dramatic turn in the third season of LOVE SCRAMBLE. After finally hooking up with friend Ayami in the second season, Ayami was suddenly stolen by a playboy with connections. Fujimoto, or "Genji" took on a sudden character revision becoming darker and more serious as a result of the "betrayal" of Ayami. Season Four is stated to begin later this Fall.
Takayuki Ariwa: Ariwa has split his time between wrestling independently and also making a serious bid to join the Japanese team in Freestyle wrestling for the 2012 London Olympics. Ariwa placed high but failed to make the team or an alternate position.
Kenjiro Amagawa: Amagawa drifted around Japan doing odd bookings until he was personally requested by Ryo Suzuki to join the Suzuki Dojo as a full time instructor. Amagawa accepted, and has based his time around that since.
Shinsuke Takahashi: Briefly considered re-retirement until Amagawa convinced Takahashi to join the Suzuki Dojo as an assistant instructor. Takahashi has remained there since.
Hiroshi Kuroki & Kaisen Tiger: PREDATORS made a trip to Mexico where they remained from June 2011 to March 2012. Since then, PREDATORS have been appearing on Saigo's Okinawa Pro cards as the top team in the promotion.
Rui Kuriyama & "Texas Outlaw" Jake Bishop: Kuriyama accepted Bishop's invitation to return to the United States in 2011. Since then, the TEXAS ROUGHRIDERS have been the dominate tag team in the Southern regions of the United States.
Naoki Daishi: Daishi hasn't wrestled professionally since middle of 2011. Instead he has opened his own gym and pro-wrestling training facility called the Hybrid Factory in Yokohama. Daishi hasn't ruled out a return but seems comfortable in his new position.
Keiji Hirano: Hirano has been appearing for Saigo's Okinawa Pro since day one becoming the assistant manager of the promotion. Hirano has also radically transformed his body, shedding almost fifteen pounds and sporting a ripped body as a result.
Shuji Kawashima: Remains abroad. Kawashima has found success in the South United States/Mexico regions and has become a high profile star playing a generic Japanese bad guy.
Ryoma Inoue: Ryoma Inoue and Tomiko Inoue had a dramatic public falling out early in 2011, and as a result Ryoma left the business to deal with it. Thankfully for all involved, the two reconciled and have announced the arrival of their first child together later this year.
Hiroyuki Takano: Continues to wrestle quite actively and often appears on Goro Iijima's WILD FIGHTING series of events as a top headliner.
Goro Iijima: After debuting at "Mr. Zero" prior to the collapse of CRIMSON due to events, Iijima formed a friendship with Takano that continues today. The two collaborate on Iijima's series of WILD FIGHTING events along with Niwatori Ogawa.
Mikio Tsuruya: Has turned to Tokyo-area deathmatches to make ends meet. Tsuruya's doing very well as he's ballooned by almost thirty pounds in weight. At 280 pounds, Tsuruya is practically immobile in the ring but continues to do well with his new schtick.
PHOENIX: Vanished as mysteriously as he arrived. Since March 2011, no one has heard anything about or from PHOENIX.
Keoni Murata: Retired back to his native Hawaii when CRIMSON collapsed. Murata got antsy from retirement; however, and ended up joining Saigo's Okinawa Pro reuniting with his trainee as an assistant.
Kenta Arakaki & Akahito Yamada: Both Arakaki and Yamada appear frequently at Tokyo area deathmatch promotions with Tsuruya but do not actively engage in deathmatches. Instead they've formed a KYOURUI 6 shoot-off group with Tsuruya and Danger Kobayashi as the DOUR BOYZ.
Tenshin Komatsu: Returned to office life when CRIMSON dissolved. Komatsu has reconciled with his family and is said to be very happy with his life.
Makoto Saito: Wrestles anywhere he can get work anywhere in the world; deathmatch or regular match.
Ikuji Royama: Joined Saigo's Okinawa Pro as a top figure for the promotion and wrestles actively for other Japanese promotions.
Kazuya Endo & Strong Tomizaki: Kazuya Endo decided to return to Mixed Martial Arts full time since gone 1-2. Strong Tomizaki shocked the wrestling world by also deciding to enter MMA after falling in love with Jiu Jitsu. Tomizaki has only had one bout which he quickly lost by TKO but is said to be continuing in his new profession.
Yukihiro Ogura: After showing little growth during his CRIMSON career and following the Tsunami, Ogura quietly retired and returned to normal life.
Akio Kobayashi: Kobayashi continued to wrestle anywhere, and ended up falling in with Tsuruya, Yamada & Arakaki in the local Tokyo deathmatch scene. Kobayashi changed his ring name to Danger Kobayashi and has become one of the more disgusting and violent wrestlers on the deathmatch scene; which he seems to excel at.
Hanzo Hijiyama: Assistant and head referee Hanzo Hijiyama has tirelessly attempted to get CRIMSON revived for over a year, and may finally be making progress....
Unaffiliated
Millienium S.K.: Following the collapse of his own promotion and the tsunami, S.K. reunited with friend Saigo for Okinawa Pro as a semi regular.
SLAYER: Followed S.K. to Okinawa Pro where he is the resident monster figure of the promotion.
Natsuo Sakoda: Sakoda suddenly reappeared on the independent scene from his back injury and has been actively wrestling with a new body and his trademark swandive DDT.
El Halcon: Remains a top star in Mexico and has not counted out a return to Japan.
Shane Johnston: Suffered a major arm injury in 2010 and has not wrestled since.
Kazuhiro Okamura & Shino Hiriyama: LOVE continue to tour the regional circuit and have made appearences for Saigo's Okinawa Promotion.
Ichiyo Tatsuko: Continues to wrestle as he always has; losing more than he wins.
Stephen Priest: Was blacklisted from American pro-wrestling after an "incident", wrestling in Europe for almost a year. Priest has recently made his return to the United States and the California scene in particular.
ATTACK GIRLS: Most continue to wrestle where they can find work. Chihiro Nomura was shipped abroad by Yuki Nomura for college, KURONEKO decided to retire, and Tomiko Inoue is out with child. The rest continue to actively wrestle.
Below is a list of what happened from January 2011 to March 2011, along with updates on where the CRIMSON roster has gone since including wrestlers involved with CRIMSON historically.
January 2011: CRIMSON kicked off the new year with the FUSION Tag League. KYORUUI 6's newest member, the mysterious "Mr. Zero" was eventually revealed in the final to be none other then Goro Iijima, making his return to the promotion. In the end, HEAVY WAR's Akuma Toyota & Masakazu Fujimoto were victorious in the finals over Hiroyuki Takano and Goro Iijima.
February 2011: CRIMSON held "CRIMSON SONATA ~ MIDNIGHT LULLABY" in Iwate headlined by Takayuki Ariwa defeating Jake Bishop to retain the C-1 Heavyweight Championship. Akuma Toyota & Masakazu Fujimoto defeated Tenshin Komatsu and Makoto Saigo to win the C-1 Tag Team Championships, and Ikuji Royama defeated Kaisen Tiger to retain the C-1 Jr. Heavyweight championship. In a special challenge match, Hiroyuki Takano defeated Kenjiro Amagawa.
March 2011: CROSSxDESTINATION was set to have Takayuki Ariwa defend against Hiroyuki Takano in a rematch from DUE TIME on March 27th, but the March 11th 9.0 magnitude Earthquake and the ensuing Tsunami ruined the plans forcing CRIMSON to shut down indefinitely.
Now, Fourteen months later; here is where the CRIMSON roster has ended up:
Yuki Nomura: Few were hit as hard as Yuki Nomura in the aftermath of the Tsunami. Not only was Nomura's family home destroyed, and the CRIMSON offices badly damaged, butNomura's youngest daughter Mizuki (11) was injured during the incident. Mizuki made a full recovery but Nomura was forced to accept a work offer from a wealthy CRIMSON fan who also happened to be a business owner. Nomura is currently working full time to push Chihiro Nomura through college abroad.and keep his family going.
Nobuyori Shimizu: Following the Tsunami, Shimizu continued to wrestle for various independent companies while becoming active in the local relief efforts. Shimizu leads the charge to revive CRIMSON along with Toyota.
Toshiro Noguchi: Since the incident, Toshiro Noguchi decided to hang up the boots holding an independent show in Tochigi main evented by Noguchi vs. Shimizu for the last time. Noguchi is said to be interested in helping revive CRIMSON in a management position.
Hayato Saigo: Saigo suffered a setback in recovery from his torn knee suffered at DUE TIME 2010 while training in September 2011 forcing his return back even further. Saigo has opened a local junior heavyweight promotion called Okinawa Pro where he has gained a reputation as a skilled owner and booker while still trying to gear up for his eventual return.
Akuma Toyota: Like Shimizu, Toyota has remained active in the local scene including running his own charity themed events in Tokyo. Toyota has offered Nomura and Shirai to be the new president or vice of CRIMSON if they reopened but as of yet has not received a reply.
Masakazu Fujimoto: Fujimoto returned to acting full time, revisiting his "Darker then Abyss" Shigeki Kamiya character; a hyper violent serial killer in a sequel directed by American-Japanese director Robert Takahashi. Fujimoto also made a dramatic turn in the third season of LOVE SCRAMBLE. After finally hooking up with friend Ayami in the second season, Ayami was suddenly stolen by a playboy with connections. Fujimoto, or "Genji" took on a sudden character revision becoming darker and more serious as a result of the "betrayal" of Ayami. Season Four is stated to begin later this Fall.
Takayuki Ariwa: Ariwa has split his time between wrestling independently and also making a serious bid to join the Japanese team in Freestyle wrestling for the 2012 London Olympics. Ariwa placed high but failed to make the team or an alternate position.
Kenjiro Amagawa: Amagawa drifted around Japan doing odd bookings until he was personally requested by Ryo Suzuki to join the Suzuki Dojo as a full time instructor. Amagawa accepted, and has based his time around that since.
Shinsuke Takahashi: Briefly considered re-retirement until Amagawa convinced Takahashi to join the Suzuki Dojo as an assistant instructor. Takahashi has remained there since.
Hiroshi Kuroki & Kaisen Tiger: PREDATORS made a trip to Mexico where they remained from June 2011 to March 2012. Since then, PREDATORS have been appearing on Saigo's Okinawa Pro cards as the top team in the promotion.
Rui Kuriyama & "Texas Outlaw" Jake Bishop: Kuriyama accepted Bishop's invitation to return to the United States in 2011. Since then, the TEXAS ROUGHRIDERS have been the dominate tag team in the Southern regions of the United States.
Naoki Daishi: Daishi hasn't wrestled professionally since middle of 2011. Instead he has opened his own gym and pro-wrestling training facility called the Hybrid Factory in Yokohama. Daishi hasn't ruled out a return but seems comfortable in his new position.
Keiji Hirano: Hirano has been appearing for Saigo's Okinawa Pro since day one becoming the assistant manager of the promotion. Hirano has also radically transformed his body, shedding almost fifteen pounds and sporting a ripped body as a result.
Shuji Kawashima: Remains abroad. Kawashima has found success in the South United States/Mexico regions and has become a high profile star playing a generic Japanese bad guy.
Ryoma Inoue: Ryoma Inoue and Tomiko Inoue had a dramatic public falling out early in 2011, and as a result Ryoma left the business to deal with it. Thankfully for all involved, the two reconciled and have announced the arrival of their first child together later this year.
Hiroyuki Takano: Continues to wrestle quite actively and often appears on Goro Iijima's WILD FIGHTING series of events as a top headliner.
Goro Iijima: After debuting at "Mr. Zero" prior to the collapse of CRIMSON due to events, Iijima formed a friendship with Takano that continues today. The two collaborate on Iijima's series of WILD FIGHTING events along with Niwatori Ogawa.
Mikio Tsuruya: Has turned to Tokyo-area deathmatches to make ends meet. Tsuruya's doing very well as he's ballooned by almost thirty pounds in weight. At 280 pounds, Tsuruya is practically immobile in the ring but continues to do well with his new schtick.
PHOENIX: Vanished as mysteriously as he arrived. Since March 2011, no one has heard anything about or from PHOENIX.
Keoni Murata: Retired back to his native Hawaii when CRIMSON collapsed. Murata got antsy from retirement; however, and ended up joining Saigo's Okinawa Pro reuniting with his trainee as an assistant.
Kenta Arakaki & Akahito Yamada: Both Arakaki and Yamada appear frequently at Tokyo area deathmatch promotions with Tsuruya but do not actively engage in deathmatches. Instead they've formed a KYOURUI 6 shoot-off group with Tsuruya and Danger Kobayashi as the DOUR BOYZ.
Tenshin Komatsu: Returned to office life when CRIMSON dissolved. Komatsu has reconciled with his family and is said to be very happy with his life.
Makoto Saito: Wrestles anywhere he can get work anywhere in the world; deathmatch or regular match.
Ikuji Royama: Joined Saigo's Okinawa Pro as a top figure for the promotion and wrestles actively for other Japanese promotions.
Kazuya Endo & Strong Tomizaki: Kazuya Endo decided to return to Mixed Martial Arts full time since gone 1-2. Strong Tomizaki shocked the wrestling world by also deciding to enter MMA after falling in love with Jiu Jitsu. Tomizaki has only had one bout which he quickly lost by TKO but is said to be continuing in his new profession.
Yukihiro Ogura: After showing little growth during his CRIMSON career and following the Tsunami, Ogura quietly retired and returned to normal life.
Akio Kobayashi: Kobayashi continued to wrestle anywhere, and ended up falling in with Tsuruya, Yamada & Arakaki in the local Tokyo deathmatch scene. Kobayashi changed his ring name to Danger Kobayashi and has become one of the more disgusting and violent wrestlers on the deathmatch scene; which he seems to excel at.
Hanzo Hijiyama: Assistant and head referee Hanzo Hijiyama has tirelessly attempted to get CRIMSON revived for over a year, and may finally be making progress....
Unaffiliated
Millienium S.K.: Following the collapse of his own promotion and the tsunami, S.K. reunited with friend Saigo for Okinawa Pro as a semi regular.
SLAYER: Followed S.K. to Okinawa Pro where he is the resident monster figure of the promotion.
Natsuo Sakoda: Sakoda suddenly reappeared on the independent scene from his back injury and has been actively wrestling with a new body and his trademark swandive DDT.
El Halcon: Remains a top star in Mexico and has not counted out a return to Japan.
Shane Johnston: Suffered a major arm injury in 2010 and has not wrestled since.
Kazuhiro Okamura & Shino Hiriyama: LOVE continue to tour the regional circuit and have made appearences for Saigo's Okinawa Promotion.
Ichiyo Tatsuko: Continues to wrestle as he always has; losing more than he wins.
Stephen Priest: Was blacklisted from American pro-wrestling after an "incident", wrestling in Europe for almost a year. Priest has recently made his return to the United States and the California scene in particular.
ATTACK GIRLS: Most continue to wrestle where they can find work. Chihiro Nomura was shipped abroad by Yuki Nomura for college, KURONEKO decided to retire, and Tomiko Inoue is out with child. The rest continue to actively wrestle.
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