Real Name - Harold Watanabe
Lifespan - ?/?/27 - 2/19/92
??? - Nashville, TN

Aliases - P.Y. Chung, T.Y. Chung

Athletic background - n/a

Teachers - n/a

Professional background - Southeast(`53-`63), Carolinas(`61), Florida(`61), CWA(`63-`80), Memphis(`82-`91),

Groups - Yamamoto's Army, First Family

Peak Years - `64-`77

Career Highlights - n/a

Finisher(s) -
- Abdominal Claw

Favorites -
- Fighting Stick shot
- Salt
- Karate (Overhead) Chop
- Kick
- Chop

Ringwork Rating -
move set - 3
science - 0
aerial - 0
power - ?
strikes - 6

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 5
selling - 5
bumping - 5
carrying - 4
heat - 7
legacy - 3

Place in History - One of the more interesting characters in pro-wrestling character, Tojo Yamamoto played the Japanese heel role better than anyone and his abilities made him one of the most enduring characters in Memphis wrestling. Japanese heels had been popular throughout post-World War II America with Mr. Fuji in the Pacific Northwest, Toru Tanaka in Texas and so on. Harald Watanabe, like those men was a Hawaiian, but when they tagged the last names of two of Japan's most infamous wartime leaders on him, he became a major heel in middle America. In the early 60s, Tojo made his debut after working in the southeast where he even had an NWA title match with Buddy Rogers once. The aforementioned "Japanese heels" hadn't even debuted yet, so his gimmick was new and inarguably trendsetting. The World War II generation was still alive and so was racism in the south. While German heels had been successful since the 50s, a Japanese heel was even more heated. The differences between Western and Eastern culture, the noticable physical differences and the nature of Pearl Harbor made the character standout like few before it. Tojo played off that and became a big star in Memphis for the next twenty years. He remained with Nick Gulas after the `77 split. Tojo was mainly a tag wrestler, usually forming teams with Asians that were brought in Mitsu Hirai, Tor Kamata, the Great Togo and the team of future stars Atsushi Onita and Masa Fuchi to name a few. He was also paired with other foreign menaces like Ivan Malenkov, Gypsy Joe and manager Saul Weingeroff. It was also a good way to get over heels as the ultimate turncoats, which lead to teams with Jimmy Golden, Al Perez and Johnny Long. Tojo was not a stranger to brief babyface runs, his alliance with Jerry Jarrett is the most famous, but he also teamed with Jackie Fargo, Tommy Rich, George Gulas (Nick's overpushed son) and Jerry Lawler. He eventually joined Jarrett and Lawler and worked with them, even trained Jerry's son Jeff, before a kidney disease forced him to end his career. A year later, Tojo Yamamoto committed suicide in his apartment. One of the most influential and successful characters of pro-wrestling's colorful history, Tojo Yamamoto was able to maintain a high status in one of the hottest territories in the world for over twenty years due to his mastery of psychology and craftsmanship of his unique character.