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| Hiro Tanaka | |
|---|---|
 Hiro Tanaka, c. 1980s | |
| Born | Yoshihiro Tanaka (田中義博, Tanaka Yoshihiro) January 29, 1940 Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, Empire of Japan |
| Died | May 25, 2019 (Aged 79) Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Multiple organ failure due to heart problems |
| Citizenship | Japan • United States |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler • professional wrestling manager |
| Years active | 1958–2018 |
| Spouse(s) | Valerie O'Doherty (m. 1959; div. 1971) Sophia Julia Okabe (m. 1973; died 1989) Amber Brookes (m. 1996; his death 2019) |
| Children | 4, including Teresa and Lori Tanaka |
| Relatives | Casey Tanaka (grandson) Kari Jayden (granddaughter) Lee Page (son-in-law) Amiee Sutton (granddaughter- in-law) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Hiro Tanaka Yoshihiro Tanaka |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) |
| Billed from | Osaka, Japan San Francisco, California The Land Of The Rising Sun |
| Debut | 1958 |
| Retired | 1998 |
Yoshihiro Tanaka (田中義博, Tanaka Yoshihiro, January 29, 1940 – May 25, 2019) was a Japanese-American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager, who most famously wrestled under the ring name Hiro Tanaka (田中ヒロ, Tanaka Hiro) for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW Australia), American Wrestling Association (AWA), Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Tanaka was infamous for his nefarious heel tactics, most often spitting green mist into the eyes of fan favorite wrestlers.
Early life[]
Yoshihiro Tanaka was born on January 29, 1940 in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and was raised in Osaka. In 1953, Tanaka and his family moved to the United States in when he was 13, settling in San Francisco, California.
Professional wrestling career[]
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1967–1974)[]
(Under Construction)
Australia (1974–1978)[]
(Under Construction)
Continental Wrestling Association (1979–1985)[]
(Under Construction)
Return to WWF (1985–1989)[]
(Under construction)
Tanaka would lose to Poffo at WrestleMania IV. After the match, Tanaka raised Poffo's hand as a sign of respect, which caused Heenan to berate Tanaka before slapping him in the face, angering Tanaka enough to spit green mist at Heenan's eyes, prompting cheers from the crowd towards Tanaka and turning him face for the first time in the WWF. Tanaka appeared on the March 28 episode of Prime Time Wrestling the following night at Heenan's invitation, as the latter tried to reconcile with Tanaka. However, Tanaka told Heenan that he no longer wanted anything to do with him, & declared that he is now "Pro-American, Anti-Weasel", cementing his face turn. Vignettes were shown throughout April featuring Tanaka improving his english and his desire to sound like "Arnold from Happy Days".
He later began feuding with Heenan's new protégé, Lee Page (his former rival in Tennessee; although this was not aknowledged on WWF programming until 2005), after Tanaka was attacked by Page during his match against Hercules on the May 7 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling. Their feud quickly became bitter following the July 2 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, when Page tried to flirt with Tanaka's daughter, Teresa, at ringside. However, after she rejected his advances and revealed she is Tanaka's daughter, Page and Heenan proceeded to insult her, leading to Tanaka attacking Heenan on the July 4 episode of Prime Time Wrestling. Tanaka and Page would finally face each other in a match at SummerSlam, which Tanaka lost by disqualification after spitting the green mist at Page's eyes, they later had a rematch on the October 29 episode (taped October 25) of Saturday Night's Main Event, which ended in a double count-out. Tanaka and Page continued their feud into 1989, facing off in a No Holds Barred match at the inaugural Royal Rumble event on January 15, 1989, which Tanaka won, ending their feud.
Tanaka disappeared from WWF television shortly after Royal Rumble, he was booked to feud with King Haku shortly before WrestleMania V. However, after his wife Sophia was killed in a road accident on February 10, 1989, Tanaka decided to leave the WWF and take an indefinite hiatus from wrestling to spend more time with his family.
World Championship Wrestling (1996–1997)[]
(Under Construction)
Second return to WWF/E (1998–2018)[]
On April 2, 2005, Tanaka was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2005 by his daughter Lori. Several months later, Hiro appeared on the September 19 episode of Raw, where he confronted Lori, who had recently turned heel, and expressed his disgust towards his daughter over her brazen and violent actions, before telling her to "grow up", which caused Lori to seemingly express remorse and Hiro embraced his daughter with a hug. However, Hiro was immediately kicked in the groin by Lori, who continued to attack her father until she hit him with a con-chair-to, leaving him unconscious in the ring and having to be carried out on a stretcher.
(Under Construction)
Professional wrestling persona and style[]
Tanaka's gimmick for most of his wrestling career was that of a stereotypical Japanese heel. He would often spit green mist into the eyes of babyface wrestlers, referees and other officials to draw heat from the crowd. During most of his second run in WWF during the mid-1980s, these aspects would become more exaggerated and cartoonish, as he would rarely speak during his promos except for a few broken sentences, leaving most of his promos to have Bobby Heenan do most of the talking. Following his face turn in 1988, he would drop many aspects of his gimmick, losing the facepaint, samurai helmet and his exaggerated Japanese accent and broken english, and would begin speaking much more clearly in his real voice, and would make many references to the TV character Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi (who was portrayed by Pat Morita) from the 1970s TV sitcom Happy Days.
Personal life[]
Tanaka married his first wife, Valerie O'Doherty, on July 30, 1959, they had two daughters, Deborah (b. 1958) and Teresa (b. 1960), before divorcing in 1971 after twelve years of marriage. On October 17, 1973, Tanaka married his second wife, Sophia Julia Okabe. Their daughter, Lori, was born on January 5, 1976. Okabe died on February 10, 1989 in a traffic accident after she lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a truck, killing her instantly.
In December 1996, Tanaka, who was 56 years old at the time, married 21-year-old Amber Brookes, a close friend of his daughter Lori, and they remained married until his death in 2019. Together, they had a daughter, Sara, who was born on March 11, 1999.
Despite being portrayed as bitter rivals on-screen, Tanaka was close friends with Lee Page. He became Page's father-in-law when the latter married Tanaka's second daughter, Teresa, in 2003.
Two of Tanaka's daughters, Teresa and Lori, have followed in their father's footsteps and have become professional wrestlers. Teresa's daughter Hikari, and Lori's son Casey, are also professional wrestlers.
Death[]
Tanaka died on May 25, 2019, at the age of 79 from multiple organ failure due to heart problems following a three-week hospitalization. WWE honored his life with a ten-bell salute on the May 27 episode of Raw in Albany, New York.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- (Under Construction)
- Signature moves
- (Under Construction)
- Nicknames
- (Under Construction)
- Managers
- Wrestlers managed
- Entrance themes
- World Wrestling Federation
- (Under Construction)
- World Wrestling Federation
Championships and accomplishments[]
- American Wrestling Association
- (Under Construction)