Hiroshi Yamato

Hiroshi Mihara (三原 弘嗣), better known by his ring name Hiroshi Yamato (大和ヒロシ), is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works as a freelancer.

Mihara is an alum of Tokyo University of Agriculture, which he represented at the 2002 JOC Junior Olympic Cup, where he finished third at 76 kg weight class in amateur wrestling.

Trained by the All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, he started his career in February 2007 working in Mexico for the International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) promotion, where he won the 2007 Rey del Ring tournament.

Mihara was originally trained in professional wrestling at the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) dojo, before going on a learning excursion to Mexico, where he made his in-ring debut on February 22, 2007, in a tag team match, where he, performing under the ring name Yamato, and fellow All Japan debutant Kai faced Los Traumas (Trauma I and Trauma II).

Mihara spent the rest of 2007 in Mexico, losing his hair to Cerebro Negro in a Lucha de Apuestas on June 21 and winning the 2007 Rey del Ring on July 26.

Yamato returned to Japan and his home promotion in February 2008 and during the next five years went on to become a one-time World Junior Heavyweight and All Asia Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 2012 Junior Hyper League.

Mihara finally returned to Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling in February 2008, adopting the ring name Hiroshi Yamato and forming a regular partnership with Kai, which eventually led to the two coming together with Satoshi Kojima and Zodiac to form the stable F4 (Friend, Fight, Fan and Future).

Through the new alliance, Yamato also made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on October 13, 2008, at Destruction '08, in a six-man tag team match, where he, Kai and Kojima were defeated by Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano).

On December 14, Yamato, Kai and Kojima faced each other in a special three-way elimination match, where Yamato was victorious, scoring pinfalls over both of his opponents.

Yamato continued teaming with Kai throughout 2009, with the two entering the 2009 Junior Tag League in April, from which they were eliminated after losing to the team of Petey Williams and Phil Atlas in their final round-robin match.

On January 3, 2010, Yamato won the annual junior heavyweight battle royal in Korakuen Hall.

As a result, he was granted his first shot at the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated in the title match on January 11 by the defending champion, Kaz Hayashi.

F4's long storyline rivalry with the Voodoo Murders stable built to a four-on-four match on February 7, 2010, where F4 was defeated and, as a result, forced to disband.

With his tag team with Kai behind him, Yamato went on to form a new partnership with Shuji Kondo and continued his rivalry with the Voodoo Murders.

On July 1, 2010, Yamato and Kondo unsuccessfully challenged Voodoo Murders members Big Daddy Voodoo and Taru for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.

Later that same month, Yamato entered the 2010 Junior League, where he finished second in his round-robin block with three wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals.

However, on August 8, he was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by former tag team partner Kai.

In April 2011, Yamato and Kondo took part in the 2011 Junior Tag League, from which they were eliminated after losing to the Voodoo Murders team of Mazada and Super Hate in their final round-robin match.

Afterwards, Yamato broke away from Kondo and set his sights on the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to capture the title from Kai in their title match on August 13, 2011.

Yamato received another title shot on January 3, 2012, but was again defeated by the defending champion, this time Kenny Omega.

On February 14, Yamato reunited with Shuji Kondo to unsuccessfully challenge Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki for Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

In April, Yamato took part in the 2012 Junior Tag League alongside DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pancrase representative Hikaru Sato, with the two failing to advance from their round-robin block.

The following July, Yamato entered the 2012 Junior Hyper League, where he finished second in his round-robin block with three wins, one draw and one loss.

On July 29, Yamato first defeated Koji Kanemoto in his semifinal match and then Shuji Kondo in the finals to win the tournament.

This led to a match on August 12, where Yamato defeated Kai to win the World Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time.

Before the end of the year, Yamato racked up five successful title defenses, against Minoru Tanaka, Hikaru Sato, Kenny Omega, Kaz Hayashi, and Koji Kanemoto.

In June 2013, Yamato left All Japan in a mass exodus to join the new Wrestle-1 promotion.

On January 2, 2013, Yamato lost the title to Shuji Kondo in a match, which was also contested for Kondo's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.

The following day, Yamato bounced back by winning his second annual junior heavyweight battle royal.

That same day, Yamato reunited with Hikaru Sato to formally challenge the Junior Stars of Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.

On January 10, Yamato and Sato held a public training session, during which they shaved each other's heads to show that they were a cohesive unit ahead of their upcoming title match.

On January 26, the team, billed as "Jounetsu Hentai Baka", defeated the Junior Stars to become the new All Asia Tag Team Champions.

After only a fifteen-day reign, Yamato and Sato lost the title back to Kanemoto and Tanaka on February 10.

From March 30 to April 7, Yamato and Sato took part in the 2013 Junior Hyper Tag League, where they made it all the way to the finals, before losing to Burning (Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki), whom they had defeated in their opening match of the tournament.

Afterwards, Yamato set his sights on regaining the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, pinning reigning champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru on April 29 in a six-man tag team match, where he, Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka faced the Burning trio of Kanemaru, Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki.

On June 2, Yamato unsuccessfully challenged Kanemaru for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

On June 20, Yamato announced his resignation from All Japan out of loyalty to his trainer Keiji Mutoh, who had left the promotion when Nobuo Shiraishi took over as its new president at the beginning of the month.

Prior to leaving All Japan, Yamato was entered into one more storyline, where a disappointed Hikaru Sato announced his return to the promotion to take on his former Jounetsu Hentai Baka partner.

In January 2016, Yamato won the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship.

Yamato also worked as a trainer and sales manager for Wrestle-1 until his departure from the promotion in 2018.