Real Name: Dean Higuchi
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 264 lbs.
Date of Birth: December 30, 1940
Date of Death: February 20, 2021
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
Resided: Vancouver, British Columbia
Pro Debut: 1962
Retired: 1983
Trained By: The Destroyer
Finishing Move: Full Nelson
Biography
– Prior to his wrestling career, Higuchi was a semi-successful bodybuilder, placing 6th in the 1956 Mr America competition
– Higuchi turned to wrestling in 1962 and got his first real exposure in the Pacific Northwest territory under the name ‘Dean Ho’. He would wrestle interchangeably under this name and his real name for the next few years
– On September 7, 1967, Higuchi & Johnny Kostas defeated Tony Borne & Lonnie Mayne to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles, but would lose them back two weeks later
– On March 15, 1971, Higuchi & Steven Little Bear defeated John Quinn & Dutch Savage to win the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On April 12, Higuchi & Little Bear defeated John Quinn & Frank Marconi to retain the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– Higuchi & Little Bear lost the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles to The Skull Brothers in June 1971, but would regain them in July
– On August 30, Higuchi & Little Bear defeated Ivan Koloff & Gene Kiniski to retain the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On September 27, Higuchi & Little Bear defeated Gene Kiniski & Bob Brown to retain the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On October 4, Higuchi & Little Bear defeated The Von Steigers (Kurt & Karl) to retain the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On January 25, 1972, Ho & Fritz Von Erich defeated Johnny Valentine & Thunderbolt Patterson to win the NWA American Tag Team Titles
– On November 14, 1973, Ho & Tony Garea defeated Toru Tanaka & Mr Fuji to win the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On November 26, Ho & Garea defeated Mr Fuji & Mike McCord to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On December 1, Ho & Garea defeated Pancho Valdez & Joe Turco to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On January 8, 1974, Ho & Garea defeated Joe Turco & Mr Fuji to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On January 14, Ho & Garea defeated Mike McCord & Larry Hennig to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On January 21, Ho & Garea defeated Ed Sullivan & Tony Altimore to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On January 29, Ho & Garea defeated Nikolai Volkoff & Otto Von Heller to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On March 1, Ho & Garea defeated Otto Von Heller & Don Leo Jonathan to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On March 4, Ho & Garea defeated Stan Stasiak & Larry Hennig to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles
– On March 8, Ho & Garea defeated Toru Tanaka & Mr Fuji to retain the WWWF Tag Team Titles and repeated the feat the next day
– On January 12, 1976, Higuchi & George Wells defeated Siegfried Steinke & Dale Lewis to win the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On January 19, Higuchi & Wells defeated Gene Kiniski & Igor Volkoff to retain the NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles
– On July 2, Higuchi & Ken Mantell defeated Great Goliath & Black Gordman to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Titles
– On July 16, 1977, Ho defeated Alexis Smirnoff to win the NWA San Francisco United States Title and retained it in the rematch on August 20
– On January 25, 1978, Ho defeated Les Thornton to retain the NWA San Francisco United States Title
– On February 11, Ho defeated Don Muraco to retain the NWA San Francisco United States Title
– On February 22, Ho & Moondog Mayne defeated Great Goliath & Black Gordman to win the NWA San Francisco Tag Team Titles
– On March 22, Ho defeated Texas Red to retain the NWA San Francisco United States Title
– Ho placed fourth in the 1978 IWE Japan League
– On November 30, 1981, Ho & Klondike Mike defeated Igor Volkoff & Al Tomko to win the NWA Vancouver Pacific Coast Tag Team Titles
– On February 8, 1982, Ho & Sonny Meyers defeated Tiny Anderson & Ramon Torres to win the NWA International Tag Team Titles, but an injury to Meyers saw the titles vacated soon after
– On August 23, Ho & Moondog Moretti defeated Bruiser Costa & Butcher Hughes to win the vacant NWA International Tag Team Titles
– Ho retired from active duties in late 1983 and would open a deli in Vancouver
– Ho passed away from complications of CTE at the age of 80 on February 20, 2021