Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri, he has competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the masked character Tigre Blanco.
76 Facts About Yoshihiro Tajiri
2.
Yoshihiro Tajiri was the promoter and featured wrestler for the Smash promotion as well as its successor Wrestling New Classic.
3.
Yoshihiro Tajiri is currently under a full-time contract with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
4.
Yoshihiro Tajiri won the title by defeating Shiho at Pro Wrestling Society Phoenix Rise on May 20,2023.
5.
Yoshihiro Tajiri originally wanted to become a kickboxer and began training in the sport.
6.
Yoshihiro Tajiri debuted professionally in 1994 for International Wrestling Association of Japan with a loss to Takashi Okano.
7.
In 1996, Yoshihiro Tajiri left CMLL to join the hardcore wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo, Japan.
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On July 23,1997, Yoshihiro Tajiri teamed up with Ryuji Yamakawa to win the vacant BJW Tag Team Championship.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri then beat Gedo to become the first BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion.
10.
That same year, Yoshihiro Tajiri competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, participating in the promotion's Best of the Super Juniors IV tournament as a guest from BJW.
11.
Yoshihiro Tajiri won three matches but lost three and did not advance from the first-round.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri's final appearance was a tag match with Brian Christopher, losing to Scott Taylor and Michinoku.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri made his television debut in ECW on the December 24,1998, episode of Hardcore TV, clad in traditional blue and white trunks with an insignia of Japan's rising sun, and picked up a victory over Antifaz Del Norte.
14.
Yoshihiro Tajiri began a notable storyline rivalry with Super Crazy.
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In early 1999, Yoshihiro Tajiri began to emulate The Great Muta, who was one of Yoshihiro Tajiri's wrestling heroes growing up.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri's wrestling trunks were replaced with baggy Karate gi pants, and he began spraying green mist into the face of his opponents.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri aligned himself with Steve Corino, who promised to teach him the American way and help him to integrate himself into United States culture.
18.
Yoshihiro Tajiri lost but gained the title back in a three-way dance involving Super Crazy and Little Guido.
19.
Shortly after becoming champion, Yoshihiro Tajiri was asked by Cyrus to relinquish the belt to The Network so they could award the title to Rhino.
20.
Yoshihiro Tajiri refused to turn the belt over and turned his back on the Network, becoming a babyface in the process.
21.
Yoshihiro Tajiri remained loyal to the company until it folded in April 2001.
22.
Yoshihiro Tajiri participated in ECW's final two shows: on January 12, where he picked up a victory over Super Crazy, and January 13,2001, when he lost to Super Crazy.
23.
In IWA Puerto Rico, Yoshihiro Tajiri teamed with Super Crazy as they unsuccessfully wrestled Andy Anderson and Vyzago for the World Tag Team Championship.
24.
Yoshihiro Tajiri would enter the Hardcore Championship invitational match but lost.
25.
Yoshihiro Tajiri lost to Pain twice but would later go on to beat Nick Berk to become CZW World Heavyweight Champion on February 28,2001; however, Yoshihiro Tajiri lost the title that same night to Zandig.
26.
Yoshihiro Tajiri was given the gimmick of WWF Commissioner William Regal's comedic assistant.
27.
Yoshihiro Tajiri won his first WCW Cruiserweight Championship on October 22,2001, on Raw.
28.
Yoshihiro Tajiri would go on to beat Kidman at Backlash and won the Cruiserweight Championship again only 17 days after losing it.
29.
Yoshihiro Tajiri turned heel by forcing Wilson to dress like a geisha against her will.
30.
Wilson eventually abandoned him during a Cruiserweight Championship match against The Hurricane; she did so by stripping on top of a table during the match that caused Yoshihiro Tajiri to be counted out and later joined forces with Yoshihiro Tajiri's rival, Maven.
31.
Yoshihiro Tajiri became a face in WWE once more after Jamie Noble attacked him for touching Noble's girlfriend Nidia.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri participated in his first Royal Rumble match in January 2003.
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Yoshihiro Tajiri would leave the Cruiserweight division and moved to the tag team division where he formed various tag teams, many of which were somewhat comical.
34.
At SummerSlam, Yoshihiro Tajiri competed in a Fatal four-way match for the WWE United States Championship but failed to win the title.
35.
At WrestleMania XX, Yoshihiro Tajiri took part in a cruiserweight open for the Cruiserweight Championship which was won by the reigning champion Chavo Guerrero.
36.
In 2004, Yoshihiro Tajiri had two chances to earn a shot at the WWE Championship.
37.
Also that year, Yoshihiro Tajiri formed a tag team with Rhyno.
38.
On February 4,2005, in Saitama Super Arena, Yoshihiro Tajiri reunited with William Regal to defeat La Resistance for the World Tag Team Championship on an episode of Raw emanating from Japan.
39.
Yoshihiro Tajiri lost a 3-Way Dance to Super Crazy at ECW One Night Stand 2005 on June 12.
40.
In December 2005, Yoshihiro Tajiri left WWE, stating that he wanted to try to become a journalist and spend more time with his wife and family in Japan.
41.
Yoshihiro Tajiri's final televised WWE match was a loss to Gregory Helms on Heat.
42.
On February 12,2008, Yoshihiro Tajiri made an appearance at a WWE house show in Tokyo, where he accompanied William Regal to the ring for a match against Ric Flair, which Regal lost.
43.
In 2006, Yoshihiro Tajiri took Yujiro Kushida under his wing and trained him while at Hustle.
44.
Yoshihiro Tajiri participated in Hustle GP, Hustle's only tournament, but was knocked out of the tournaments in the first round by Wataru Sakata.
45.
Yoshihiro Tajiri made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling, losing to The Great Muta; Yoshihiro Tajiri and Muta would team up for a few matches, the most notable of which was against Kaz Hayashi and Satoshi Kojima when the pair used double Asian mist to achieve victory.
46.
Yoshihiro Tajiri was a title contender in All Japan Pro Wrestling throughout 2007, including a feud with Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Minoru Suzuki.
47.
Yoshihiro Tajiri opposed Suzuki again on April 22,2007, in a tag team match, in which Yoshihiro Tajiri taunted Suzuki repeatedly.
48.
Days later, Yoshihiro Tajiri returned the titles in exchange for a title match on April 30,2007, where he was unsuccessful.
49.
Yoshihiro Tajiri teamed with The Great Muta to defeat Kohei Suwama and Scott Steiner.
50.
Yoshihiro Tajiri returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2011 to team up with Great Muta and Kenso in a loss to Partisan Forces and KAI.
51.
Yoshihiro Tajiri participated in G1 Climax 2009 and won his first match of the tournament and his first match of his return.
52.
Tajiri ended the tournament with only four points, finishing bottom of block A Hustle folded in October 2009, after which Tajiri began wrestling for NJPW full-time.
53.
On January 4,2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Yoshihiro Tajiri teamed up with fellow ECW alumnus Masato Tanaka and together they defeated the Seigigun team of Nagata and Akebono when Yoshihiro Tajiri pinned Nagata after the green mist and a Buzzsaw kick.
54.
Yoshihiro Tajiri then helped Tanahashi shave Yano's head following their Hair vs Hair match.
55.
In October and November 2010, Yoshihiro Tajiri teamed with Tanahashi in New Japan's 2010 G1 Tag League.
56.
In 2010, Yoshihiro Tajiri was placed in charge of Smash, a new promotion taking the place of Hustle.
57.
Yoshihiro Tajiri lost to Dreamer but then beat Mentallo in his second contest.
58.
On February 25,2011, Yoshihiro Tajiri gave Kushida his blessing to leave Smash and become a full-time member of the New Japan roster on April 1.
59.
On June 18,2014, Yoshihiro Tajiri announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26.
60.
Yoshihiro Tajiri wrestled his first match under a Wrestle-1 contract on July 6,2014, teaming with Yusuke Kodama in a tag team match, where they defeated the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling team of Ethan Carter III and Rockstar Spud.
61.
Yoshihiro Tajiri then entered a storyline, where he began helping Funaki train for his semifinal match in the tournament.
62.
Post-match, Yoshihiro Tajiri was announced as the newest member of Kono's villainous Desperado stable.
63.
On May 16,2015, Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Minoru Tanaka at a Wrestle-1 event to capture the European Wrestling Promotion Intercontinental Championship.
64.
On June 28,2016, Yoshihiro Tajiri announced he was leaving Wrestle-1 due to his contract with the company expiring.
65.
On June 13,2016, Yoshihiro Tajiri was announced as a participant in WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament.
66.
On December 4,2016, Yoshihiro Tajiri announced he signed a full-time contract with WWE, and that he would make his return in early 2017.
67.
On January 3,2017, Yoshihiro Tajiri debuted on 205 Live defeating Sean Maluta.
68.
Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Jun Akiyama on July 15,2018, to win the Gaora TV Championship.
69.
On October 2,2021, Yoshihiro Tajiri made his MLW debut at Fightland where he defeated Myron Reed, Arez, and Aramis to become the new MLW World Middleweight Champion.
70.
On May 20,2023, Yoshihiro Tajiri debuted for Korea's biggest pro wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Society at Phoenix Rise, Hansung University.
71.
Shiho went to the top rope to hit his signature 'Fox Bite' but Yoshihiro Tajiri countered with his signature mist and 'Buzzsaw' for victory to capture the PWS Championship and take the companies main title back with him to Japan.
72.
Originally Yoshihiro Tajiri performed as a face, without much ring character as such on display, until joining ECW where he adopted his heel "Japanese Buzzsaw" ring character.
73.
The Tarantula is a Rope-hung Boston crab, where Yoshihiro Tajiri himself is hung upside down over the top rope as he applies the hold.
74.
When Yoshihiro Tajiri transitioned to the heel character in 1998 he began wearing baggy pants, using the heavy pants to hide just how much contact his foot actually has with an opponent's chest when Yoshihiro Tajiri performs a "Buzzsaw Kick" on an opponent that often finishes his matches.
75.
The mist was one of the signature moves of the Great Muta, Yoshihiro Tajiri's wrestling inspiration and adopted by Yoshihiro Tajiri in the late 1990s and has been a trademark move ever since.
76.
In December 2003, Yoshihiro Tajiri released his autobiography, Yoshihiro Tajiri: The Japanese Buzzsaw, in Japan.