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Ryoji Sai

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Ryoji Sai
Personal information
BornChoe Yeong-i (최영이)
(1980-06-03) June 3, 1980 (age 45)[1]
Osaka, Japan[3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring nameRyoji Sai[1]
Billed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Billed weight231 lb (105 kg) [1]
Trained byGerard Gordeau
Zero1 Dojo
DebutSeptember 1, 2001[2]

Ryoji Sai (崔 領二, Sai Ryōji), born Choe Yeong-i (Korean: 최영이; June 3, 1980) is a Korean professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and promoter who currently owns and operates Pro Wrestling Land's End, where he is a former All Asia Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for working for Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he is a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion.[1]

He is the older brother of mixed martial artist Young Choi, also known as Ryo Sai.

Career

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Ryoji Sai is a third-generation Zainichi Korean who was born in Osaka, Japan. His parents own a restaurant near Tsuruhashi Station. At age 15, Sai attended the Sidmouth International School in Sidmouth, England. He then attended Bloxham School in Oxfordshire from 1996 to 1999. While in Europe, he studied martial arts under Gerard Gordeau in the Netherlands.

Upon returning to Japan, Sai joined Pro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero1) and made his debut on September 1, 2001, at the Fire Festival against Igor Meindert in a non-tournament match. From 2002 to 2004, he was out of professional wrestling due to an unknown ailment. Upon returning in 2004, he began regularly teaming with Kohei Sato, winning the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship twice, in 2005 and 2006.

Sai twice finished as the runner-up in the 2006 and 2007 Fire Festival tournaments, losing to Masato Tanaka both times. He also appeared for the Hustle wrestling promotion while Zero1 had a working agreement with Hustle. In late 2008 and early 2009, Sai appeared on the popular Fuji TV show Ainori (あいのり), under the name "Wrestler" (レスラー, Resurā).

Championships and accomplishments

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  • Ranked No. 220 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014[5]

MMA record

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Professional record breakdown
4 matches 1 win 1 loss
By knockout 1 1
By submission 0 0
By decision 0 0
By disqualification 0 0
Draws 1
No contests 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 1-1-1 (1) Kenichi Serizawa TKO (Punches) Titan Fighting Championship 2 January 21, 2001 2 3:32 Tokyo, Japan
Win 1-0-1 (1) Koichi Sato TKO (Punches) Titan Fighting Championship 2 January 21, 2001 1 2:54 Tokyo, Japan
NC 0-0-1 (1) Koichi Sato No contest (illegal knees) Titan Fighting Championship 2 January 21, 2001 1 0:26 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 0–0–1 Masakazu Imanari Technical Draw Titan Fighting Championship 1 September 29, 2000 1 1:29 Tokyo, Japan

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "ZERO1-MAX fighters page". ZEROONEUSA.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  2. ^ "ZERO-ONE Fire Festival 2001 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  3. ^ "Ryouji Sai profile" (in Japanese). ZERO-ONE-MAX.com. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  4. ^ "Hustle Super Tag Team Championship history".
  5. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2014". internet wrestling database. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  6. ^ "NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship title history". ZEROONEUSA.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-14. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  7. ^ "NWA United National Heavyweight Championship title history". ZEROONEUSA.com. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  8. ^ "Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship history".
  9. ^ a b "Tournaments".
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