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Every promotion needs a wrestler who can stir things up. As beautiful as matches between friends might be, what ultimately drives much of pro wrestling is conflict, of ideals, of emotions, within relationships. Competitors who cause that conflict, who stand out, who reject the status quo are a vital part of any good wrestling company. Within the Lucha Libre-inspired Japanese promotion DRAGONGATE, the wrestler who embodies that role more than any other is Shun Skywalker.
In the past, many fans had described him as a real-life superhero, with an unimpeachable moral code and ring gear reminiscent of Super Sentai costumes and Saturday-morning cartoons. Having won DRAGONGATE’s top title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, at only 24 years old, and surrounded by his ambitious and visually striking faction MASQUERADE, Skywalker seemed poised to lead DRAGONGATE into the future.
However, in the latter half of 2021, all of that fell apart. Long-time DRAGONGATE ace YAMATO took back the Dream Gate and MASQUERADE had to disband due to infighting following a controversial mask vs mask match. Refusing any blame for the situation, Skywalker instead found new friends in the ruthless and mischievous young faction Z-Brats.
The longer he stayed with them, the more his beliefs changed. Rather than leading DRAGONGATE by example, he now espoused the idea that it should be dragged forward by force, that all weakness should be eliminated from the roster. This attitude put him at odds with many of his peers.
Dissatisfied with what he views as a lack of both strength and understanding in his home promotion, Skywalker has been setting his sights on challenges overseas. Most recently, he was announced for his first match in England, a singles bout against DRAGONGATE legend Dragon Kid, as well as another UK match against current Open the Dream Gate champion Madoka Kikuta. These matches will represent DRAGONGATE’s return to the island after more than a decade of absence, and Skywalker’s presence in both of them speaks to his importance in the promotion.
Ahead of this special occasion, Five Star Network’s Kay Quinn had the opportunity to interview Shun Skywalker about a wide variety of topics, including his overseas opponents, his past and current factions, and his beliefs about strength and heroism.
Here is what he had to say:
On January 13th, you will be facing Dragon Kid, who you named as your most admired wrestler in the 2022 Happy Gate Roster Q&A. How do you feel going into that match?
I said that? Certainly, I think that Dragon Kid used to be a professional wrestler [in the very sense of the word], but seeing him fight without any belligerence these past few years just makes me lament the passage of time. And I think in the UK he’s hailed as one of the legends of wrestling. I’m looking forward to our match in the sense that I’ll be able to show people the truth, shatter [the idea of] his past glory.
Your opponent for Kingdom Royale on January 20th, meanwhile, will be Madoka Kikuta, who took the Dream Gate championship from you. How are you planning to defeat him?
I think that Kikuta, our current Dream Gate champion, is the strongest wrestler in DRAGONGATE, yours truly excluded. It seems it will be much more enjoyable for me to wrestle [him] than the remainder of DRAGONGATE. I don’t think I need to mention who’s going to win the match.
In addition to the UK, you have also been on several excursions to America and Mexico. Which wrestlers were your favourite opponents there?
Someone who comes to mind immediately is Mike Bailey, I think. We’ve had two singles matches, and he’s defeated me both times. I’m surprised he got me twice by sheer accident, and I genuinely can respect him. I feel absolutely confident, having gotten my hands on him now, that I’m better than him. I love wrestling him and I enjoy our fights, but what I’m looking for before anything else is achieving results.
Perhaps the most well-known international wrestler you’ve talked about wanting to face is Kenny Omega. Why do you want to fight him?
I’ve never come into physical contact with him, but I feel an overwhelming power and terror emanating from him when he stands in the ring. That’s the only reason. It’s not a dream, it’s not admiration, it’s the desire to experience that power for myself firsthand.
What do you want international fans to take away from seeing your matches?
I want them to feel that in the ring, I embody pro wrestling. Don’t you think it’s a wonderful gift to be able to witness “pro wrestling” with your own eyes for the first time?
You often dress like a superhero and have previously referred to yourself as an “ally of mankind”. What does being a hero mean to you?
I’m not sure what this question means, but I am an ally of mankind. I’m an ally of beautiful humanity: I fight, putting my life on the line, laying bare every last bit [of myself] without any lies or falsehoods. That’s the very reason I’m prepared to fight in order to purge the evil that [plagues] mankind.
Weakness is something that you describe as a grave sin. What makes it a sin and what do you consider appropriate punishment or penance?
When the word “weakness” refers to an internalised stupidity, that is when the equation “weakness = sin” purports to be true. Everyone has different abilities, and there are circumstances we cannot choose, like our birth or how we grow up. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil when it comes to this. What I’m talking about are the conclusions and choices of the foolish. The most easily understandable way to put it is: It’s people who have neither the attitude nor the talent to get into a pro wrestling ring standing in [said] ring and calling themselves wrestlers.
You refer to some of your fellow DRAGONGATE wrestlers as being “yours”. How do you determine if someone is “yours” and what does it mean to you?
That’s very simple. What is mine is whatever I have ownership over. And likewise, what I don’t have ownership over is either someone else’s, or public property or some such thing.
The first instance of you referring to someone in that way was towards Jason Lee in March of 2022. When did you first come to the conclusion that Lee was “yours”? Did the way you see him change over time, or did you always think of him like that?
Hm, when I first became aware that I’m his owner? That’s a very interesting question to me. It’s the same as asking a single mother, “When did you first know that your son is your child?” She might tell you that she had a miraculous feeling the moment he was born, and that she began being aware of the fact that this was her child about a month after his birth, [or] she might judge you a little bit: “That’s a weird question, obviously he was my child from the moment he was born.” Maybe there are also people who would say: “I’ve wanted children since I was in elementary school, and now I’ve finally been blessed with one. I’ve waited 20 years for this child.” So the short of it is, there was no starting point of my ownership. There’s no beginning, and no end. Jason is forever mine.
During DRAGONGATE house shows, you occasionally ask children in the audience if they want to come with you. Why is that?
I sometimes escort them [away]. And that is after my matches. Once Shun Skywalker’s matches are over, is that any way for [the children] to live, to see [what happens then]? They, who carry such great hopes and bright futures with them? No, it’s not. That’s the reason [I take them with me].
In your Weekly Pro Wrestling Column on June 28th 2023, you stated that you had not been defeated in DG singles competition since August 2021. However, both DRAGONGATE and external aggregator sites report you as losing to Yuki Yoshioka on June 2nd 2022, Kzy on December 16th 2022, and Madoka Kikuta on May 5th 2023. How would you explain that contradiction?
(no comment)
In that same column, you expressed your wish to someday be surpassed by someone in DRAGONGATE. Which members of the roster do you consider to have the highest chances of filling that role in the future?
It has to be Madoka Kikuta. He’s absurdly good. That’s a fact. I can’t imagine him going so far as surpassing me, but if I’m not the only one who can make the unthinkable happen, then that would make the world so much more interesting. I have my expectations for him, in that sense.
You’re currently a member of the faction Z-Brats. How did you come up with the name and how does it represent you as a group?
Frankly, we’re not too picky about the stable name or logo or anything like that. [That name and logo] were devised around Hulk and H・Y・O. We think that the raison d’être of our stable will be defined together with the path [each of the members] takes. After Hulk’s fall from grace, we did change the logo, but we didn’t change the name Z-Brats. We’re not too hung up on the name [either way]. It’s not the name but the trajectories [of the members] that’s important. Z-Brats is Z-Brats because we didn’t get through to Hulk, and our noble [character] that made us want to throw H・Y・O out is also [what makes] Z-Brats Z-Brats.
Due to several departures, Z-Brats only has four members at the moment. Is there anyone you have your eyes on in terms of recruitment? What are the necessary criteria for joining your faction?
(Note: Questions were written in October 2023)
We’ve bolstered our ranks with Yoshiki Kato as a fresh asset. It wasn’t an invitation [on our part], it was his own choice.
One of those departures was your former tag team partner, Luis Mante (fka Diamante), who you will be facing in a 4-on-1 match in November. What do you think of Mante’s new self?
Isn’t he still making his entrance with his mask, even now? Has he forgotten the defeat he suffered and the sin [he committed] in the steel cage?
Before Z-Brats, you led the memorable but rather short-lived Masquerade. In retrospect, what did the faction mean to you?
MASQUERADE is my light. It’s the light that shines at my feet in the darkness, the light that shows me the way when I’m lost in a maze, the light that creates the shadow I see when I turn around. MASQUERADE is eternal and immortal.
You’ve stated that the other members were what caused Masquerade to implode. In what ways do you consider each of them responsible?
Are you intentionally asking stupid questions? Dia lost his step, Minoura stopped believing in our camaraderie, Jason wasn’t doing anything at all and La Estrella seemed to just play around with the cats in the dojo all day instead of wrestling matches. I was the only one running around trying to work with everyone in order to protect MASQUERADE.
The other members see your choice to sacrifice Dragon Dia during your mask vs mask tag match against Diamante and Dia Inferno as the reason for Masquerade’s destruction. How did you feel about that decision just after you had made it and how do you feel about it now?
(Note: In translation, “that decision” was changed to “your betrayal” due to a miscommunication of intent on the part of the interviewer. Our deepest apologies to Shun Skywalker.)
“Betrayed” is quite the inappropriate word, and it’s an affront to use it for us. We put our lives on the line in the ring, [because] our masks are our lives. Please apologise. If you consider the strengths of each of the four people [in the ring] at the time, then Diamante and I were evenly matched in our competition, and Dragon Dia and Dia Inferno were fighting on a lower level than us. If you look at it like that, then I think it wasn’t about one team losing a tag match, it was about a single loser being stripped of his mask, and it was either [going to be] Dia’s loss or Inferno’s loss, one of the two. As his friend, I helped [Dia] as best as I could, but the fight I was truly focused on, against Diamante, was also brutal, and I couldn’t prevent Dia from [being pinned]. At the time, I was irritated – I felt frustrated at the loss and sorry that I couldn’t secure the victory as his [tag] partner, but when I thought about his disappearance after that, I [thought] that his mentality in the ring had given birth to his weakness. In the end, him running away like that was the trigger for the collapse of MASQUERADE.
That was not the only sacrifice you have made to protect your mask in recent years. What does your mask mean to you? What would losing it mean?
My mask is me. There’s no Shun Skywalker without the mask, and Shun Skywalker is the mask. The reason I didn’t lose the second match with my mask on the line is of course because of my prowess, but I think another main factor is that [the mask] is me. Look at Dragon Dia, at Yuki Yoshioka, at Luis Mante, who all lost their masks. They’re walking a new path in their life as wrestlers. I have no such path. There’s nothing to be sad about.
Looking back at your career so far, is there anything you would do differently if you could?
There isn’t. I think it’s all part of life, including the things I regret. I’m proud of the choices I’ve made in the past and how I’ve lived my life, even if I were to lose said life one day because of how I’ve lived. But there are moments when I imagine what it would be like if I hadn’t chosen this life, what it would be like to spend my days living a peaceful, quiet life with a partner and children of my own.
What are your goals going forward?
I will continue being who I am. The time we have as humans is too short for that. [So] I’ll double-time it. Can you keep up?
Our deepest gratitude to Shun Skywalker (@ssw_skywalk), for taking the time to answer our questions. We would once more like to apologize to him for the miscommunication during translation. We are also very grateful to Ho Ho Lun (@hoholun719), for his help in arranging this interview.
All translation for this interview was handled by Joe (@thefeelite). Our thanks to him for his excellent work and his patience, as well as his further help with making this article accessible and approachable for Japanese readers. The Japanese introduction to this article, while somewhat based on the English one, was written by him.
You can follow Shun Skywalker’s work on DRAGONGATE Network. Tickets for his upcoming UK matches are available on British Kingdom Pro Wrestling’s website.
New fans interested in learning more may also want to have a look at our Shun Skywalker match recommendations, or our beginner-friendly feature on the cage match mentioned in this interview .