1. Mr Pogo helped popularize hardcore wrestling in the 1990s with "death matches" in promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING and Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
17 Facts About Mr Pogo
1. 2.
Mr Pogo was originally a decent amateur, having a pre-professional dispute with the future Jumbo Tsuruta over team representation in the Japanese collegiate championships.
3.
Mr Pogo joined Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance but did not debut there, instead joining the new New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion's NJPW Dojo and debuting in 1972.
4.
Mr Pogo started in Canada, first in Calgary for Stampede Wrestling, where he wrestled for a year under the name Judo Lee.
5.
Mr Pogo then moved west to Vancouver for NWA All-Star Wrestling, wrestling there for a year under his real name.
6.
Mr Pogo's first stop on his second American excursion is for the NWA's Tri-State territory, where he spent a year wrestling the likes of Wahoo McDaniel, Butch Reed, and The Spoiler.
7.
In 1985, Mr Pogo returned to Japan and to NJPW with a new tag team partner in Kendo Nagasaki.
8.
Mr Pogo held the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship once, despite being over the weight limit, before leaving WWC in 1991.
9.
Mr Pogo never returned to the Americas to wrestle afterwards.
10.
Mr Pogo debuted in FMW on June 2,1990, seconding Tarzan Goto in his match with Ricky Fuji.
11.
Immediately, Mr Pogo feuded with Atsushi Onita, partaking in various deathmatches, which eventually became Mr Pogo's specialty.
12.
Mr Pogo won one World Tag Team Championship with Crash The Terminator.
13.
Mr Pogo returned to FMW in July 1993 and resumed his feud with Atsushi Onita.
14.
Mr Pogo won two FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championships and three FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championships, one each with Hisakatsu Oya, The Gladiator, and Yukihiro Kanemura.
15.
Funk, not knowing why Mr Pogo was still down, began blowing fire at him, stuck in the barbed wire, causing the referee to end the match and award it to Funk via knockout.
16.
Mr Pogo returned to the ring, but the injury made him even more immobile.
17.
Mr Pogo's retirement did not last, as he returned to wrestling in July 1997 for Big Japan Pro Wrestling.