Toyonobori

Toyonobori
Birth name	Michiharu Sadano
Born	(1931-03-21)March 21, 1931[1] Kanada, Tagawa District, Fukuoka, Japan[2]
Died	July 1, 1998(1998-07-01) (aged 67)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Mr. Zero Toyonobori
Billed height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Billed weight	251 lb (114 kg)
Trained by	Rikidōzan
Debut	December 12, 1954
Retired	February 20, 1973

Michiharu Sadano (定野 道春, Sadano Michiharu, March 21, 1931 – July 1, 1998), known in

Sumo career

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Toyonobori performed as a sumo wrestler from 1947 to 1954.

Professional wrestling career

Japanese Wrestling Association (1954–1966)

After retiring as a

The top wrestler of the JWA was Rikidōzan, the founder of the promotion; he dominated the Japanese wrestling scene. As a result, few Japanese wrestlers were able to get into the spotlight. The more recognizable among them was Toyonobori himself, who dominated the tag team scene in Japan, forming a successful tag team with Rikidōzan, with whom he became a four-time winner of the All Asia Tag Team Championship, which was the top tag title in Japan and which is now contested in All Japan Pro Wrestling.

After Rikidōzan's death on December 15, 1963, Toyonobori, along with Yoshinosato, Koukichi Endo and Michiaki Yoshimura announced their intention to continue the JWA on January 10, 1964. Therefore, he became the president of the JWA and its top wrestler, as he had been the second most important wrestler of the promotion during the Rikidozan era.

Toyonobori formed two successful tag teams with Michiaki Yoshimura and then Giant Baba, with whom he won the All Asia Tag Team Championship three more times. Yoshimura and Baba were among the young wrestlers the JWA was trying to push to the top, so they were paired with the top wrestler of the JWA, a strategy the promotion followed before pairing Toyonobori himself with the popular Rikidōzan.

On December 12, 1964, Toyonobori won the

Toyonobori began losing power in the JWA, which then started pushing Giant Baba to the top of the promotion, leading him to win its top single title, the NWA International Heavyweight Championship (which had been held up after Rikidōzan's death), in 1965. After Rikidōzan's death, the JWA did not have one single title; the Japanese Heavyweight Championship, the All Asia Heavyweight Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, which were held by Rikidōzan himself, were all recognized and only the last two titles were later revived (respectively in 1968 and in 1965).

On January 5, 1966, the JWA announced the resignation and departure of Toyonobori as the company president; he was later expelled from the JWA along with Antonio Inoki on March 21, 1966.

Tokyo Pro Wrestling (1966–1967)

On April 23, 1966, Toyonobori announced the formation of Tokyo Pro Wrestling; on the same day Inoki announced his intention to join the company, as Toyonobori has privately promised Inoki to make him the promotion's top star.

On October 12, 1966, Tokyo Pro had its first card at the Sumo Hall with Inoki in the main event. However, on April 6, 1967, the JWA announced the return of Antonio Inoki to the promotion. Therefore, Tokyo Pro folded, having lost its top star.

International Wrestling Enterprise (1967–1970)

Along with most of the former Tokyo Pro wrestlers, Toyonobori joined International Wrestling Enterprise, which had been founded in the meantime on October 21, 1966, by Isao Yoshiwara and Hiro Matsuda and which had its first card in Osaka on January 5, 1967, in conjunction with Tokyo Pro. IWE then started surpassing the dominance of the JWA in Japanese wrestling.

On December 19, 1968, Toyonobori was defeated by Billy Robinson in a round-robin tournament to become the first IWA World Heavyweight Champion, the first Japanese-based world heavyweight championship in professional wrestling history.

On May 18, 1969, Toyonobori and

In March 1972, when Inoki left JWA to form New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Toyonobori came out of retirement to help give the promotion name value. His last match was on February 20, 1973, a win over Bruno Bekkar in Yokohama, more than three years after his original retirement ceremony.

Death

Toyonobori died on July 1, 1998, due to heart failure.

Championships and accomplishments

• Japanese Wrestling Association
  • All Asia Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Rikidōzan (4 times), Michiaki Yoshimura (1 time) and Giant Baba (2 times)
  • JWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rikidōzan
  • World Big League
    (1964, 1965)

• International Wrestling Enterprise
  • TWWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Koji Thunder Sugiyama
  • Shozo Strong Kobayashi

• Tokyo Sports
  • Achievement Award (1998)^[3]

• Worldwide Wrestling Associates
  • Japanese Wrestling Association
    , disputed by WWA)

Sumo career record

• Only two tournaments were held through most of the 1940s.

See also

• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers

References