Yoshihiro Takayama

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Yoshihiro Takayama
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Yoshihiro Takayama
Billed height	196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Billed weight	125 kg (280 lb)
Born	September 19, 1966(1966-09-19) Sumida-ku, Tokyo
Debut	June 28, 1992

Yoshihiro Takayama is a free lance Japanese professional wrestler and a mixed martial arts fighter. Takayama is well-known for his ability to endure massive amounts of punishment; at PRIDE 21 he fought Don Frye and took one of the more brutal beatings in PRIDE history, and while Frye won the match, Takayama managed to continue for over six minutes and was able to land some heavy punches of his own.

1 Career
2 Wrestling facts
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 Trivia
5 References

[edit] Career

Takayama started in UWF International, but due to the focus of the promotion on star Nobuhiko Takada, he wasn't able to go past the mid-card level. In 1995-96, with the interpromotional feuds with New Japan Pro Wrestling and WAR, he formed the "Golden Cups" stable with Yoji Anjo and Kenichi Yamamoto to compete in tag team and six-man matches. In New Japan he and Anjo assumed masks as the "200% Machines" to mock "Super Strong Machine" Junji Hirata. In WAR, they feuded with Gedo, Jado and Hiromichi Fuyuki.

After UWFI's subsequent collapse, he joined Kingdom, but after it also collapsed, he joined All Japan Pro Wrestling as a free agent along with former UWFI comrade Masahito Kakihara. In the beginning, Takayama was put in a feud with Toshiaki Kawada (against whom he had lost once in an interpromotional match before the UWFI's collapse), but as he lost matches often, he was back in the undercard. He joined former UWFI foreigner Gary Albright and native Takao Omori in a new version of the "Triangle of Power" stable Albright had formed with Steve Williams before he briefly went back to the United States.

In 1999, upon Shohei Baba's death, Mitsuharu Misawa made him and Kakihara full-time members of All Japan. Pushed as the "NO FEAR" team with Omori, Takayama found instant success, first winning the Asian tag team title from Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki and then the Double Cup from Johnny Ace and Bart Gunn. However, they were eventually defeated by the combination of Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa. In 2000, when Misawa announced plans for his new promotion, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Takayama followed him. In NOAH, he found continued success, winning the new GHC tag team title with Omori, as well. It was around 2001 that, spurred by his old UWFI comrades' success in the PRIDE fighting circuit, decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts competition. Although defeated by Kazuyuki Fujita, he impressed "real-fight" pundits enough to warrant more fight offers. In what many PRIDE fans consider to be one of the organizations most exciting matches ever, Takayama faced Don Frye in a slugfest at PRIDE 21, and although he lost the match, Takayama solidified his reputation as one of the toughest Japanese fighters in PRIDE. Also his battle with Frye appeared at number one on Fox Sports Network's "Best Damn 50 Beatdowns".

Takayama declared free agency from NOAH so he could pursue mixed martial arts, as well as matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he began challenging the top stars, such as Yuji Nagata, Masa Chono, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. In 2003 and 2004 he participated in New Japan's annual G-1 Climax tournament. In mid-2004 he affiliated himself with former Pancrase wrestler Minoru Suzuki, and they won the IWGP tag team title, but he suffered a stroke later in the year following a match with Kensuke Sasaki. During his time away from the ring, Takayama provided occasional colour commentary for Pro Wrestling NOAH, famously saying, "I hope this never ends" during a chop exchange between Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki on the July 18, 2005 "Destiny" show. In June 2006, Pro Wrestling NOAH announced that Takayama would return July 16 Nippon Budokan show teaming with Kenta Kobashi to take on Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa. The match was later changed due to Kobashi needing surgery to remove a tumor, leading to Takayama teaming with Kensuke Sasaki against Akiyama and Misawa. However, when Kenta Kobashi returned, it would be in the same match, team with yoshihrio takayama against jun akiyama and mitsuhara misawa.

He recently started teaming with old UWFI comrade Takuma Sano in a tournament for the GHC Tag Team Championship vacated by Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda due to Kobashi's kidney tumor (Takayama and Sano woud reach the final where they would lose to Mohammed Yone and Takeshi Morishima). On December 27, he showed up at a Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX show, attacked former partner Takao Omori, and promised to return at the next show.

When he is not wrestling, he also works as a color commentator for Pro Wrestling NOAH.