is a Japanese former

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 ...

and

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler from Fujishima, Higashitagawa District,

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

, Japan.

Sumo wrestling career

He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched to sumo and won the high school section of the National Sports Festival. He was an amateur sumo champion while at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

, winning the All Japan Sumo Championships and the amateur ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' title. From 1975 to 1977 he was a sumo wrestler with the Hanakago stable and used the fighting name of , which had also been his stablemaster's fighting name. He reached a highest rank of

maegashira , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

4, but was forced to retire at the age of 24 after complications with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1977–1988)

After retiring from sumo, Ishikawa decided to become a professional wrestler and joined

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

Giant Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...

sent him to Pat O'Connor for training. After training, he was sent to the Funks' territory in Amarillo, Texas, where he debuted on November 8, 1977, under the name Takashi Onome. In January 1978, he was sent to Kansas City for

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebr ...

. Returning to Japan in November 1978, Ishikawa wrestled a tour with

International Wrestling Enterprise was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Canada and Europe. In 1972, it ...

, before returning to AJPW in December 1978. In October 1979, he was sent abroad to Puerto Rico for

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

. Under the name Mitsu Ishikawa, he won his first championship, the WWC North American Tag Team Championship with Haru Sonoda. In March 1980, he would briefly return to Amarillo and won the

NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title w ...

with

Hugo Savinovich Hugo Savinovich (born February 15, 1959) is an Ecuadorian sports commentator and retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. He is signed to Lucha Libre AAA as a Spanish commentator. He is best known as part of the Spani ...

, before Savinovich left the area and was replaced by Sonoda, making Ishikawa a two-time champion. In May 1980, Ishikawa would return to AJPW full-time. He would win five AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championships, twice with Akio Sato, once with Ashura Hara, and twice with

Mighty Inoue Sueo Inoue (April 12, 1949 – November 27, 2024), better known by the ring names Mighty Inoue () and All Mighty Inoue, was a Japanese professional wrestler and referee. He is best known for his appearances with International Wrestling Enterprise ...

, before retiring in December 1988. His last match with AJPW was held on December 16, teaming with Mighty Inoue in a victory over Motoshi Okuma and

Haruka Eigen (January 11, 1946 – November 28, 2016) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was an executive director of Pro Wrestling Noah. Sumo career In July 1961, Haruka Eigen began competing in sumo wrestling. He was part of the Tatsunami stable. He ...

Super World Sports (1990–1992)

After a hiatus, Ishikawa returned to pro wrestling in September 1990 for Super World Sports, where he was part of

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was h ...

's Revolution stable and was the booker for the promotion. He would also wrestle with stars in the

World Wrestling Federation 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, ...

. Unfortunately in June 1992, SWS collapsed.

WAR (1992–1994)

After SWS's collapse, Ishikawa joined Tenryu in forming

WAR War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. Soon after, the promotion was engaged in an inter-promotional war with

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, 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 As ...

. At NJPW's Fantastic Story at Tokyo Dome on January 4, 1993, he lost to

Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese Puroresu, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a legends contract. Fujinami is best known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...

. He would remain with WAR until September 1994. His last match with the promotion was on September 1, defeating Yamato.

Tokyo Pro Wrestling (1994–1998)

In December 1994, he formed Tokyo Pro Wrestling. While wrestling and running TPW, he would also make overtures to

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagas ...

, Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, Social Progress Wrestling Federation, Independent Wrestling Union, WAR, NJPW, and IWA Japan. In April 1996, he would win the TPW Tag Team Championship with

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 ...

. In June 1997, he would win the

BJW Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title defended in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship has been the leading tag team championship in the promotion since 1997. There have been a total of 62 reigns shar ...

with Kengo Kimura. Although he retired from active competition on January 19, 1998, he did wrestle a few matches for BJW in January 1999.

Championship and accomplishments

** AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) - with Akio Sato (2 times), Ashura Hara (1 time) and

(2 times) *

( 1 time, inaugural) - with Kengo Kimura *''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards References External links

* http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp Official website 1960 establishments in Japan Da ...

'' **

Service Award A Service award was awarded by a country to a soldier or civilian for long service. It is comparable to a service medal but can be awarded to civilians as well as soldiers. Germany Kingdom of Bavaria * Königliches Ludwigsorden for 50 years' ser ...

(1989) *

Tokyo Pro Wrestling Tokyo Pro Wrestling is the name of two unrelated Japanese professional wrestling promotions. Despite their common name, they did not share management, promotional style, or talent in any way. Original Tokyo Pro Wrestling The original Tokyo Pro W ...

**TWA Tag Team Championship - with

(1 time) *

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with

(1 time) and Haru Sonoda (1 time) *

** WWC North American Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Haru Sonoda

Sumo career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishikawa, Takashi 1953 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Martial artists from Yamagata Prefecture Sumo people from Yamagata Prefecture All Asia Tag Team Champions BJW Tag Team Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese sportsmen People from Tsuruoka