McRonald Kamaka (March 9, 1937 – July 23, 2007) was an American-Canadian

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 ...

known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Tor Kamata. He won several heavyweight and tag team championships, most notably the PWF World Heavyweight Championship in

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 ...

and the AWA World Tag Team Championship in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

. He was a classic

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 ...

, reviled for dirty tricks in the ring, included rubbing salt in his opponent's eyes.

Professional wrestling career

After returning to Hawaii after leaving the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Haw ...

promoter Ed Francis convinced Kamaka to try professional wrestling. He was given the name Tor Kamata in reference to Tomas De Torquemada of the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

. He also worked as Dr. Moto, holding the

's AWA World Tag Team Championship with Mitsu Arakawa. One of his signature moves, the "judo chop" became a popular phrase for all types of martial arts strikes in the 1960s, even being mentioned by

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. He also appears in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of ...

in the comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' (21 December 1964, 14 January 1967). A generation later, the phrase was satirised in the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...

'' films. In the early 1970s, Kamata worked for

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

in Canada, where he held the

Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship The Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. From its establishment in 1968 until 1972, it was Stampede's secondary singles championship, be ...

three times. In the promotion, he feuded with Dan Kroffat. In 1976 and 1977, Kamata wrestled in the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Managed by

Freddie Blassie Frederick Kenneth Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Ellio ...

, he had two memorable matches with

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 ...

when Backlund was on the brink of becoming the WWWF Champion. In the first, Kamata threw salt into Backlund's eyes, which set the stage for a televised Texas Death match, aired May 7, 1977. Again Kamata threw salt in Backlund's eyes, so Backlund merely used the referee's shirt to wipe it out. Then Backlund delivered an Atomic Knee Drop and won the match. At the time, Superstar Billy Graham had just defeated

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartin ...

for the championship and Backlund was being built up as the number one contender. After WWWF, Kamata worked for

in 1978 where he worked there to the end of his career. Kamata returned to WWWF, now WWF in 1980 feuding with WWF Champion Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales. He left later that year and returned to Japan. He worked in various territories until his retirement in 1987.

Personal life

Kamata was an amateur wrestler during high school. He was a club bouncer before becoming a professional wrestler. He joined the

and trained with amateur wrestlers in Turkey. During the 1970s, he owned restaurants in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, and

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, where he also ran a

shiatsu ''Shiatsu'' ( ; ) is a form of Japanese Bodywork (alternative medicine), bodywork based on concepts in traditional Chinese medicine such as Meridian (Chinese medicine), qi meridians. Having been popularized in the twentieth century by Tokujiro N ...

business. Kamata died on July 23, 2007, in Saskatoon after almost a decade of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

Championships and accomplishments

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the titl ...

( 2 times) ** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

** PWF World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **World's Strongest Tag Determination League Outstanding Performance Award (1978) - with Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik *

** AWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Mitsu Arakawa * Southwest Sports, Inc. / Big Time Wrestling :*

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

( 6 times) - with Duke Keomuka * Central States Wrestling ** NWA North America Tag Team Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 1 time) - with Luke Brown *

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in ...

** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 4 times) - with Kinji Shibuya (2) and Duke Keomuka (2) * NWA Los Angeles ** NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship ( 3 times) * NWA New Zealand ** NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Baron Von Krupp (1),

Ox Baker Douglas Baker (April 19, 1934 – October 20, 2014), known professionally as Ox Baker, was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Professional wrestling attacks#Heart punch ...

(1), and General Hiro (1) ** NWA New Zealand British Empire Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...

** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 1 time) - with Tojo Yamamoto *

** NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Calgary version)'' ( 1 time) - with

Sugi Sito Francisco Javier Mar Hernández (December 4, 1926 – May 4, 2000) was a Mexican professional wrestler and Promoter (entertainment), promoter, known by the ring name "El Orgullo de Oriente" ("The pride of the Orient") Sugi Sito. He was born in Gua ...

( 3 times) ** Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1995) *Western States Alliance **WSA Western States Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Woody Farmer and Kalalua *

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...

** WWA World Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - Mitsu Arakawa * Worldwide Wrestling Associates /

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Los Angeles version)'' ( 1 time) - with Kamalamala ** WWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

** NWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) - with Hans Hermann (1), Freddie Blassie (2),

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) better known by his ring name "Bearcat" Wright was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wi ...

(1) and Kintarō Ōki (1) *

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 ...

** WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)

References

External links

Article acknowledging Tor's death
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamata, Tor 1937 births 2007 deaths American male professional wrestlers Faux Japanese professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hawaii Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions PWF World Heavyweight Champions NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions