Sho (wrestler)

Sho Tanaka (田中 翔, Tanaka Shō) (born August 27, 1989), known mononymously as Sho (stylised in all caps as SHO), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of House of Torture and one-half of the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions with Douki in their first reign as a team and his sixth individually.

He is a former member of both Chaos and Bullet Club, and was a part of the junior heavyweight tag team Roppongi 3K, along with Yoh. The tag team were five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and three-time winners of the Super Junior Tag League. Additionally, Sho is a three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion.

He has previously worked for the American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) and Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In the latter promotion, he was known under the ring name Raijin (雷神, Raijin), named after the Japanese God of thunder, and was part of La Ola Amarilla ("the Yellow Wave") alongside Okumura, Kamaitachi and Fujin (the name Yoh worked under in Mexico).

Sho Tanaka was born on August 27, 1989, in Uwajima, Ehime, Japan. While in high school he became involved with Greco-Roman wrestling, something he continued to practice as he attended Tokuyama University. At Tokuyama, he was the vice-captain of the wrestling team, competing in the 7th All-Japan University Championship for Greco-Roman wrestling, where he came in third over all.

Inspired by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tanaka attended the NJPW Dojo in February 2012, training for his professional wrestling career.

On November 11, 2012, Tanaka made his professional wrestling debut in the opening match of the NEVER: Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament 1st round show where he lost to Takaaki Watanabe. Tanaka competed as one of NJPW's "Young Lions" a class of rookie wrestlers who work mostly against each other early on, wearing all black gear and with no particular ring character, all part of the structured learning process in NJPW. Throughout 2013 and 2014, Tanaka often faced off against fellow Young Lion Yohei Komatsu, with both men trading victories in both singles and tag team competition. By 2015, Tanaka and Komatsu had begun teaming together on a regular basis, including working together in the New Japan Rumble as part of Wrestle Kingdom 9 on January 5, 2015. The two teamed up to eliminate Tiger Mask and Taichi but were both eliminated by Tama Tonga. Tanaka was called upon to replace an injured Rey Cometa on a NJPW/Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre co-promoted Fantastica Mania 2015 show on January 14. Tanaka and Stigma lost to La Peste Negra ("The Black Plague"; Bárbaro Cavernario and Mr. Niebla) On February 11, 2015, Tanaka defeated rival and occasional tag team partner Yohei Komatsu in the opening match of NJPW's 2015 The New Beginning in Osaka show. In June and July 2015, Tanaka represented NJPW in Pro Wrestling Noah's Global Junior Heavyweight League. During the tournament, he earned two points by defeating Hitoshi Kumano, but lost the rest of his matches to be eliminated from the tournament. At Destruction in Kobe, Tanaka and Komatsu defeated fellow Young Lions David Finlay and Jay White.

In early 2016, it was announced that Tanaka and Komatsu would compete in the 2016 Fantastica Mania series of shows, competing in what NJPW called the "Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka send-off game", announcing that the two would travel to Mexico and work for CMLL as part of their continued in-ring skill development. The team worked the opening match for each of the six Fantastica Mania events, losing each time.

Tanaka and Komatsu became be the latest in a long line of young Japanese wrestlers to travel to Mexico to learn the lucha libre style. In Mexico, Tanaka was given the ring name Raijin, named after the Japanese God of Thunder, teaming with Komatsu who would be known as Fujin, named after the Japanese God of Wind. The duo made their Mexican debut on January 31, 2016, teaming up with Okumura, forming the most recent version of La Ola Amarilla ("The Yellow Wave"). The group was joined by Kamaitachi, a previous NJPW trainee who had worked for CMLL since 2014.