Tojo Yamamoto - In-ring Career

In-ring Career

Yamamoto had success as a heel as an individual wrestler and part of a tag team, particularly in the southern United States, invoking the natural hatred for World War II enemies (in his case, Prime Minister Tojo and IJN admiral Yamamoto; also successful were The Von Brauners, who wore Iron Crosses and goose-stepped around the ring). He worked in hundreds of different tag-team combinations, and even wrestled Hulk Hogan. According to Hogan, "he hit me in the throat with his cheap shot, I fell through the ropes...(on the floor) he grabbed a cigar out of a guy's mouth and dropped it in my boot". These exemplify the kind of over-the-top heel tactics Yamamoto would use, in addition to the general distrust of the Japanese that many Americans held even after the war.

He was affiliated with Nashville-area wrestling promoter Nick Gulas for most of his career. In Nashville, he was promoted as "the most hated wrestler of all time" and "the epitome of evil". Nick Gulas was notorious for supposedly underpaying his wrestlers, but Yamamoto and his trainee Jackie Fargo were notable exceptions. They were two of Gulas's best draws from the early 60's to the early 70's, but in addition to the money they generated, they were also reliable and loyal. Yamamoto showed his allegiance despite offers from other promoters, including an offer from his close friend and student Jerry Jarrett when he started promoting shows of his own.

Gulas recognized Yamamoto's loyalty and paid him back with more than just with a regular place on the card and more pay than almost any wrestler Gulas had; he was entrusted with an incredible number of titles. His ability to draw heat (by purposefully playing off of Japanese stereotypes) and his reputation as a ring-general who could be counted on to have a good match- regardless of the quality of his partner or opponent. As a result, he held an incredible number of championships in his career: 7 Six-Man Titles and an astounding tally of 51 various Tag Team Titles, usually with different partners, which makes the feat even more remarkable. While he enjoyed fantastic success as a Tag-Team champion, he saw less success as a singles wrestler. He only held 3 singles titles, but 2 of those runs was with the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title, the most prestigious title in his home territory. His lack of singles titles suggests that Yamamoto's value was in helping develop other wrestlers (rookies, unpolished talent, mid-carders) and guide their progress to the next level. It could also be mark of Gulas's booking style, where he preferred to have a strong "babyface" champion and felt a "heel" world champion would not sell as many tickets.

Over time, Tojo Yamamoto became aware that his body was failing him, and his in-ring career would come to an end. He constantly wrestled a full schedule without taking days off, leading to injuries that never healed. The problem was compounded by complications from his weight which eventually caused diabetes. All of these factors had taken their toll on his body, but after enjoying so much success he would struggle to accept his physical limitations even up to the day he died. However, it was impossible for him to accept a life away from the sport he loved. Unlike many of his contemporaries, especially his fellow Asian wrestlers, Tojo stuck to wrestling and never appeared in any films or television shows.