Yoshihiro Momota (百田 義浩, Momota Yoshihiro) (March 15, 1946 – November 22, 2000) was a professional wrestler and a former ring announcer, known for his tenure in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was the son of wrestler Rikidozan and the older brother of Mitsuo Momota.
| Yoshihiro Momota | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 15, 1946 Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | November 22, 2000 (aged 54) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Billed height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 105.0 kg (231.5 lb) |
| Trained by | Dory Funk Jr. Pat O'Connor Sonny Myers Terry Funk |
| Debut | 1975 |
| Retired | 1987 |
Career
editOn October 21, 1972, Momota, along with Shohei "Giant" Baba and younger brother Mitsuo Momota, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling where he started out as a ring announcer for the promotion. Around the mid-1970s, Momota decided to become a wrestler just like his father and his brother. He started training with Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. and began wrestling in Texas before wrestling full-time for All Japan. His wrestling career didn't take off as well as planned although he did find a little success. In 1987 he retired from in-ring competition and decided to become a backstage helper and a member of the All Japan board of directors until he resigned from his position after Mitsuharu Misawa had disagreements with widow Motoko Baba.[1] He joined Pro Wrestling Noah as a backstage helper and a member of the board of directors, but in September 2000, his health was beginning to deteriorate due to liver failure.
Family
editMomota was the son of Rikidozan, a wrestling legend who is known as the "Father of Puroresu". He also had a younger brother Mitsuo Momota. His nephew is named Chikara and made his professional wrestling debut in 2013.[2]
Death
editOn November 22, 2000, Momota died of liver failure. He was 54 years old.[3]
Championships and accomplishments
edit- 11-Man Battle Royal winner (1979)[4]
- Tokyo Sports
- Service Award (2001) [5]
References
edit- ^ Hornbaker, Tim (2006). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. p. 328. ISBN 1-55022-741-6.
- ^ 力道山孫が大鵬さん孫にエール. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
- ^ "Bio". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
- ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". www.wrestlingdata.com.
- ^ "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com.
External links
edit- Yoshihiro Momota's profile
- Yoshihiro Momota's profile at Cagematch.net