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 ...

, currently working for

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, ...

(AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He has worked 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 ...

(NJPW),

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 ...

(Noah) and

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

(Zero1).

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1992–2000)

After being trained by

Animal Hamaguchi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . During his career he was recognized as a talented tag team wrestler despite his relatively small size for a heavyweight, and today he is recognized as a trainer in both ...

, Omori debuted in

, initially languishing in the mid-card and only able to get some recognition in 1995, when he and

Jun Akiyama is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, c ...

captured the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

. In 1998, he and newcomer

Yoshihiro Takayama is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and ...

formed the

NO FEAR No Fear is an American lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1989 by Mark Simo, Brian Simo, Boris Said, and Marty Moates. No Fear Inc. products are sold at various retail stores ancompany owned stores It also offers No Fear energy drin ...

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 ...

. The team soon won both the All Asia Tag Team Championship and the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promo ...

, becoming the first team to win both titles at the same time. When

Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside ...

formed

, they followed him and dyed their hair blond to match the change of environment. Omori's first American venture was in the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, where he competed in the 1996 Royal Rumble. He was eliminated by the returning

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

Pro Wrestling Noah and other promotions (2000–2004)

For an undisclosed reason, Omori called for an early ending to his singles bout with

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the pr ...

in the middle of their singles match at Noah's Great Voyage 2000 event, which was the company's most important event up to that point. Because of this, Omori was immediately in Misawa's doghouse, and after the NO FEAR team broke up (so Takayama could pursue

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

matches) Omori was sent abroad to

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

World League Wrestling Harley Race's Wrestling Academy is a professional wrestling school located in Troy, Missouri. It was established in 1999 by former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. Students of the school are incorporated into the professional wres ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

in the American Midwest, where he won the company's heavyweight title. During his excursion, Misawa continued to deny that Omori had been sent abroad by Noah, and Omori was not welcomed back to Noah when he returned from the excursion. As a result, Omori joined

Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling Fighting of World Japan Pro-Wrestling, frequently shortened to World Japan or WJ was a professional wrestling promotion formed in Japan in 2002 by former New Japan Pro-Wrestling employees Riki Choshu and Katsuji Nagashima, who also served as chairm ...

, where he feuded with

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestle ...

, Genichiro Tenryu and

Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...

Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (2004–2008)

In 2004, he joined

Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

, where he was one of the strong native competitors along with (fellow Hamaguchi Dojo classmate)

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the ...

. He has feuded with old team mate Yoshihiro Takayama, resulting in many bloody battles and disqualifications. On March 8, 2007, he and Manabu Nakanishi lost the ZERO1-MAX Intercontinental Tag Team Championship to Yoshihiro Takayama and Kohei Sato. On March 31, 2007, he defeated

Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship ...

for the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship, becoming a three-time champion. Nearly seven months to the day Omori won the AWA World Heavyweight championship, he would lose the title to Masato Tanaka. On August 16, 2008 Omori announced that he was leaving ZERO1-MAX and taking a break from pro wrestling.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2009–2010)

This break would not last long, as Omori appeared at a

show on March 15, 2009 to revive his team with Manabu Nakanishi. He also participated in the 2009 G1 Climax, pulling off two impressive victories in his first two matches by defeating both

IWGP Heavyweight Champion The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWG ...

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

and eventual tournament winner

Togi Makabe , better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, two-time ...

. In January 2010 Omori announced his semi-retirement.

Freelancing (2010–2011)

Since semi-retiring, Omori had been wrestling select shows in various promotions, both mainstream and independent. In 2011, he has been wrestling semi-regularly with All Japan Pro Wrestling. Following the 2011 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, Omori appealed to Keiji Mutoh to officially join All Japan and Mutoh granted the request, officially rejoining All Japan.

Return to AJPW (2011–present)

Omori's first match back as an official member of the AJPW roster took place on December 25, 2011, teaming up with

Manabu Soya is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He previously lived in Canada training at the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, working regularly for the Maximum Pro Wrestling promotion. He is c ...

and

Seiya Sanada , better known by his ring name Sanada (stylized as SANADA), is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a member of the stable ''Los Ingobernables de Japón''. As part of NJPW, Sanada is mostly ...

in a loss to Akebono,

Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and N ...

, and Super Delfin. On March 20, 2012, Omori and Soya defeated

Dark Cuervo Jaime Ignacio Tirado Correa (born January 4, 1974) is a Mexican Luchador (wrestler) who is best known as Cuervo or Dark Cuervo. He works for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and has been part of The Black Family since it was formed in 2001 by Ch ...

and

Dark Ozz Marcos Tinajero (born January 30, 1975) is a Mexican Luchador (wrestler) who is known under the names Ozz / Dark Ozz, a Face character (referred to as a "Tecnico" in Lucha Libre) that works for Lucha Libre Elite. Best known for his work in Lucha L ...

for the World Tag Team Championship. After losing the title to

Joe Doering Joseph Doering (born April 16, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is a member of Violent By Design. He is currently inactive due to cancer surgery. He is a former two-time Impact World Tag ...

and Seiya Sanada on May 20, Omori and Soya, known collectively as "Get Wild", regained the title on June 17. They vacated the title on October 30, in time for the 2012 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. On November 30, Get Wild won the tournament to regain the title. On December 11, Soya unsuccessfully challenged

Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), ...

for the

Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championsh ...

. As a result, Get Wild was forced to disband, despite still holding the World Tag Team Championship. Get Wild went on to lose the title to

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

(

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...

and Jun Akiyama) on March 17, 2013. Following Soya's resignation from AJPW, Omori revived his team with Akiyama, naming it "

Wild Burning Wild Burning is a tag team composed of Japanese professional wrestlers Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori. Although Akiyama and Omori have been using the team name since 2013, their team goes back almost to the era of their debut in All Japan Pro Wrest ...

" in January 2014. On February 8, Wild Burning unsuccessfully challenged

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

(Joe Doering and Suwama) for the World Tag Team Championship. On April 27, Omori won his first

Champion Carnival The is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since ...

, defeating Jun Akiyama in the finals. On June 15, Omori defeated Akiyama in a rematch to win the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time. On June 28, Omori became only the sixth "Quintuple Crown Champion" in All Japan history, when he and Akiyama defeated Joe Doering and Suwama to win the World Tag Team Championship. However, the next day, Omori lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Suwama, ending his reign at just 14 days. After successfully defending the World Tag Team Championship against Akebono and

Yutaka Yoshie , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer in Japan, performing most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Tag Team Champion. He has previously worked for promotions such as New Japa ...

on October 22, Omori and Akiyama vacated the title the following day in time for the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. They regained the title by winning the tournament on December 6, defeating Go Shiozaki and

Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the current six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion ...

in the finals. Wild Burning's second reign ended on March 22, 2015, when they were defeated by Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie. On January 1, 2016, Omori was appointed to the All Japan Board of Directors. On December 18, the reunited Get Wild defeated Jake Lee and Kento Miyahara in the finals to win the 2016 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.

Championships and accomplishments

AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. The championship was introduced on December 13, 2020, when Black Menso-re, Carbell Ito and Takao Omori defeated Daimonji So, R ...

( 1 time) – with Black Menso~re and Carbell Ito :*

( 3 times, current) – with

(1),

(1) and Masao Inoue (1) :*

( 1 time) :*

( 7 times) – with Yoshihiro Takayama (1),

(3) and

(3) :* F-1 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kannazuki¹ :* Asunaro Tag Team Cup (1998) – with

( 2014) :* January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1997, 2014, 2017) :*

World's Strongest Tag Determination League __NOTOC__ The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually ...

(

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016) – with Manabu Soya :*

( 2014) – with Jun Akiyama *

DDT Pro-Wrestling 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 ...

GAY World Anal Championship The is an inactive professional wrestling championship in the Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling. The title was established in 2005 when Takao Omori defeated Danshoku Dino on the first day of the Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max Survivor 72H tour to w ...

( 1 time) * European Wrestling Association :* EWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

IWGP Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The ...

( 1 time) – with Manabu Nakanishi :* Interim IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Manabu Nakanishi * ''

Nikkan Sports is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946. It has a circulation of 1,661,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of the ''Asahi Shimbun''. Companies and regions ;Nikkan Sports News (Tokyo) :Tokyo HQ: 5-10, Tsukiji Sanc ...

'' :* Best Tag Team Award (2012) with Manabu Soya * ''

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 ...

'' :* Ranked No. 66 of the top 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 Publi ...

'' in 2000 *

GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...

( 1 time) – with Yoshihiro Takayama *

Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

:* AWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) :*

NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship The Intercontinental Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promoting Pro Wrestling Zero1, typically reserved for (but not exclusive to) heavyweight (>) wrestlers. It was created on June 14, 2001, three month ...

( 3 times)² – with

Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...

(1),

(1), and Manabu Nakanishi (1) :*

NWA United National Heavyweight Championship The United National Heavyweight Championship (often shortened to UN Championship) is a professional wrestling title in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1. It is one of ZERO1's top two singles titles, along with the Zero1 World Heavyweig ...

( 1 time)³ * ''

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 ...

'' :* Best Tag Team Award (2012) – with Manabu Soya *

WLW Heavyweight Championship The World League Wrestling (WLW) Heavyweight Championship, is a professional wrestling championship in independent professional wrestling promotion World League Wrestling. It is the promotion's primary championship. The championship is generall ...

( 1 time) ¹Championship not officially recognized by All Japan Pro Wrestling.
²Although the title still uses the NWA initials, it is not recognized or sanctioned by the

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 ...

since the promotion withdrew from the NWA in 2004.
³This title shouldn't be confused with the

NWA United National Championship The NWA United National Championship (often abbreviated to UN Championship) was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, and best known for being defended in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was unified in ...

, a defunct NWA singles championship that is currently one of the three championships used to comprise the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Omori, Takao Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers 1969 births IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions GHC Tag Team Champions All Asia Tag Team Champions World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) Triple Crown Heavyweight Champions F-1 Tag Team Champions 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers