Yoshiaki Yatsu (谷津嘉章 ''Yatsu Yoshiaki'', born July 19, 1956) 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 o ...

amateur wrestler Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

and mixed martial artist. He is known for being one-half of the first-ever

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 ...

World Tag Team Champions with

Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...

, having won the NWA International Tag Team Championship and the PWF Tag Team Championship, and unifying the two titles.

Amateur wrestling career

1976 Summer Olympics

At the age of 20, Yatsu competed in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestlin ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. He did not place in the tournament.

1980 Summer Olympics

He would have participated in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, but Japan chose to follow the American-led boycott.

Controversial IOC Banishment

In 1986 Yatsu took a hiatus from professional wrestling in order to one last time chase his Olympic dream. However, after winning a Japanese National Championship in the super heavyweight division in 1986 and while training for the 1987

Asian Wrestling Championships Asian Wrestling Championships is the Wrestling Asian Championship organized by the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee (AAWC). The men's tournament began in 1979 and The women's tournament was first staged in 1996, and it has been held every year. ...

, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

declared that Yatsu was a professional athlete and banned him from not only that competition, but also from the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. The decision stunned many people, but Yatsu didn't file an appeal.

Professional wrestling career

In 1980, after Japan decided not to send their athletes to take part in the Summer Olympics in Moscow, Yoshi "The Yak" Yatsu garnered a great deal of national attention, when he announced his intention of becoming a

. Yatsu worked for 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 var ...

as the Great Yatsu from 1980 to 1981. Within just a few years, Yatsu became a regular headliner for

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 sha ...

(NJPW), before joining

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 ...

, when he left the promotion for

(AJPW) at the end of 1984. In All Japan Yatsu and Choshu formed a tag team, which would go on to win the NWA International Tag Team Championship. While Yatsu was training for his Olympic dream, Choshu left All Japan and returned to New Japan. Upon his return to professional wrestling, Yatsu decided not to join his tag team partner in New Japan, but to stay in All Japan. Afterwards, All Japan broke up the tag team of

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 hi ...

and

and made Tsuruta Yatsu's new tag team partner. The tag team, known as "The Olympics", would go on to win 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 ...

five times, the

PWF World Tag Team Championship The Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling, created in 1984. It was unified with the NWA International Tag Team Championship in 1988, to create ...

once and in 1987 the team also won the

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 ...

. In 1990 the team broke up when Yatsu jumped to Super World of Sports. In 1991, while working for the promotion, Yatsu unsuccessfully challenged

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

for the WWF Championship. When Super World of Sports folded in 1992, Yatsu formed his own promotion Social Pro Wrestling Federation (SPWF), but would wrestle himself only semi-regularly. In 1994 he returned to New Japan to take part in the G1 Climax tournament. In recent years, Yatsu has been the president of a transportation company. On November 30, 2010, he returned to the professional wrestling ring to wrestle his retirement match. The match took place in front of 500 fans at Shinjuku Face in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, and saw Yatsu and

Koji Ishinriki Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 * Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

losing to

Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...

and Tiger Mask, when Yatsu submitted to Fujinami. In September 2015, Yatsu came out of retirement to team with his son Teriyaki Yatsu and began competing for smaller promotions. In April 2019, he debuted for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). In 2021, nearly 2 years since he had his right leg amputated he returned to the ring as part of the 15-person gauntlet battle royal match at CyberFight's CyberFight Festival 2021.

Mixed martial arts career

After spending multiple years out of the spotlight, Yatsu, aged 44, received a big money offer to fight for

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, incor ...

promotion

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

. On October 31, 2000, Yatsu faced Gary Goodridge in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. Yatsu, who hadn't had any stand-up training at all and hadn't competed outside of professional wrestling in 13 years, was defeated at 8:58 in the first round. Despite being dominated, Yatsu received a standing ovation from the crowd due to the amount of damage he absorbed without quitting, even trying a leglock at a point. The two were booked in a rematch on September 24, 2001. Goodridge again dominated the fight, got Yatsu in a guillotine choke and asked for his corner to throw in the towel, which they did. In December 2015, he became a supervisor for DEEP.

Personal life

In 1991, at the age of 35, Yatsu was diagnosed with diabetes. On June 25, 2019, Yatsu underwent an operation to amputate his right leg below the knee, as bacteria had entered his bloodstream and his right toe was progressively necrotic.

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

* 1976 Japanese Olympic Trials - First place, 198 pounds * 1978 Asian Games - First place, super heavyweight * 1979 Asian Wrestling Championships - First place, 220 pounds *1979 Japanese National Championships - First place, super heavyweight * 1980 Japanese Olympic Trials - First place, 220 pounds *1986 Japanese National Championships - First place, super heavyweight

Professional wrestling

:* NWA International Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

( 1 time) – with

( 5 times) – with Jumbo Tsuruta :*

( 1987) – with Jumbo Tsuruta :*January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1990) * DDT Pro-Wrestling :* KO-D 8-Man Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Akito, Hiroshi Yamato and Keigo Nakamura * International Wrestling Promotion :*IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Goro Tsurumi * Super World of Sports :*

SWS Tag Team Championship 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 ...

(2 times) – with Haku *'' Tokyo Sports'' :* Best Tag Team Award (1989) – with Jumbo Tsuruta :* Outstanding Performance Award (1986) *

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

:* WCCW Television Championship ( 1 time)

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 0-2 , Gary Goodridge , TKO (corner stoppage) , Pride 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:03 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0-1 , Gary Goodridge , TKO (punches) , Pride 11 - Battle of the Rising Sun , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:58 ,

, Japan ,

Submission grappling record

KO PUNCHES , - style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Method , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Event , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Round , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - , Loss, , Ricco Rodriguez , , Points , , ADCC 2001 +99 kg, , 2001, , , , , , , -

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yatsu, Yoshiaki 1956 births Living people Japanese male sport wrestlers Japanese male professional wrestlers Japanese male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Olympic wrestlers of Japan Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in wrestling Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Wrestlers at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) KO-D 8-Man/10-Man Tag Team Champions NWA International Tag Team Champions PWF World Tag Team Champions