Satoru Sayama was born on November 27,1957 and is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask.
29 Facts About Satoru Sayama
2.
Satoru Sayama has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger.
3.
Satoru Sayama is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously.
4.
Satoru Sayama is recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world.
5.
Satoru Sayama pioneered mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its kind, with a focus on striking from arts like Boxing, Muay Thai and Karate, and grappling from Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo.
6.
Satoru Sayama is the founder of the martial art Seikendo and professional wrestling promotion Real Japan Pro Wrestling.
7.
Satoru Sayama debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, against Shoji Kai, a jobber known to have been the debut opponent for future stars.
8.
Satoru Sayama weighed only 160 pounds, which, even given his training, impaired him from getting a permanent spot on NJPW cards.
9.
Around this time, Satoru Sayama trained in sambo under Victor Koga and kickboxing under Toshio Fujiwara.
10.
In late 1982, while still a member of the New Japan roster, Satoru Sayama made at least two tours of the United States.
11.
Satoru Sayama appeared primarily in the World Wrestling Federation, at the time a regional promotion in the northeast region of the country.
12.
Satoru Sayama made appearances at WWF television tapings during these tours, in which he had televised matches against Jose Estrada and Mr Saito.
13.
Satoru Sayama was inactive from the ring for nearly a year, having founded the Tiger Gym and spending most of his time training with his protege Kazuo Yamazaki.
14.
Satoru Sayama initially supported the UWF concept and had several memorable matches against Akira Maeda and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
15.
Satoru Sayama claimed that he was kicked in the groin, resulting in Maeda being disqualified.
16.
Shortly after this, Satoru Sayama left UWF, amid recriminations from other UWF wrestlers who disliked him for his selfish leadership.
17.
Satoru Sayama taught the art of shooting to fighters like Yorinaga Nakamura, Yuki Nakai and Rumina Sato, among others.
18.
In 1995, Satoru Sayama was offered to return to puroresu for a match against old mentor Antonio Inoki.
19.
Satoru Sayama did, but left a year later to form Seikendo.
20.
Satoru Sayama created a professional promotion by the same name to promote his martial art, which ran for three years and had five events before closing down in 2003.
21.
However, with a career spanning over 30 years in addition to being actively involved in martial arts aside from wrestling, have taken its toll, with Satoru Sayama being fodder in singles matches for current stars aiming to become legends, such as Shinjiro Otani and Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Minoru Suzuki.
22.
Satoru Sayama has appeared in Tatsumi Fujinami's Dradition promotion, as well as Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation.
23.
Satoru Sayama is much heavier than he was in his younger days, and as a result, his style has changed; he focuses more on mat-based wrestling, though he still uses his trademark martial arts kicks.
24.
Still training young wrestlers, Satoru Sayama endorsed a second Super Tiger, played by seikendoka and mixed martial artist Yuji Sakuragi.
25.
In 2010, Satoru Sayama picked Ikuhisa Minowa as the fifth Tiger Mask, but has not wrestled under the mask since.
26.
At the March 20,2015, Real Japan event, Satoru Sayama was defeated by All Japan wrestler Akebono following a splash from the former yokozuna.
27.
Satoru Sayama returned to the ring on June 23,2016, battling Minowa-man to a draw, but has not been back since then.
28.
In 1995, Satoru Sayama starred along Itsumi Osawa in the Toshihiro Sato movie Roppongi Soldier as Ken Washizu, a former kickboxer turned private detective.
29.
Satoru Sayama had an appearance in the 2004 movie Shinsetsu Tiger Mask, a biographical film about Sayama's life in which he is played by Masakatsu Funaki.