Report Last Updated - 3/06 (Winter)
Real Name - Minoru Tanaka
Birthdate - 11/29/72
5'7" 194 lbs. - Komaki City, Aichi, Japan

Aliases - Minoru Tanaka, HEAT

Athletic background - Gymnastics, Shootboxing

Teachers - n/a

Professional background - Fujiwara-Gumi(`93-`94), RINGS(`94), BattlARTS(`95-`00), New Japan(`99-)

Groups - RINGS Japan, CTU (Control Terrorism Unit), Black New Japan, CTU

Career Highlights -
- Becomes the first FMW Junior Heavyweight champion by defeating Ricky Fuji
- Wins BattlArts' 1998 Junior Crown tournament
- Teams with Koji Kanemoto to beat Shinjiri Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa to gain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight titles
- Defeats Tatsuhito Takaiwa to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title
- Regains the Junior title by defeating Masahito Kakihara to fill its vacancy

Finisher(s) -
- Wrist-clutch Fisherman Buster
- Minoru Special (Cross Armbreaker Takedown)
- Minoru Special II (Frontroll into Heel Hook)

Favorites -
- Missile Dropkick
- Back Suplex
- High Kick
- Low Blow
- Dropkick

Ringwork Rating -
move set - 6
science - 5
aerial - 2
power - 6
strikes - 8

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 8
selling - 8
bumping - 7
heat - 6
carrying - 8
push - 7
potential - 4

Outlook - Minoru Tanaka has competed successfully in every promotion he has been affiliated with and New Japan has given him the top junior spot he deserves. Tanaka is amongst the company's most dependable guys, when it comes to having a sound match. He has been in the limelight for sometime and it appears New Japan wants to use him as a solid top guy for the time being. However he's a lot like his partner-turned-rival Koji Kanemoto, he just does not put butts in seats. After his heel successes in NOAH and flop as a masked man, Minoru made the full heel turn in New Japan with mixed results. He is very entertaining, but has sacrificed a lot of his technical skill for low blows and eye pokes. It is a tough trade-off, but will hopefully help his character and then he can successfully return to top form in the future.