Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American
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 ...
,
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
,
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
player,
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
,
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
, and
martial artist
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...
who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, or simply Professor Tanaka.
Early life
Kalani was born in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
, the son of Charles J. Kalani and Christina Leong Kalani. Charlie began studying
judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
in 1939. He graduated from
Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal."
It may refer to:
*ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii
*ʻIolani Palac ...
in 1949.
His wife, Doris Kalani, later credited Kalani's time on the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team and
Kenneth A. Bray's influence with keeping him away from trouble.
After graduating from high school, Kalani attended Weber Junior College (now
Weber State University
Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
Weber State University was founded ...
), where he met his wife in 1952.
Together, they had three children: Cheryle Kalani, Carl Kalani, and Karen Kalani Beck.
In 1955, Kalani was drafted into the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, where he rose to the rank of
sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
. Kalani left the military in 1966 and moved to
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
. He ran a
Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
and
Danzan-ryu Jujitsu academy with Professor John Chow-Hoon.
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
promoter Roy Shire asked Kalani to wrestle in 1967, launching his wrestling career.
Professional wrestling career
One of the characteristics of Kalani's wrestling gimmick was that he threw salt in his opponents' eyes, a tactic that is most commonly associated with Japanese villain wrestlers.
[ Kalani did play the stereotypical Japanese villain with the requisite knowledge of martial arts. He employed a combination of power skills, martial arts, and his feared Japanese sleeper submission hold. Kalani's most famous tag team partner was ]Harry Fujiwara
Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara (May 4, 1934 – August 28, 2016) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his protégés).
He was famous for often throwing salt in the eyes ...
(better known as Mr. Fuji), whom he knew from high school in Hawaii. In his book, ''Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks'', Freddie Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassman (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 Elliot ...
explored the relationship between the two "Japanese" heels.
Tanaka had a long successful run with the WWF in the 1960s, including being #1 contender to champion Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...
. Sammartino was the one who requested Tanaka (who was working in Australia) to the WWF's owner at the time, Vince McMahon Sr. In their first Madison Square Garden meeting, Tanaka was disqualified for throwing salt. He was pinned by Sammartino in a rematch six months later, and Tanaka occasionally teamed with Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker.
Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
. Tanaka also main evented the Garden in tag matches, twice with Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker.
Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
vs. Sammartino and Spyros Arion (Tanaka and his partner winning the first via disqualification; losing the second in a Texas Death Match); a year later with Monsoon against Sammartino and Victor Rivera. Monsoon & Tanaka had other Garden matches, including victories over Al Costello & Dr. Bill Miller; and Bobo Brazil and Earl Maynard.
Tanaka subsequently teamed with Mitsu Arakawa in the WWF, acquiring the International Tag Team Championship; losing it at Madison Square Garden to Tony Marino and Victor Rivera. The team of Tanaka and Fuji won three WWF World Tag Team Championships, with Blassie as manager for the third reign and The Grand Wizard as manager for the first two. They first won the belts from Sonny King and Chief Jay Strongbow
Luke Joseph Scarpa (October 4, 1928 – April 3, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who was best known by the ring name Chief Jay Strongbow. Much like his contemporary Wahoo McDaniel, he portrayed a Native America ...
on June 27, 1972, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, at a House show
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
. They lost the belts to Haystacks Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun.
Early life
Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...
and Tony Garea
Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...
on May 30, 1973, again at a Hamburg house show, but regained them on September 11, 1973, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before losing them again to Tony Garea
Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...
and Dean Ho on November 14, 1973, again in Hamburg. Their third win came on September 27, 1977, at a Philadelphia house show when they defeated Tony Garea
Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...
and Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his ...
in a tournament final for the vacant belts, holding them until March 14, 1978, when they lost the titles to Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo ().
After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, wo ...
and Dominic DeNucci
Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...
in Philadelphia. This third reign set a record for number of championship reigns which would be equalized by The Wild Samoans
The Wild Samoans was the professional wrestling tag team of Afa and Sika in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The Samoans held 21 tag team championships around the world.
Gimmick
The Wild Samoans ra ...
in 1983, Demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
in 1990, Money Inc.
Money Inc. was a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from February 1992 to August 1993. The team consisted of "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.). They held the WWF Tag Team Champi ...
in 1993, The Quebecers
The Quebecers were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from in between 1993 to 1994 and again in 1998 who consisted of Quebecer Jacques and Quebecer Pierre. They also worked as The Amazing French-Canadians ...
in 1994 and The Smoking Gunns
The Smoking Gunns were a professional wrestling tag team of kayfabe brothers Billy Gunn (Monty Sopp) and Bart Gunn (Mike Polchlopek). They portrayed cowboys in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1996. As a team, the Smoking Gunns ...
in 1996, but not bettered until The New Age Outlaws
The New Age Outlaws were an American professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) made up of "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn. The duo became popular in the late 1990s as members of the second incarnation ...
won a fourth reign in 1999.
Other media
Professor Tanaka was also featured in a television commercial for a brand of rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. His other appearance in a commercial was for Colgate toothpaste with Pat Morita
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on ''Happy Days'', Mr. Miyagi in ''The Karate Kid'' film series, Captain Sam Pak on the sitco ...
. Tanaka was seen as an extra in a few of David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...
's music videos in the mid-1980s.
By the early 1980s, Kalani's body could not handle the beatings in the ring any longer, and he moved into the film world on a more permanent basis. His first film was the 1981 Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championshi ...
vehicle ''An Eye for an Eye
"An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law.
In Roman c ...
'' and his last film was 1995's ''Hard Justice''. He appeared opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
in '' The Running Man'' as a sadistic ice-skating "stalker" named Subzero who uses a bladed hockey stick which "slices his enemies limb from limb into quivering, bloody sushi". Other notable roles include '' Missing in Action 2: The Beginning'', '' The Perfect Weapon'', and '' Pee-Wee's Big Adventure''.
Tanaka was one of three semi-retired professional wrestlers to compete in a tug-of-war
Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...
match with two other wrestlers teamed up against a large group of children on the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
series '' Wild and Crazy Kids'' in the early 1990s.
Death
Kalani died of heart failure on August 22, 2000. He was given a full military funeral
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...
.
Filmography
* 1981 ''An Eye for an Eye
"An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law.
In Roman c ...
'' as "The Professor"
* 1981-1982 ''Fantasy Island'' (season 5/episode 20) as Magog
* 1982 ''Little House on the Prairie (A new beginning''; "Alden's Dilemma" Season 9 aired first on December 6, 1982) as Japanese Sumo (uncredited)
* 1983 ''Angel Of H.E.A.T.''
* 1983 ''Off the Wall'' as Banzai Wrestler #1
* 1983 ''Revenge of the Ninja
''Revenge of the Ninja'' is a 1983 American martial arts– thriller film directed by Sam Firstenberg, and starring martial artist Sho Kosugi, Keith Vitali, Virgil Frye and Kane Kosugi. The plot follows a ninja trying to protect his only son fr ...
'' as Sumo Servant
* 1984 ''The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
'' (TV Series) as Ling, The Bodyguard
* 1984 ''Chattanooga Choo Choo'' as Hashimoto
* 1985 '' Missing in Action 2: The Beginning'' as Lao
* 1985 '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' as The Butler [
* 1985 '']Volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
'' as Sumo Guard
* 1986 ''The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
'' - ''The Spy Who Mugged Me'' as Fröbe
* 1986 ''Bad Guys'' as Lord Percy's Bodyguard
* 1986 ''Shanghai Surprise
''Shanghai Surprise'' is a 1986 adventure comedy film directed by Jim Goddard and starring then-newlyweds Sean Penn and Madonna. The screenplay was adapted by John Kohn and Robert Bentley from Tony Kenrick's 1978 novel ''Faraday's Flowers''. ...
'' as Yamagani San
* 1987 ''Catch The Heat'' as Dozu
* 1987 '' The Running Man'' as "Subzero"[
* 1988 '']Dead Heat
A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a Tie (draw), tie and the competitors are awarde ...
'' as "The Butcher"
* 1989 ''Tax Season''
* 1989 ''Hyper Space'' as The Android
* 1989 '' Black Rain'' as Sugai's Bodyguard
* 1990 ''Darkman
''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is br ...
'' as Chinese Warrior #2
* 1990 ''Martial Law'' as Jimmy Kong
* 1991 '' The Perfect Weapon'' as Tanaka
* 1991 '' Alligator II: The Mutation'' as Joe "Tokyo Joe", The Wrestler
* 1991 ''Deadly Game'' as Ikiru-Sun
* 1992 ''3 Ninjas
''3 Ninjas'' is a series of action comedy family films about the adventures of three young brothers who are trained by their Japanese grandfather in the art of Ninjutsu. Victor Wong is the only cast member to appear in all four films.
Chara ...
'' as Rushmore
* 1993 ''Last Action Hero
''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...
'' as Tough Asian Man[
* 1995 ''Hard Justice'' as "Cookie" (uncredited)
]
Championships and accomplishments
*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 Ha ...
** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' ( 1 time)
*All-California Championship Wrestling
**ACCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Peter Maivia Jr.
*California Pro Wrestling
**CPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**CPW Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
*Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...
**NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...
( 1 time) - with Dick Slater
Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champion ...
*Continental Wrestling Association
Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ref ...
**AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...
( 1 time) - with Mr. Fuji
Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara (May 4, 1934 – August 28, 2016) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his protégés).
He was famous for often throwing salt in the ey ...
*Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...
**NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship.
The title was picked ...
( 1 time)
**NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling regional championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW). It was a secondary title, complementing the NWA Macon Tag Team Championship, and defended almost exclusively at the ...
( 1 time)
**NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship.
The title was revived in 1998 by Music City Wrestling ...
(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 Assassin #2 (1) and Mr. Fuji (1)
*L&G Promotions
:* L&G Caribbean Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)
*National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
** NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' (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 ...
)1
*Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette)
**NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* NWA Big Time Wrestling
**NWA American Heavyweight Championship
The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in ...
(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 ...
)
**NWA American Tag Team Championship
The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The cham ...
( 1 time) - with Thunderbolt Patterson
Claude Patterson (born July 8, 1941) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, ring name Thunderbolt Patterson. He began his career in 1964 and wrestled primarily in Florida, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the Carolin ...
** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 4 times)
*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 Americas Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...
( 1 time)
**NWA Americas Tag Team Championship
The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California.
The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship f ...
( 1 time) - with Dr. Hiro Ota
*NWA
NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to:
* N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US
* National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization
NWA or Nwa may refer to:
Music
* New Weird America, a subgenr ...
New Zealand
**NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star ...
(2 times)
*Southeastern Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...
**NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship
The NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship was the major tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory known as Continental Championship Wrestling, Southeastern Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1974 until November 19 ...
( 1 time) - with Mr. Fuji
*World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978.
History
The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays and ...
** IWA World Heavyweight Championship (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 ...
)
**IWA World Tag Team Championship
IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearance i ...
( 1 time) - with Skull Murphy
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...
* World Wide Wrestling Federation/WWE
** WWWF International Tag Team Championship ( 1 time, inaugural) - with Mitsu Arakawa
Mack Mitsukazu Arakawa (May 23, 1927 – April 17, 1997) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club/American Wrestling Association.
E ...
** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Mr. Fuji
**WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...
( Class of 2019)
1Records do not show which NWA affiliate Tanaka worked for when his two reigns with the title began. While usually defended in Southeastern Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...
, it was occasionally used in other promotions.
References
External links
*
*
*
Charlie Kalani at the Danzan-ryu Jujitsu Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Professor
1930 births
2000 deaths
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
Faux Japanese professional wrestlers
ʻIolani School alumni
Weber State University alumni
Sportspeople from Honolulu
Professional wrestlers from Hawaii
United States Army non-commissioned officers
American military personnel of Native Hawaiian descent
The Heenan Family members
Male actors from Honolulu
20th-century American male actors
Hawaii people of Chinese descent
WWE Hall of Fame Legacy inductees
20th-century professional wrestlers
American male judoka
American jujutsuka
NWA Florida Tag Team Champions
WCWA Brass Knuckles Champions
NWA Americas Tag Team Champions
NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions
IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia)
IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia)
NWA Macon Heavyweight Champions
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions
NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions