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Masa Saito
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Masa Saito | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Mr. Saito Masa Saito |
| Billed height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| Billed weight | 120 kg (265 lb) |
| Debut | June 3, 1965 |
| Retired | 1999 |
Masanori Saito is a former Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or Masa Saito.
Contents |
Saito competed in freestyle wrestling for Japan in the 1964 Olympic Games, placing 7th.
He began his pro-wrestling career shortly after the games and quickly established himself as a talented grappler in both Japan and the United States.
Nicknamed "Mr. Torture" for his punishing and borderline sadistic style, Saito held numerous titles while wrestling in Japan. He also competed in the WWF where he won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Mr. Fuji and in the AWA where he defeated Larry Zbyszko for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in front of a hometown crowd of 65,000 people at the Tokyo Dome in February 1990. He would lose the title 2 months later in a rematch with Zbyszko at SuperClash 4.
Saito made sporadic appearances in the US during the 1990's, wrestling almost exclusively in Japan. Saito retired from wrestling in 1999. Saito is suffering from the onset of diabetes and is reported to be in poor health.
- Finishing and signature moves
-
- Move named after him.
- Kneeling figure four leglock
- Sharpshooter
- Lariat
- Headbutt
- Various nerve holds
- American Wrestling Association
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Ivan Koloff (3) and Mr. Sato (2)
- NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Mr. Sato
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Gene Kiniski (1) and Dale Lewis (1)
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Kinji Shibuya
- NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (2 times)
- NWA San Francisco
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (2 times) - with Kinji Shibuya
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- IWGP World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Riki Chōshū (1) and Shinya Hashimoto (1)
- NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Japan version) (1 time) - with Hiro Matsuda
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- World Wrestling Federation
- WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Mr. Fuji
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Best Technical Wrestler award in 1984 - tied with the Dynamite Kid