Tatsuhito Takaiwa was born on Go Yong-Il, July 5,1972 and is a Zainichi-Korean professional wrestler.
28 Facts About Tatsuhito Takaiwa
2.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa is known for his work as a tag team specialist, most notably in a successful tag team with Shinjiro Otani during the 1990s.
3.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa was part of the same trainee class as Shinjiro Otani and the two became frequent opponents and tag team partners when they eventually debuted.
4.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa debuted on July 21,1992, losing to Satoshi Kojima.
5.
In 1993, Tatsuhito Takaiwa took part in the Young Lions Cup, finishing last with zero wins and zero points.
6.
In 1998, Tatsuhito Takaiwa teamed up with Otani to take part in the league to crown the inaugural IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, with the two of them defeating Koji Kanemoto and Dr Wagner Jr in the finals to become the first ever holders of the belts.
7.
In December 1998, Tatsuhito Takaiwa received his first shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, unsuccessfully challenging Jushin Thunder Liger.
8.
In 2000, both Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa took part in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, with both men winning their blocks and reaching the final, where, on June 9, Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Otani to win the 2000 Best of the Super Juniors.
9.
Later in the month after just under a year as champions, Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to the Junior Stars.
10.
At the promotion's first show on March 2,2001, Tatsuhito Takaiwa teamed with Alexander Otsuka in a loss to No Fear.
11.
Rather than follow in Otani's footsteps and graduate to the heavyweight division, Tatsuhito Takaiwa opted to remain a junior and spent Zero1's formative years building up the division.
12.
In 2004, Tatsuhito Takaiwa took part in the Tenkaichi Junior Tournament, making it to the final where he defeated Tomohiro Ishii to win it.
13.
Shortly after, Tatsuhito Takaiwa formed a tag team with Ishii, and the two defeated Leonardo Spanky and Low-Ki to win the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship.
14.
On June 24,2006, Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to win the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, and on July 27 defeated Takuya Sugawara to unify both the WWA and International Junior Heavyweight titles.
15.
In February 2007, while simultaneously holding the WWA, International and GHC Junior titles, Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Ikuto Hidaka to win the AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
16.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa competed in his first Best of the Super Juniors tournament since 2000 in June 2008, finishing with four points and failing to advance.
17.
On June 20,2009, at Dominion 6.20 Tiger Mask defeated him in a mask vs mask match and afterwards Tatsuhito Takaiwa revealed his identity by removing his mask.
18.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa lost his mask as Black Tiger V for the second time on May 14,2011, when he was defeated at a Toryumon Mexico event by Ultimo Dragon.
19.
Shortly after the formation of Zero1, Tatsuhito Takaiwa began making appearances in Pro Wrestling Noah, and in October 2001 defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
20.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa returned to Noah in 2003 to take part in the Differ Cup, a tag team tournament featuring junior heavyweights.
21.
On December 23,2006, Tatsuhito Takaiwa won the championship a second time, defeating Takashi Sugiura at a SEM event.
22.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa held the title until April 2007, dropping it to Mushiking Terry.
23.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa returned to Noah again in 2011, taking part in the NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League with his trainee Osamu Namiguchi.
24.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa made another one-off return to Noah in December 2013, unsuccessfully challenging Taiji Ishimori for the GHC Junior title.
25.
Originally aiming to step away from pro wrestling after leaving Zero1 and doing one last run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Tatsuhito Takaiwa got a job at a building maintenance company in late 2009 and began competing more sparingly on the independent scene in early 2010, primarily working for Jun Kasai's Freedoms.
26.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa left his second job in 2012 and returned to Zero1 for the first time in four years to take part in the Tenkaichi Junior Tournament, though he was unsuccessful, losing to Jonathan Gresham in the semi-final.
27.
On March 26,2017, Tatsuhito Takaiwa officially re-signed with Zero1 after almost 8 years as a freelancer.
28.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa continues to make regular appearances in Zero1 to this day.