Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Real Name: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 254 lbs.
Date of Birth: March 23, 1971
Hometown: Kyoto, Kyoto (Japan)
Resides: Tokyo, Kantō (Japan)
Pro Debut: January 11, 1991
Trained By: Tokyo Joe, Kotetsu Yamamoto, Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase
Finishing Move: Anaconda Vise

Biography

– Tenzan entered the New Japan Dojo in 1990 and would debut in January of the following year, competing in a Battle Royal. During the early part of his career, Yamamoto would wrestle under his real name
– Yamamoto won his first match on March 14, 1991, defeating Koji Kanemoto
– Yamamoto won the 1993 Young Lion Cup, defeating Osamu Nishimura in the final
– In June 1993, Yamamoto was sent to Europe on a learning excursion, competing primarily for Germany’s CWA promotion. He would work Europe as ‘Hiro Yamamoto’
– On July 3, Yamamoto defeated Lance Storm to win the vacant CWA Junior Heavyweight Title
– In January 1994, Yamamoto moved to the UK to continue his excursion with the ASW group. Here, he would work as ‘The Great Yotto’ and ‘Menacing Moto’
– In June 1994, Yamamoto returned to Germany
– Yamamoto returned to New Japan for the January 4 1995 Tokyo Dome show, working as ‘Hiroyoshi Tenzan’ to defeat Manabu Nakanishi
– On June 12, 1995, Ookami Gundan (Tenzan & Masahiro Chono) defeated Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Titles, but the titles were vacated without making a defence due to a bereavement in Chono’s family
– Ookami Gundan won the 1995 Super Grade Tag League, defeating Osamu Kido & Kazuo Yamazaki in the final
– Tenzan represented New Japan at Starrcade 1995
– At Wrestling World 1996, Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima
– On July 16, 1996, Ookami Gundan (Tenzan & Masahiro Chono) defeated Takashi Iizuka & Kazuo Yamazaki to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On September 23, Ookami Gundan defeated Takashi Iizuka & Kazuo Yamazaki to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On December 1, Ookami Gundan again defeated Takashi Iizuka & Kazuo Yamazaki to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Norio Honaga’s Retirement Show, Tenzan & Masahiro Chono (now representing nWo Japan) defeated Shinya Hashimoto & Satoshi Kojima
– On June 5, 1998, nWo Japan (Tenzan & Chono) defeated Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka in the final of a tournament to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestling World 1999, nWo Japan (Tenzan & Chono) defeated Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka to regain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On February 5, nWo Japan defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Final Dome 1999, Tenzan defeated Tatsutoshi Goto
– At Wrestling World 2000, Tenzan defeated Wild Pegasus. Following Keiji Muto’s defeat to Masahiro Chono later in the night, nWo Japan were forced to disband
– At Dome Impact 2000, Tenzan defeated Yutaka Yoshie
– At Wrestling Dontaku 2000, Tenzan defeated Takashi Iizuka
– On July 20, TEAM2000 (Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) defeated G-EGGS (Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata) to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On October 9, TEAM2000 defeated G-EGGS to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Battle Final 2000, TEAM2000 defeated their stablemates, Masahiro Chono & Tatsutoshi Goto, to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Wrestling World 2001, Tenzan defeated Yuji Nagata before falling to Toshiaki Kawada
– On February 4, 2001, TEAM2000 (Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) defeated Osamu Nishimura & Manabu Nakanishi to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 20, TEAM2000 defeated Shinya Makabe & Riki Choshu to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On June 29, TEAM2000 defeated Yutaka Yoshie & Manabu Nakanishi to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On July 20, TEAM2000 defeated BATT (Jinsei Shinzaki & Taiyo Kea) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– TEAM2000 won the 2001 G1 Tag League, defeating Mike Barton & Jim Steele in the final
– At Wrestling World 2002, TEAM2000 defeated their stablemates Masa Chono & Giant Singh
– On March 24, TEAM2000 (Tenzan & Masa Chono) defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata in the final of a tournament to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Tenzan & Koji Kanemoto won the 2002 Naeba Cup, defeating Yuji Nagata & Minoru Tanaka
– At Wrestling World 2003, Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Masa Chono & Manabu Nakanishi
– On February 16, TEAM2000 (Tenzan & Masa Chono) defeated Makai Club (Tadao Yasuda & Kazunari Murakami) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 9, TEAM2000 defeated Yoshihiro Takayama & Shinya Makabe
– On April 28, TEAM2000 defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At Ultimate Crush 2003, Tenzan defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi
– Tenzan won the 2003 G1 Climax, defeating Jun Akiyama in the final
– At the 2003 Osaka Dream Night PPV, Tenzan defeated Shinya Makabe
– On November 3, Tenzan defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but would lose it to Shinsuke Nakamura barely a month later
– On December 14, Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On February 15, 2004, Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the final of a tournament to win the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On February 29, Tenzan defeated Minoru Suzuki to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– At Nexess II, Tenzan defeated Toru Yano by DQ
– At Nexess III, Tenzan defeated Scott Norton
– Tenzan won his second G1 Climax in a row, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final of the 2004 event
– On December 12, Tenzan defeated Kensuke Sasaki to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– At Nexess V, Tenzan defeated Masa Chono & Manabu Nakanishi
– At Nexess VI, Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On June 4, Tenzan defeated Scott Norton to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
– On October 30, 2005, Tenzan & Masahiro Chono defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– At the 2006 January 4 Dome Show, Tenzan & Chono defeated Takao Omori & Shiro Koshinaka to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On February 19, Tenzan & Chono defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Giant Bernard to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 19, Tenzan & Chono defeated Yuji Nagata & Naofumi Yamamoto to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Tenzan won the 2006 G1 Climax, his third victory in four years, defeating Satoshi Kojima in the final
– Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima won the 2006 AJPW Real World Tag League, defeating Suwama & RO’Z in the final
– At Pro Wrestling Love In Ryogoku V, Tenzan & Kojima defeated Togi Makabe & TARU