Akihisa Mera

Infobox Wrestler
name= Akihisa Mera


img_capt=
names= The Great Kabuki
Hito Tojo
Kabuki
Mr. Hito
Rising Sun #1
Mr. Sato
Yoshino Sato
Akihisa Takachiho
Takachiho
real_height=
real_weight=
height= height|ft=5|in=10
weight= convert|240|lb|kg st|abbr=on
birth_date= birth date and age|1948|9|8
birth_place= Nobeoka, Japan
death_date=
resides=
billed= Singapore
trainer=
debut= October 31, 1964
retired= 1998

Akihisa Mera (born September 8, 1948 in Nobeoka, Japan), better known as The Great Kabuki, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He was famous for being the first to blow "Asian mist" in his opponents' faces.

Career

Akihisa Mera was born on September 8, 1948 in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in 1964 for the old Japanese Wrestling Association but soon left Japan to compete in the United States. From there he wrestled all over the world, including All Japan Pro Wrestling, several territories of the National Wrestling Alliance including Jim Crockett Promotions, Mid-South Wrestling, Mid-Southern Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling. He originally used the name "Akihisa Takachihō", but adopted the Great Kabuki persona in Southwest Championship Wrestling in the late 1970s.

Mera, as the Great Kabuki, kept his hair in a mop cut which kept his facial features mostly hidden; he also painted his face. The storyline went that his face was scarred in a bed of hot coals during a match in Japan, and therefore kept his hair long and face painted to cover the deep scarring.

He was managed by most of the top heel managers of the 1970s and early 1980s, and he most often was a heel. When he was a baby-face, he was very unpredictable and could turn at any time.

He was the first wrestler to blow asian mist into his opponents' faces. When Keiji Mutoh debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions as The Great Muta, Mutoh was billed as Kabuki's son due to the similarities in style and the blowing of the mist. In reality they are not related, but did team under masks as "The Rising Sun" under the management of James J. Dillon in Crockett.

Kabuki had a pre-match ritual of showing his skills with the nunchaku that intimidated most opponents.

Some of his feuds were against Jimmy Valiant, Scott Casey, Abdullah the Butcher, Dusty Rhodes, Toshiaki Kawada, Chris Adams, Genichiro Tenryu, Bruiser Brody, and the Fabulous Freebirds. Kabuki's battles against Adams was billed as "the battle of the superkicks", as ring announcer Bill Mercer often asked which kick was better: Adams' superkick or Kabuki's thrust kick.

In 1990, after losing interest in American wrestling, he went back to All Japan Pro Wrestling and won the Double Cup tag-team title with Jumbo Tsuruta, but then joined Tenryu in creating the SWS promotion. From there he went on to be one of the co-founders of IWA Japan.

He participated in one World Wrestling Federation match in 1994. It was the Royal Rumble and he was eliminated by Lex Luger.

Kabuki retired in 1998. He had a series of retirement matches. On July 20th, he would main event at the Tokyo Korakuen Hall in IWA Japan by teaming up with Kendo Nagasaki to wrestle Keisuke Yamada and Shigeo Okumura. On August 8 he teamed up with Muta to defeat Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto. September 7 was the grand finale for Kabuki, as he teamed up with Terry Funk and Doug Gilbert to defeat Freddy Kruger, Leatherface, and Metalface.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**Thrust kick
**Nerve hold
**"Poison mist"

*Managers
**Skandor Akbar
**Killer Tim Brooks
**James J. Dillon
**Gary Hart
**Michael Hayes
**Armand Hussein
**Percy Pringle III
**Sunshine (Valerie French)
**Tojo Yamamoto

Championships and accomplishments

*All Japan Pro Wrestling:*AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tomotsugu Kutsuwada:*AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jumbo Tsuruta:*NWA United National Championship (1 time)

*All Star Pro Wrestling (New Zealand):*NWA Australian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hiro Tojo

*Central States Wrestling:*NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 time) – with Pak Song (1) and Killer Karl Kox (1)

*Championship Wrestling from Florida:*NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mr. Saito:*NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mr. Saito

*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling:*NWA Television Championship (1 time)

*Mid-South Wrestling Association:*Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*NWA Big Time Wrestling | World Class Championship Wrestling:*NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time):*NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (2 times):*NWA World Tag Team Championship "(Texas Version)" (1 time) – with Chang Chung:*WCCW Television Championship (1 time)

*NWA Los Angeles:*NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (1 time)

*NWA Mid-America:*NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*NWA Western States Sports:*NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Romero