Yoshi Tatsu

Naofumi Yamamoto
Ring name(s)	Naofumi Yamamoto[1] Mr. Yamamoto[1] Yamamoto[2] Yoshitatsu[1] Yoshi Tatsu[2]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Billed weight	211 lb (96 kg)[3]
Born	August 1, 1977 (1977-08-01) (age 34)[2] Gifu, Japan[2]
Resides	Tampa, FL
Billed from	Tokyo, Japan
Trained by	Yuji Nagata[2] New Japan Dojo[1] Florida Championship Wrestling[1]
Debut	02002-10-12 October 12, 2002[3]

Naofumi Yamamoto (山本 尚史, Yamamoto Naofumi^?, born August 1, 1977) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former boxer,^[1] who is currently signed to WWE, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu.

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2008)

Yamamoto trained for his professional wrestling career in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo before making his professional wrestling debut on October 12, 2002.^[3]

Yamamoto lost to Wataru Inoue in his debut match in the first match of a show in the Korakuen Hall.^[4] Initially Yamamoto worked low card matches for NJPW, normally on the losing side to gain ring experience. On December 27, 2003, Yamamoto lost to Ryusuke Taguchi in a match where the winner would get a match on NJPW's most prestigious show, their January 4 Dome Show Wrestling World.^[5] Yamamoto participated in the 2004 Young Lion Cup where he defeated Hirooki Goto, Aikya Anzawa, and Hiroshi Nagao to earn a total of six points, not enough to qualify for the finals.^[6][7][8] Yamamoto also participated in the 2005 Young Lion Cup where he only won one match, defeating Yujiro.^[9] In 2006 Yamamoto participated in his first G1 Climax tournament, losing all four matches.^[10] Yamamoto teamed up with Manabu Nakanishi to compete in the 2006 G1 Climax Tag League, defeating Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko to earn their sole victory in the tournament.^[11] On January 8, 2006, Yamamoto and Osamu Nishimura defated Toru Yano and a returning Togi Makabe.^[12] Over the summer of 2007 Yamamoto began teaming regularly with Hiroshi Tanahashi forming a team called "New Japan Dragons", earning a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship against the then champions, Bernard and Tomko, albeit in a losing effort.^[13] For the 2007 G1 Climax Tag League Yamamoto teamed up with Takashi Ilzuka, while they defeated three teams (Hirooki Goto and Milano Collection A.T., Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, and Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko); the team ended up in last place.^[14] On November 2, 2007 Yamamoto wrestled his last match for NJPW, teaming with his mentor Yuji Nagata in a losing effort against Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano.^[15]

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2007–present)

Developmental territory (2007–2009)

In late 2007 Yamamoto was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to a full time contract, which meant that he had to relocate to the United States. He immediately was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), to undergo assessment and training in the "WWE Style" of wrestling. Initially he wrestled as Mr. Yamamoto, then simply as Yamamoto.^[16] He briefly teamed with Sheamus O'Shaunessy under the team name "the Movers and the Shakers".^[17] Later on he changed his ring name to Yoshitatsu, before tweaking the spelling to Yoshi Tatsu, the name he currently works under.^[16]

ECW (2009–2010)

On June 30, 2009, Yamamoto joined the ECW brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu. He had his first match that night, defeating Shelton Benjamin, although he lost a rematch to Benjamin on the July 9 episode of ECW.^[18][19] On the October 20 episode of ECW, Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder to become number one contender for the ECW Championship, although he failed to win the championship the following week against Christian.^[20] On the December 22 edition of ECW Yoshi Tatsu defeated Jack Swagger to earn a spot in the ECW Homecoming battle royal where the winner would challenge Christian for the ECW title at the Royal Rumble.^[21] On the January 12 edition of ECW, however, Tatsu was not able to win the battle royal when he was eliminated by Kane. At the Royal Rumble Tatsu competed in his first Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by John Cena.^[22] Tatsu then formed a tag team with Goldust ^[23] and the duo became the number one contenders for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship ^[24] but failed in capturing the titles on the final episode of ECW on Syfy.

Raw (2010–2011)

After the ECW brand was discontinued, Tatsu made his debut on the Raw brand on the February 22, 2010 edition of Raw, where he teamed up with Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston to defeat The Legacy (Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes), after Orton turned on his partners.^[25] Tatsu won a 26-Man Battle Royal in the dark match to open WrestleMania XXVI by last eliminating Zack Ryder. In July 2010, Tatsu would be involved in a few backstage brawls with The Nexus to try and help John Cena get rid of them, which he failed to do. Yoshi then went to Japan to promote the new WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 video game. After months of not appearing on WWE television, Tatsu returned on the November 11 episode of WWE Superstars, defeating Zack Ryder. On the November 29 episode of Raw, Tatsu teamed with Mark Henry to defeat WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, after a distraction by John Cena. A week later, Tatsu and Henry received a shot at the titles in a Fatal-4-Way Elimination Tag Team match, which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Tatsu and Henry were the first team eliminated in the match. On the February 14th edition of Raw, Maryse and DiBiase were about to kiss but instead Maryse kissed Tatsu. On the 24 February episode of Superstars during the match between Daniel Bryan and Ted DiBiase, Yoshi Tatsu came out and gave Maryse flowers but Maryse hit DiBiase with the flowers before Bryan used the LeBell Lock on DiBiase, making him tap out allowing Bryan to win the match.

SmackDown and NXT (2011)

On April 26, Tatsu was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft.^[26]

Tatsu was a WWE Pro for the fifth season of WWE NXT, also known as NXT Redemption, with his rookie being Byron Saxton. On the April 26 episode of WWE NXT, Tatsu was attacked by Saxton after Tatsu cost his match against Lucky Cannon. This would cause tension between the two until the May 17 episode of WWE NXT, where Tatsu would defeat Saxton. On the May 31 episode of WWE NXT, Saxton was the second rookie eliminated.

After Saxton's elimination, Tatsu began a feud with fellow NXT pro Tyson Kidd, whose rookie was also eliminated. Their feud stemmed from Kidd breaking Tatsu's toy figurine of himself and stealing one of the toy figurine's legs.^[27] Both wrestlers would trade wins during their series of matches,^[27][28] and Tatsu claimed back the stolen figurine leg by winning a Necklace on a Pole match on the July 26 edition of NXT.^[29] After the match, Kidd brutally assaulted the right leg of Tatsu, causing Tatsu to be absent from NXT for more than a month.

However, in the next few weeks, a mysterious Japanese symbol would appear on the TitanTron to distract Kidd during his matches. The symbol turned out to be the Kanji lettering for “pride” – a message from Tatsu. Tatsu returned on the September 6th episode of NXT, where he debuted black tights emblazoned with Kanji characters and the Japanese flag, had his small lock of blond hair dyed red and had half his face painted. Tatsu would go on to defeat Kidd on that episode.^[30] Tatsu later explained that his new look and wrestling style was due to him wanting to better portray Japanese culture, Japanese pride and the aggressive style of Japanese wrestling; he also explained that his face paint was a tribute to the Great Muta.^[31]

Other media

As Tatsu, Yamamoto is featured as a playable superstar for the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 and WWE '12 video games. He was previously featured in King of Colosseum II and Wrestle Kingdom 2 under his real name.

Personal life

Yamamoto is a graduate from Kokushikan University with a degree in political studies.^[32]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Roundhouse kick^[33] – 2010–present
  • Diving spinning heel kick^[33][34]

• Signature moves
  • Double knees to the opponent's chest in the corner, rolling snapmare & shoot kick to the chest combo
  • Back kick^[35]
  • Octopus hold^[2]
  • Roaring elbow^[36]
  • Shoot kick^[35]

• Nicknames
  • "The Cardiac Kid"^[37][38]
  • "The Rising Sun"

• Entrance themes
  • World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
    • "J-Pop Drop" by Tom Haines and Christopher Branch (2009–present)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #78 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010^[39]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/n/naofumi-yamamoto.html. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Profile" (in German). CageMatch. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1300. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Puroresu Central Profile". puroresucentral.com. http://www.puroresucentral.com/yamamoto.html. Retrieved 2008-10-19. 
4. ^ "NJPW ~History~ Toukon Series 2002 Prologue - Tag 3" (in German). cagematch.net. October 12, 2002. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=42146. 
5. ^ "NJPW results, 2003". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20070411060816/http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/results03.php. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
6. ^ "NJPW Strong Energy 2004 - Tag 2" (in German). CageMatch.net. April 17, 2004. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=16449. 
7. ^ "NJPW Strong Energy 2004 - Toukon Festival Part II" (in German). CageMatch.net. April 24, 2004. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=16457. 
8. ^ "NJPW Strong Energy 2004 - Tag 7" (in German). CageMatch.net. April 26, 2004. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=16459. 
9. ^ "NJPW Big Fight Series 2005 - Tag 9" (in German). CageMatch.net. March 3, 2005. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=927. 
10. ^ "NJPW G1 Climax 2006 - Tag 4" (in German). CageMatch.net. August 10, 2006. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=7440. 
11. ^ "G-1 Climax Tag Team League 2006". ProWrestlingHistory.com. October 15 - November 6, 2006. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/newjapan/g1tag.html#2006. 
12. ^ "NJPW results, 2006". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20071117151907/http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/results06.php. Retrieved 2007-12-05. 
13. ^ "NJPW 35th Anniversary Tour ~ Circuit 2007 New Japan Soul ~CTU Farewell Tour~ - Tag 2" (in German). CageMatch.net. August 10, 2006. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=12377. 
14. ^ "G-1 Climax Tag Team League 2007". ProWrestlingHistory.com. October 18 - November 2, 2007. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/newjapan/g1tag.html#2007. 
15. ^ "NJPW Camp Zama Slamfest" (in German). CageMatch.net. November 2, 2007. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=14487. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "International Herald Tribune". http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/16/sports/WRE-WWE-Yamamoto.php. 
17. ^ "FCW @ Bourbon Street Night Club" (in German). CageMatch.net. February 12, 2008. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=17845. "The Gymini (Jake & Jesse) besiegen The Movers And Shakers (Mr. Yamamoto & Sheamus)" 
18. ^ "Florida Championship Wrestling, I mean ECW, TV report". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. 2009-06-30. http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9806/. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
19. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-07-10). "ECW: Christian earns title match". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/07/10/10084086.html. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
20. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-10-20). "ECW: Jericho makes surprise appearance, faces Christian". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/10/20/11469031.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
21. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-10-27). "ECW: Christian, Tatsu engage in superb battle for title". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/10/27/11547456.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
22. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/particpants2010/
23. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/01192010/mainarticle
24. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/02092010/mainarticle
25. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/02222010/photos/sixmantagmatch/
26. ^ "WWE News: Full list of 2011 WWE Draft Picks (televised Raw Draft & Supplemental Draft)". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2011-04-26. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_49593.shtml. Retrieved 2011-04-27. 
27. ^ ^{a b} Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE NXT RESULTS 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 5, Week 17 - Latest elimination, how will WWE address Chavo's release?". PW Torch. http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wwenxtreport/article_51100.shtml. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
28. ^ Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE NXT RESULTS 7/5: Complete "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 5, Week 18 - Bateman Returns, Raw Replay". PW Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wwenxtreport/article_51250.shtml. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
29. ^ Caldwell, James. [CALDWELL'S WWE NXT RESULTS 7/26: Complete "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 5, Week 21 - Pole match, post-Raw happenings shown "CALDWELL'S WWE NXT RESULTS 7/26: Complete "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 5, Week 21 - Pole match, post-Raw happenings shown"]. PW Torch. CALDWELL'S WWE NXT RESULTS 7/26: Complete "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 5, Week 21 - Pole match, post-Raw happenings shown. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
30. ^ Walek, Gregory. "NXT Results - 9/6/11". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1315411814. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
31. ^ Medalis, Kara. "Yoshi Tatsu: Painted with pride". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/inside/yoshi-tatsu-new-look. Retrieved 29 October 2011. 
32. ^ "Students of the game". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/features/wwehigh1/news/studentsofthegame/. Retrieved 2010-06-07. ^{[dead link]}
33. ^ ^{a b} "ECW results on February 9, 2010". http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_38896.shtml. 
34. ^ Medalis, Kara (2009-07-07). "Charismatic fate". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/07072009/mainarticle. Retrieved 2009-08-10. 
35. ^ ^{a b} "Yoshi Tatsu vs. Paul Burchill". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2009-07-14. http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/ecw/2009/july15-21/10869842. Retrieved 2009-08-10. 
36. ^ Shannon, Jay (2009-10-14). "ECW (10/13) Examination". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/2009/10/14/ecw-1013-examination/. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
37. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (2010-02-02). "Change is in the air". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/02022010/mainarticle. Retrieved 2010-04-07. 
38. ^ "WWE’s 2010 Winter Olympics Team". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/features/winterolympics/. Retrieved 2010-04-07. 
39. ^ ""PWI 500": 1–100". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 2010-07-30. http://prowrestlingillustrated.blogspot.com/2010/07/pwi-500-1-100.html. Retrieved 2010-07-31. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• WWE profile
• Official Japanese Blog
• Online World of Wrestling profile
• CageMatch profile (German)
• Puroresu Central profile

Persondata
Name	Yamamoto, Naofumi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 1, 1977
Place of birth	Gifu, Japan
Date of death
Place of death