Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Birthdate: March 23rd, 1971
Height: 6'0''
Weight: 253 lbs.
Debut: January 11th, 1991
Background: Bodybuilding and Basketball
Promotion History: New Japan (1991 to present)
Alliances: Undefined
Ring Attire: Mid-length tights, various colors
Card Position: Upper Mid-Card
Major Tournaments Won: G1 Climax (2003, 2004, and 2006) and the G1 Tag League (1995, 2001, and 2003)
Current Title Held: None

Championship History:

IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Held 4 Times):
- Defeated Yoshihiro Takayama on 11/3/03 and lost to Shinsuke Nakamura on 12/9/03
- Defeated Genichiro Tenryu on 2/15/04 and lost to Kensuke Sasaki on 3/14/04
- Defeated Kensuke Sasaki on 12/12/04 and lost to Satoshi Kojima on 2/20/05
- Defeated Satoshi Kojima on 5/14/05 and lost to Kazuyuki Fujita on 7/18/05

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Masahiro Chono (Held 5 Times):
- Defeated Hashimoto and Junji Hirata on 6/12/95 and lost to Hashimoto and Hirata on 7/13/95
- Defeated Yamazaki and Iizuka on 7/16/96 and lost to Fujinami and Kengo Kimura on 1/4/97
- Defeated Tenryu and Koshinaka on 6/5/98 and lost to Tenryu and Koshinaka on 7/15/98
- Defeated Nagata and Nakanishi on 3/24/02 and lost to Yoshie and Tanahashi on 6/13/03
- Defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi on 10/30/05 and Vacated on 9/24/06

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Satoshi Kojima (Held 2 Times):
- Defeated Tenryu and Koshinaka on 1/4/99 and lost to Sasaki and Koshinaka on 3/22/99
- Defeated Nakanishi and Nagata on 7/20/00 and lost to Fujinami and Nishimura on 9/23/01

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Osamu Nishimura:
- Defeated Yoshie and Tanahashi on 12/14/03 and lost to Takayama and Suzuki on 2/1/04

Biggest Matches:
- June 12th, 1995 with Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto and Junji Hirata (title win)
- July 20th, 2000 with Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata (title win)
- August 17th, 2003 vs. Jun Akiyama (tournament win)
- November 3rd, 2003 vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (title win)
- February 20th, 2005 vs. Satoshi Kojima (title defense)

Pictures:
- Tenzan attacks Nagata with a chair
- A diving headbutt by Tenzan
- Tenzan hits a Mongolian Chop
- Tenzan with the TTD

Signature Moves:
- Anaconda Buster
- Anaconda Cross
- Anaconda Vice
- Backdrop Suplex
- Buffalo Sleeper
- ChoTen Torpedo (with Chono)
- Diving Headbutt
- Lariat
- Mongolian Chop
- Moonsault
- Ten-Naka Satsu
- TTD

Super Signature Moves:
- Avalanche Powerbomb
- Ganso TTD
- Headbutt, to the Groin
- TTD off the Apron through a Table

2005 Recap:
Another rough year in the life of Tenzan. He opened the year as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, but lost it to Kojima. He got it back a few months later, but only successfully defended it once before losing it again. Every time Tenzan fans think he is getting rolling, New Japan pulls the rug out from under him. As 2005 ended, he won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Chono and is currently "feuding" with the new booker of New Japan Riki Choshu.

2006 Recap:
Starting the year, Tenzan held the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with his mentor Masahiro Chono as part of the Black Japan unit. During the G1 Climax, Tenzan went the entire tournament without losing and won for the 3rd time in four years. This and other issues led to tension between he and Chono and the two became enemies, which naturally led to them being stripped of their Tag Team Championships. They would wrestle on September 24th in a heated matchup, with Tenzan coming out with the victory. On October 9th, Tenzan would lose to Tanahashi and thus would fail to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After that, Tenzan formed a new stable called Great Bash Heel and fought with Liger in the G1 Tag League. As the year ended, Tenzan's group GBH was feuding with Chono and Nakamura's group as well as the New Japan Sekigun.

2007 Recap:
As Makabe's stock went up, Tenzan's went down as even though Tenzan stayed the leader of GBH, Makabe had the more dominate role in the promotion. Following his usual career pattern, Tenzan got lost in the shuffle and even though he stayed around the main event he never challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He did team with Koshinaka on April 13th in an attempt to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Giant Bernard and Tomko, but they would come up short. In the New Japan Cup, Tenzan defeated Nakamura by forfeit and then lost to Makabe in the next round. In the G1 Climax, he defeated Chono and Makabe but failed to make the semi-finals. After losing to Goto on November 11th, Tenzan would sit out the rest of the year with an injury. It is unknown when he will return.

2008 Recap:
After starting the year injured, Tenzan made his return to New Japan on February 17th. GBH had kicked him out and New Japan Sekigun was slow to accept him, but Iizuka shook his hand and was the first wrestler to trust him again. In the New Japan Cup Tenzan defeated Tomohiro Ishii in the first round the lost to Makabe in the 2nd round. Tenzan and Iizuka began regularly teaming together and challenged Makabe and Yano for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on April 27th. During the match, however, Iizuka came into the ring and put Tenzan in a sleeperhold, turning on his friend and against the New Japan Sekigun for the first time in his career. On July 8th, Tenzan would try to get his revenge on Iizuka in a Lumberjack Death Match, and Tenzan would win with the Anaconda Vice. This was far from the end however as at the G1 Climax after Tenzan defeated Kawada, Iizuka and the rest of GBH interfered, injuring him badly enough that Tenzan was hurt for the rest of the tournament and failed to win any more matches. On October 13th, Iizuka defeated Tenzan in a Chain Death Match, showing that the feud was far from over. In the G1 Tag League Tenzan teamed with Kojima and they would defeat Makabe and Yano in the finals to take home the tournament crown.

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