Profile of Akihisa Mera on Famous Like Me

Akihisa Yone Yoshi Mera a.k.a. The Great Kabuki was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was famous for being the first to blow harmful mist in his opponents' faces.

Career

Akihisa Yone Yoshi Mera better known as The Great Kabuki was born on September 8, 1948 in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in 1964 for the old Japanese Wrestling Association but pretty soon left Japan to compete in the United States. From there he wrestled all over the world, including All Japan Pro Wrestling, several territories of the National Wrestling Alliance including Jim Crockett Promotions, Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Southern Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling. He originally used the name Akihisa Takachihō, but adopted the Great Kabuki persona in WCCW in the early 1980's.

He was managed by most of the top heel managers of the 1970's and early 1980's, and he was most often a heel. When he was a baby-face, he was very unpredictable and could turn at any time.

He was the first wrestler to blow harmful mist into his opponents faces. When Keiji Mutoh debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions as The Great Muta, Mutoh was billed as Kabuki's son due to the similarities in style and the blowing of the mist. In reality, they are not related but did team under masks as "The Rising Sun" under the management of James J. Dillon in Crockett.

Kabuki had a pre-match ritual of showing his skills with the nunchakus that intimidated most opponents.

Some of his feuds were against Jimmy Valiant, Scott Casey, Abdullah the Butcher, Dusty Rhodes, Toshiaki Kawada, Genichiro Tenryu, Bruiser Brody and the Fabulous Freebirds.

In 1990, after losing interest in American wrestling, he went back to All Japan Pro Wrestling and won the Double Cup tag team title with Jumbo Tsuruta, but pretty soon he joined Tenryu in creating the SWS promotion. From there he went on to be one of the co-founders of IWA Japan.

He participated in one World Wrestling Federation match in 1994. It was the Royal Rumble and he was eliminated by Lex Luger.

Kabuki retired in 1998.

Profile

• Height: 5 ft 10 in
• Weight: 240 lb
• Birthday: September 8, 1948
• Hometown: Nobeoka, Japan
• Billed From: Singapore
• Debut: 1964
• Finishing/signature moves: Thrust Kick, Nerve Hold, Poison Mist

Managers

• Skandor Akbar
• Killer Tim Brooks
• James J. Dillon
• Gary Hart
• Michael Hayes
• Armand Hussein
• Percy Pringle III (William Moody)
• Sunshine (Valerie French)
• Tojo Yamamoto

Stage Names

• Rising Sun #1
• Takuchiho
• Mr. Sato
• Hito Tojo
• Kabuki
• Yoshino Sato
• Akihisa Takachiho
• Takachiho
• The Great Kabuki

Championships and accomplishments

National Wrestling Alliance

• 1-Time NWA Texas World Tag Team Championship (with Chang Chung)
• 1-Time NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Champion
• 1-Time NWA Western States Tag Team Champion (with Ricky Romero)
• 2-Time NWA Central States Tag Team Champion (with Pak Song and Killer Karl Kox)
• 1-Time NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champion
• 1-Time NWA Australasian Tag Team Champion (with Hiro Tojo)

All Japan Pro Wrestling

• 1-Time AJPW Unified World Tag Team Champion (with Jumbo Tsuruta)
• 1-Time AJPW All-Asia Tag Team Champion (with Tomotsugu Kutsuwada)

World Class Championship Wrestling

• 1-Time WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
• 2-Time WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
• 1-Time WCCW Television Champion

Florida Championship Wrestling

• 2-Time NWA Florida Tag Team Champion (with Mr. Saito)
• 2-Time NWA Florida United States Tag Team Champion (with Mr. Saito)

Mid-South Wrestling

• 1-Time Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Champion

Mid-Southern Wrestling

• 1-Time Mid-American Heavyweight Champion

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Akihisa Mera