View source for El Samurai

{{short description|Japanese professional wrestler (born 1966)}}
{{Update|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox professional wrestler
|name=El Samurai
|names='''El Samurai'''<ref name="OWOW">{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/e/el-samurai.html|title=OWOW|date=22 May 2023 |publisher=Onlineworldofwrestling}}</ref><br />Osamu Matsuda<br>Edo Samurai
<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: |image= Osamu-Matsuda-as-El-Samurai.jpg -->
|height={{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<!-- In Japan they measure height in meters so that should be first --><ref name="OWOW"/>
|weight={{convert|92|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<!--In Japan they measure weight in kilograms so that should be first --><ref name="OWOW"/>
|real_height =
|birth_name = Osamu Matsuda 
|real_weight =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|4|19}}<ref name="OWOW"/>
|birth_place = [[Hanamaki, Iwate]], Japan
|death_date = 
|death_place = 
|resides=
|billed = 
|trainer= [[NJPW Dojo]]
|debut= July 24, 1986<ref name="OWOW"/>
|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&ndash;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 [[Masakatsu Funaki|Masaharu Funaki]], and spent a few years working at the bottom of the card, wrestling with the likes of [[Kensuke Sasaki]], [[Hisakatsu Oya|Kenichi Oya]], and [[Takayuki Iizuka]].  In March 1991 he went on a learning excursion to [[Mexico]], and while working for the [[Universal Wrestling Association|UWA]] promotion, adopted a mask and the El Samurai stage name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/e/el-samurai/|title=El Samurai|website=Online World of Wrestling}}</ref>

===New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1992&ndash;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 [[Super J-Cup (1994)|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 [[Dave Meltzer#Rating system|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 [[Dradition|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&ndash;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 [[Fergal Devitt|Prince Devitt]] and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the titles.<ref name=SuperJTag>{{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}}</ref> On July 19, Kanemoto and El Samurai lost the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Devitt and Taguchi.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Championships and accomplishments==
*'''[[Michinoku Pro Wrestling]]'''
**[[British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship]] ([[British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship#Title History|1 time]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/michinoku/bc-j.html|title=British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
*'''[[New Japan Pro-Wrestling]]'''
**[[IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship]] ([[List of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions|2 times]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/list_category.php?cat=2|title=IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship]] ([[List of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions|3 times]]) &ndash; with [[Jushin Thunder Liger]] (1), [[Ryusuke Taguchi]] (1) and [[Koji Kanemoto]] (1)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/list_category.php?cat=4|title=IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship history}}</ref>
**[[J-Crown]] ([[J-Crown#Title history|1 time]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/newjapan/jcrown.html|title=J-Crown history}}</ref>
**[[NWA World Welterweight Championship]] ([[NWA World Welterweight Championship#Title history|1 time]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/wwtemll.html|title=NWA World Welterweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship]] ([[UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship#Title history|2 times]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/jlhuwa.html|title=UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship]] ([[WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship#Title history|2 times]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/jlhwwa.html|title=WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[Best of the Super Juniors]] ([[Best of the Super Juniors#1997|1997]])<ref name=BOSJ>{{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}}</ref>
**DREAM* Win Junior Tag Team Tournament (2002) &ndash; with [[Gedo (wrestler)|Gedo]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/results02.html|title=NJPW results in 2002}}</ref>
**G1 Climax Junior Heavyweight Tag League (2001) &ndash; Jushin Thunder Liger<ref name="purolove.com"/><ref>{{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}}</ref>
**One Night's Captain's Fall Tournament (1994) &ndash; with [[Great Sasuke]], [[Gran Hamada]] and [[Shinjiro Ohtani]]<ref name="purolove.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.purolove.com/njpw/profiles/elsamurai.php|title=Purolove profile}}</ref>
**[[Super Junior Tag Tournament|Super J Tag Tournament]] ([[Super Junior Tag Tournament#2010|2010]]) &ndash; with Koji Kanemoto<ref name=SuperJTag/>
*'''''[[Pro Wrestling Illustrated]]'''''
**Ranked No. 75 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the [[Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500|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)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=84896|title=SPWF event on December 17, 1994}}</ref>
*'''[[Universal Wrestling Association]]'''
**[[UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship]] ([[UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship#Title history|2 times]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/uwa-j.html|title=UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[UWA World Middleweight Championship]] ([[UWA World Middleweight Championship#Title history|1 time]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/uwa-m.html|title=UWA World Middleweight Championship history}}</ref>
**[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] ([[List of WWF Light Heavyweight Champions|2 times]])<sup>1</sup><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/uwa/wwf-lh.html|title=WWF Light Heavyweight Championship history}}</ref>
*'''[[WAR (wrestling promotion)|Wrestle Association "R"]]'''
**[[International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship|WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship]] ([[International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship#Title history|1 time]]) &ndash; with Jushin Thunder Liger<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/war/war-in-j-t.html|title=International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship history}}</ref>
*'''''[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter]]'''''
**[[Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Most Improved|Most Improved Wrestler]] (1992)

<sup>1</sup><small>No reign prior to December 1997 is officially recognized by [[WWE]].</small>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Professional wrestling profiles}}
* {{IMDb name|nm1688245}}

{{Navboxes|
|list1=
{{International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship}}
{{IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship}}
{{IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship}}
{{NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship}}
{{NWA World Welterweight Championship}}
{{UWA World Middleweight Championship}}
{{Super Jr. Tag Tournament}}
{{Best of the Super Juniors}}
{{WWF Light Heavyweight Championship}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samurai, El}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Japanese male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:People from Hanamaki, Iwate]]
[[Category:Martial artists from Iwate Prefecture]]
[[Category:Masked wrestlers]]
[[Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:21st-century male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions]]
[[Category:IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions]]
[[Category:NWA World Welterweight Champions]]
[[Category:British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:Tenryu Project International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions]]
[[Category:UWA World Middleweight Champions]]
[[Category:NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:J-Crown champions]]
[[Category:WWF Light Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:Best of the Super Juniors winners]]
[[Category:Super Junior Tag League winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Japanese sportsmen]]