Real Names - Sataru Sayama
Birthdate - 11/27/57
5'10" 190 lbs. - Yamaguchi, Japan
Aliases - Satoru Sayama, Sammy Lee, Tigre Enmascarado, The Tiger, Super Tiger, Original Tiger Mask, Tiger King
Athletic background - Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts
Teachers - (New Japan Dojo)
Professional background - New Japan(`76-`84), England(`80-`81), Mexico(`82-`83), UWF(`84-`85), UWFI(`91-`95), Shooting/Shooto, Tokyo Pro, Seikendo
Groups - none
Peak Years - `80-`85
Career Highlights - n/a
Finisher(s) -
- Tiger Suplex
- Moonsault
- High Angle German Suplex
Favorites -
- Flying Space Tiger Attack(Handspring Body Press Suicida)
- Ganso Tiger Driver(Front Chancery Takeover)
- Chickenwing Facelock
- Tiger Spin (Headlock into Drop Toehold)
- Jump Back Kick
move set - 10
science - 6
aerial - 10
power - 8
strikes - 10
Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 8
selling - 8
bumping - 8
carrying - 7
heat - 10
legacy - 10
Place in History - Probably the greatest junior heavyweight wrestler ever and inarguably the most influential, Satoru Sayama took junior heavyweights from under-sized nobodies, who could never become stars to being potential the top stars in a promotion. Sayama had an incredibly unique style that mixed puroresu, lucha libre, and even a little European flavor. He used martial arts-like kicks, innovative highflying, great suplexes and he could grapple with the best of them. Tiger Mask was just an entirely new breed of wrestler. He brought his well-traveled style back to New Japan and created a character based on a Japanese cartoon character - Tiger Mask. Little did he know, he would become wildly popular and imitated by numerous wrestlers for years to come. Everyone from puroresu stars like Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Koji Kanemoto to luchadors like Rey Mysterio Jr. and El Ultimo Dragon among many others have shown his influence. Periodically since he left New Japan, he competed in shoot-style groups like the original UWF, Shooting and Seikendo. Here he could rely on his martial arts background and could avoid death-defying moves. Sayama was able to promote and compete in a new and exciting style. Though his years in the limelight were brief, Tiger Mask's influence is huge.