15 Facts About Ryuji Yamakawa

Ryuji Yamakawa is best known for his time with Big Japan Pro Wrestling, where he spent the majority of his career between 1995 and 2012 as a deathmatch wrestler.

Ryuji Yamakawa was one of the top wrestlers and an over main eventer of the company, winning the Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship two times and the Tag Team Championship seven times.

Ryuji Yamakawa debuted for the new deathmatch wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling at the company's first show Start Up on March 16,1995 by teaming with Daisuke Taue against Kin Soppo and Nam Ti Ryon in a losing effort.

Ryuji Yamakawa became a mainstay of BJW by excelling the deathmatch wrestling style and competing in various deathmatches during the course of his career.

Ryuji Yamakawa reached the pinnacle of his career by defeating Shadow WX in a no rope barbed wire death pallet coffin and fire deathmatch to win his first Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship, the top title in the promotion on May 30,1999.

Ryuji Yamakawa formed a tag team with Tomoaki Honma to participate in the 1999 Maximum Tag League, which they won by winning all of their matches in the tournament.

Ryuji Yamakawa lost the title to his tag team partner Honma in a 5-inch spike nail and barbed wire double board deathmatch in the quarter-final round of the 2000 BJ Grand Prix on January 2,2000.

Ryuji Yamakawa began feuding with FMW's Team No Respect group and the rivalry took place in both BJW and FMW.

Ryuji Yamakawa reunited with Tomoaki Honma to win the 2000 Maximum Tag League for the second consecutive year.

On February 23,2001, Ryuji Yamakawa teamed with Kintaro Kanemura at a FMW show and defeated GOEMON and Onryo to win the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship.

Kanemura and Ryuji Yamakawa unsuccessfully challenged Sekimoto and Teioh for the Hardcore Tag Team Championship in a rematch on January 2,2002.

Ryuji Yamakawa reverted to competing under his real name Seiji Ryuji Yamakawa and won the World Extreme Cup tournament later that year by defeating Kintaro Kanemura in the final at Harder Than Hardcore II.

Ryuji Yamakawa adopted the ring name Mr Big Japan on July 21,2003.

On November 22,2011, Ryuji Yamakawa announced that he would retire on July 15,2012 and worked his retirement tour throughout the late 2011 and the first half of 2012.

Ryuji Yamakawa wrestled the first BJW match of 2012 by teaming with Yuichi Taniguchi to defeat Atsushi Ohashi and Masato Inaba.