Makoto Saito

Makoto Saito, better known by his stage name K-Ness (born April 14, 1974 in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler for Dragon Gate. He was previously a part of the faction Final M2K.

Early years
He debuted in Michinoku Pro around the same time as Gamma, and then went on to wrestle on the Japanese indy circuit.

Toryumon
He joined Toryumon in 1999 as MAKOTO, with a vampire/gothic style gimmick. As MAKOTO he was a member of the legendary Crazy Max stable. However, he did not get along with TARU, and eventually was kicked out of the stable after losing to TARU in a loser leaves match.

He returned to Toryumon as Darkness Dragon, a takeoff on the Ultimo Dragon lineage, joining heel stable M2K. With the help of his stablemates he became a main event performer. He had a bitter feud with Dragon Kid that ended in 2002 with DKid winning the feud after winning a best of 3 falls mask vs mask match. Darkness Dragon unmasked and briefly went face, forming a face stable called DoFIXER with DKid and Ryo Saito. His face turn, however, was a ruse designed to cause dissention between the faces. He would soon turn heel again, joining the remnants of M2K and revealing that they were the real DoFIXER. He remasked and reinvented himself as K-Ness, and engage in a major feud and rivalry with YOSSINO.

In November 2003 he suffered a major shoulder injury which caused him to miss out on the majority of 2004, and the switch from Toryumon to Dragon Gate.

Dragon Gate
By the time K-Ness returned, Ultimo Dragon had left the promotion and taken the Toryumon trademark with him.

On returning, K-Ness re-united members from the various M2K factions that had split up over the past few years and created Final M2K. He had a relatively quiet 2005. He faced long term rival YOSSINO for the Open the Brave Gate title, but was defeated.

In 2006, he spent a lot of time on the shelf again, recovering from nagging injuries. When he returned at the end of the year, he was no longer himself in terms of his health, and began to wrestle in the opening matches on Dragon Gate cards to reduce the possibility of re-injuring himself. He now holds an office position as field manager and booker.

In late 2007 he began to take matches in the upper card again. Teaming with Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii, he ended up with a reign as one third of the Open the Triangle Gate champions. After dropping the titles, K-Ness primarily returned to his background role. He is still allied with the "Over 30" team of Mochi, Fuji and Magnitude Kishiwada, and occasionally takes upper card matches with them.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Darkness Buster (Cross-armed scoop brainbuster)
 * Darkness Dragon Driver (Cross-armed sitout powerbomb)
 * Darkness Bottom (Standing side slam)
 * Aoki Hikari (Armlock camel clutch / Crossface combination)
 * Shouryuukyaku (Jumping high-angle leg lariat into a pin)


 * Signature moves
 * Kaishaku (Gamengiri to a seated opponent)
 * Judah (Modified over the shoulder single leg Boston crab, as a counter to Dragon Kid's Christo)
 * Sol Noches El (Inverted scissored armbar as a counter to Masato Yoshino's Sol Naciente)
 * Multiple pinfall variations
 * Inside cradle
 * Schoolboy
 * Cradle
 * Running crucifix
 * STF / Armbar combination, as a counter to a hurricanrana
 * Rope hung dragon sleeper
 * Brainbuster
 * Enzuigiri

Factions

 * Crazy MAX (1999-2000)
 * M2K (2000-2002)
 * Do FIXER (2002-2004)
 * Final M2K (2004-2006)

Championships and accomplishments

 * Dragon Gate
 * Open The Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – with Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii


 * Toryumon Japan
 * NWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time)
 * UWA World Trios Championship (2 times) – with Susumu Mochizuki & Hiroyuki Kanda, with Masaaki Mochizuki & Susumu Mochizuki