- "Whatever it is, I'll do it."
Masayuki Naruse (born March 15, 1973) is a Japanese former Professional Wrestler and Mixed Martial Arts fighter. A highschool Shotokan karateka, Naruse joined Akira Maeda's Fighting Network RINGS and soon was one of the promotion's most energectic rookies. Although he lacked talent as a MMA fighter and was often forced to make up for it with sheer chutzpah, he did prove to be a skilled pro wrestler, and with RINGS on the verge of dying, he left for greener pastures in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Naruse became New Japan's consultant fighting expert, engaging other shooters in feuds of all kinds and helping with their possible MMA ventures, until a series of injuries and bad luck strikes ended his momentum in 2005. Naruse left then the promotion and effectively retired from competition, wandering among gyms and dojos until opening his own, REZAEV Ogikubo.
"Ultra Tropes":
- A Day In The Lime Light:
- Won an eight man tournament to become the first RINGS Little Heavyweight Champion.
- His debut in NJPW was this in all senses: in his very first match, he took the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Minoru Tanaka, only to lose it miserably to Tokimitsu Ishizawa three months later.
- The Apprentice: To Akira Maeda.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: At the end of his career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he developed an attitude problem and on one occasion broke Yujiro's jaw.
- Barbarian Long Hair: Which got him the nickname "Berserker", after the character from Fate/stay night.
- Bash Brothers: With Minoru Tanaka and Masahito Kakihara (both as tag teams and as a trio) and later with Mitsuya Nagai (who coincidentally had also been a partner to Kakihara in AJPW).
- Challenge Seeker: He challenged Seidokaikan karateka and K-1 fighter Nobuaki Kakuda to a fight, but it didn't take place.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Mostly wore blue in his early days in RINGS, then he switched to black with with white streaks. Later got blue again in NJPW.
- Cool Teacher: Is now a personal trainer and has his own gym. He was also a MMA trainer for the New Japan Dojo and cornered their wrestlers in MMA fights.
- David Versus Goliath:
- His MMA fight with Jan "The Giant" Nortje, who towered over him and outweighed him by 50kg, which he won by rear naked choke.
- In New Japan at 5’8, 193 lbs., Naruse was a IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion who often mixed it up with people twice his size.
- Defeat Means Respect:
- He and Minoru Tanaka gained each other's respect after Naruse defeated him, so they became a tag team afterwards.
- Also happened when Naruse wrestled with Mitsuya Nagai to a draw, although this time the respect was substantially one-sided and Nagai ended up betraying him.
- Fearless Fool: He was one of the worst mixed martial artists in the native team of RINGS (along with Yoshihisa Yamamoto, though Yoshihisa had the excuse of fighting some of the best ever and being lazy as hell), but as the quote above says, he gladly threw himself to any opponent they wanted to put against him.
- Finishing Move: Crazy Cyclone (spinning backfist), Naruse Lock (arm trap crossface from guard) and Kopylov Clutch (kneebar, learned from Andrei Kopylov).
- The Heart: Charismatic and brave, a symbol of RINGS undercard.
- Hidden Depths: Although he was never a great MMA fighter, he knew a lot about the sport and was reportedly a great coach and training partner, even being involved in the creation of the rules for New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Ultimate Crush event. This is also why he works as a trainer nowadays.
- History Repeats: In early 1997, he suffered a situation with Valentijn Overeem oddly similar to that of Kiyoshi Tamura: was destroyed in a shoot fight with him and had to beat him in a worked rematch to rebuild his aura.
- I Know Karate: A black belt from the Shotokan school. Also trained shoot wrestling under Akira Maeda.
- Kick the Dog: Brutally attacked Yujiro and almost Osamu Nishimura to prove Riki Choshu that he wanted to stay in New Japan. Ironically, he ended leaving anyway.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Unusually long hair? Check. Good looks? Check. Style? Check.
- Morality Pet: Mitsuya Nagai in New Japan. Naruse had wanted to pull him out from the evil Black New Japan army, but when he failed in this purpose (Nagai turned on him and left NJPW shortly after), Naruse became the arrogant fighter he would come to be known as.
- Nice Guy: Even after Egan Inoue disqualified himself in order to beat down Naruse as a revenge to a fortuitous eye gouge, Naruse still tried to plead reason with him. Later also tried to keep Mitsuya Nagai in the babyface side even although it was clear Nagai didn't like him too much.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: A small but valiant guy. His height was actually lower than the required height when Akira Maeda was first recruiting for RINGS, but he was exempted from that requirement and passed the test as his fighting spirit was recognized.
- Red Baron: "Ultra Soul", "Kyosenshi" ("Berserker", literally "Mad Soldier"), "Jiyujin" ("The Free Man"), "Jikken Rīgu Otoko" ("Experimental League Man", due to his participation in the RINGS Experimental Leagues), "Phantom".
- Running Gag: In RINGS, he had an unfortunate tendency to get tossed out of the ring by some of his opponents, examples include Willie Williams, Herman Renting and even Volk Han.
- Spectacular Spinning: He loved the spinning backfist and used it whenever he could (and, in case of shoot fights, even whenever he could not).
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: He was the wise guy to Ryogaku Wada (former UWF-i referee)'s straight man during the press conference in which they explained together the ruleset of NJPW Ultimate Crash.
- The Un-Favourite: He was pushed at the end of RINGS because he had charisma and good working skills, which the promotion needed in its final years, but before that the stardom had been kept away from Naruse for years, especially due to his little success in legit shoots.
- Ur-Example: The first RINGS Light Heavyweight Champion.
- The Worf Effect: Lost to Tokimitsu Ishizawa in half a minute. Later did the same to Tadao Yasuda, though.
