FantasyBasho 111 Posted December 29, 2022 After looking at Rikidozan last week, I continued an examination of sumo wrestlers who became professional wrestlers. Tenryu was a huge star of the Japanese pro wrestling circuit in the 1980s and 1990s. Before that, though, he was a solid sekitori. The two careers were essentially two different parts of a life, but the connections between the careers are fascinating. If you are interested in striking rikishi, unusual retirement ceremonies, or fake fights that turn into real fights, there's also some of that in here. https://www.fantasybasho.com/post/better-know-a-rikishi-tenryu-genichiro 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leo C 52 Posted December 30, 2022 Interesting write-up. I did not know the guy who organized the strike in the 30's also used the same shikona as Tenryu. He does strike me as a guy who always does his own thing, as he also left AJPW in 1990 after a disagreement with Giant Baba and apparently said he'd only return after Baba died, which was in fact the case. A legend in Japanese pro wrestling and someone who delivered quality main-event matches well into his 50's, which is usually not the case. As for whether Tenryu actually liked puroresu from the start as it is questioned in the article, I guess it is pretty plausible, especially back in those days when it was way more popular then it is now. Even in one of the recent chanko making videos there were some guys with wrestling merch. I think the intersection between the fanbases is large. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rokudenashi 336 Posted January 2, 2023 On 30/12/2022 at 09:49, Leo C said: As for whether Tenryu actually liked puroresu from the start as it is questioned in the article, I guess it is pretty plausible, especially back in those days when it was way more popular then it is now. The idea of a “salaryman” wrestler popularised by contemporary Jumbo Tsuruta rings true here for Tenryū - by his own account he had every reason, as covered in this article, to leave Ōzumō by 1976, and through mutual acquaintance Morioka Riu got connected with Giant Baba. At this point, All Japan was still the preeminent puroresu company by all metrics, so Baba’s offer to join was a no brainer. Tenryū’s autobiography “今を生きる” is a good resource for understanding his career in more depth, particularly his transition from Ōzumō to puroresu - highly recommended 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
