Profilin': CIMA

Cima (pronounced Shima) made a name for himself in his native Japan, although he’s familiar to many North American fans as well.  A graduate of the Ultimo Dragon’s dojo, Chima wrestled briefly in WCW as Shiima Nobunaga.  In Japan, he’s a staple of the Dragon Gate promotion and has carried a long feud with fellow former WCW talent Magnum Tokyo.

Cima’s in-ring style has evolved over the years.  Initially, he was a high flyer, using a frog splash as his finisher and relying on high-risk maneuvers to please the crowd.  Due to persistent wear and tear on his body, however, Cima has since adopted a more technical approach, favoring grapples and submission moves.  His sitout powerbomb variation, known as the Crossfire, is his preferred method of victory, and he sometimes incorporates a straight jacket triangle choke into the move’s end to induce a submission.  Other high impact moves in his repertoire include a crucifix powerbomb, a pumphandle sidewalk slam, and the Schwein, an over the shoulder belly-to-back piledriver that he often uses as a finisher.  Like his incorporation of the triangle choke into his Crossfire, it isn’t uncommon for Cima to lead into a submission with his Schwein either, often a figure four leglock.

Cima has accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in Dragon Gate, holding the company’s top title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, a record two times.  He’s also held all of the promotion’s other four championships, making him one of Dragon Gates most celebrated athletes. 

Cima debuted for Ring of Honor in August of 2005, and within one year of his arrival in the company, he had earned victories over AJ Styles, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong.  Cima was part of an influx of Dragon Gate talent into the company, and in the spring of 2006, he would team with Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino against Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi in a match that would earn the Wrestling Observer’s rare 5-star rating.  His time in Ring of Honor was also marked by some time spent teaming with Shingo.  The duo fell short in their attempts to capture the Tag Team Titles, however Cima did score some impressive pinfalls as part of the team, notably over Delirious.

Cima has also competed in two of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles Tournaments.  In 2006, the Japanese star’s impressive performance carried him all the way to the finals of the event.  After defeating M-Dogg 20 (Tough Enough’s Matt Cross), Kevin Steen, and El Generico, Cima would fall to Davey Richards, the winner of the tournament.  In 2007, Cima returned to PWG for the next Battle of Los Angeles, this time successfully winning the whole thing.  His path to victory included wins over the Human Tornado, his parter Shingo, and Pac.  In the finals of the event, Cima was victorious over both Roderick Strong and El Generico.

In addition to Dragon Gate, Ring of Honor, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Cima has also made appearances for the Australasian Wrestling Federation and Hawaii’s Action Zone Wrestling.  Some other notable wins for Cima include ones over Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Akebono, and Dragon Kid.  Recently, Cima and his stable of Blood Warriors have turned heel and been terrorizing the Dragon Gate roster.  Naturally, he’s not someone on whose bad side you want to be.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8dfWnD5iDg]