Ryan Keiji Sakoda (December 31, 1972 – September 2, 2021) was a Japanese American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He was best known for his appearances in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

and later Ultimate Pro Wrestling as a part-time trainer for the wrestlers, as well as working in the independents under his real name.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1998–2003)

Before coming to WWE, Sakoda had a successful stint in the NWA Zero-One promotion in Japan, stemming from his appearances for

Ultimate Pro Wrestling Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) was a California-based independent pro wrestling company owned and operated by Rick Bassman, that operated from 1999–2007. The company had working relationships with Pro Wrestling Zero1 and World Wrestling Ente ...

. During this time Sakoda often filled in as an instructor at UPW's Ultimate University, while wrestling as part of the faction Team Emblem with Japanese superstars

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship#Title History, one-time FMW Brass Knuckle ...

and

Shinjiro Otani is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury sustained in April 2022. A product of the Ne ...

World Wrestling Entertainment (2003–2004)

On January 6, 2003, Sakoda made his first onscreen appearance for WWE on Raw as a judge for

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

and

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler. Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and has also wrestled for Jim Crockett ...

's pose down under the name Charlie Chan. In September 2003, Sakoda was signed to a developmental contract, and it wouldn't be long before Sakoda was brought up to

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

's main roster. He, along with Akio, made their WWE debuts on October 19, 2003, at No Mercy. Sakoda aligned himself with Akio, forming the

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

Kyo Dai, the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

-style henchmen of Tajiri. In August 2004, Sakoda was released from his WWE contract.

Return to independent circuit (2005–2007)

After WWE, Sakoda returned to UPW in March 2005 as a part-time trainer and part-time auto sales executive at Worthington Ford. He made his return to full-time in-ring competition in 2007 with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Wrestling Society X Wrestling Society X (WSX) was an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Big Vision Entertainment. ''Wrestling Society X'' (''WSX'') also refers to the promotion's short-lived television series produced in 2007 by Big Vision Entertain ...

. Wrestling as an independent in the local mall circuit until his death, Sakoda had been working as a server for Disney at one of their Grand California Hotel restaurants.

Personal life

Sakoda filed a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit against WWE, alleging that wrestlers sustained traumatic brain injuries while wrestling for them and that the company tried to conceal that information. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. In March 2016, the suit was dismissed as frivolous by Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant.

Death

Sakoda died on September 2, 2021, at the age of 48. His death was not announced until September 27.

Championships and accomplishments

Empire Wrestling Federation The Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) is an professional wrestling promotion, independent wrestling promotion based in Covina, California. It is owned and operated by Jesse Hernandez. The EWF is also tied to Hernandez's wrestling school, ''The Scho ...

** EWF Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

Pro Wrestling Zero-One , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001 ...

NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship The Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, also known as the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, is a professional wrestling tag team championship in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1, typically reserved for (but not exclusive to) h ...

( 1 time) – with

Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Opps, and is one-third of the AEW Worl ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakoda, Ryan 1972 births 2021 deaths Japanese male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Tokyo Zero1 Intercontinental Tag Team Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers