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The following biography
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Wikipedia.org
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Yoshihiro Tajiri (born September
29, 1970 in Yokohama, Kanagawa) is a Japanese professional wrestler performing
in World Wrestling Entertainment on the RAW brand.
****
Career
Trained in traditional Japanese
style and lucha libre, he debuted in the early 1990s in Japan wrestling mainly
for the Japanese office of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In 1997, he
left for the hardcore wrestling promotion Big Japan based in Tokyo.
In late 1998, while in Mexico, he
caught the eye of Extreme Championship Wrestling owner Paul Heyman and was
invited to the United States to wrestle for ECW. He became extremely popular
with the fans, despite being brought in as a heel. He had a long feud with Super
Crazy that had several exciting matches.
He stayed in ECW until it closed in
2001, and was almost immediately signed by WWE, where he has been ever since. He
started out as a face and later after the Alliance broke up he drafted to
Smackdown! during the first ever draft and later turned heel by betraying his
story line girlfriend, Torrie Wilson and made her dress like a Geisha. Later
Tajiri turned face again by getting betrayed by Jamie Noble. He was later in a
match against his good friend Rey Mysterio. Mysterio won, but Tajiri turned heel
once more and betrayed him by spitting green mist in his face. Later after
Wrestlmania 20 Tajiri was drafted to Raw and turned face once more by engaging
in a rivarly with Eric Bishoff and Jonathan Coachman.
On February 4, 2005 Tajiri and
William Regal defeated La Résistance to win the World Tag Team Championship on
an episode of RAW broadcast live from Tajiri's home country of Japan. Since
then, in addition to holding the titles, Tajiri has been allowed to showcase a
more comedic side to his personality, appearing in many funny sketches along
with Regal and other WWE stars.
La Résistance repeatedly attempted
to regain the gold (mainly on Sunday Night Heat) from Regal and Tajiri in many
different matches but just fell short during each one, during their "last shot"
for the gold the team thought they had won back the titles only to have the
decision reversed by referee Mike Chioda due to La Résistance not pinning the
legal man. After this match Regal issued an open challenge to any tag team in
the world to come after their belts, Jonathan Coachman showed a large interest
to this announcement. On the following episode of RAW, Regal & Tajiri
successfully defended the belts against the debuting Romeo and Antonio, known
collectively as "The Heart Throbs."
On May 1, 2005, at Backlash, Regal
& Tajiri participated in a "Tag-Team Turmoil" match in which four teams competed
for the World tag team titles. Regal & Tajiri were eliminated by La Résistance
who, in turn, were eliminated by Hurricane and Rosey, who became the new
champions.
He appeared at the ECW One Night
Stand pay-per-view, losing to Super Crazy.
On June 27, 2005, Tajiri answered
the call to Chris Masters Masterlock Challenge and caught him off guard but was
overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the Masterpiece. Masters demanded some
respect from Tajiri, but instead was met with a spray of green mist, temporarily
blinding the Masterpiece.
Profile
Height: 5'9" (175.3 cm)
Weight: 209lbs (94.8 kg)
Birthday: September 29, 1970
Hometown: Yokohama, Japan
Trained by: Kendo Nagasaki, William
DeMott, Ricky Santana
Debut: September 19, 1994
Previous identities: Aquarius, The
Japanese Buzzsaw
Previous managers: Don Callis, The
Sinister Minister, William Regal, Torrie Wilson
Finishing and signature moves
Buzzsaw Kick (low roundhouse kick
to the upper back or head of a seated opponent)
Brainbuster
Bridging German Suplex
Tarantula (Upside down rope hung
leg hook Boston crab)
Handspring Back elbow smash
Octopus stretch
Springboard/Asai Moonsault
Dragon Suplex
Spits Asian mist at opponent's eyes
in order to blind them; Tajiri has, however, been known to spit Red Mist (which
is purported to burn rather than blind) and Black Mist (which is significantly
more powerful, provided the storyline on WWE Smackdown! where Nidia was blinded
for weeks by it). All three mists were previously used by Japanese wrestler
Keiji Mutoh, most notably when he appeared as his alter-ego "Great Muta"
Baseball slide to opponent who is
hanging upside down on a turnbuckle
Shining Wizard
Multiple kicks
Swinging DDT (as a counter to a
powerbomb)
Diving Double Foot Stomp
Championships/Accomplishments
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
1-time WWE United States
Heavyweight Champion
3-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion
1-time WWF Light Heavyweight
Champion
1-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with
Eddie Guerrero)
1-time World Tag Team Champion
(with William Regal)
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
1-time ECW World Television
Champion
1-time ECW World Tag-Team Champion
(with Mikey Whipwreck)
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
1-time BJPW Junior Heavyweight
Champion
2-time BJPW Tag Team Champion (with
Ryuji Yamakawa)
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW)
1-time CZW World Heavyweight
Champion
International Wrestling Alliance: Puerto Rico
IWA: Puerto Rico Hardcore Champion
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)
1-time CMLL World Light Heavyweight
Champion
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI)
PWI ranked him # 242 of the 500
best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
|
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Reigns |
|
Preceded by:
Billy Kidman |
First |
Succeeded by
Billy Kidman |
|
Preceded by:
Billy Kidman |
Second |
Succeeded by
The Hurricane |
|
Preceded by:
Rey Mysterio |
Third |
Succeeded by
Rey Mysterio |
Trivia
Was rewarded for his hard work,
talented efforts, and gaining popularity in ECW by wrestling then World
Heavyweight Champion Taz for the title in the main event of an ECW Pay Per View
card.
* *
* *
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Tajiri
Date Article Copied:
September 7, 2005
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