Rionne McAvoy (July 2, 1986) is an Australian professional wrestler of English and Irish descent, who works under the ring name Rionne Fujiwara.
Professional wrestling career[]
At the end of 2011, a chance meeting with then Smash wrestler Akira Nogami convinced him that his future lay in pro wrestling. When Smash closed its doors in January 2012, McAvoy joined the Wrestling New Classic (WNC) dojo in April of that year. Wrestling New Classic was operated by former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Yoshihiro Tajiri, one of McAvoy's trainers, and closed its doors on June 26, 2014. McAvoy signed with Wrestle-1 on July 1, 2014.
Wrestling New Classic (WNC) (2013-2014)[]
McAvoy debuted on 28 February 2013 and adopted the Koji Clutch as his finish, later tweaking it and renaming it the "Rionne Clutch".
At the 29 August Shinjuku Face event, Rionne defeated Jiro Kuroshio with a Crossface Chickenwing. He announced straight after the match that he wanted to wrestle the legendary Yoshiaki Fujiwara at WNC's 31 October Korakuen Hall event. After losing to Fujiwara, McAvoy was given the new ring name Rionne Fujiwara as he was accepted as the latest recruit to the Fujiwara Gumi (group).
Squared Circle Wrestling (2014)[]
Fujiwara made his North American debut for Syracuse, New York–based Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) on April 18, 2014, taking on Jay Freddie in Watertown, New York. The following night, April 19, Rionne wrestled former WWE superstar Matt Hardy.
Wrestle-1 (2014)[]
On June 18, 2014, Tajiri held a press conference with Keiji Mutoh, where he announced that WNC would be going inactive following the June 26 show, and that Rionne and 4 other wrestlers would transfer over to Mutoh's Wrestle-1 promotion. WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Face.
Fujiwara made his Wrestle-1 debut on July 21, 2014, teaming with ex-WNC wrestlers Koji Doi, Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio to defeat Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba & Hiroki Murase in a 6 Man Tag Match. The following month, McAvoy came together with three other former WNC wrestlers; Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Yusuke Kodama, to form the Novus stable.
On September 22, the Novus stable (Jiro Kuroshio, Koji Doi and Fujiwara) teamed with the legendary Keiji Mutoh, facing the Desperado stable (Kono, Kazma Sakamoto and Ryoji Sai).
After Novus disbanded in December 2014, McAvoy briefly teamed with Ryota Hama but the tag team was broken up after only two matches.
In late February 2015, McAvoy was one of several wrestlers who voiced their support for a cruiser weight division in Wrestle-1.
On March 9, 2015, Wrestle-1 officially announced an eight-man single-elimination tournament that would culminate on May 5 with the crowning of the first champion. McAvoy lost to Hiroshi Yamato in the first round. The championship belt was officially unveiled on March 31 at a press conference, where all participants in the tournament underwent and passed a weigh-in. On May 5, Minoru Tanaka defeated Kaz Hayashi in the finals of the tournament to become the inaugural Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champion.
On June 26, 2014 Fujiwara announced that he was leaving the Wrestle-1 promotion and wrestled his last match on that day. He continues to work on the Japanese independent scene.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Rolling Cutter (Rolling cutter)
- Fujiwara armbar
- Signature moves
- Bulldog
- Crossface chickenwing
- Running dropkick from the floor to a rope hung opponent
- Multiple kick variations
- Arm wrench hook
- Roundhouse
- Nidan Geri (Bicycle kick)
- Scissors
- Shoot
- Step-up high knee
- Suicide dive
- Vertical suplex
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Pacific Pro Wrestling
- PPW Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
External links[]
Profile- Rionne Fujiwara on Twitter
