Yu Iizuka

Yu Iizuka
Iizuka in January 2022
Personal information
Born (1996-10-11) 11 October 1996 (age 30)
Tokyo, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name
  • Yu Iizuka
Billed height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Billed weight75 kg (165 lb)
Trained byKazuhiro Tamura
Hiroshi Watanabe
Kiyoshi Tamura
Kaz Hayashi
Debut2016
Yu Iizuka
BornYu Iizuka
(1996-10-11) October 11, 1996 (age 30)
Tokyo, Japan
Native name飯塚優
NationalityJapanese
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb; 11.8 st)
DivisionLightweight
Fighting out of
Tokyo, Japan
TeamHeat Up
Years active2020–2022
Mixed martial arts record
Total4
Wins1
By knockout1
Losses3
By submission3

Yu Iizuka (飯塚優, Iizuka Yu) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist signed to the Japanese promotion Gleat. He is also known for his tenures with various promotions from the Japanese independent scene such as Pro Wrestling Heat Up.

Professional wrestling career

Japanese independent circuit (2016–present)

Iizuka made his professional wrestling debut in Pro Wrestling Heat Up at Dream-Up ~ Days Of Youth on July 21, 2016, where he fell short to one of his coaches Hiroshi Watanabe in singles competition. He spent roughly five years in the promotions and was active in various signature events such as the Burning King and Powerful Tag Tournaments. On December 24, 2020, the promotion officially announced that he would be leaving at the end of the year due to the expiration of his contract with the company. His last match took place at Heat Up Dentetsu on December 25, 2020, where he fell short to Tetsuya Izuchi.

Iizuka competed in the 2017 edition of Kaientai Dojo's K-METAL League, where he scored a total of two points in the only block after competing against Yuki Ueno, Kyu Mogami, Go Asakawa and Marines Mask. At Josh Barnett's Bloodsport: Bushido on June 22, 2024, Iizuka fell short to Fuminori Abe via submission.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2020–2023)

Iizuka sporadically competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling as a developmental talent. He made his debut in the promotion in the 2020 edition of the AJPW Junior Tag League where he teamed up with Tetsuya Izuchi and fell short to Evolution (Dan Tamura and Hikaru Sato) in the first rounds. One year later at the 2021 edition of the tournament, Iizuka teamed up with Atsuki Aoyagi and defeated Takayuki Ueki and Seigo Tachibana in the first rounds, only to fall short again to Sato and Tamura in the next stage.

Gleat (2021–present)

Iizuka made his debut in Gleat at GLEAT Ex⁠perimental Match 4th #2 on March 11, 2021, where he defeated Soma Watanabe in the semifinals of an UWF Rules tournament.

During his time with the promotion, he chased for various accomplishments. He competed in the inaugural tournament of the G-Rex Championship in which he defeated Kaz Hayashi in the first rounds, then fell short to Hayato Tamura in the second. Iizuka also competed in the inaugural tournament of the Lidet UWF World Championship in which he defeated Minoru Tanaka in the first rounds, then fell short to Takanori Ito in the second rounds at G Prowrestling Ver.49 on April 12, 2023. At G Prowrestling Ver.33 on September 10, 2022, he teamed up with Soma Watanabe to unsuccessfully challenge Voodoo Murders (Minoru and Toshizo) for the All Asia Tag Team Championship. At G Prowrestling Ver.63 on November 3, 2023, Iizuka teamed up with Tetsuya Izuchi and fell short to Bulk Orchestra (Kazma Sakamoto and Quiet Storm in a number one contendership tournament for the G-Infinity Championship.

Championships and accomplishments

Grappling

Submission grappling record

On September 21st, he entered the "5th THE NEXT CONTENDERS tournament" held at NicoPro presents Hard Hit "Tokyo Grappling March". In the first round, he defeated Tatsuya Hanami of K-DOJO (armbar), and in the second round, he defeated Tomoya Omura of Toshin (headscissors armlock) to advance to the final. His main rival in the final was Tetsuya Izuchi, a junior from the same gym (Pro Wrestling HEAT-UP) with whom he had a bonding since his days at Animal Hamaguchi's Gym. Immediately after the gong for the final match rang, he countered Ido's tackle with a front choke, winning the tournament in a lightning-fast 42 seconds.

On September 22, 2019, at Masamune's independent show "Purple Beard One Eye," he was challenged by the show's producer, Masamune, to a singles match. He lost in 16 minutes and 16 seconds by a figure-four leglock. As a prize for winning the 5th THE NEXT CONTENDERS tournament, he requested a match against Mitsuya Nagai, a former member of RINGS Japan, an organization he admired. The match took place at the December 30 tournament, but he was soundly defeated in 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

References

  1. ↑ Saalbach, Axel. "Yu Iizuka • General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Yu Iizuka/Career Data". cagematch.de (in German). Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Fighters/Yu Iizuka". tapology.com. Tapology. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  4. ↑ Internet Wrestling Database (IWD). "Yu Iizuka Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (21 July 2016). "HEAT UP Dream-Up 2016 ~ Days Of Youth". cagematch.net. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Dark Angelita (10 May 2017). "K-Dojo: Resultados «GWSP 7 Final» 06 y 07/05/2017 – GO Asakawa se lleva el torneo K-Metal League". Superluchas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Knipper, Justin (21 June 2024). "Bloodsport Bushido live results: Josh Barnett vs. Jon Moxley". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Dark Angelita (14 January 2021). "AJPW / Hikaru Sato Produces: «Jr. Tag Battle of Glory 2020 »". Superluchas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "2021 Jr. TAG BATTLE OF GLORY TOURNAMENT". Weekly Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Baseball Magazine Sha. 26 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (11 March 2021). "GLEAT Experimental Match 4th #2". cagematch.net. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  11. ↑ 【GLEAT】団体初のベルトをかけた”G-REX”初代王者決定トーナメントを開催！. Proresu Today (in Japanese). 19 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  12. ↑ G PROWRESTLING Ver.49 -Invader(侵略者)-. ent.lidet.co.jp (in Japanese). Lidet Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "G PROWRESTLING Ver.33". ent.lidet.co.jp (in Japanese). Lidet Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "G PROWRESTLING Ver.63 -BURN YOUR HEART-". ent.lidet.co.jp (in Japanese). Lidet Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  15. ↑ ニコプロpresentsハードヒット「東京組技行進曲」. ハードヒット オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). 21 September 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  16. ↑ ニコプロpresentsハードヒット「月になる男達2019」. ハードヒット オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). 30 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.