Evil (wrestler)

Takaaki Watanabe (渡辺 高章, Watanabe Takaaki; born January 26, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Naraku (奈落, Naraku). He is best known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performed under the ring name Evil (stylized in all caps as EVIL). After debuting in NJPW in 2011, he competed in the United States on excursion, working for companies such as Global Force Wrestling (GFW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2014 to 2015. He returned to NJPW as Evil in November 2015. He was a former member of Los Ingobernables de Japón, and a part of a tag team with Sanada; they are two-time IWGP Tag Team Champions and two-time World Tag League winners. He is also a record-breaking six-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, making him an overall ten-time champion in NJPW. In 2020, he won the New Japan Cup, before turning on L.I.J leader Tetsuya Naito and joining Bullet Club. He defeated Naito at Dominion to become the double IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion. He is the only wrestler in NJPW history to be a triple champion, having held the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship simultaneously from July to August 2020. He departed NJPW in January 2026 and signed with WWE that April under the new name Naraku.