Satoru Sayama

Satoru Sayama (佐山 聡) (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, writer, and mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling promoter, best known as the original Tiger Mask.

He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger.

He is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously.

In 1981, NJPW was looking for a way to attract young fans to its wrestling.

They looked to the popular Tiger Mask anime and created a wrestling character called Tiger Mask for the fans, with the recently returned Sayama playing the role.

On the evening of Thursday, April 23, 1981, Satoru Sayama made his way to the ring in the Kuramae Kokugikan as Tiger Mask.

Initially, many traditional Japanese fans scoffed at the thought of artist Ikki Kajiwara's popular comic book wrestling hero being pushed as a legitimate wrestling star, but he shocked the Japanese fans in the arena by pinning Dynamite Kid with his German suplex.

As a result, he was immediately regarded as the premier star in New Japan's junior heavyweight ranks.

Moreover, that match would be the first of many classic battles between the two men.

On May 6, 1982, Tiger Mask was forced to vacate the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship after injuring his right knee.

Tiger Mask would go on to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight less than 3 weeks later on May 25, 1982.

The next day, Tiger Mask defeated old UK rival Mark Rocco, wrestling in the guise of Black Tiger, in a match for the WWF Junior Heavyweight title.

This victory was met with controversy, as some board members on the NWA declared the title vacant, as they felt that the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship was the premier title for the division.

However, during an annual meeting between the NWA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, it was declared that Tiger Mask was still recognized as the official champion, which made him the only man to simultaneously hold the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship and the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Around this time, Sayama trained in sambo under Victor Koga and kickboxing under Toshio Fujiwara.

In late 1982, while still a member of the New Japan roster, Sayama made at least two tours of the United States as part of the NJPW-WWF working relationship.

He appeared primarily in the World Wrestling Federation, at the time a regional promotion in the northeast region of the country.

Sayama defended the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeating Dynamite Kid at Madison Square Garden in New York City on August 30, and Eddie Gilbert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on November 25.

During his time as Tiger Mask, Sayama had faced mainly English and Mexican opponents, with styles complementary to his own.

As a result, the match with Gilbert would be regarded as one of his higher-profile matches against an American-style opponent.

Sayama also made appearances at WWF television tapings during these tours, in which he had televised matches against José Estrada and Mr. Saito.

Joe McHugh, the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission-appointed ring announcer for WWF events in the state and nearing 80 years of age, mistakenly introduced Sayama during one of his appearances as "Timer Mask."

Sayama has the distinction of being a competitor (along with "Dynamite Kid" Thomas Billington) in the first 5 Star Rating awarded for a Match by Dave Meltzer, for their NJPW Sumo Hall Show 1983 match.

This is thought of very highly in the industry.

During a tag team match on April 3, 1983 he was injured by Dynamite Kid; two days later, he was forced to vacate the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title after it became clear that he would need time off to recuperate.

However, once the determined Tiger Mask recovered, he regained his NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeating Kuniaki Kobayashi on June 2, 1983, making him a simultaneous NWA/WWF Jr. champion for the second time.

By 1983, however, Sayama started feeling dissatisfied as he hated the politics behind-the-scenes.

As a result, he announced his retirement from active competition on August 12, 1983.

His last match occurred on August 4, facing Isamu Teranishi.

It was a shock to the wrestling world, as Tiger Mask was going to retire while he was at the top of his game and as the holder of two Junior Heavyweight Championships.

Both titles were declared vacant, as he became a trainer to martial arts fighters.

He is also recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world.

Sayama also pioneered mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its kind, with a focus on striking from arts like Boxing, Muay Thai and Karate, and grappling from Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo.

The curriculum would help produce the first well rounded fighters of MMA several years before the first UFC event.

He is also the founder of the martial art Seikendo and professional wrestling promotion Real Japan Pro Wrestling.

Sayama debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, against Shoji Kai (Kanji Kitazawa), a jobber known to have been the debut opponent for future stars (Rusher Kimura, Masa Saito, Osamu Kido, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Mitsuo Momota had debuted against him before).

Sayama weighed only 160 pounds, which, even given his training, impaired him from getting a permanent spot on NJPW cards.

So they sent him abroad, to England where wrestling as Sammy Lee he took on opponents such as Mark Rocco and Mick McManus as well as teaming with Big Daddy.

He also had a stint in Mexico, where he wrestled under his real name.

It was in Mexico where he started to grow not only in physical stature but also in prominence, winning the NWA World Middleweight Championship in EMLL.