(born June 16, 1969) is a Japanese

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 ...

. Orihara is known by his career in numerous Japanese promotions such as

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...

Wrestle Association R Wrestle Association R (formerly known as Wrestle and Romance and abbreviated as WAR) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded and run by Genichiro Tenryu as the successor to Super World of Sports, and which lasted from 1992 to 2000 ...

Battlarts , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gum ...

and

Dramatic Dream Team is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

Professional wrestling career

Orihara was trained in the

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

Dojo under

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a retired Japanese 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 his ...

's tutelage. When Tenryu left for

Super World of Sports Super World of Sports, more commonly known as SWS, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1990 to 1992. Its motto was "Straight and Strong". History Formation In April 1990, Genichiro Tenryu, one of the top stars of All Japan Pro Wr ...

, Orihara and others followed him to the new promotion. In 1992, Orihara was sent to

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 ...

, where he learnt the high-flying

lucha libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

style and wrestled for

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

as Iga, a masked

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

character. Upon his return to SWS, now named

, Masao showed his new style and competed in memorable cruiserweight bouts with

Ultimo Dragon Ultimo may refer to: * Ultimo, New South Wales * Ulten, comune in Italy, Italian name ''Ultimo'' * Ultimo (Marvel Comics), comic books character * Ultimo (brand), Scottish designer lingerie brand * ''Karakuridôji Ultimo'', a Japanese manga * Ul ...

, with whom he formed a long friendship. After the WAR demise, Orihara landed in

, where he became Sasuke the Great, a

The 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 l ...

copycat. Orihara formed a tag team with Takeshi Ono (who competed as Masked Tiger) and feuded with Sasuke and

Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...

. Alongside their work in Michinoku Pro, Orihara and Ono became a mainstay team on

. In 1999, Orihara competed in

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

and

. Currently, Orihara is a part of

Satoru Sayama (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestling, Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask (professional wrestling), Tige ...

's Real Japan Pro Wrestling and

Tenryu Project is an independent Japanese professional wrestling promotion. The promotion was founded by and is owned by puroresu legend Genichiro Tenryu, who has owned and operated it since its creation in 2010. The Tenryu project is the successor to Tenryu's ...

Championships and accomplishments

:*CMLL Japan Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Nosawa , better known by his ring names Nosawa and , (born December 17, 1976) is a Japanese freelance professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling and various independent promotions. Career Early career (19952004) Nos ...

KO-D Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world openweight championship and the top singles accomplishment in the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand division. It is one of CyberFight's top major world title ...

( 1 time) *Guts World Pro-Wrestling :*GWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Masked Mystery :*

GWC 6-Man Tag Team Championship The is a six-person tag team title established in 2006 by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion . After the promotion folded in 2018, the titles moved to Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling, a sub-brand of DDT Pro-Wrestling. In June 2021, the tit ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with

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 Ryan Upin (1), Amigo Suzuki and Ryan Upin (1) *

:*Apex of Triangle Championship (1 time) – with Takeshi Ono and Cow Cow :*Futaritabi Tag Team League (2003) – with

*Mobius :*Apex of Triangle Championship (4 times) – with Dick Togo and Buho Mochero (2),

Nobutaka Moribe previously known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his tenure with the Japanese promotions DDT Pro-Wrestling and Kaientai Dojo. Professional wrestling career Independ ...

and El Jalapeño (2) *''

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 # 47 of the best 500 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 2000 *

Real Japan Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling and martial arts promotion founded in 2005 by Satoru Sayama as , before being renamed in 2019. It runs shows every two or three months, and feature both pro wrestling activities and a variety of martial arts ...

Legend Championship The is the top singles title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Strong Style Pro-Wrestling. The title was established in 2005 and, as the name suggests, is mainly competed for by seasoned veterans of the sport. As it is a professio ...

( 1 time) *

:* Tenryu Proyect International Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) :* Tenryu Project International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (

) – with Black Tiger V (1) and Hiroki (1, current) *''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

'' :* Rookie of the Year (1991) * Universal Wrestling Association / Universal Wrestling Federation :*

UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship The UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship created from the working relationship between the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and the Japanese Universal Lucha Libre (also called Universal Wrestling Fed ...

( 1 time) – with

*Wrestling Entertainment Wrestling :*Apex of Triangle Championship (1 time) – with Dick Togo and

Kintaro Kanemura ( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Jap ...

* Wrestling and Romance :*

WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Tenryu Project. The title was established in 1995 in Wrestle Association R (WAR). There have been a total of 24 reigns shared between 17 ...

( 1 time) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' :* Best Wrestling Maneuver (1991) Moonsault to the outside of the ring

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orihara, Masao Japanese male professional wrestlers 1969 births Living people People from Gunma Prefecture 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers KO-D Openweight Champions International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Tenryu Project International Junior Heavyweight Champions