Dean Kiyoshi Higuchi (July 18, 1940 – February 20, 2021) was an American bodybuilder and professional wrestler, known by his

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 project ...

, Dean Ho. He competed in North American promotions including

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...

, the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

and Big Time Wrestling during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. A longtime veteran of the Vancouver's NWA All-Star Wrestling, he feuded with

Terry Adonis Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), Ame ...

, The Brute and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

Bodybuilding career

After graduating from President Theodore Roosevelt High School, Higuchi was one of Hawaii's prominent bodybuilders during the 1950s winning the title "Mr. Hawaiian Islands" competition in 1956 and finishing in sixth place in the "Mr. America" competition in Philadelphia.

Dean's Gym

He opened his gym on Kalakaua Avenue in 1957, and it was a popular training center for both bodybuilders and professional wrestlers. Many of the areas top bodybuilders such as Mike Brown and professional wrestlers trained for decades including Don Muraco, Beauregarde, Rene Goulet and Karl Gotch.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Making his professional wrestling debut during the early 1960s, he lost one of his earliest matches to Rocky Columbo in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

on April 6, 1962. During the mid-1960s, Higuchi began competing for promoter Ed Francis's

feuding with El Shereeh and also teaming with Kazimoto and Al Torres during early 1965. Later, while in Francis's Big Time Wrestling, he appeared in televised matches against Fuji Fujiwara, Bill Dromo, Tosh Togo, Nick Kozak, Kongozan and the

Mongolian Stomper Archibald Edward Gouldie (November 22, 1936 – January 23, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled for Stampede Wrestling for decades as Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie, with the nickname coming from the wrestler's reputation of ...

at the Honolulu Civic Auditorium during 1966. After losing to Hans Mortier and Johnny Barend in early 1967, Higuchi wrestled two matches in one night defeating Great Fuji although he lost a later tag team match with Karl Gotch against Curtis Iaukea and Ripper Collins on April 5, 1967, before moving to the mainland by the end of the year.

National Wrestling Alliance

Feuding with then NWA World Heavyweight Champion

in 1968, he lost two title matches to him on October 21 and again on December 16 in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The following year, he would avenge his loss teaming with Earl Maynard to defeat Kiniski and Bad Boy Shields in a tournament final for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship in Vancouver on May 12, 1969. Continuing his long-running feud with Kiniski, he and Steve Bolus fought to a time limit draw against Kiniski and

Angelo Mosca Angelo Valentino Mosca (February 13, 1937 – November 6, 2021) was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a wrestler, Mosca was known by the nic ...

on January 26 and, with Tex McKenzie, defeated Gene Kiniski and Moose Morowski on April 28, 1970. Losing the title less than a month later to Dutch Savage and "Bulldog" Bob Brown on June 9, he and Steve Bolus defeated them on December 8 and held them until their defeat by Brown and John Quinn on February 9, 1970. He later won the tag team title with Steven Little Bear twice during 1971 and feuded with the Skull Brothers and Gene Kiniski and

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...

before losing the title to Kiniski and Brown for the second and final time on October 11, 1971. Staying in Vancouver in early 1973, he defeated Sailor White on January 22. Feuding with The Brute, he and Sean Reagan lost a tag team match to The Brute and Mike Webster in Seattle on March 3. After defeating Tony Bourne,

Butts Giraud Butts Giraud is a Canadian entrepreneur, musician, author, professional wrestler and a former professional football player and wrestler. He is the President and founder of The Dog's Ear T-shirt and Embroidery Company. He was a professional wrestle ...

and

Bob Hames Robert Earl Hames (January 22, 1920 – September 6, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist from Texas who played with the dance orchestras of Jan Garber, Orrin Tucker, and Stan Keller. In the early 1950s he was a staff guitarist for live product ...

in a 6-man tag-team match with Larry Whistler and Eric Froelich on July 16, he left the promotion moving on to the northeastern United States. While wrestling in Georgia Championship Wrestling, he held the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship with

Ken Mantell Ken Lusk, better known by his ring name Ken Mantell, is an American retired professional wrestler, promoter and booker who competed throughout the National Wrestling Alliance in the 1970s and 80s. He is a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Ch ...

defeating Black Gordman and Goliath on July 2 before losing them to

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boolea ...

Johnny Valiant a little more than two weeks later on July 16, 1976. He also helped Rick "The Dragon" Steamboat, who was also wrestling in Georgia at the time, develop his martial arts and ring psychology during his early career.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

Wrestling for the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the mid-1970s, he and Tony Garea teamed to defeat

Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, ...

and

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 ...

to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship on November 14, 1973. Holding on to the title for four months, they eventually lost the belts to Jimmy and Johnny Valiant on May 8, 1974. They continued to team for a time defeating Jack Evans and Hans Schroeder on November 24 however, by summer 1975, they had gone their separate ways. Later that year, Ho left the WWWF.

From San Francisco to Vancouver

Returning to Vancouver for a time, he and George Wells defeated Dale Lewis and Seigfried Steinke on January 12, 1976 before losing them to his longtime rival Gene Kiniski and Seigfried Steinke on February 9. In 1977, Higuchi began wrestling in the San Francisco-area defeating Alexis Smirnoff for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in

Daly City, California Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing ...

on July 16 holding the title for two months before losing the title to

Bob Roop Robert Michael Roop (born July 22, 1942) is an American retired amateur wrestler and professional wrestler whose career spanned high school, college, the United States Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American heavyweight Grec ...

on September 17. Higuchi later regained the title, which had been vacated after Roop left the company in December 1977, winning a tournament on January 14, 1978. During early 1978, he also teamed with Pepper Gomez and later

Mando Guerrero Armando Guerrero Llanes (born June 9, 1950), better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired Mexican American professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female professional wrestling promotion. He ...

against his old tag team partner Sir Earl Maynard and later teamed with Gomez and Guerrero in a 6-man tag team match against Texas Red,

The Great Goliath ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and Don Muraco. Defending his NWA US Heavyweight title in a no disqualification match against Don Muraco, he lost the title to Muraco on April 1. After the death of then NWA US Heavyweight Champion "Moondog" Lonnie Mayne on August 13, he and "Playboy" Buddy Rose fought to a time limit draw for the vacant title six days later in San Francisco on August 19 (Rose would eventually defeat "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka in a tournament final to win the title the following month on September 16).

Return to Portland

Higuchi later returned to his home territory in All-Star Wrestling and, with Klondike Mike, defeated Al Tomko and Igor Volkoff on November 30, 1981. Feuding with

, he teamed with Moondog Moretti to defeat Adonis and Timothy Flowers in a tag team match on January 24, 1983. He retired later that year.

Personal life and death

In 1990, Higuchi sold his gym and retired to Canada where he ran a deli and was involved as a social worker in Vancouver, British Columbia. On February 20, 2021, Higuchi died from complications of chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the age of 80. His death was reported by former WWE referee Kevin Jefferies a week later, who believes his death was caused by his early days playing football.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling ''(San Francisco)'' ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' (

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 World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' (

) - with

Moondog Mayne Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne (September 12, 1944 – August 14, 1978) was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories, as ...

(1) and Ron Starr (1) *

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abra ...

**Men’s Wrestling Award (2010) * Georgia Championship Wrestling ** NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

* NWA All-Star Wrestling ** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' ( 6 times) - with Earl Maynard (1), Steve Bolus (1), Steven Little Bear (2) George Wells (1) and Klondike Mike (1) ** NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' (

) - with Sonny Myers (1) and Moondog Moretti (1) * NWA Big Time Wrestling ** NWA American Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champio ...

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of O ...

( 1 time) - with Johnny Kostas *

** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Tony Garea

References

External links

SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Dean HiguchiProfile at Online World of WrestlingDean Ho profile
Cagematch
Dean Ho profile
Wrestlingdata {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Dean 1932 births 2021 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hawaii Sportspeople from Honolulu Stampede Wrestling alumni American expatriates in Canada 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions