Nobuhiro Shimatani (島谷常寛, Shimatani Nobuhiro, born February 27, 1996), also known by his ring name Check Shimatani (チェック・島谷, Chekku Shimatani), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling.[3] As of July 2022, he predominantly works for Gleat as a member of the BULK Orchestra stable.

Nobuhiro Shimatani
Shimatani in February 2023
Born (1996-02-27) February 27, 1996 (age 28)[1]
Yamaguchi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Bryan Shimatani
  • Tsunehiro Shimatani
  • Nobuhiro Shimatani
  • Check Shimatani
Billed height157 cm (5 ft 2 in)[2]
Billed weight72 kg (159 lb)
Trained byYasu Urano
Debut2016

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (2016–present)

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As a freelancer, Shimatani works for various promotions. At NOAH Great Voyage In Yokohama Vol. 2, an event promoted by Pro Wrestling Noah on December 16, 2018, he teamed up with Kazusada Higuchi and Kota Umeda in a losing effort to Atsushi Kotoge, Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya.[4] At a house show promoted by Big Japan Pro Wrestling on July 22, 2021, he teamed up with Takato Nakano and Kota Sekifuda to defeat Alejandro, Kazuki Hashimoto and Kosuke Sato.[5]

In April 2024, Shimatani, as Check Shimatani, competed in a soft-ground wrestling match in Uganda for Soft Ground Wrestling (SGW), where he defeated local wrestler KY Kapeeka. During the short tour with the promotion, he was accompanied by Cima.

DDT Pro-Wrestling (2016–2022)

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Shimatani in July 2020

Shimatani made his professional wrestling debut at Judgement 2016: DDT 19th Anniversary on March 21 where he teamed up with Kouki Iwasaki and Rainbow Kawamura, losing to Shunma Katsumata, Guanchulo and Mao Inoue in a six-man tag team match.[6] He often wrestled in unusual matches such as a 28-person battle royal in which the winner was granted the general manager position for one night at DDT/Saki Akai Produce DDT Collection on March 14, 2018, match which also involved Danshoku Dino, Harashima, Mao, Yuko Miyamoto and others.[7]

He is known for competing in various of the promotion's signature events just as DDT Judgement. After his debut match at the event, he continued making appearances. One year later at Judgement 2017: DDT 20th Anniversary on March 20, he teamed up with Naomi Yoshimura and Dai Suzuki to defeat Rekka, Daiki Shimomura and Yuki Ueno.[8] At Judgement 2018: DDT 21st Anniversary on March 25, Shimatani teamed up with Daiki Shimomura as "Gran MilliMeters", Takato Nakano and Rekka in a losing effort to Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango, Mad Paulie, Cherry and Gota Ihashi as a result of a Ten-person tag team match.[9] At Judgement 2020: DDT 23rd Anniversary on March 20, he teamed up with his fellow Damnation stablemates Tetsuya Endo and T-Hawk in a losing effort against Eruption (Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai).[10]

As for the DDT Peter Pan branch of events, Shimatani made his first appearance at Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2016 on August 28 where he teamed up with Chikara and Mitsuo Momota in a losing effort to Tomomitsu Matsunaga, Hoshitango and Rekka as a result of a six-man tag team match for Chikara's King of Dark Championship where had any opponent got pinned by him, they would have become the new champion.[11] At Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2018 on October 21, he won a Rumble rules match by lastly eliminating Gorgeous Matsuno and also competing against Self-Proclaimed Tiger Mask V, Gota Ihashi and others.[12] At Wrestle Peter Pan 2019 on July 15, Shimatani teamed up with Disaster Box (Yuki Ueno and Naomi Yoshimura) in a losing effort against All Out (Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Iino) and Mizuki Watase.[13]

He also worked in the DDT Ultimate Party branch of events, marking his first appearance at Ultimate Party 2019 on November 3 where he teamed up with fellow Damnation stablemates Tetsuya Endo and Mad Paulie to unsuccessfully challenge the champions Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano and Takato Nakano, and Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari and Miss Mongol in a Three-way match for the UWA World Trios Championship.[14] One year later at Ultimate Party 2020 on November 3, he teamed up with Mad Paulie and El Lindaman as #DamnHearts and competed in a Four-way elimination match also involving the teams of Eruption (Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai), Disaster Box (Toru Owashi, Naomi Yoshimura and Kazuki Hirata), and Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi and Antonio Honda.[15]

As for the DDT Into The Fight branch, Shimatani made an important appearance at Into The Fight 2019 on March 21 where he teamed up with fellow Damnation stablemates Tetsuya Endo and Mad Paulie in a losing effort to Bull James, Kota Umeda and Naomi Yoshimura.[16]

Another signature event of the promotion in which he activated was King of DDT, making an appearance at the 2018 edition where he fell short to Mike Bailey in the first round.[17] Two years later at the 2020 edition, he fell short to Yuki Ueno in the same tournament stage.[18]

Championships and accomplishments

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Shimatani is a one-time and current G-Infinity Champion

References

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  1. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Nobuhiro Shimatani • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Nobuhiro Shimatani/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  3. ^ Internet Wrestling Database (IWD). "Nobuhiro Shimatani Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Daly, Wayne (December 17, 2018). "NOAH Results: Great Voyage 2018 In Yokohama Vol. 2 – Yokohama, Japan (12/16)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (July 22, 2021). 【2部興行・第2部】神奈川・横浜ラジアントホール大会. bjw.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Justin, Dylan (March 25, 2016). "DDT JUDGEMENT 2016 (MARCH 21) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  7. ^ DDT Pro Wrestling (March 14, 2018). "DDT ProWrestling" 赤井沙希プロデュース興行「DDT collection」. ddtpro.com. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  8. ^ Justin, Dylan (March 26, 2017). "DDT JUDGEMENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY (MARCH 20) REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  9. ^ DDT Pro-Wrestling. "Judgement2018~DDT旗揚げ21周年記念大会~". ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  10. ^ DDT Pro-Wrestling. "Judgement2020~DDT旗揚げ23周年記念大会~". ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Dark angel (August 31, 2016). "DDT: Results «Ryogoku Peter Pan 2016 - World's Hottest Summer» - 28/08/2016 - The giant Shuji Ishikawa is champion again". superluchas.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  12. ^ DDT Pro-Wrestling (October 21, 2018). "DDT ProWrestling" 両国ピーターパン2018~秋のプロレス文化祭~. ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  13. ^ DDT Pro-Wrestling (July 15, 2019). "DDT ProWrestling" Wrestle Peter Pan 2019. ddtpro.com. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  14. ^ "Ultimate Party 2019~DDTグループ大集合!~". DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ DDT Pro-Wrestling. "Ultimate Party 2020". ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  16. ^ Dark angel (March 28, 2019). "DDT: "Into the Fight 2019" goodbye Nakazawa, message from Kenny Omega". superluchas.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  17. ^ Riba, Michael (August 2, 2018). "DDT "Fighting Beer Garden 2018 – King of DDT 2018 First Round" Results – July 31, 2018 – Tokyo, Japan". gerweck.net. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  18. ^ "DDT ProWrestling" 夏を制するものはDDTを制する! DDTのKINGの座を争う真夏のトーナメント「KING OF DDT 2020」は神田明神ホール3連戦&後楽園ホールで開催! 総勢28選手参加! 組み合わせ決定! KO-D無差別級王者・遠藤が出場! 田中稔、青木真也、T-Hawk、エル・リンダマン参戦! (in Japanese). DDT Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  19. ^ Wrestling Titles (July 25, 2021). "Ironman Heavymetalweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "DDTタイトル史". Extreme Party. Retrieved January 9, 2020.