Autographed by the boys themselves.
Jado & Gedo (邪道&外道, Jadō & Gedō) are a Japanese puroresu Tag Team consisting of Jado (邪道) (born Shoji Akiyoshi [秋吉 昭二, Akiyoshi Shōji] on September 28, 1968) and Gedo (外道) (born Keiji Takayama [高山 圭司, Takayama Keiji] on February 1, 1969), best known for their ongoing 20-plus-year run with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as one of its premier junior heavyweight tag teams and, eventually, the company's head bookers.
Akiyoshi and Takayama first competed for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under their real names, before debuting as a tag team going by Punish & Crush as part of NJPW's Rock 'n Wrestling parody, Takeshi Puroresu Gundan (TPG). While this run was short-lived, the two left NJPW as a prominent tag team, getting booked in numerous other promotions over the next decade. This would include branches of the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), Wrestling Association R (WAR), Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING, where they became Jado and Gedo), and an extended run with FMW as part of the Power Stable Team No Respect.
Returning to NJPW in 2001 as credible wrestlers, the two became mainstays in its junior heavyweight division early on, before eventually earning the position of head bookers following the exodus of Antonio Inoki from the promotion. Since then Jado and Gedo have been known for their association with several stables. From 2015 to 2017, the two also appeared in Pro Wrestling NOAH as part of a brief working relationship between NJPW and NOAH; Jado was the more involved of the two in that regard, as he became the head booker of NOAH during this time, leaving most of NJPW's booking to Gedo.
Jado and Gedo have collected many tag team championships together, being one of the most accomplished puroresu tag teams of their era. This includes NJPW's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (4x), the UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (2x), NOAH's GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (5x with Hiromichi Fuyuki as part of Fuyuki-gun, including the inaugural title reign), and FMW's WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship (4x with various partners from Team No Respect).
As part of the excommunication of the Guerrillas of Destiny from the Bullet Club, Jado, who sided with G.o.D., was also personally evicted by Gedo, ending their partnership after 33 years.
"Whassup tropes!":
- Alternate Company Equivalent: During his time booking NOAH, Jado became Captain NOAH, a Goofy Suit Masked Luchador played for Plucky Comic Relief similar to NJPW's preexisting Captain New Japan.
- Author Appeal: Factions. Their biggest success just prior to their big NJPW run was as part of Team No Respect, so naturally it follows that their booking would center around factions. For themselves personally, the most famous example would be their runs in CHAOS and Bullet Club. For NJPW overall, an organized Mob War has been booked to envelop the roster since 2013 with no signs of stopping.
- The Chessmaster: Co-head bookers of NJPW for pretty much the entire post-Antonio Inoki era, and were jointly named "Bookers of the Year" by the The Wrestling Observer Newsletter for four consecutive years (2011–2014), with Gedo later winning that award by himself four straight times (2016–2019). Jado also spent some time as the head booker of NOAH during the two companies' alliance.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: Gedo's preferred look through most of his time in CHAOS included bandanas large enough to cover his eyes.
- Broken Pedestal: Their Bullet Club Face–Heel Turn comes years after being regarded as the two veteran keepers of CHAOS, what with Gedo being The Mentor and Mouth of Sauron behind Kazuchika Okada's rise to superstardom and Jado maintaining his respect among the other members. Naturally, CHAOS hates them moreso than their charges; Okada in particular can't resist a chance to punch Gedo.
- Guest Fighter: Fuyuki-gun started their 1997 FMW run as guests from WAR.
- Evil Mentor:
- Gedo has been this to Kazuchika Okada and Jay White; the "evil" part would eventually be dropped from the former before he betrayed him for latter.
- Jado became this to the Guerrillas of Destiny; this one was sort of a Master-Apprentice Chain, as G.O.D.'s father King Haku had helped them in their earlier years.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Nearly their entire careers have been associated with each other, as tag team partners and/or stablemates in various groups. Gedo even made a point of this as part of his identity when explaining the difference between the relationship of character and skill in Japan versus the United States.Gedo: WWE has characters, and it's not that big a deal. You need characters that people can understand and like, but that's not as important as skill. Characters are different in the United States than they are in Japan. Skill and fighting spirit are most important, much more than character, in Japan. Ultimately, my most important thing is my partner, Jado. I choose to stay with my partner.
- I Have Many Names: Their team has also been known as Punish & Crush (their initial ring names) and The World Class Tag Team (a moniker they bestowed themselves during their time with CHAOS).
- Gedo/Keiji Takayama has also wrestled as Black Eyed Man, Black Wolf, Bulldog K.T., Crush, CTU KISS-GESS, and Masked CTU-G.
- Jado/Shoji Akiyoshi has also wrestled as Boat People Joe, Captain NOAH, Coolie SZ, Punish, CTU KISS-JISS, and Masked CTU-J.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Jado as Captain NOAH.
- Power Stable: Team No Respect, Control Terrorism Unit, Great Bash Heel, CHAOS, Bullet Club.
- Red Baron:
- Jado has been called "Wrestling Master", "Master Heater", "Crash" as Coolie SZ, and for some reason "Stan".
- Gedo has been called "Super Fly", "Complete Fighter", "Raintaker", "Future Maker", "The Dusty Rhodes Of Japan", and most recently "The Blacksmith".
- Very Punchable Man: Both, as G.O.D. and Jay White's evil mentors in Bullet Club.
