Koji Kitao
#PWHS #Bio #Biography #KojiKitao #Sumo #Wrestling #ProWrestling #MMA #Puroresu
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Koji Kitao was born on August 12, 1963. In the Sumo wrestling world he was known as Futahaguro Koji.
He was the 60th individual to reach the highest rank in Sumo Wrestling, Yokozuna. Koji was unceremoniously expelled from the sport of Sumo after a dispute with a stable mate. It was a sign of things to come for Koji, as apparently he was fairly temperamental in his dealings with others.
A couple of years after Koji was barred from Sumo, he found himself wrestling professionally. Quite randomly he found himself in the Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA), and that is where he actually made his debut in late 1989. A few months later Koji returned to Japan, where he wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Once again Koji got himself into hot water. Following a dispute with Riki Choshu, Koji was let go from the company.
Not too long after Koji got together with an upstart promotion called Super World of Sports (SWS). The Japanese company actually had a working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) at the time, so Koji appeared at WrestleMania VII in a tag team match against Demolition. His partner was Genichiro Tenryu, the duo from the land of the rising sun lost.
Then trouble started all over again when John "Earthquake" Tenta and Koji met in a match. During the match Koji stopped selling the offence from Tenta. Koji subsequently then decided to shoot on (try to legitimately) on his opponent. Tenta was a former Sumo wrestler himself and no slouch, so he refused to back down. The two men circled each other and traded a few shots before they attempted to grab hold of the other. It ended when Koji viciously kicked the referee, who was trying to restore some semblance of normality into this extremely volatile situation. The bell rang and Koji was disqualified. Outraged by the bell being sounded and Tenta being declared the winner, Koji then got on the microphone. He started to make disparaging marks to the audience as well as telling them professional wrestling was fake.
Even after his outburst Koji continued to wrestle for various Japanese wrestling companies. During this time he seemed to try and make amends for his past issues. He found some success, but overall that part of his career was pretty quiet.
During that time, he did started up his own Dojo. That led to him trying his hand at Mixed Martial Arts during the middle of the 1990s. Koji didn't fare too well in that environment either. His first match was a loss, his second bout was actually for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he also lost. In his final contest he received his only victory when he made Nathan Jones, who later appeared in the WWE, tap out.
On February 10, 2019, Koji passed away after a long battle with kidney disease.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Koji Kitao.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: July 2014.
Biography: #74.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: November 5, 2019.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Koji Kitao.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: July 2014.
Biography: #74.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: November 5, 2019.