El Samurai

{{Infobox professional wrestler

|name=El Samurai

|names=El Samurai{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/e/el-samurai.html|title=OWOW|date=22 May 2023 |publisher=Onlineworldofwrestling}}
Osamu Matsuda
Edo Samurai

|height={{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|weight={{convert|92|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

|real_height =

|birth_name = Osamu Matsuda

|real_weight =

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|4|19}}

|birth_place = Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan

|death_date =

|death_place =

|resides=

|billed =

|trainer= NJPW Dojo

|debut= July 24, 1986

|retired= 2013

}}

{{nihongo|Osamu Matsuda|松田納|Matsuda Osamu}} (born April 19, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and is better known by his stage name El Samurai.

Professional wrestling career

=Early years (1986–1992)=

Osamu Matsuda graduated from high school in 1985, and joined the NJPW Dojo. He debuted on July 24, 1986 in a losing effort against Masaharu Funaki, and spent a few years working at the bottom of the card, wrestling with the likes of Kensuke Sasaki, Kenichi Oya, and Takayuki Iizuka. In March 1991 he went on a learning excursion to Mexico, and while working for the UWA promotion, adopted a mask and the El Samurai stage name.{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/e/el-samurai/|title=El Samurai|website=Online World of Wrestling}}

=New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1992–2008)=

El Samurai returned to NJPW in March 1992. A month later, he made it to the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, in which he lost to Jushin Thunder Liger. Two months later, he defeated Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He would lose the title to Ultimo Dragon in November 1992. During that time, he would constantly team with Takayuki Iizuka and Akira Nogami in multi-man tag team matches, naming themselves the "Toukon Trio".

In April 1994, El Samurai took part in the 1994 Super J-Cup tournament; he defeated Masayoshi Motegi in the first round, before losing to The Great Sasuke in the quarterfinals. In December 1995, he entered into the second Super J-Cup tournament, but he didn't fare as well as the year before, as he lost to Dos Caras in the first round. In August 1996, he took part in a tournament to determine the first J-Crown champion. At the time, El Samurai was the WWF World Light Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Gran Hamada in the first round, before losing to eventual winner The Great Sasuke in the quarterfinals.

In 1997, El Samurai adopted a new attire and won the Best of the Super Junior tournament, defeating Koji Kanemoto in the final match, during which his mask was torn completely off his face. The match was later given five stars by Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer. One month later, he defeated Liger to win the J-Crown, which at that time consisted of seven unified junior heavyweight championships due to Liger losing one of the eight titles (the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship) before the title match with El Samurai. In March 2001, he and Liger won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

In April 2004 El Samurai unmasked willingly for the first time since adopting the character, going by his real name, Osamu Matsuda, for a match against Osamu Nishimura, but it was for one night only. Up until at the end of January 2005, he was unmasked again in a MUGA-style match against Shinsuke Nakamura. Samurai began to slow down in the mid-late 2000s, however, still managed to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team titles once again, this time with rookie Ryusuke Taguchi.

On February 1, 2008, NJPW agreed to let El Samurai leave the company after his contract expired, due to him suffering from many injuries that limited his appearances in late 2007 and early 2008.

=Freelance (2008–2013)=

On February 17, El Samurai appeared in All Japan Pro Wrestling, aiding Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo by fending off NOSAWA Rongai and MAZADA. On May 8, 2010, El Samurai returned to New Japan to take part in the tournament contested for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. El Samurai and his partner, former rival Koji Kanemoto, advanced to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated the team of Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the titles.{{cite web|url=http://www.njpw.co.jp/result/index.php?COM=result_main&SRNO=160&TKNO=1|title=43歳コンビの金本＆サムライが「SUPER J TAG」初代王者に輝く!!/無念！タイガー玉砕でまたしてもIWGP Jr.奪還ならず!!|publisher=New Japan Pro-Wrestling|date=2010-05-08|access-date=2010-05-08|language=ja|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511115849/http://www.njpw.co.jp/result/index.php?COM=result_main&SRNO=160&TKNO=1|archive-date=2010-05-11}} On July 19, Kanemoto and El Samurai lost the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Devitt and Taguchi.{{cite web|url=http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/?p=1785|title=(Results) New Japan, 7/19/10|date=2010-07-19|access-date=2010-07-20|work=Strong Style Spirit}}

Championships and accomplishments

Michinoku Pro Wrestling
British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time){{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/michinoku/bc-j.html|title=British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web|url=http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/list_category.php?cat=2|title=IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Jushin Thunder Liger (1), Ryusuke Taguchi (1) and Koji Kanemoto (1){{cite web|url=http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/list_category.php?cat=4|title=IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship history}}
J-Crown (1 time){{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/newjapan/jcrown.html|title=J-Crown history}}
NWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time){{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/wwtemll.html|title=NWA World Welterweight Championship history}}
UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/jlhuwa.html|title=UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship history}}
WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/jlhwwa.html|title=WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship history}}
Best of the Super Juniors (1997){{cite book |author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will |title=Wrestling Title Histories | publisher=Archeus Communications |chapter = Japan; Top of the Super Junior Heavyweight Champions| page = 375 |year= 2000 |isbn=0-9698161-5-4}}
DREAM* Win Junior Tag Team Tournament (2002) – with Gedo{{cite web|url=http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/results02.html|title=NJPW results in 2002}}
G1 Climax Junior Heavyweight Tag League (2001) – Jushin Thunder Liger{{cite web|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/newjapan/miscjr.html#g1|title=G-1 Climax Junior Heavyweight Tag League 2001|access-date=2013-03-26|work=Pro Wrestling History}}
One Night's Captain's Fall Tournament (1994) – with Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada and Shinjiro Ohtani{{cite web|url=http://www.purolove.com/njpw/profiles/elsamurai.php|title=Purolove profile}}
Super J Tag Tournament (2010) – with Koji Kanemoto
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 75 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996
Ranked No. 210 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked No. 47 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Jushin Liger in 2003
Social Pro Wrestling Federation
One Night Junior Heavyweight Tournament (1994){{cite web|url=http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=84896|title=SPWF event on December 17, 1994}}
Universal Wrestling Association
UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/uwa-j.html|title=UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}
UWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time){{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/uwa-m.html|title=UWA World Middleweight Championship history}}
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)¹{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/wwf-lh.html|title=WWF Light Heavyweight Championship history}}
Wrestle Association "R"
WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jushin Thunder Liger{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/war/war-in-j-t.html|title=International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship history}}
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Most Improved Wrestler (1992)