Real Name: Koji Odate

Ring Name: Koji Odate

Age: 32

Alias: The Fighter

Height: 5' 11

Weight: 216lbs

From: Tokyo, Japan

Gear:

For Segments:

Wrestling Style: Technical, Striker

Signature: Rear Naked Choke, Shining Wizard,

Finisher: Gotch Style Piledriver

Accomplishments:

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion (3x)
IWGP Intercontinental Champion (3x)
AJPW Triple Crown Champion (2x)
GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion (3x)

Theme:

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Love Interest: Kaori Hosako

~Story~

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Koji Odate is the middle brother of Mio Odate and Masami Odate, being the only boy in their family, which peeved Koji so much over the years, leading to a toxic personality with a hair trigger temper.

Growing up, Koji would get into fights at school, going down a dark path. He would get suspended three times at school for fighting and expelled from two different schools.

Eventually, Koji would be put in military school, where he would be humbled after just one year, but the dark path would continue.

Soon after being released from military school, Koji would be binge drinking while underage, getting into trouble with the police, being arrested two times, serving time in prison for DUI charges.

While he served his time in prison, Koji's sisters Mio and Masami didn't want to see him like that as they didn't want to see him until he turns his life around.

Odate didn't want to change, but he knew that if he didn't, he'd be stuck in prison for the rest of his life.

Koji went to rehab and start working on his drinking problem. At his first AA Meeting, he broken down crying, confessing how he ruined his own life and wishing he could take it all back.

Eventually, after 90 days in prison and AA meetings, Koji was finally released, but he promised himself to work his way back up to earn back the love of his family.

Signing a deal with the New Japan dojo, in Tokyo, Koji worked his way up, proving that he could learn and use his changed personality to make himself a better person.

The "Ace" of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Hiroshi Tanahashi was quite impressed with his work ethic, but when he learned about Koji's dark past, Tanahashi was determined to help his new protege become a better person.

Koji would learn the techniques of Japanese wrestling and would train every day to become better.

Koji would talk about his experience in the dojo, saying,

"Every time, before it would open for business, I would run the ropes, do my exercises, and then meditate. Then again, there were chores that I had to do. I mean, I had to clean toilets so I can have the right to become a professional wrestler. I worked my ass off, but I really wanted to earn back the trust and love from my sisters."

Earning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship three times together, Koji had become the man he wanted to be: humbled, sweet, kind, caring, and passionate about the wrestling business, but that was to be seen with his sisters.

On September 15, 2015, at a Stardom event, Koji would visit backstage, but upon first glance of Masami and Mio, they were stunned, ran up to him, hugged him, and they cried together.

Koji apologizing repeatedly for the damage he's done to them and would ask for forgiveness, which he's already earned from the reports from their friends.

Earning their trust again, Koji was offered a front row seat to watch his sisters wrestle together, but on that very night, when Mio was going to be German Suplexed, she landed on her head and didn't get up.

The ref called for the bell after getting no response from Mio, Koji was horrified, wanting to know about his older sister's condition.

It was revealed at the hospital soon enough that her neck was not only broken, she had to retire from the ring.

It devastated Koji so much and he thought he was a curse to the family, which Masami shut down almost immediately, saying that he is not a curse in the family, and told him to not blame himself as it was out of his control.

He took her word for it, but he really felt sorry for his older sister. Although Mio had her career end to recent injuries, including the one from the night she and Masami reunited with Koji, she remained positive about it all.

Not letting his sister's career ending injury get to him, Koji would reinvent himself as "The Fighter", proving that he can get through any obstacle he faces, especially making his past not define his character.

While making his mark in Japan, he meets Tom Büdgen, who went by the name of Tommy End. They become really good friends, despite the language barrier. During matches, when tagging together, they would use to hand gestures to communicate with each other, making things easier for the both of them.

During a visit to Masami in Stardom, Odate would meet Kaori Hosako, known then as Kairi Hojo, as the two would become friends very quickly due to the connections of Masami and her being the best of friends, but in July 2017, Kaori signed with NXT, going under the name Kairi Sane.

Instead of feeling bad about her signing, Koji was so happy for her that he posted a selfie of him and Kaori hanging out saying, "I'm so happy for you!", in his native Japanese.

Once Koji's contract expired in November of the same year, he signed with NXT, but he wanted to keep his signing a secret while reuniting with Kaori in the back, who bursted into tears when she first saw his face.

The two would catch up after the show and hang out whenever they could, but after a couple months, Kaori starts to develop feelings for Koji.

The question is, how does she tell him after being the best of friends for almost 3 years?

~Excerpt~

Since it was the UE getting the win thanks to Adam distracting Tommy, I felt awful for him, but as Tommy started attacking Fish and O'Reily.

As soon as that happened, Adam came from behind and threw Tommy into the ring post and started beating him up.

O'Reily grabbed a chair, threw it in, and set it up,  as Tommy was helpless. I didn't want to stay in the back and not wait to make my debut next week, I had to go out there and save my best friend.

After all, I have gotten the approval from Hunter to debut however I wanted and tonight was going to be IT.

As soon as Adam was going to perform a neckbreaker onto the chair, my theme and titantron played...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

...as the entire crowd at Full Sail came absolutely unglued and popped so loud, I felt vibrations underneath my feet!

Ranallo: OH MY GOD!

McGuiness: WAIT A SECOND!

Percy: IT HAS TO BE!

When I entered, the fans popped a second time as Tommy was in shock and Adam was terrified at the sight of me on the stage.

Renallo: "THE FIGHTER" HAS ARRIVED IN NXT! KOJI ODATE!

McGuiness: Very close to friends to the Dutch Destroyer Aleister Black in Japan, Odate is known for being one of the most vicious strikers in all of Japan, if not the world, as he is very fluid in the technical side of wrestling!

Adam was shaking his head "no" as I made my way towards the ring, letting everyone know that it's really me.

And I did by walking down the ramp and getting ready to fight, but Adam kicked the chair away and retreated.

I grabbed the chair, looked at it, threw it to the side, and I went inside the ring, checking on Tommy.

He must be happy to see me after I helped him while making my NXT debut.

I helped him up as he was looked so happy, in his eyes, as he looked like he wanted to kill me. Instead of landing a cheap shot, we embraced as the fans exploded with glee!

Tommy must've been wanting to see me again as I was to see him again, the same with Kaori, who I think is just in tears at the sight of me being in an NXT ring.

I didn't want to tell her about my signing, but hey, at least she gets to see me again.