The great kabuki wrestler photos

Japanese professional wrestler

"Great Kabuki" redirects here. Not to be confused with kabuki.

Akihisa Mera (米良 明久, Mera Akihisa, born September 8, ), better known as The Great Kabuki (ザ・グレート・カブキ, Za Gurēto Kabuki), is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is famous as the first to blow Asian mist in his opponents' faces.

Professional wrestling career

Mera was born on September 8, , in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in at the age of 16 for the Japanese Wrestling Association. He left Japan to compete in the United States in the s. From there he wrestled all over the world, including All Japan Pro Wrestling, several territories of the National Wrestling Alliance including Jim Crockett Promotions, Mid-South, Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Championship Wrestling under the name Akihisa Takachihō. He also used the names Yoshino Sato and Devil Sato (with authorization from his mentor the original Yoshinosato, former sumotori Junzo Hasegawa, who lead JWA during its dying days), which was later shortened to Mr. Sato (not to be confused with Akio Sato, who later used the moniker in other American territories).

Mera adopted the Great Kabuki persona in World Class in The character was created by Gary Hart, based on an old gimmick used by Filipino wrestler Rey Urbano, a former partner of Hasegawa's in the U.S. Kabuki kept his hair in a mop cut which kept his facial features mostly hidden; he also painted his face. Hart explained that his face was scarred in a bed of hot coals during a match with Tiger Jeet Singh in Singapore. He was most often a heel and was managed by most of the top heel managers of the s and early s. When he was a babyface, he was very unpredictable and could turn at any time, making him somewhat of an anti-hero, or tweener. Kabuki had a pre-match ritual of showing his skills with the nunchaku that intimidated most opponents. In

Poison mist, in all of its forms and colors, has become one of the most dreaded weapons in professional wrestling. From causing momentary blindness for an underhanded victory to corrupting the very soul of those it targets, the poison mist is a versatile tool for the more nefarious wrestlers in the industry.

For every person that has found a win using the deadly mist, they owe a debt of gratitude to its creator, The Great Kabuki. The Japanese villain that started it all back in the territory era, The Great Kabuki was the origin of the poison mist, blinding his opponents as part of his brutal arsenal.

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The Great Kabuki Makes His Way To America

Born Akihisa Mera, The Great Kabuki has roots in the earliest days of Japanese professional wrestling. Mera started wrestling at the age of 16 in , soon having his first match for the legendary Japanese Wrestling Association, the promotion founded by the godfather of Japanese wrestling, Rikidozan. Thanks to Rikidozan and the JWA's connections to the National Wrestling Association, Mera made his debut in America in He competed across the United States and Canada, before returning home and spending most of the decade wrestling for Giant Baba's All Japan Pro Wrestling.

After a couple more tours of the States, Mera made the character change that would become his most famed persona. In , he appeared as The Great Kabuki for the first time, managed by Gary Hart in the Texas-based Big Time Wrestling, soon renamed World Class Championship Wrestling. In the home territory of the Von Erichs, Kabuki was something American wrestling fans had never seen before. With long, messy hair obscuring his painted face, said to have been badly scarred by hot coals in a match with Tiger Jeet Singh.

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Curiously, The Great Kabuki is

On this page, you find the full wrestling profile of The Great Kabuki, with his Career History, real name, age, height and weight, the Promotions he worked for, all the Face/Heel turns, the Championship Titles he won, his Finishers, Theme Songs, Tag Teams and Stables, his appearance changes through the years, and more.

Akihisa Mera (米良 明久) was born in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan on September 8, , and he is currently 76 years old.

The Great Kabuki was inducted in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) in as part of the International wing.

Profile Info

Career History