Tojo Yamamoto served in the United States Marine Corps and worked as a judo instructor.
14 Facts About Tojo Yamamoto
2.
Tojo Yamamoto worked in hundreds of different tag-team combinations, and even wrestled Hulk Hogan.
3.
Tojo Yamamoto was affiliated with Nashville-area wrestling promoter Nick Gulas for most of his career.
4.
Tojo Yamamoto showed his allegiance despite offers from other promoters, including an offer from his close friend and student Jerry Jarrett when he started promoting shows of his own.
5.
Tojo Yamamoto only held 3 singles titles, but 2 of those runs was with the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title, the most prestigious title in his home territory.
6.
Over time, Tojo Yamamoto became aware that his body was failing him, and his in-ring career would come to an end.
7.
Tojo Yamamoto constantly wrestled a full schedule without taking days off, leading to injuries that never healed.
8.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, especially his fellow Asian wrestlers, Tojo Yamamoto stuck to wrestling and never appeared in any films or television shows.
9.
Tojo Yamamoto was able to stay in the wrestling business and later became a manager of other wrestlers.
10.
Tojo Yamamoto trained dozens of wrestlers who in turn went on to train scores, perhaps hundreds, of additional performers.
11.
Tojo Yamamoto passed his decades of wrestling knowledge down to many students, including several future world champions such as Jeff Jarrett, Mike Rapada, and Sid Vicious.
12.
Tojo Yamamoto even had a hand in training Jeff Jarrett's father, Jerry Jarrett.
13.
Tojo Yamamoto would manage some of the wrestlers he trained, but more incredibly he later faced several of his students in the ring; winning many of his Tag Team and Six-Man Tag Team Titles in matches with his former students.
14.
Tojo Yamamoto died in his home in Hermitage, Tennessee of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head in 1992.