Tristian Thai, known by the ring names Tristen Thai and Ikuro Kwon, is a South Korean-born American professional wrestler. He currently works for Major League Wrestling (MLW) under the ring name Ikuro Kwon, where he is a member of Contra Unit and is one-half of the current MLW World Tag Team Champions, with Minoru Suzuki. He also makes appearances in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) due to the organizations' partnership with MLW.
| Ikuro Kwon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Seoul, South Korea |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
|
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Billed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Trained by |
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| Debut | September 9, 2017 |
Professional wrestling career
American independent circuit (2017–present)
Thai began his wrestling career in September 2017. He also wrestled in CZW from 2018 to 2019.[1] It was around this time that he formed a tag team with Gabriel Skye dubbed Above the Rest. They went on to win the Remarkable Tag Team Championship in November 2023.[1]
Major League Wrestling (2019–2022)
Kwon was introduced by Contra Unit as their fourth member on the August 3 episode of Fusion, who spit mist into Marshall Von Erich's eyes.[2] He took part in the titular match at War Chamber, where his stable would lose to Low Ki, Tom Lawlor and Marshall and Ross Von Erich to settle the rivalry.[3][4] Kwon then took part in Contra Unit's feud with Salina de la Renta's stable Promociones Dorado and later The Hart Foundation.[5][6] He remained with the stable until it the latter would seemingly dissolve at War Chamber after losing the titular match to the Hammerheads.[7] This was also heavily implied to be the case by MLW's YouTube channel,[8] which stated Kwon had renounced Contra and left. This would be ignored, however in future episodes of Fusion, which would have Kwon providing backup for Krügger, both men having Contra logos in their entrance videos and commentators referring to Contra in the present tense along with referencing Krügger and Kwon looking for new members.[9]
Return to MLW (2024–present)
At War Chamber on March 29, 2024, Kwon returned to MLW and assisted Contra Unit in attacking The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice and 1 Called Manders) and CozyMax (Shigeo Okumura and Satoshi Kojima).[10] On June 1, 2024, at Battle Riot VI, Suzuki joined the Contra Unit teaming with Mads Krule Krügger and Kwon to defeat Kojima, Matt Riddle, and Akira in a six-man tag team match.[11] Suzuki and Kwon would then defeat CozyMax to win the MLW World Tag Team Championships at Summer of the Beasts on August 29.[12]
Championships and accomplishments
- Major League Wrestling
- Remarkable Wrestling
- Remarkable Riot Championship (2 times)
- Remarkable Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gabriel Skye
References
- ^ a b Gray, Will (June 20, 2024). "Indie Watch: "The Concrete Dragon" Tristen Thai". Last Word on Sports.
- ^ "FUSION RECAP: DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. & TIMOTHY THATCHER SHOW US THE 'SWEET SCIENCE'". Major League Wrestling. August 3, 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ "LOW KI SET AS 4TH MAN ON VON ERICH/LAWLOR TEAM FOR WAR CHAMBER THIS SATURDAY IN DALLAS". Major League Wrestling. September 3, 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Jain Oliver (September 15, 2019). "MLW FUSION RESULTS: WAR CHAMBER 2019". F4W Online. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ "LA Park cashing in to fight Jacob Fatu in title bout at MLW's first PPV". Cageside Seats. September 8, 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ Jason Powell (November 11, 2019). "Powell's MLW Fusion TV Review: Teddy Hart vs. Myron Reed for the MLW Middleweight Championship, Low Ki vs. Timothy Thatcher, King Mo's press conference". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ Haulotte, Kellie (November 6, 2021). "** SPOILERS ** MLW War Chamber Taping". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "Exclusive on CONTRA's whereabouts". YouTube. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ "MLW Fusion Episode 139". YouTube. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (March 29, 2024). "MLW War Chamber 2024 Results (3/29/24): Matt Riddle, War Chamber Match, More". Wrestlezone. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ^ Vetter, Chris (August 11, 2024). "MLW "Never Say Never" results (8/10): Vetter's review of Satoshi Kojima, Matt Riddle, Akira vs. Mads Krugger, Ikuro Kwon, and Minoru Suzuki, Paul Walter Hauser vs. Tom Lawlor in an MMA Cage match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ Vetter, Chris (August 29, 2024). "MLW "Summer of the Beasts" results (8/29): Vetter's review of Místico vs. Atlantis Jr., Kenta vs. Akira, Tom Lawlor vs. TJP, and Alex Kane vs. Tito Escondido in Opera Cup tournament quarterfinal matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
External links
- Ikuro Kwon's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database