- Kōji Kitao
-
双羽黒光司
Futahaguro Koji
Personal information Born Koji Kitao
August 12, 1963
Mie, JapanHeight 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Weight 160 kg (350 lb; 25 st) Career Heya Tatsunami Record 348-184-24 Debut March, 1979 Highest rank Yokozuna (July, 1986) Retired December, 1987 Yūshō 0 (Makuuchi)
1 (Jūryō)
1 (Jonokuchi)Sanshō Outstanding Performance (5)
Technique (2)Kinboshi 3 (Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji,
Takanosato)* Career information is correct as of March 2007. Kōji Kitao (born August 12, 1963) is a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler, born in Mie, Japan. He was sumo's 60th Yokozuna, and the only yokozuna in sumo history not to win a top division tournament championship.[1] He was forced to leave sumo at the end of 1987 after a falling-out with his stable master Tatsunami, and became a professional wrestler in 1990.
Contents
Sumo wrestling career
Early career
Born in Tsu, Kitao made his professional sumo debut in March 1979 at the age of 15, joining Tatsunami stable, and he reached the top, makuuchi division in September 1984 after winning the championship in the juryo division. In his second tournament in the top division he defeated yokozuna Kitanoumi and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize and promotion to komusubi. He made his sekiwake debut in May 1985. In July 1985 he was back in the maegashira ranks but defeated two more yokozuna and was tournament runner-up with twelve wins. After finishing runner-up once more in November 1985 he was promoted to the second highest rank of ozeki. Kitao continued his rapid rise with his third runner-up performance in May 1986, followed by a 14-1 score in July, his only loss being to Hoshi. He defeated yokozuna Chiyonofuji on the final day to force a playoff with him, which Kitao lost.
Promotion to Yokozuna
After this result the Japan Sumo Association were faced with a difficult decision as there was only one yokozuna on the ranking lists, but five ozeki, with a sixth wrestler (Hoshi), winner of the March 1986 tournament, already performing to ozeki standard. The Association decided to promote Kitao to yokozuna and Hoshi to ozeki. Kitao had won 36 bouts in the last three tournaments and been runner-up in the last two, so the defacto promotion standard of "two tournament championships or the equivalent" was interpreted rather loosely. He was just 23 years old and the first person to be promoted to yokozuna without any top division tournament titles since Terukuni in 1942.[2] The Sumo Association insisted that Kitao could no longer compete under his family name at such an exalted rank so he adopted the shikona of Futahaguro, the name being formed from two highly successful former yokozuna from his stable, Futabayama and Haguroyama.[2]
Downfall and expulsion
The decision to promote Futahaguro backfired and he proved to be a great embarrassment to the sumo establishment. His debut as a yokozuna in the September 1986 tournament saw him pull out on the seventh day with only three wins, and after two runner-up scores in November 1986 and January 1987 a series of mediocre performances followed. His best result as a yokozuna came in November 1987 when he was runner-up for the seventh time, with a 13-2 record. However, controversy was never far away from him. Several junior members of his stable refused to serve under him following an incident on the 1987 winter tour,[3] and as a result of this, in December 1987 he had a heated argument with his stable boss, Tatsunami, and stormed out, allegedly striking Tatsunami's wife on the way.[2] The elders of the Sumo Association responded, without giving Futahaguro a hearing, by voting to accept his "resignation". Futahaguro became the first yokozuna ever to be expelled from sumo this way.[2] He had lasted just eight tournaments at yokozuna rank and had proved unable to win a championship.
Top division record
Futahaguro Koji[4]
year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, TokyoMarch
Haru basho, OsakaMay
Natsu basho, TokyoJuly
Nagoya basho, NagoyaSeptember
Aki basho, TokyoNovember
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka1984 x x x x East Maegashira #8
8–7
West Maegashira #3
8–7
O★1985 West Komusubi
10–5
TEast Komusubi
10–5
OWest Sekiwake
6–6–3
East Maegashira #1
12–3
OT★★West Sekiwake
11–4
OEast Sekiwake
12–3
O1986 East Ōzeki
10–5
West Ōzeki
10–5
East Ōzeki
12–3
East Ōzeki
14–1–P
West Yokozuna
3–4–8
West Yokozuna
12–3
1987 West Yokozuna
12–3–P
West Yokozuna
7–3–5
West Yokozuna
10–5
West Yokozuna
8–7
East Yokozuna
9–6
West Yokozuna
13–2
1988 East Yokozuna
Retired
0–0–0x x x x x Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions
Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s) P=Playoff(s)
Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — JonokuchiProfessional wrestling career
Koji Kitao Ring name(s) Koji Kitao
Mitsuharu KitaoBilled height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Billed weight 160 kg (350 lb) Born August 12, 1963
Mie, JapanTrained by New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo Debut February 10, 1990 Retired October 11, 1998 Upon being dismissed by the Sumo Association, Kitao was linked with a move to America's National Football League, but instead turned to professional wrestling. To mollify the association, he dropped the shikona and reverted to his real name.[5]
New Japan Pro Wrestling (1990)
Trained at the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo, he debuted as a wrestler on February 10, 1990, at the NJPW/AJPW Supershow in the Tokyo Dome, where he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow. Unfortunately, his stay in NJPW didn't last long, because later that July, he was fired for disrespectful conduct towards Riki Chōshū, using ethnic discrimination.
Super World of Sports (1990-1991)
Upon joining SWS in November 1990, he teamed with fellow former sumo Genichiro Tenryu. In an appearance at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania VII, Tenryu and Kitao defeated Demolition. According to sources, during his match with another former sumo-turned-pro wrestler in Earthquake on April 1, 1991, Kitao broke kayfabe by no-selling Earthquake's attacks and shooting on him. After the match was ruled a no contest, he immediately grabbed a microphone and began telling the audience that wrestling is fake, as other Japanese wrestlers attempted to restrain him. Because of this incident, he was subsequently fired from SWS.[6]
Pro Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts (1991-1998)
Kitao then wandered in martial arts, but in 1992 he returned to wrestling by challenging UWF International top star Nobuhiko Takada to a (worked) mixed martial arts match. Pre-match discussions over the outcome of the match led to an agreement being reached for a draw. Takada, however, saw an opportunity and double-crossed Kitao during the match, legitimately KO'ing him with a kick to the head. Takada had won, but the importance of the match was that Kitao was truly back into puroresu. Kitao would later make two more MMA appearances - these times not worked - a loss to Pedro Otavio at the first Universal Vale Tudo Fighting event, and at UFC 9, losing to Mark Hall on a referee's stoppage. At PRIDE 1, he defeated future WWE superstar Nathan Jones with an armlock.
In 1996, he had an appearance in the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie The Quest as the fighting representative of Japan.
In the following years he formed his own promotion called "Kitao Pro Wrestling", later a stable of the WAR promotion under the name Bukō Dōjō. Among the wrestlers that came out of the dojo were Masaaki Mochizuki and Takashi Okamura, who later became business partners of Último Dragón in his junior heavyweight ventures.
In 1997, Kitao changed his ring name to Mitsuharu Kitao. He won his only title, the WAR 6-Man Tag Team Championship, with Mochizuki and WAR rookie Nobukazu Hirai in October 1997, but retired from pro wrestling in October 1998.
Championships and Accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 113 of the top 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1996[7]
- Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
- Topic Award (1990)[8]
- Wrestle Association R
- WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 Time)- with Nobukazu Hirai and Masaaki Mochizuki
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown 3 matches 1 win 2 losses By knockout 0 1 By submission 1 1 By decision 0 0 Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes Win 1-2 
Nathan JonesSubmission (keylock) PRIDE 1 October 11, 1997 1 2:14 Tokyo, Japan Loss 0-2 
Mark HallTKO (doctor stoppage) UFC 9 May 17, 1996 1 0:40 Detroit, Michigan, United States Loss 0-1 
Pedro OtavioSubmission (elbows) Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 1 April 5, 1996 1 5:49 Japan Sumo coaching role
In the summer of 2003 he made a surprise return to the world of sumo when he was invited to oversee some practice sessions at his former Tatsunami stable,[3] now under new management after the retirement of Kitao's old stablemaster in 1999.
See also
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of sumo tournament second division winners
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of yokozuna
References
- ^ Haberman, Clive (88-02-01). "Wrestler fails to keep hold on an honorable past". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DC1638F931A35752C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ a b c d Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x.
- ^ a b Chris Gould (August 2007). "The Curse of the Shiranui" (PDF). sumofanmag.com. http://www.sumofanmag.com/content/Issue_14/Shiranui.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- ^ "Futahaguro Koji". sumodb.sumogames.com. http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?shikona=futahaguro&heya=-1&shusshin=-1&b=-1&high=-1&hd=-1&entry=-1&intai=-1&sort=1. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
- ^ D'Orso, Mike (12 February 1990). "Will Sumo Wrestling's Loss Be Pro Wrestling's Gain?". Sports Illustrated. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1069339/1/index.htm. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- ^ http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/91.htm
- ^ http://cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=4273&view=awards#awards
- ^ http://www.purolove.com/tokyosports.php
External links
- Japan Sumo Association profile
- Will Sumo Wrestling's Loss Be Pro Wrestling's Gain? - Sports Illustrated
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- Takanosato Toshihide
- 60th Yokozuna
- July 1986 - December 1987
- next:
- Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi
Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can share the title Categories:- 1963 births
- Japanese professional wrestlers
- Japanese sumo wrestlers
- Japanese mixed martial artists
- Super heavyweight mixed martial artists
- People from Mie Prefecture
- Living people
- Yokozuna
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
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