is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name 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, or projecting ...

. Originally starting his career in

International Wrestling Association of Japan The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2014. It was formed by Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the W ...

, where he worked under his real name, Yamada found a new home promotion in 1999 in

Osaka Pro Wrestling Osaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin. The promotion held a major flagship event called the Osaka Hurricane each year from 2003 to 2012 and also hosted the fourth edition of the Supe ...

, where he began wrestling under a mask and the ring name Black Buffalo. For most of his career in Osaka Pro, Yamada has portrayed a villainous character, having been a part of every major villainous

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in the history of the promotion. During his first years in the promotion, Buffalo went on to become a four-time Tag Team Champion. In February 2008, Buffalo was forced to unmask and reveal his true identity, after losing a match, and afterwards began teaming with the man, who unmasked him,

Tigers Mask is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He previously worked for Osaka Pro Wrestling under the ring name . His ring name and original wrestling attire were inspired by the Hanshin Tigers baseba ...

, with two becoming two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions together. Finally, in March 2012, Buffalo managed to win Osaka Pro's top title, the

Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship The is the top singles title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. The title was established in 2000 when Super Delfin defeated Dick Togo to be crowned the inaugural champion. , there have been a total of 20 reco ...

. Backstage, Yamada served as the

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of Osaka Pro Wrestling. Yamada left Osaka Pro Wrestling after the promotion went through a corporate restructuring in April 2014, shortening his ring name to .

Professional wrestling career

Debut (1993)

Yamada made his

professional wrestling 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 o ...

debut on August 2, 1993, working under his real name for the Oriental Puroresu promotion. Shortly afterwards, he left the promotion to become a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

IWA Japan (1994–1999)

In 1994, Yamada joined the

promotion. During his years in IWA Japan, Yamada had several high-profile matches with the likes of Cactus Jack,

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – a ...

and

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

, and, at the end of his run, also served as the president of the promotion. He quit the promotion in 1999.

Osaka Pro Wrestling (1999–2014)

In April 1999, Yamada joined the

promotion, where he began wrestling under a

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

as Black Buffalo, a

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

inspired by the

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadiu ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team. He made his debut for the promotion at its first event on April 29, where he,

Dick Togo , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler. Togo is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Bullet Club stable, and its sub-group House of Torture. Togo has spent the majority of ...

and Violencia, forming the villainous

Legion of Violence (LOV), were defeated in a six-man tag team main event by Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa and

Super Delfin is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently runs Kaisen Puroresu and is also working as a wrestler there. He is better known by his stage name . Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1989, 1994) Hiroto Wakita joined N ...

. Buffalo kept teaming with Togo for the rest of the year. On November 21, Buffalo won his first title in Osaka Pro, when he defeated Super Delfin for the

UWF Super Welterweight Championship The UWF Super Welterweight Championship was a title in the Japanese professional wrestling, created by Universal Pro/FULL, then later on defended in Michinoku Pro and Osaka Pro before becoming inactive. Inaugural tournament The inaugural tourname ...

, only to lose it back to him seven days later. In early 2000, LOV was joined by Daio Quallt and Policeme~n, replacing Violencia. On May 1, Buffalo and Togo defeated Super Delfin and Super Demekin in the finals to win the 1st Anniversary Tag Tournament. In September, Buffalo took part in the inaugural Tenno-zan tournament, where he made it to the semifinals, before being eliminated by Super Delfin. After Dick Togo left Osaka Pro at the end of 2000, LOV was disbanded and replaced by the new group, FLUXxx, as a member of which Buffalo formed a new

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 establish ...

named Infinity with Tsubasa. After reaching the semifinals of the 2001 Osaka Tag Festival, Buffalo and Tsubasa defeated Super Delfin and Takehiro Murahama on July 21 to win the

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is th ...

Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. The title was established in 2001 when Daio Quallt and Gamma won a seven-team round-robin tournament to win the inaugural titles. Being a prof ...

. They would lose the title to Murahama and Kaiju Zeta Mandora on August 24. The following October's Tenno-zan saw a repeat of the previous year's tournament as Buffalo was eliminated in the semifinals by Super Delfin. On January 27, 2002, Buffalo, Tsubasa and

Gamma Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...

defeated Super Delfin, Super Demekin and Takehiro Murahama to win the Trios Cup Tournament. On August 25, Buffalo and Tsubasa regained the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship by defeating the Kishiwada Gurentai ( Big Boss MA-G-MA and Daio Quallt). After a five-month reign, they would lose the title to

Jyushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

and Takehiro Murahama on February 1, 2003. After Buffalo and Tsubasa failed to regain the title from Liger and Murahama on August 13, Buffalo turned on Tsubasa on November 15 and jumped to Big Boss MA-G-MA's Kishiwada Gurentai stable. Buffalo and Tsubasa had their big grudge match against each other on May 29, 2004, ending with Buffalo picking up the win. On December 19, Buffalo and Daio Quallt defeated Billyken Kid and

to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Their reign would last until February 13, 2005, when they were defeated by Billyken Kid and Perro. On April 29, Buffalo and Tsubasa reformed Infinity for one night, when they defeated Kageki Pro representatives Aztec and Kaze in a special interpromotional tag team match. After the Kishiwasa Gurentai was disbanded in the aftermath of Big Boss MA-G-MA leaving Osaka Pro, Buffalo, Hideyoshi,

Masamune , was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...

and

Toru Owashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . He is best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Championship, KO-D Openweight Champion and two time KO-D Tag Team Championship, KO-D Ta ...

formed the promotion's new top villainous alliance, Buraikan, on June 25. In November, Buffalo made it to the semifinals of the Tenno-zan for the third time, but was there once again defeated by Super Delfin. On January 28, 2006, longtime

babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

Billyken Kid shocked Osaka Pro by turning on Tigers Mask and the Osaka Pro Seikigun ("regular army") and taking over Buraikan, which was then renamed Vendaval, with Buffalo becoming his second-in-command. On February 26, Buffalo and BKK defeated Flash Moon and Tigers Mask to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. The two teams faced each other in a rematch on June 3 in the finals of the 2006 Tag Festival, which was won by Flash Moon and Tigers Mask. On July 15, Buffalo added another title to his résumé, when he defeated ten other men to win the

Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship The Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship is a title contested in the Japanese pro wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. The title is won and lost in Battle Royals. The title was established in 2001 when Miracle Man won an 11-Man Ba ...

. However, on July 29, Osaka Pro announced that Buffalo had suffered a

rotator cuff tear A rotator cuff tear is an injury where one or more of the tendons or muscles of the rotator cuff of the shoulder get torn. Symptoms may include shoulder pain, which is often worse with movement, limited range of motion, or weakness. This may limi ...

in his right shoulder and stripped him of both the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team and the Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship. Buffalo3

After remaining inactive for the rest of 2006, Buffalo showed up in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in early 2007, making his debut for

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

on February 16 as a member of ''

La Legión Extranjera La Legión Extranjera (Spanish for "The Foreign Legion") was the main Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración heel group, though loosely affiliated. It was a catch all for one time and irregularly scheduled foreign heels, working as Konnan's hired ...

'', a villainous stable of foreigners. During his stay in Mexico, Buffalo teamed with Rossy Moreno to unsuccessfully challenge

Cynthia Moreno Flavia Antonia Moreno León (born July 23, 1970) is a Mexican ''Luchadora'', or female professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Cynthia Moreno (sometimes spelled "Cinthia Moreno") She is working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). Mo ...

and

El Oriental Noé Astro Moreno León (born December 6, 1972) is a Mexican ''Luchador'' known under the ring name El Oriental, currently works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) but is mainly known for his almost 10-year-long stint in Asistencia Asesorí ...

for the

AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship The AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship (''Campeonato en Parejas Mixtas AAA'' in Spanish) is a tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). The championship is exclusively for teams composed ...

on March 23. After spending almost a year away from Osaka Pro, Buffalo made a surprise return to the promotion on June 30, 2007, by attacking

Kuishinbo Kamen is a Japanese professional wrestler better known as , a masked clown character. Kuishinbo Kamen is Japanese for "Gluttonous Mask". For a while he was forced to give up the Kuishinbo Kamen character, instead he worked as "Super Robo K", a futuri ...

and Miracle Man, revealing himself as Bad Force leader Gaina's partner in the 2007 Tag Festival. After defeating Miracle Man and Kuishinbo Kamen in less than a minute, Buffalo and Gaina picked up their second win of the night by defeating

Atsushi Kotoge (born October 18, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former one-time GHC Tag Team Champion, three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and record eleven-time GHC Junior Heavyweigh ...

and

Daisuke Harada (born November 13, 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He’s a four-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Harada is also known for his ti ...

in the following match. After defeating Asian Cougar and Tsubasa in their semifinal match on July 8, Buffalo and Gaina advanced to the finals of the Tag Festival, where, on July 14, they were defeated by Tigers Mask and Billyken Kid, who had rejoined the Osaka Pro Seikigun during Buffalo's time away from the promotion. On August 25, Buffalo unsuccessfully challenged Tigers Mask for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. Buffalo kept teaming with Bad Force for the rest of the year, pinning Tigers Mask in a non-title match on October 8. On December 8, Buffalo pinned Tigers Mask again, this time in a Captain's Fall tag team match, and afterwards challenged him to a match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. On December 22, the two men agreed to the match with the added stipulation, that the loser of the match would also be unmasked. On February 11, 2008, Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask faced each other in a Mask vs. Mask match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship in the main event of Osaka Pro's biggest annual event, ''Osaka Hurricane''. After being pinned by Tigers Mask for the win, Buffalo was forced to unmask and reveal himself as Keisuke Yamada of IWA Japan. In an out-of-character post-match speech, Yamada revealed that the real reason he had spent a year away from Osaka Pro was that he had been battling depression and alcoholism, which he had managed to overcome with Tigers Mask's support. Buffalo was then kicked out of Bad Force, which led to Tigers Mask inviting him to join the Osaka Pro Seikigun. After spending some time away from Osaka Pro, Buffalo returned to the promotion on March 29, accepting Tigers Mask's invitation. Despite being unmasked, Yamada continued performing under the Black Buffalo ring name. In October 2008, the Osaka Pro Seikigun was broken into two camps following problems between Billyken Kid and Tigers Mask, which eventually led to Tigers Mask, Black Buffalo and Masamune breaking away from the group and forming a new villainous alliance, unofficially referred to as the "Rudo Army". On November 15, Buffalo and Tigers Mask defeated Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada, with help from the debuting

Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon name ...

, to become the interim Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. Osaka Pro had been forced to introduce the title, after one half of the reigning Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions, Asian Cougar, had been injured at the hands of the Rudo Army. In December, Buffalo made it to the finals of the 2008 Tenno-zan tournament, before being defeated by Billyken Kid. On January 1, 2009, Buffalo and Tigers Mask defeated Mucha Lucha (Asian Cougar and Tsubasa) in a title unification match to become the new Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. They would lose the title to Asian Cougar and

Great Sasuke , born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly ...

on February 15 at ''Osaka Hurricane 2009'', only to regain it on May 20 at Osaka Pro's tenth anniversary event. The team's second and Buffalo's sixth reign ended on July 18, when they were defeated by Sengoku (Hideyoshi and Masamune). During the summer, Yamada returned to IWA Japan, now working as Black Buffalo, for a short run as the IWA World Heavyweight Champion. Back in Osaka Pro, Buffalo's and Tigers Mask's stable, which now also included The Bodyguard, Orochi and

Tadasuke , known mononymously as is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is best known for his work in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he is a former one-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion, three-time Osaka Pro Wrestl ...

, was officially named LOV in reference to Osaka Pro's original villainous alliance. In January 2009, LOV, still villains within Osaka Pro, became ''de facto'' babyfaces by starting an interpromotional storyline rivalry with the Dragon Gate promotion, starting on January 17, when Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask invaded a Dragon Gate event and attacked Cima, who had publicly been making disparaging remarks about Osaka Pro. The rivalry was mainly contested between Cima and Tigers Mask; Black Buffalo's participation culminated on July 11, when he, Tigers Mask and The Bodyguard unsuccessfully challenged Cima, Gamma and

Genki Horiguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is currently a full-time wrestler for Dragon Gate. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor. When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began t ...

for the

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 ...

. LOV's babyface turn would be finalized on August 28, when Orochi turned on the stable, helping Asian Cougar defeat Tigers Mask for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. The newly renamed Kuuga, Orochi and another LOV turncoat, The Bodyguard, would then form the Joker stable, which took over LOV's spot as the promotion's top villainous alliance. On January 29, 2011, Buffalo and Tigers Mask challenged Kuuga and Orochi for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship, but were defeated, when Tadasuke also turned on them and jumped to Joker. On February 27, Buffalo was forced to join Joker, after he and Tigers Mask were defeated in a tag team match by Orochi and Tadasuke. Meanwhile, Tigers Mask kept LOV alive by recruiting Naoki Setoguchi as his new partner. On March 5, Buffalo defeated Tigers Mask in a singles match, following interference from members of Joker. After refusing to return to his villainous antics, Buffalo turned on Joker on March 13 and returned to LOV. After LOV picked up two big wins over Joker, first on April 10, when Buffalo, Tigers Mask and Naoki Setoguchi defeated Kuuga, Tadasuke and Hayata to win the 12th Anniversary Six Man Tag Team Tournament, and then, when Tigers Mask regained the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship from Kuuga on April 29, Tigers Mask suddenly announced that he was disbanding LOV and rejoining the Osaka Pro Seikigun, along with Buffalo and Setoguchi. In June, Buffalo and Tigers Mask entered the 2011 Tag Festival. After two wins and one loss, they advanced to the finals, where, on June 26, they defeated Billyken Kid and Joker leader Kuuga to win the tournament. After a disappointing 2011 Tenno-zan, where Buffalo was eliminated in the first round by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Chikara representative

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

, his 2012 started with him defeating seven other men, including Tigers Mask, in a

gauntlet match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on February 26, to become the number one contender to new Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion, Daisuke Harada. On March 25, Buffalo defeated Harada to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship for the first time in his thirteenth year in the promotion. Buffalo made his first successful title defense on May 26, defeating Joker member Spider J. On July 22, Buffalo main evented his second ''Hurricane'' event, in which he lost the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship back to Daisuke Harada, ending his reign at 119 days. On November 3, Buffalo teamed with Tigers Mask to unsuccessfully challenge Harada's Glare stablemates Hayata and Tadasuke for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. On January 19, 2013, Buffalo teamed with fellow Osaka Pro Seikigun members Kazuaki Mihara and Naoki Setoguchi in a six-man tag team main event, where they were defeated by Glare. After the match, Glare leader Daisuke Harada revealed that he had recruited a new member to his stable, someone who agreed with his idea of changing Osaka Pro. He then revealed Black Buffalo as his newest ally, much to the dismay of the Osaka Pro Seikigun, especially Tigers Mask. On January 26, Buffalo, Harada, Hayata and Tadasuke defeated Billyken Kid, Kazuaki Mihara, Naoki Setoguchi and Tigers Mask in an eight-man tag team main event, with Buffalo submitting Tigers Mask for the win. After the match, he challenged the Osaka Pro Seikigun to an elimination match, where the losing team would be forced to disband. After Buffalo and Tigers Mask had eliminated each other from the match on February 24, Harada pinned Billyken Kid for the final elimination, saving Glare and forcing Seikigun to disband. On March 2, Billyken Kid and Kazuaki Mihara joined Glare, announcing they now agreed with the stable's "revolution". Glare then declared war on Joker and Unique Gundan, the two remaining stables in Osaka Pro. The following major Osaka Pro event on March 24 saw former rivals, Tigers Mask and Joker's Orochi, come together to defeat Buffalo and Billyken Kid in a grudge tag team match. The following month, Glare was disbanded, when Daisuke Harada and Hayata quit Osaka Pro. From May 26 to June 23, Buffalo and Billyken Kid took part in the 2013 Osaka Tag Festival, making it to the final day with a chance of winning the tournament, however, a loss against the reigning Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions, former Glare stablemates Kazuaki Mihara and Tadasuke, meant that they dropped behind the Big Guns (The Bodyguard and

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

) in the final standings. On July 18, Buffalo made his debut for the

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...

promotion in his home prefecture of Tottori, losing to

Maybach Taniguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur backg ...

in a singles match. The following day, he pinned

Hitoshi Kumano is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Early life Kumano first became interested in professional wrestling while still in elementary school after playing ''King of Colloseum 2'' on the PlayStation 2. ...

in a tag team match, where he and Gastón Mateo faced Kumano and Pesadilla. On August 10, Buffalo and nine other wrestlers revived the Osaka Pro Seikigun in order to battle the new Bad Stream stable. The first big battle between the Seikigun and Bad Stream took place on August 25, when Buffalo, The Bodyguard, Naoki Setoguchi and Zeus defeated Kazuaki Mihara, Mikey Broderick, Quiet Storm and Tadasuke in a four-on-four elimination tag team match. On September 15, Buffalo unsuccessfully challenged Bad Stream leader Quiet Storm for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. On March 1, 2014, Black Buffalo, as the vice president of Osaka Pro Wrestling, announced that the promotion would be folding due to financial difficulties on April 20 with all of its workers becoming freelancers. It was later announced that Osaka Pro Wrestling would continue under new management. On April 20, Buffalo wrestled his final match as an Osaka Pro Wrestling affiliated worker, teaming with Billyken Kid and Bull Armor Takuya in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by The Bodyguard, Quiet Storm and Zeus.

Freelancing and Makai (2014–present)

On April 22, 2014, Yamada announced that in the future he would be working under a new mask with the shortened ring name Buffalo. Yamada also started working for the Tottori Darazu Puroresu promotion under the ring name Inaba no Buffalo ("Buffalo of Inaba"). On September 10, Buffalo returned to Pro Wrestling Noah to take part in an Osaka Pro Wrestling alumni tag team match, where he and Atsushi Maruyama, the former Tigers Mask, were defeated by Daisuke Harada and Quiet Storm. On February 16, 2015, Buffalo put his mask on the line in a VKF Championship match against Yoshiaki Yago. Buffalo won the match, retaining his mask and becoming the new champion. On February 28, Buffalo and Tsubasa, the reformed Infinity tag team, defeated Hayata and Tadasuke to capture the Dove-Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. On March 23, Buffalo and Yuya Susumu defeated Gentaro and

Kenichiro Arai is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate. Biography Kenichiro Arai, also known as AraKen, is a second term graduate of Último Dragón's Toryumon Japan group, and has been a mainstay on the roster ever since. He participated in FMW before joinin ...

to win Pro Wrestling Freedoms' King of Freedom World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Kamui and Mammoth Sasaki on May 1. On June 7, Buffalo made his debut for

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed by ...

, teaming with Jay Freddie in a tag team match, where they were defeated by

Seiki Yoshioka , previously known as Seiki (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, and a member of the ''Stinger'' stable, led by Yos ...

and

Yasufumi Nakanoue is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name , currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is the current BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion. He started his career in All Japan P ...

. In December, Buffalo started working for women's wrestling promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu as a member of

Syuri is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...

's Narcissist-gun stable. By 2017, Buffalo had ended his freelancing days by signing with the Makai company, which presents shows combining music, theater and wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

*Dove Pro-Wrestling **Dove Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Tsubasa * Dramatic Dream Team / DDT Pro-Wrestling **

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight in its DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand. Open to anyone, regardless of gender or DDT employment status, the championship is defended " 24/7", as i ...

( 2 time) **Itabashi Singles Tournament (1999) *

** IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

**Interim Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tigers Mask **

( 1 time) **

( 6 times) – with Tsubasa (2), Daio Quallt (1), Billyken Kid (1), and

(2) **

( 1 time) **1st Anniversary Tag Tournament (2000) – with

**Osaka Mixed Pancake Tournament (2002) – with Tsubasa and

Tsubasa Kuragaki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . For most of her career, Kuragaki has worked for JWP Joshi Puroresu, becoming a one-time JWP Junior and two-time JWP Openweight Champion as a singles wrestler. As a tag team ...

**Osaka Pro Wrestling 12th Anniversary Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2011) – with Naoki Setoguchi and Tigers Mask **Osaka Tag Festival (2011) – with Tigers Mask **Trios Cup Tournament (2002) –

and Tsubasa *Pro Wrestling Freedoms **King of Freedom World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Yuya Susumu (born January 14, 1984), previously known mononymously as Susumu (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former holder of the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Tea ...

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 Publish ...

**PWI ranked him #213 of the 500 best 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 Publishi ...

in 2002 *VKF Puroresu **VKF Championship (1 time)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Buffalo 1974 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestling executives Sportspeople from Tottori Prefecture 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions