Seigo Tachibana (立花 誠吾, Tachibana Seigo) is a Japanese professional wrestler working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions Wrestle-1 and All Japan Pro Wrestling where he also appeared under the ring names Masao Hanabatake (花畑 正男, Hanabatake Masao) and O Hanabatakemasa (花畑正 男, Hanabatakemasa O).[3]

Seigo Tachibana
Tachibana in August 2021
Born (1997-08-01) August 1, 1997 (age 27)[1]
Tokyo, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Masao Hanabatake
  • O Hanabatakemasa
  • Seigo Tachibana
Billed height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Billed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Trained byShotaro Ashino
Shuji Kondo
Kaz Hayashi
Hiroshi Yamato
Debut2016

Professional wrestling career

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Wrestle-1 (2016–2020)

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Tachibana made his professional wrestling debut in Wrestle-1's W-1 Pro-Wrestling Training Academy 1st Graduation Class event on March 30, 2016, where he fell short to on of his coaches, Kaz Hayashi.[4] He competed in the promotion's various signature events. One of them is the Wrestle-1 Grand Prix, where he made his only appearance at the 2019 edition, in which he fell short to Shotaro Ashino in the first rounds.[5] Tachibana competed at W-1 WRESTLE-1 Tour Trans Magic, the last ever event hosted by Wrestle-1 on April 1, 2020, before its closure where he took part in a 31-man battle royal won by Manabu Soya and also featuring many of the promotion's roster figures such as El Lindaman, Cima, El Hijo del Pantera, Yasufumi Nakanoue, T-Hawk, Mazada and others.[6]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2020–present)

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After Wrestle-1's closure in early 2020, Tachibana began competing for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He made his debut in the promotion at AJPW All Japan Pro Wrestling Wednesday Special on May 27, 2020, where he unsuccessfully challenged Yoshitatsu for the Gaora TV Championship.[7] He continued challenging for various titles such as at AJPW All Japan Pro Wrestling Broadcast 2020 #7 from June 25, where he teamed up with Yoshitatsu to unsuccessfully challenge Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto) for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.[8] He captured the AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship at AJPW Summer Action Series 2021 on July 22 alongside Yoshitatsu and Carbell Ito by defeating Total Eclipse (Tajiri, Yusuke Kodama and Hokuto Omori).[9]

Tachibana also participated in various of the promotion's signature events. One of them is the AJPW Junior Tag League, where he made his first appearance at the 2021 edition by teaming up with Takaayuki Ueki in a losing effort against Atsuki Aoyagi and Yu Iizuka in the first round matches.[10] As for the Ōdō Tournament, he debuted in the 2021 edition where he fell short to Zeus in the first rounds.[11] In the World's Strongest Tag Determination League, he firstly competed in the 2021 edition by teaming up with Yoshitatsu, placing themselves in the Block C, failing to score any points after going against the teams of Kengo Mashimo and Kazma Sakamoto, Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato, and Mitsuya Nagai and Leona.[12]

DDT Pro Wrestling (2020)

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Tachibana also stepped into DDT Pro Wrestling for a short period of time. He made his first appearance on the first night of the Wrestle Peter Pan 2020 from June 6 where he fell short to Nobuhiro Shimatani.[13] He participated in the 2020 edition of the King of DDT Tournament where he fell short to Toru Owashi on the first night from August 8.[14] On the second night, Tachibana competed in a 13-man battle royal for a second chance to re-enter the tournament, match won by Tetsuya Endo and also involving Antonio Honda, Chris Brookes, Yukio Naya, Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Mad Paulie and others.[15] At DDT Get Alive 2020 on September 7, Tachibana teamed up with Danshoku Dino and Yoshiko to unsuccessfully challenge Eruption (Kazusada Higuchi, Saki Akai and Yukio Sakaguchi) for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.[16]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Seigo Tachibana • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  2. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Seigo Tachibana/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  3. ^ Internet Wrestling Database (IWD). "Seigo Tachibana Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (March 30, 2016). "W-1 Pro-Wrestling Training Academy 1st Graduation Class". cagematch.net. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  5. ^ Sarpracione, Mathew (July 5, 2019). "#AndNew: Daiki Inaba Wins Wrestle-1 Grand Prix 2019!". prowrestlingpost.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  6. ^ Wrestle-1 (April 1, 2020). 「WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2020 TRANS MAGIC」4.1東京・後楽園ホール大会. w-1.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved April 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Purolove (May 27, 2020). "AJPW "ALL JAPAN WEDNESDAY SPECIAL ~ GAORA TV TITLE", 27.05.2020 (AJPW.tv)". purolove.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Di Trolio, Gerard (June 26, 2020). "AJPW BROADCAST #7 2020 ~ GO FORWARD". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Hymantor, Michael (June 26, 2021). "#AndNEW: Three Titles Changes at AJPW Champions Night". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  10. ^ All Japan Pro Wrestling (December 26, 2021). 「2021 Jr. TAG BATTLE OF GLORY TOURNAMENT」東京・新木場1stRING≪13:00開始≫. all-japan.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  11. ^ "All Japan Pro-Wrestling - "8TH OUDOU TOURNAMENT"". purolove.com (in German). Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  12. ^ All Japan Pro Wrestling (December 5, 2021). 「2021 世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦 ~積田冷熱工事株式会社 presents~」【優勝決定戦】東京・後楽園ホール≪18:30開始≫. all-japan.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  13. ^ DDT Pro Wrestling (July 6, 2020). "DDT ProWrestling" WRESTLE PETER PAN 2020【DAY1】. ddtpro.com. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "Ultimate Party 2020". DDT Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  15. ^ Fischbeck, Thomas (August 12, 2020). "DDT KING OF DDT 2020 2ND ROUND (AUGUST 9) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  16. ^ Dinsdale, John (September 11, 2020). "The Battle of the Broken Mug – DDT's "Get Alive 2020" Review". wrestlingsc.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  17. ^ Wrestling Titles. "All Japan Pro-Wrestling TV 6-man Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Ross, Patrick (September 10, 2024). "Full 2024 PWI 500 list revealed". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  19. ^ Wrestling Titles. "WRESTLE-1 Tag Team Championship". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  20. ^ Wrestling Titles. "Universal Wrestling Association World Trios Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
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