Jump to content

The Great Kabuki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Great Kabuki" redirects here. Not to be confused withkabuki.

The Great Kabuki
The Great Kabuki,c. 1980s
Born(1948-09-08)September 8, 1948(age 75)
Nobeoka, Miyazaki,Japan
Children4
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Akihisa Takachiho[1]
Yoshino Sato (II)[1]
Devil Sato[1]
El Gran Kabuki
The Great Kabuki[1]
Hito Tojo[1]
Kabuki[1]
Mr. Kiyomoto[1]
Mr. Sato[1]
Professor Takachiho[1]
Rising Sun #1
Takachiho[1]
Billed height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Billed weight110 kg (243 lb)[1]
Billed fromSingapore[2]
Trained byGiant Baba[1]
Umanosuke Ueda[1]
DebutOctober 31, 1964[1]
RetiredSeptember 30, 2018[1]

Akihisa Mera(Mễ lương minh cửu,Mera Akihisa,born September 8, 1948),better known asThe Great Kabuki(ザ・グレート・カブキ,Za Gurēto Kabuki),is a Japanese retiredprofessional wrestler.He is famous as the first to blowAsian mistin his opponents' faces.

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Mera was born on September 8, 1948, inNobeoka,Japan.He started wrestling in 1964 at the age of 16 for theJapanese Wrestling Association.He left Japan to compete in theUnited Statesin the 1970s.[2]From there he wrestled all over the world, includingAll Japan Pro Wrestling,several territories of theNational Wrestling AllianceincludingJim Crockett Promotions,Mid-South,Continental Wrestling Association andWorld Class Championship Wrestlingunder the nameAkihisa Takachihō.He also used the nameYoshino Sato(with authorization from his mentor the originalYoshinosato,former sumotori Junzo Hasegawa, who lead JWA during its dying days), which was later shortened toMr. Sato(not to be confused withAkio Sato,who later used the moniker in other American territories).

Kabuki (left) and Dusty Rhodes during a professional wrestling match,c. 1982

Mera adopted the Great Kabuki persona in World Class in 1981. The character was created byGary Hart,[3]based on an old gimmick used byFilipinowrestler Rey Urbano, a former partner of Hasegawa's in the U.S.[4]Kabuki kept his hair in a mop cut which kept his facial features mostly hidden; he also painted his face. Hart explained that his face was scarred in a bed of hot coals during a match withTiger Jeet SinghinSingapore.[5]He was most often a heel and was managed by most of the top heel managers of the 1970s and early 1980s. When he was ababyface,he was very unpredictable and could turn at any time, making him somewhat of an anti-hero, or tweener. Kabuki had a pre-match ritual of showing his skills with thenunchakuthat intimidated most opponents. In WCCW, he joined H & H Limited while managed by Arman Hussein and Gary Hart and tagged with masked wrestlerMagic Dragonwhile building on his singles work. After an injury in 1983, he joinedSkandor Akbar's Devastation Inc.

In the early 1980s, the Kabuki character would sometimes be portrayed by wrestlerKazuharu Sonoda,who had been Mera's teammate Magic Dragon in the WCCW.[6]These were mainly appearances forWorld Class Championship Wrestling,Jim Crockett Promotions,andGeorgia Championship Wrestling,as well as appearances in Japan from 1981 to 1984. Sonoda's Kabuki would never appear alongside Gary Hart. Gary Hart did not want Mera or himself to work elsewhere due to their characters' drawing power, but he would allow Sonoda to play the role as deal to promoters who wanted Kabuki for their shows. These appearances continued until Sonoda's death in 1987.

Kabuki was the first wrestler to blowAsian mistinto his opponents' faces.[2]WhenKeiji Mutohdebuted in Jim Crockett Promotions as The Great Muta in March 1989, Mutoh was billed by manager Gary Hart as Kabuki's son due to the similarities in style and the use of Asian mist. In reality, they are not related.

Some of Kabuki's major feuds were againstJimmy Valiant,Scott Casey,Abdullah the Butcher,Dusty Rhodes,Toshiaki Kawada,Chris Adams,Genichiro Tenryu,Bruiser Brody,and theFabulous Freebirds.Kabuki's battles against Adams were billed asthe battle of the superkicks,as ring announcerBill Merceroften asked which kick was better: Adams' superkick or Kabuki's thrust kick.

In July 1990, Kabuki won theWorld Tag Team ChampionshipwithJumbo Tsuruta,but within days, he joined Tenryu in creating theSuper World of Sportspromotion. In 1992, he joinedNew Japan Pro-Wrestling'sHeisei Ishingun,until leaving in 1996. From there he went on to be one of the co-founders ofIWA Japan.

In theWorld Wrestling Federation,Kabuki participated in the1994 Royal Rumble,from which he was eliminated byLex Luger.He also helped take outThe Undertakerin the previous match of the night.[2]

Kabuki retired in 1998.[2]He had a series of retirement matches. On July 20, he would main event at the Tokyo Korakuen Hall in IWA Japan by teaming up with Kendo Nagasaki to wrestle Keisuke Yamada andShigeo Okumura;his last bout in theindependent circuit.On August 8 he teamed up with The Great Muta to defeat Michiyoshi Ohara andTatsutoshi GotoforNew Japan Pro-Wrestling,one of the major Japanese circuits. (Giant Babawould not let him retire inAll Japan Pro Wrestlingdue to his jump to SWS.) September 7 was the grand finale for Kabuki, as he teamed up with Terry Funk and Doug Gilbert to defeat Freddy Kruger,Leatherface,andMetalface- symbolically his last match involvingforeignwrestlers.

Mera appeared in a band's music video "The Emeralds" under his Great Kabuki gimmick.[7]

On January 4, 2015, Kabuki made a special appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, taking part in theNew Japan Rumbleon the pre-show ofWrestle Kingdom 9.He was quickly disqualified upon entering the ring due to using the Asian Mist.[8]Kabuki returned a year later, taking part in theWrestle Kingdom 10pre-show New Japan Rumble, where he was once again disqualified for using the mist.[9]

Wrestled at aPro Wrestling Noahshow on December 22, 2017, teaming with his Heisei Ishingun teammatesShiro KoshinakaandAkitoshi Saitoto defeatGo Shiozaki,Yoshinari OgawaandMasao Inoue.[10]

Kabuki wrestled his final match on September 30, 2018, at 70 at a show that was independently produced byMasakatsu Funakiin Osaka, Japan, teaming with Giant Small Baba, Small Antonio Inoki, and Teruko Kagawa to defeat the team of HIRO Dai Circus Yasuda, Mitsukuni Daiso, Waka Shoyo, and Yamaishi Meijin in an 8-person tag team match.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopPhilip Kreikenbohm."Great Kabuki".Cagematch.net.RetrievedFebruary 21,2018.
  2. ^abcdeShields, Brian and Kevin Sullivan (2009).WWE Encyclopedia.DK/BradyGAMES. p.117.ISBN978-0-7566-4190-0.
  3. ^Johnson, Steven (October 21, 2009)."Help from friends and family got Gary Hart's book to market".SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012.RetrievedFebruary 11,2010.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^Johnson, Steven (October 17, 2007)."Original Kabooki faced tough foe".SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014.RetrievedDecember 15,2014.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^"The debut of Kabuki in Georgia. 1981".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on December 21, 2021.RetrievedAugust 18,2020.
  6. ^Hart, Gary (2009).My Life In Wrestling With A Little Help From My Friends.United States Of America: GEAN Publishing. p. 169.ISBN978-0692000465.
  7. ^All My Love For You/The Emeralds,retrievedOctober 15,2022
  8. ^"Wrestle Kingdom 9 in đông kinh ドーム".New Japan Pro-Wrestling(in Japanese).RetrievedJune 5,2015.
  9. ^Meltzer, Dave(January 3, 2016)."Wrestle Kingdom 10 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.RetrievedJanuary 4,2016.
  10. ^"６９ tuế ザ・グレート・カブキ リングに biệt れ “これで độc vụ を phún かなくていいかな” ".Daily Sports Online(in Japanese).RetrievedDecember 22,2017.
  11. ^Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019)."Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble".Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.RetrievedJanuary 18,2019.
  12. ^Đông kinh スポーツ プロレス đại thưởng.Tokyo Sports(in Japanese).RetrievedJanuary 20,2014.
  13. ^Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Texas: NWA / World Class American Heavyweight Title [Von Eric]".Wrestling Title Histories.Archeus Communications. pp. 265–266.ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
  14. ^"NWA United States Heavyweight Title (1967-1968/05) - American Heavyweight Title (1968/05-1986/02)".Wrestling-Titles.RetrievedDecember 26,2019.
  15. ^Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Texas) Dallas: NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title".Wrestling Title Histories(4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 271.ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
  16. ^"Texas Brass Knucks Title [East Texas]".Wrestling-Titles.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  17. ^Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Texas: NWA World Tag Team Title [Siegel, Boesch and McLemore]".Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present.Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications.ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
  18. ^"National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title [E. Texas]".Wrestling-Titles.RetrievedFebruary 21,2017.
  19. ^Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Texas: WCWA Television Title".Wrestling Title Histories.Archeus Communications. p. 396.ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
  20. ^"World Class Television Title".Wrestling-titles.com.RetrievedNovember 19,2016.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toThe Great Kabuki.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Great_Kabuki&oldid=1234296444"