Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | |
---|---|
Birth name | Hiroyoshi Yamamoto |
Born | [1] Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan | March 23, 1971
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Hiroyoshi Tenzan Hiroyoshi Yamamoto Super Strong Machine Buffalo Tenzan |
Billed height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1][2] |
Billed weight | 115 kg (254 lb)[1][2] |
Trained by | Tokyo Joe[3] Kotetsu Yamamoto Hiroshi Hase Kensuke Sasaki[4] |
Debut | January 11, 1991[1] |
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto (山本 広吉, Yamamoto Hiroyoshi, born March 23, 1971)
Professional wrestling career
New-Japan Pro Wrestling (1991–1993)
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto first worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He debuted in January 1991, wrestling Osamu Matsuda.
Catch Wrestling Association (1993–1995)
In 1993, after winning the
Return to NJPW (1995–present)
After spending nearly two years in Europe, Yamamoto would finally make his return to NJPW on January 4, 1995, at the Tokyo Dome, this time under a new name, Hiroyoshi Tenzan (天山 広吉, Tenzan Hiroyoshi). The name was given to him by Tokyo Joe, who derived the name from the
In July 1996, Tenzan and Chono won the IWGP Tag Team Title again, this time beating
Tenzan got his third chance for the IWGP Tag Team Titles in July 1998, after Chono's former tag-team partner
In July 2000, Tenzan, still teamed with Kojima, got the IWGP Tag Team Titles for the 5th time, winning over Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Tenzan and Kojima feuded with Nakanishi and Nagata for the next few months, with Tenzan and Kojima coming out on top.
On February 24, 2002, Tenzan made a brief appearance at WWA The Revolution pay-per-view from Las Vegas, Nevada, where he choked Disco Inferno. Scott Steiner then attacked Disco in the ring. Tenzan could be seen sitting right behind the announcer's table when Disco joined commentary. He can be seen leaving the arena following Steiner's attack on Disco.
Tenzan also won the IWGP Tag Team Titles in March 2002 with Masahiro Chono (their title reign lasting over one year; it also tied the team record for most championships won with Fujinami & Kimura), and again in December 2003 with Osamu Nishimura.
After he and Chono lost the IWGP Tag Team titles to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie, Tenzan went on a brief excursion to Canada in the summer of 2003, training with Tokyo Joe Daigo. When he returned for the G1 Climax, he transformed his wrestling style from a buffalo to an anaconda. The excursion worked, as he won his first G1 Climax, defeating NOAH's Jun Akiyama in the finals.
In November 2003, Tenzan finally won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Yoshihiro Takayama. He would go on to drop the title less than a month later to unlikely victor Shinsuke Nakamura, who, at the young age of 23, became the youngest world champion in company history. Tenzan proceeded to win it three other times (in February 2004 from Genichiro Tenryu,[2] December 2004 from Kensuke Sasaki[2] and May 2005 from Satoshi Kojima).
He lost the championship to AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kojima in a cross-promotional champion vs. champion match. The match had a unique finish designed to fool fans in attendance. The idea was to make it look like the match was going to end in a 60-minute time limit draw. However, with just seconds before the match would be declared a time limit draw, Tenzan, who was known to have a legitimate back injury, could not continue, resulting in Kojima being declared the winner and becoming the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. NJPW officials had come up with the finish, which was designed to look like a "mistake", having agreed with AJPW that it would be better if Kojima won the match, but not wanting the match to end in a standard pinfall or submission.[7] Tenzan defeated Kojima in a rematch three months later, bringing the championship back to NJPW.[8] He lost the championship to Kazuyuki Fujita on July 18, 2005.
Tenzan competed in the 2005 G1 Tournament, and almost made it to the semi-finals. In October 2005, Tenzan and Chono reunited to win the IWGP Tag Team Title for a fifth time from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura.
On August 13, 2006, Tenzan defeated longtime rival Satoshi Kojima in the final of the 2006 G1 Climax, becoming only the second wrestler to go undefeated in a round robin style G-1. This would be his third G1 title.
After severing ties with his old mentor Masahiro Chono, Tenzan founded the heel unit GBH ("Great Bash Heel", affectionately referred to by fans as "Great Big Head"); it was composed of Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Shiro Koshinaka, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Tomoaki Honma. In February 2008, GBH turned on Tenzan with Makabe taking over the leadership of the group. Tenzan feuded with his former stablemates until the following October.
Since returning to New Japan in May 2009, he has split his time between reforming
Fifteen months later on November 18, 2010, Tenzan returned to the ring, defeating Antonio Honda at New Japan's
During early August, Tenzan competed in the
On February 14, 2015, at
On March 6, 2017, Tencozy defeated Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the sixth time.
Tenzan main evented the retirement show for Takashi Iizuka who had betrayed him in 2008. [45][46] Tenzan had been trying to convince Iizuka to team with him once more before his retirement, and after match (which Tenzan had won, pinning Iizuka) the two embraced before Iizuka attacked and retired as a villain. [47]
Tenzan competed in the newly expanded New Japan Cup in 2019, where he would lose in the Round of 32 to Ryusuke Taguchi ,[48] who was filling in for injured David Finlay. [49] He would also compete in next year's tournament, losing in the same round to Yoshi-Hashi. [50]
World Championship Wrestling (1995, 1998)
Tenzan had a brief tenure in
In 1998 he returned to WCW as a member of NWO Japan, where he mainly teamed with Masahiro Chono.
Other media
Tenzan appeared in the video for "Yonaoshi Good Vibration" by Japanese metal band Sex Machineguns.
Tenzan also appeared as a cooking chief alongside
He has appeared on the Japanese television show Sasuke.
Tenzan, along with fellow NJPW wrestlers Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Satoshi Kojima, Tetsuya Naito and Toru Yano, appears as a member of the gang Justis in the 2016 video game Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.[51]
Championships and accomplishments
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- 2008) – with Satoshi Kojima
- Catch Wrestling Association
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Satoshi Kojima[27]
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- 4 times)[8]
- IWGP Tag Team Championship (12 times) – with Masahiro Chono (5), Satoshi Kojima (6), and Osamu Nishimura (1)[2]
- G1 Climax (2003, 2004, 2006)
- 2008) – with Satoshi Kojima
- G1 Tag League (2003) – with Osamu Nishimura
- Super Grade Tag League (1995) – with Masahiro Chono[52]
- 1993)[53]
- Yuke's Cup Tag Tournament (2008) – with Shinjiro Otani
- 10,000,000 Yen Tag Tournament (2004) – with Shinsuke Nakamura
- MVP Award (2003, 2004)[54][55]
- Singles Best Bout (2003) vs. Jun Akiyama on August 17[54]
- Singles Best Bout (2004) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 15[55]
- Tag Team Best Bout (2000) with Satoshi Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata on October 9[56]
- Tag Team Best Bout (2002) with Masahiro Chono vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Osamu Nishimura on June 5[57]
- Tag Team Best Bout (2004) with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Masahiro Chono on October 24[55]
- Nikkan Sports
- Best Tag Team Award (2008) with Satoshi Kojima[58]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 10 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the "PWI 500" in 2005
- Ranked No. 223 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
- Tokyo Sports
- Fighting Spirit Award (2004)
- Tag Team of the Year (1995)[59]
- Tag Team of the Year (1996) with Masahiro Chono and Hiro Saito[59]
- Tag Team of the Year (2000)[60]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Tag Team of the Year(2001) with Satoshi Kojima
- Best Gimmick (1996) – nWo
- Feud of the Year (1996) New World Order vs. World Championship Wrestling
References
- ^ a b c d e "天山 広吉". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-06-07.
- ^ a b c d e "Pro Wrestling illustrated 500 - 2004 :11 Hiroyoshi Tenzan". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, USA: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. October 2004. p. 22. December 2004.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (2017-11-05). "'Tokyo' Joe Daigo passes away at 75 years old". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2017-11-05.
- ^ "Hiroyoshi Tenzan << Wrestlers Database <<". CAGEMATCH.
- ^ "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ^ "【新日本】天山 亡き恩師・大剛さんにワールドタッグリーグVささげる". 東スポWeb - 東京スポーツ新聞社 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-02-28.
- ISSN 1083-9593.
- ^ a b "Power Slam". Looking at: NJPW at the Dome. SW Publishing LTD. pp. 22–23. 132.
- ^ "(Results) NEVER.4, 11/18/10; Hiroyoshi Tenzan returns!". Strong Style Spirit. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ "(Results) New Japan, 12/11/10 & Liger wins another title in USA". Strong Style Spirit. 2010-12-11. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
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- ^ Gerweck, Steve (2011-01-04). "1/4 TNA-NJPW Results: Tokyo, Japan". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2011-01-07. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ "ブシロード Presents G1 Climax XXI ~The Invincible Fighter~". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
- ^ "New Japan Alive 2011". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-12-04.
- ^ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour. レッスルキングダムVI in 東京ドーム". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ "NJPW 40th anniversary レスリングどんたく 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
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- ^ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-12-02.
- ^ レスリングどんたく 2013. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ^ "【お知らせ】後藤洋央紀選手、天山広吉選手が怪我のため『G1』を欠場". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
- ^ "King of Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ "Power Struggle". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-11-09.
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- ^ a b "Invasion Attack 2014". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-04-06.
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- ^ "『World Tag League 2014』出場チーム&公式戦が決定! 棚橋はヨシタツとタッグ結成! 桜庭、AJ、柴田、ROH、NWAも参戦!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-11-11. Archived from the original on 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
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- ^ "天山 G1で"夏男"復活だ!". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ^ "【新日G1】天山まさかの落選に怒る". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ^ "【新日・盛岡大会】小島が出場権譲渡!天山が21度目G1へ". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (2016-07-03). "Tenzan in, Kojima out of 2016 NJPW G1 Climax; updated blocks & matches". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ^ "天山悲壮決意 「G1出場これが最後だ!」". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ^ "2016 New Japan G1 Climax Results". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
- ^ Rose, Bryan (2017-03-06). "NJPW 45th Anniversary show live results: Okada vs. Tiger Mask W". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
- ^ Rose, Bryan (2017-04-08). "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Okada vs. Shibata". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
- ^ NJPW. "2019.02.21 NEW JAPAN ROAD | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ Karen, Author (2019-02-20). "The History of Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Takashi Iizuka – What I've Learned". KAREN WATCHES NJPW. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
{{cite web}}
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has generic name (help) - ^ "The New Japan Road show from February 21 featured Iizuka's retirement". UPROXX. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ NJPW. "2019.03.10 NEW JAPAN CUP 2019 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ Pollock, John (2019-02-28). "David Finlay out of the New Japan Cup due to injury". POST Wrestling | WWE NXT NJPW AEW UFC Podcasts, News & Reviews. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ NJPW. "2020.06.23 NJPW WORLD Special NEW JAPAN CUP 2020 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ 新日本プロレスリングの人気選手が神室町最大のギャングに?!オカダ、棚橋、内藤ら6選手がPlayStation4専用ソフト『龍が如く6 命の詩。』に出演決定!. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ a b "2003 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^ a b c "2004 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^ "2000 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^ "2002 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
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- ^ a b "Puroresu Awards: 1990s". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
- ^ "Puroresu Awards: 2000s". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
External links
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile
- Profile at puroresufan.com
- Profile at The Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database