, is a Japanese

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

and retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by his ring name . As Milano, Sawafuji adopted the gimmick of an Italian fashion aficionado/supermodel, reflected in his ring attire. Milano is also known for walking to the ring with an invisible dog known as Mikeru. After retiring from in-ring competition in 2010, Milano began working as a color commentator for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

(NJPW), a position he maintains to this day.

Professional wrestling career

Sawafuji debuted in 2000 in

Toryumon Toryumon or Tōryūmon may refer to: *Toryumon (Último Dragón) is a professional wrestling promotion that operated in Japan until 2004 and in Mexico, where it's called Toryumon Mexico. The promotion is owned and operated by Yoshihiro Asai, who ...

, where he later adopted the persona and ring name of ''Milano Collection A. T.'', an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

aficionado/

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in '' haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the ...

, wearing lavish coats and trunks and walking to the ring with an invisible dog named Mikeru to much more success, and upon his arrival in Japan, he was the ace of Toryumon's T2P class. In 2002, he won the T2P Strongest Merit Assessment League defeating

Masato Yoshino is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known for working in Dragon Gate, where he was known as ''Speed Star''. Dragon Gate's second Grand Slam champion, having been a record six-time Open the Brave Gate Champion, four-time Open th ...

and received the NWA International Light Heavyweight Championship for the win. He then went on to form the Italian Connection with YOSSINO and YASSINI. The unit eventually added members Pescatore Yagi, Condotti Shuji and mascot

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. With the closure of T2P in July 2003, he joined the

main roster. In mid-2006, he began training at the Texas Wrestling Academy in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

at the urging of

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

Shoichi Funaki (born August 24, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and color commentator signed to WWE, where he is a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Hardcore Champion. He currently works for WWE as a Japanese-language play-by-play c ...

, and trained under Rudy Boy Gonzalez. During his tenure in the TWA, he held the Television Championship for 8 months. He also wrestled for many other American wrestling federations, including

East Coast Wrestling Association East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded by promoter Jim Kettner. It is home to the annual Super 8 Tournament The Super 8 Tournament is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by ...

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

(ROH), NWA Anarchy, Chikara and

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

, where he took part in the 2008 World X Cup as part of

Team Japan Team Japan is a professional wrestling group that was brought together as a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's World X Cup Tournament. History 2004 Team Japan started as six-man team as team captain Nosawa from All Japan Pro Wrestling tea ...

, winning his first and only singles match for TNA against Curry Man, gaining 2 points for his team. He then competed at Victory Road in the third round, which was a four team triple elimination match, dominating early in the match before getting eliminated. After returning to Japan full time in 2007, he began working for

(NJPW), as a part of the R.I.S.E. faction. He received his first title opportunity in New Japan on November 6, 2006, unsuccessfully challenging

Tiger Mask IV is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for being the fourth man to portray . He currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a former 6-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and 2-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ...

for the

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Created in 1945, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World Junior H ...

. He achieved his greatest success in both New Japan and as a professional wrestler in 2007 when he won

's Best of the Super Juniors tournament, defeating

Wataru Inoue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Inoue made his debut on New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1999. He aligned himself with New Japan Junior Seikigun, a face s ...

in the final. In August, he took part in the

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winne ...

, finishing with 2 wins and 4 points. In November, he teamed with

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishi ...

as R.I.S.E in the

G1 Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...

, making it to the semi-finals where they were eliminated by

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

and

Koji Kanemoto (born Kim Il-Sung (김일성); October 31, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wr ...

. On January 18, 2010, Sawafuji announced his retirement from professional wrestling because of

inferior oblique muscle The inferior oblique muscle or obliquus oculi inferior is a thin, narrow muscle placed near the anterior margin of the floor of the orbit. The inferior oblique is one of the extraocular muscles, and is attached to the maxillary bone (origin) an ...

palsy Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysisDan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children;; (2009), p. 172. or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and ...

, brought on by an excessively strong thrust kick to the eye by

Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. It was created in 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in ...

. A retirement ceremony was held on February 14. Sawafuji remains with New Japan as a member of the IWGP Championship Committee and a color commentator.

Championships and accomplishments

* Chikara **ICW/ICWA Tex-Arkana Television Championship (1 time) * Dragon Gate **

Open the Triangle Gate Championship The Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling trios title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was created on November 7, 2004 when The Italian Connection faction of Milano Collection A.T., Anthony W. Mori and Yossino ...

( 1 time) – with Anthony W. Mori and YOSSINO *

NWA Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

** Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup (2006) *

Best of the Super Juniors The Best of the Super Juniors (often abbreviated BOSJ) is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), typically in May or June. Originally known as Top of the Super Juniors, the first tournament was held ...

(

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **PWI ranked him #61 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

in 2007 * Texas Wrestling Entertainment **TWE Television Championship (1 time) *

** NWA International Light Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...

) – with Brother YASSINI and YOSSINO (1), and YOSSINO and Condotti Shuji (1) **T2P Strongest League (2002) **Young Dragons Cup (2000)

References

External links

Puroresu Central profile
* {{Navboxes, , list1= {{Open the Triangle Gate Championship {{New Japan Pro Wrestling personnel {{Best of the Super Juniors {{UWA World Trios Championship Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people 1976 births People from Morioka, Iwate Sportspeople from Iwate Prefecture Professional wrestling announcers 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers UWA World Trios Champions Open the Triangle Gate Champions