Ryota Hama

Ryota Hama
Hama (on the left) vs. Akebono in 2010
Born (1979-11-21) November 21, 1979[1]
Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Big Sushi[2]
Captain All Japan[3]
Mad Paulie[4]
Ryota Hama
S1 Mask[5]
Yapper Man #4
Billed height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Billed weight 205 kg (452 lb)
Trained by Kaz Hayashi
Kohei Suwama
Debut November 3, 2008[1]

Ryota Hama (浜亮太,, Hama Ryōta)[6] is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler, signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling in the Strong BJ division.

Sumo career

Hama joined sumo in July 1995, and he fought for the Hakkaku stable run by former yokozuna Hokutoumi. His shikona was Hokutoarashi (meaning "North Star Storm") and he reached a highest rank of makushita 6 in November 2001. Injury-prone in his knees, he fell greatly in rank and announced his retirement in May 2008. His career record was 235 wins to 169 losses, with 114 absences due to injury.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2008-2013)

After retiring from sumo, Hama became a professional wrestler. Hama debuted in professional wrestling on November 3, 2008 losing to former Sumo champion Akebono.

On September 23, 2009, Hama and Akebono, known collectively as SMOP (Super Megaton Ohzumo Powers), won the All Asia Tag Team Championship, defeating Minoru Suzuki and Nosawa Rongai. With Akebono as his partner, Hama participated in the 2009 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing 5th out of 9 teams with four victories and four defeats. While still holding the All Asia Tag Team Championship, Hama won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeating champion Satoshi Kojima on March 21, 2010. Hama holds the record for fastest superstar to attain the Triple Crown title, winning the title 503 days after his debut.[7]

In 2010, Hama was also part of Suwama's New Generation Force stable, which rivaled Minoru Suzuki and his Partisan Forces faction. After internal trouble in the group, Hama faced fellow member Masayuki Kono in a special match, but Kono defeated him thanks to the help of Kenso and Voodoo Murders, leading Kono to left New Generation Force and join them. The stable then dissolved, with Hama following Suwama while the other two remaining members, Manabu Soya and Seiya Sanada, went apart.

Hama finished the 2010 Champion Carnival in 4th place in Block A. He totaled 4 points having defeated Minoru Suzuki and Seiya Sanada. Hama and Akebono ended up losing the All Asia Tag Team Championship at the hands of Voodoo Murders' TARU and Big Daddy Voodoo on April 29, 2010. Three days later, on May 2, 2010, he lost the Triple Crown Championship in a match against Minoru Suzuki. On June 19, 2013, Hama announced his resignation from All Japan out of loyalty to Keiji Mutoh, who had left the promotion when Nobuo Shiraishi took over as its new president at the beginning of the month.[8]

Wrestle-1 (2013-2016)

On July 10, 2013, Hama was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 promotion.[9][10][11] Hama wrestled on the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, teaming with Yasufumi Nakanoue in a tag team match, where they were defeated by the Pro Wrestling Zero1 team of Kohei Sato and Ryoji Sai.[12] He adopted clothing and mannerisms inspired on WWF's Rikishi, like his trademark thong and Stink Face maneuver. On September 21, 2014, Hama entered the Wrestle-1 Championship tournament, but was defeated in his first round match by Akira.[13] Through Wrestle-1's working relationship with American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Hama worked TNA's Bound for Glory event in Tokyo on October 12, losing to Ethan Carter III.[14] On June 28, 2016, Hama announced he was leaving Wrestle-1 due to his contract with the company expiring.[15]

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-present)

In 2016, after an appearance in Pro Wrestling Zero1's Fire Festival, Hama signed up with Big Japan Pro Wrestling. There he reunited with Akebono and briefly re-formed SMOP, though he later formed another tag team named Hamakami with Hideyoshi Kamitani.

Championships and accomplishments

1This championship is not officially recognized by All Japan Pro Wrestling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 全日本プロレス 選手名鑑 (in Japanese). All Japan Pro Wrestling official website. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  2. ↑ "40th Anniversary Tour 2012". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  3. ↑ "東日本大震災復興支援チャリティープロレス　「All Together ～もう一回、ひとつになろうぜ～」」". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  4. ↑ "【試合結果】12･30　Damnation主催興行後楽園ホール大会　【Extreme級】佐々木大輔vs宮本裕向　【KO-D６人タッグ】Kudo＆坂口征夫＆高梨将弘vsマッド・ポーリー＆マッド・ポーリー＆マッド・ポーリー". Battle News (in Japanese). 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  5. 1 2 3 "All Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2010". Purolove. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  6. ↑ "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  7. ↑ http://www.cagesideseats.com/2010/3/21/1383850/ryota-hama-becomes-the-most
  8. ↑ "曙　浜との「SMOP」解散覚悟". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  9. ↑ "武藤敬司が新団体『Wrestle-1』を旗揚げ". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-07-10. Archived from the original on 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  10. ↑ "武藤が新団体「Wrestle-1」設立". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  11. ↑ "武藤新団体は「Wrestle-1」". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  12. ↑ "武藤新団体「Wrestle-1」旗揚げ戦". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-09-08. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
  13. ↑ "Wrestle-1 Tour 2014 初代王者決定トーナメント". Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). 2014-09-21. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  14. ↑ McNeish, Greg (2014-10-12). "TNA Bound for Glory PPV Results - 10/12/14 (From Tokyo, Japan)". Wrestleview. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  15. ↑ Ｗ１、５選手が退団を発表. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  16. ↑ 後楽園ホール大会. Big Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
  17. ↑ ★BJW認定横浜ショッピングストリート6人タッグ王座★. Big Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  18. ↑ ""PWI 500": 1–100". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  19. 1 2 東京スポーツ　プロレス大賞. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-02.
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