Who is CIMA: An All Elite Wrestling primer
By Paul Bradley
You might not know it but CIMA is quite possibly the smartest businessman in the wrestling industry today.
CIMA should be no stranger to longtime indie wrestling fans, as he has made appearances in PWG, ROH and Chikara in the past and has been the longstanding ace of the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate.
CIMA made his debut in 1997 for his trainer Ultimo Dragon’s promotion Toryumon, and even made a few appearances in WCW in 1998. However, he is most well-known for his time in Dragon Gate, where he was a wrestler and trainer for years. Many modern wrestling stars, such as Ricochet and The Young Bucks, credit CIMA for their unique offense due to their time spent training with him.
But behind the scenes, CIMA has been making some moves in the past few years that could reshape the wrestling industry forever.
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In a shakeup of Dragon Gate in 2017, CIMA became the president of a subsidiary company of Dragon Gate called “Dragon Gate Inc.” that would embark on ventures outside of Japan, primarily in China.
OWE, Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, in China became the headquarters of CIMA and his Dragon Gate Inc. ventures, as he and two of his previous star students, Lindaman and T-Hawk, settled down in Shanghai.
CIMA then established the stable Strong Hearts, which was set to be an international group featuring the best of Dragon Gate and the OWE students. Since then, CIMA has cultivated and added several new members to Strong Hearts as he is directly involved with the OWE school, where he is the head trainer. CIMA has said he believes OWE is the future of the wrestling business, and it’s hard not to believe a man who first saw something in future stars like Ricochet and PAC.
CIMA looks to be dedicating all his time not with AEW to his touring and training with OWE going forward but don’t expect him and his students to not be as present in AEW as CIMA is eager to show off his new gems. He will be taking part in a six-man tag match, partnering Lindaman and T-Hawk against SCU (Scorpio Sky, Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels), at AEW’s Double or Nothing on May 25.
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Expect him to pull out all the stops as he brings his OWE aces to the United States to showcase their — and the company’s — skills.