is a Japanese

catch wrestling Catch wrestling (also known as catch-as-catch-can) is an English wrestling style where wrestlers aim to win by Pin (sport wrestling), pinning or Submission (combat sports), submitting their opponent using any legal holds or techniques. It emph ...

instructor and retired

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 ...

, best known for his work in Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional-wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shar ...

(NJPW). A former student of legendary wrestlers

Billy Robinson William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 27 February 2014) was an English professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and coach. Having trained at Billy Riley's gym, better known as " The Snake Pit" in Wigan, Robinson was one of the leadin ...

and

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

, Miyato is the founder and head coach at the , which he based on the original

Snake Pit The Snake Pit, based in Aspull, Wigan Borough, England, is the gym and organisation regarded as the home of catch wrestling. Founded in 1948 by Billy Riley in the town of Wigan, it was originally known as Riley's Gym. Riley was succeeded b ...

in England.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Shigeo began training under the UWF's

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

, which was a training facility for people wanting to become professional wrestlers in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. While he was here,

Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Maeda was also known by the ring name Kwik-kik-Lee durin ...

trained him in becoming a

. Training for professional wrestling takes 1–3 years. Shigeo's debut was on September 6, 1985. Miyato's early stages of his career saw him compete in non-televised matches across Japan for various promotions and under the Union Of Professional Wrestling Force Japan (UWF-J) and very few matches with NJPW during this time.

New Japan Pro Wrestling and UWF international

Miyato signed with NJPW originally in 1985, but he did not start competing consistently until 1987. On August 19, 1987, Miyato was defeated via

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

Takayuki Iizuka , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling No ...

. On August 20, Miyato, Tatsuo Nakano and

Yoji Anjo (born March 28, 1967) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Anjo is considered to be one of the pioneers of the shoot style movement during the 1980s and early 90s. Professional wrestling career Uni ...

faced Kenichi Oya,

Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his numerous runs in the top three Japanese wrestling promotions; New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah. He was the founder and o ...

and

Osamu Matsuda (born April 19, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and is better known by his stage name El Samurai. Professional wrestling career Early years (1986–1992) Osamu Ma ...

in a losing effort. Despite losing, the match was highly acclaimed. In 1991, Miyato was signed by UWF-I (Union Of Professional Wrestling Force International) after noticing his work for the Japanese version. At the UWFi dojo he trained in catch wrestling, learning from

and

. He competed against the likes of Dan "the Beast" Severn and

Bob Backlund Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur wrestling, amateur and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Fede ...

. Early into his UWF run, he entered a feud with Tatsuo Nakano in UWF-I, with the two trading numerous victories over the coming months.

Retirement

In September 1995, he announced his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from his professional wrestling in-ring career. After this, Miyato would take a break from professional wrestling and later train future professional wrestlers. He has commentated on many wrestling shows since. In 1999, Miyato established the UWF Snake Pit Japan gym (now ). He based it on the original

in England, where he visited and trained at in 1995.

and

were the first head coaches at Snake Pit Japan.

Personal life

Miyato was born and raised in

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, Japan. He still lives there today. He took an interest in wrestling from a young age.

References