In May 2008, Hikaru Sato transitioned into the world of professional wrestling, when he was signed by the Dramatic Dream Team promotion.
25 Facts About Hikaru Sato
2.
In November 2010, Hikaru Sato first became a triple crown trios champion with Michael Nakazawa and Tomomitsu Matsunaga and then won DDT's top singles title, the KO-D Openweight Championship.
3.
Hikaru Sato is currently working for the All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, where he is a former two-time World Junior Heavyweight Champion and four-time All Asia Tag Team Champion, while being a five-time winner of the Jr.
4.
Hikaru Sato made his fighting debut as a middleweight on February 27,2000, losing to Daisuke Watanabe with a unanimous decision.
5.
Hikaru Sato picked up his first win in his second fight on April 30,2000, by defeating American Michael Sa Jin Kwok with an armbar in the first round.
6.
Early on, Hikaru Sato became known for his eccentric personality, which included him wearing cat ears and dressing up as a maid while walking to the ring for his fights.
7.
In 2001, Hikaru Sato fought three high-profile fights, losing to American King of Pancrase Middleweight Champion Nathan Marquardt via submission on March 31, defeating Ryo Chonan via unanimous decision in Chonan's professional debut on May 5 and losing to King of Pancrase Light Heavyweight Champion Keiichiro Yamamiya via unanimous decision on August 30.
8.
On January 18,2004, Hikaru Sato defeated Daisuke Nakamura to win Greatest Common Multiple's 2004 Demolition Middleweight 4Men Tournament.
9.
On February 28,2007, Hikaru Sato defeated Rikuhei Fujii and, as a result, for the first time in his career, Hikaru Sato's number of wins exceeded his number of losses, with a record of 17 wins, 16 losses and 3 draws.
10.
On December 22,2007, Hikaru Sato finally got into a ring with Josh Barnett the match was contested under catch wrestling rules.
11.
In March 2008, Hikaru Sato began training for a career in professional wrestling under Pancrase founder Minoru Suzuki.
12.
Hikaru Sato made his debut for the Dramatic Dream Team promotion on May 24,2008, defeating Shuji Ishikawa in the main event of a "Hard Hit" event, DDT's project, which combines elements of mixed martial arts and professional wrestling to create a more realistic looking, but still worked, style of professional wrestling.
13.
On February 22,2009, Hikaru Sato defeated Tanomusaku Toba and Yasu Urano in a three-way match to earn his first shot at DDT's top title, the KO-D Openweight Championship.
14.
Just nine days later, Hikaru Sato defeated Harashima to win the KO-D Openweight Championship.
15.
Two months later, Hikaru Sato returned to AJPW to take part in the 2011 Junior Tag League, where he teamed with Kikutaro, with the two winning two out of their six matches in the tournament.
16.
On July 16, Hikaru Sato returned to AJPW to take part in the 2012 Junior Hyper League.
17.
On January 3,2013, Hikaru Sato made another appearance for AJPW, when he and Yamato came together to challenge the Junior Stars of Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka to a match for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.
18.
On February 24, Hikaru Sato produced the first Hard Hit event in eight months, working in the main event, where he faced Yuji Sakuragi, who had defeated him in a Pancrase fight in January 2006.
19.
The Hard Hit match ended with Hikaru Sato being declared the winner after just 38 seconds, when he was unable to continue after having his nose accidentally broken by Sakuragi.
20.
Hikaru Sato followed that up nine days later by defeating Harashima to become the number one contender to the KO-D Openweight Championship.
21.
Post-match Hikaru Sato, who had earlier mentioned that he wanted to defend the title against younger wrestlers, nominated Akito and Konosuke Takeshita as their next challengers.
22.
On January 17,2014, DDT announced that the promotion and Hikaru Sato had decided not to renew their contract with each other.
23.
On March 14,2015, Hikaru Sato received his first non-junior title shot in AJPW, when he unsuccessfully challenged Kenso for the Gaora TV Championship.
24.
On June 4,2015, it was announced that Hikaru Sato had obtained all rights to the Hard Hit project, which was now becoming independent of DDT.
25.
In February 2016, Hikaru Sato made it to the finals of the 2016 Jr.