Jumbo Tsuruta

Jumbo Tsuruta
Born (1951-03-25)March 25, 1951
Makioka, Yamanashi
Died May 13, 2000(2000-05-13) (aged 49)
Philippines
Cause of death Complications from kidney transplant
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Jumbo Tsuruta
Tommy Tsuruta
The Terror of Yamanashi
Billed height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Billed weight 130 kg (290 lb)
Trained by Dory Funk Jr.
Lou Thesz
All Japan Pro Wrestling
Debut March 24, 1973
Retired February 20, 1999

Tomomi Tsuruta (鶴田 友美, Tsuruta Tomomi, March 25, 1951 – May 13, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta (ジャンボ鶴田), was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the NWA United National Championship, and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, and unifying the three titles. He is also known for being one-half of the first-ever World Tag Team Champions with Yoshiaki Yatsu, having won the NWA International Tag Team Championship and the PWF Tag Team Championship, and unifying the two titles.

Early life

Tsuruta participated in many sports, such as swimming, basketball, and sumo while attending Hikawa Senior High School in Yamanashi-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture.

Amateur wrestling career

While at Chuo University, he began an amateur wrestling career. He won the All Japan Amateur Wrestling Championship in freestyle and Greco-Roman as a superheavyweight (at the time, an unlimited class for those weighing over 100 kilograms) in the years 1971 and 1972.

He also competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He finished the Greco-Roman tournament with no wins.

Professional wrestling career

Scouted by AJPW promoter Giant Baba, he was sent to the local Amarillo, Texas promotion in the U.S. to train as a pro under Dory Funk Jr. While wrestling in the United States, Tsuruta was the first Japanese wrestler to be cheered by an American crowd, due to his hard work ethic and wrestling ability. The name "Jumbo" was given to him by a fan contest in Japan to replace his given name, which was seen as too feminine. He defeated Nick Bockwinkel on February 22, 1984 to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, Japan. He would lose the title to Rick Martel on May 13, 1984 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu became the first World Tag Team Champions on June 10, 1988.

During his 26-year career, he fought in 3,329 matches.[1] Some of his most notable opponents include Stan Hansen, Billy Robinson, The Destroyer, Bruiser Brody, Genichiro Tenryu, Abdullah the Butcher, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr., Mitsuharu Misawa, Harley Race, Verne Gagne, Rick Martel, Riki Choshu, Jack Brisco, Ric Flair, and Nick Bockwinkel. Tsuruta was the first Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion (unifying the Pacific Wrestling Federation, NWA United National, and NWA International Heavyweight titles), defeating Stan Hansen on April 18, 1989 in Tokyo.

In 1992, he completed the October "Giant Series" tour before disappearing from the company for almost a year. For the rest of his career, he participated mostly in comedic (i.e. exhibition) six-man tag team matches; he frequently teamed with Baba and old rival Rusher Kimura in matches against teams which included Masanobu Fuchi, Haruka Eigen, and other old-timers. He announced his retirement on February 20, 1999 and held a ceremony on March 6, 1999.

Post-retirement and death

Four days after Tsuruta's retirement, he and his family moved to the United States to be a visiting researcher at the University of Portland in Oregon. Tsuruta had a bachelor's degree in political science and earned a master's degree in coaching in 1997, later becoming a part-time instructor in physical training at his old University.

His health deteriorated, however, as he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer, which eventually spread to his liver, and by the end of the year he was back in Japan. In April 2000, he left for Australia, where he had an operation to remove the cancer, while there a kidney donor was found in Manila. Tsuruta died in the National Kidney Institute in the Philippines on May 13, 2000, from complications of the kidney transplant.

He had three sons: Ken, Naoki, and Yuji.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. ↑ "View from the Rising Sun by Masanori Horie--Jumbo Tsuruta-1951-2000". Archived from the original on 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  2. ↑ "Other arena's finishing movelist".
  3. ↑ "Misc. All Japan Events".
  4. ↑ Oliver, Greg (2014-11-26). "Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2015 announced". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo: Puroresu Awards: 1980s". Puroresu Dojo.
  6. 1 2 "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo: Puroresu Awards: 1990s". Puroresu Dojo.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo: Puroresu Awards: 1970s". Puroresu Dojo.
  8. ↑ "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo : Puroresu Awards: 2000s". Puroresu Dojo.
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