Keiji Takayama
Encyclopedia
Keiji Takayama better known as Gedo (外道), is a long time professional wrestler. He formed a long-lasting tag team
with Jado
. Due to his physique and charisma, he was called by some in the United States the Dusty Rhodes
of Japan.
(NJPW) during the Takeshi
Puroresu Gundan (TPG), NJPW's parody of World Wresting Federation
's Rock 'n Wrestling era. His debut match was against Magic Monkey Wakita, who would later be known as Super Delfin, on March 19, 1989. After TPG died out, Gedo, Wakita, and TPG comrade Jado
left NJPW. Jado and Gedo
went on to become one of the premiere tag teams in Japan
.
Jado and Gedo headed to the Universal Wrestling Association
in Mexico
as Punish (Jado) and Crush (Gedo), and defeated Silver King and El Texano
for the UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
on November 8, 1991. They would win these belts on two more occasions in 1992. This led to their many tours with W*NG and were apart of the incident where Kanemura was burnt. Jado and Gedo headed to Wrestle Association "R"
in 1994 and became one of the top tag teams there, winning the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
with "Kodo" Fuyuki
, defeating Genichiro Tenryu
, Animal Hamaguchi and Koki Kitahara on June 6, 1994. Gedo would win this belt four more times between 1994 and 1996.
Gedo, with the addition of being an accomplished tag team wrestler, was also one of the top junior heavyweights in Japan in the first half of the 1990s. Gedo reached the semi finals of the 1994 Super J Cup where he would lose to Wild Pegasus
. Gedo was in the 1995 Super J Cup and reached the finals, losing to Jushin Liger
in his fourth match of the night. Gedo won his first singles title when he defeated Lionheart
for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship
on March 26, 1995. Gedo would win this belt again, defeating Último Dragón for it.
Jado and Gedo left WAR, which was declining, and headed to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
, one of Japan's top independent promotions. Gedo, with Jado and Kodo Fuyuki, won the FMW World Street Fight 6 Man Tag Team Championship, defeating the Headhunters
and Hisakatsu Oya on March 21, 1997. It was also in 1997 that Gedo toured North America, appearing at the 1997 WCW Halloween Havoc show wrestling Chris Jericho, and winning the CRMW North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship defeating Ricky Fuji
on August 31, 1997. During the Halloween Havoc show, Mike Tenay
called Gedo the Dusty Rhodes
of Japan. He further said that Gedo was a fan of 1970s U.S. Southern style brawling.
Gedo won the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship
not with Jado but with Koji Nakagawa when they defeated Masato Tanaka
and Tetsuhiro Kuroda on June 13, 1999. Gedo would leave FMW in 2001 along with Masato Tanaka, Jado, Hideki Hosaka, and Kaori Nakayama with the group becoming freelancers with Gedo mostly working in Michinoku Pro. Gedo along with Jado would eventually return back to New Japan and win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
when they defeated Jushin Liger and El Samurai on July 20, 2001. Gedo had a fierce rivalry with Liger after Jado and Gedo made a surprise appearance in NJPW when they both pulled Liger's mask off. Jado and Gedo won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight belts for a fourth time in 2003 after again defeating Liger and Samurai. On November 13, 2010, Jado and Gedo returned to the top of New Japan's Junior Tag Team division by defeating their CHAOS
team mates Davey Richards
and Rocky Romero
in the finals of a five day long tournament to win the 2010 Super J Tag League. As a result of their victory, Gedo and Jado received a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which took place at a Dramatic Dream Team
(DDT) event on December 26, 2010, where they were defeated by the defending champions, the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi).
The World Class Tag Team
The World Class Tag Team is a professional wrestling tag team that currently work in New Japan Pro Wrestling. One of the most accomplished tag teams in puroresu, the team has won numerous tag team titles and six-man tag tean titles in over seven promotions....
with Jado
Shoji Akiyoshi
, better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling with his tag team partner Gedo...
. Due to his physique and charisma, he was called by some in the United States the Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
of Japan.
Professional wrestling career
Gedo debuted on March 19, 1989 for New Japan Pro WrestlingNew Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
(NJPW) during the Takeshi
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
Puroresu Gundan (TPG), NJPW's parody of World Wresting Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
's Rock 'n Wrestling era. His debut match was against Magic Monkey Wakita, who would later be known as Super Delfin, on March 19, 1989. After TPG died out, Gedo, Wakita, and TPG comrade Jado
Shoji Akiyoshi
, better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling with his tag team partner Gedo...
left NJPW. Jado and Gedo
The World Class Tag Team
The World Class Tag Team is a professional wrestling tag team that currently work in New Japan Pro Wrestling. One of the most accomplished tag teams in puroresu, the team has won numerous tag team titles and six-man tag tean titles in over seven promotions....
went on to become one of the premiere tag teams in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Jado and Gedo headed to the Universal Wrestling Association
Universal Wrestling Association
The Universal Wrestling Association was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
as Punish (Jado) and Crush (Gedo), and defeated Silver King and El Texano
El Texano
Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui , better known by his ring name El Texano, was a Mexican professional wrestler...
for the UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
The UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship created from the working relationship between the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and the Japanese Universal Lucha Libre from 1991 to 1993, when the title became inactive...
on November 8, 1991. They would win these belts on two more occasions in 1992. This led to their many tours with W*NG and were apart of the incident where Kanemura was burnt. Jado and Gedo headed to Wrestle Association "R"
WAR (wrestling promotion)
Wrestle and Romance, and later Wrestle Association R, was a professional wrestling promotion founded and run by Genichiro Tenryu as the successor to Super World of Sports, and which lasted from 1992 to 2000. The promotion had very few regular contracted workers, instead most of the workers were...
in 1994 and became one of the top tag teams there, winning the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
The WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a tag team title previously contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Wrestle Association R ....
with "Kodo" Fuyuki
Hiromichi Fuyuki
was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Association R and other Japanese and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s as the leader of 6-man tag team Fuyuki-Gun with Gedo and Jado.He is best known,...
, defeating Genichiro Tenryu
Genichiro Tenryu
Genichiro Tenryu , real name Genichiro Shimada , is a Japanese professional wrestler. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling...
, Animal Hamaguchi and Koki Kitahara on June 6, 1994. Gedo would win this belt four more times between 1994 and 1996.
Gedo, with the addition of being an accomplished tag team wrestler, was also one of the top junior heavyweights in Japan in the first half of the 1990s. Gedo reached the semi finals of the 1994 Super J Cup where he would lose to Wild Pegasus
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
. Gedo was in the 1995 Super J Cup and reached the finals, losing to Jushin Liger
Jushin Liger
, better known as and later, is a Japanese professional wrestler who primarily works for New Japan Pro Wrestling.He has wrestled and beaten many of the top smaller wrestlers in both Japan and the United States, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most revolutionary junior...
in his fourth match of the night. Gedo won his first singles title when he defeated Lionheart
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship
WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship
The WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship was a title contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Wrestle Association R , which closed in 2000. It was part of New Japan Pro Wrestling's short-lived J-Crown Championship in 1996 and 1997. The title was revived in April...
on March 26, 1995. Gedo would win this belt again, defeating Último Dragón for it.
Jado and Gedo left WAR, which was declining, and headed to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989 by Atsushi Onita that specialized in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989...
, one of Japan's top independent promotions. Gedo, with Jado and Kodo Fuyuki, won the FMW World Street Fight 6 Man Tag Team Championship, defeating the Headhunters
The Headhunters (professional wrestling)
The Headhunters is a professional wrestling tag team that consists of twin brothers Manuel and Victor Santiago , better known by their respective ring names, Headhunter A and Headhunter B.-Career:The Santiago brothers trained under Johnny Rodz and both debuted in 1987.In the early 1990s, The...
and Hisakatsu Oya on March 21, 1997. It was also in 1997 that Gedo toured North America, appearing at the 1997 WCW Halloween Havoc show wrestling Chris Jericho, and winning the CRMW North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship defeating Ricky Fuji
Ricky Fuji
is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known under his ring name .-Professional wrestling career:Morimura started training in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo in 1984. He then left Japan in January 1987 for a training expedition in Canada, where he was trained in the Dungeon by Stu Hart and...
on August 31, 1997. During the Halloween Havoc show, Mike Tenay
Mike Tenay
Michael William "Mike" Tenay is a professional wrestling play-by-play announcer currently employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Prior to signing with TNA in 2002, he had a notable tenure with World Championship Wrestling from 1994-2001...
called Gedo the Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
of Japan. He further said that Gedo was a fan of 1970s U.S. Southern style brawling.
Gedo won the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship
The FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship was a tag team hardcore wrestling championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.-WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship :-FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship :...
not with Jado but with Koji Nakagawa when they defeated Masato Tanaka
Masato Tanaka
Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling in Japan and in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States where he was a one-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once...
and Tetsuhiro Kuroda on June 13, 1999. Gedo would leave FMW in 2001 along with Masato Tanaka, Jado, Hideki Hosaka, and Kaori Nakayama with the group becoming freelancers with Gedo mostly working in Michinoku Pro. Gedo along with Jado would eventually return back to New Japan and win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998 at a NJPW live event...
when they defeated Jushin Liger and El Samurai on July 20, 2001. Gedo had a fierce rivalry with Liger after Jado and Gedo made a surprise appearance in NJPW when they both pulled Liger's mask off. Jado and Gedo won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight belts for a fourth time in 2003 after again defeating Liger and Samurai. On November 13, 2010, Jado and Gedo returned to the top of New Japan's Junior Tag Team division by defeating their CHAOS
Chaos (professional wrestling)
CHAOS is a Japanese professional wrestling stable formed by Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano in New Japan Pro Wrestling.-Formation:In April 2009, Toru Yano turned on Togi Makabe, costing Makabe the match against Shinsuke Nakamura. As Nakamura continued the attack on Makabe, Tomoaki Honma tried to...
team mates Davey Richards
Davey Richards
Wesley David Richards is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Davey Richards.Richards is currently under contract with Ring of Honor, where he is the current ROH World Champion, but also wrestles for several companies on the independent circuit, including Pro Wrestling...
and Rocky Romero
Rocky Romero
John R. Rivera is a Cuban American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Rocky Romero and as the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger. As Romero he was one half of the tag team The Havana Pitbulls , along with Ricky Reyes...
in the finals of a five day long tournament to win the 2010 Super J Tag League. As a result of their victory, Gedo and Jado received a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, which took place at a Dramatic Dream Team
Dramatic Dream Team
Dramatic Dream Team, better known by its initials DDT or its logo reading D2T, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 1997 by Sanshiro Takagi...
(DDT) event on December 26, 2010, where they were defeated by the defending champions, the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi).
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Complete Shot – innovated
- Frog splash
- Gedo Clutch – innovated
- Grounded double chickenwing
- Signature moves
- Figure four leglock
- Frankensteiner
- Mounted crossface punches
- Multiple suplexSuplexA suplex is an offensive move used in professional sport wrestling . The move consists of one wrestler picking up his or her opponent off the ground and then using a large portion of his or her own body weight to drive the opponent down on the mat. Nearly all suplexes have the attacker going down...
variations
-
-
- Belly to belly
- German
- Northern Lights
- Seated chinlock
- Top rope dive into either a headbutt or a leg drop
- Spinning side slam
- Superkick
-
Championships and accomplishments
- Big Japan Pro WrestlingBig Japan Pro WrestlingBig Japan Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests.-History:...
- BJW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jado
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling
- CRMW North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling / World Entertainment WrestlingFrontier Martial-Arts WrestlingFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989 by Atsushi Onita that specialized in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989...
- FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team ChampionshipFMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team ChampionshipThe FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship was a tag team hardcore wrestling championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.-WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship :-FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship :...
(1 time) – with Koji Nakagawa - FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionshipFMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionshipThe FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. It was active from May 1996 until May 1999. The title was then abandoned, but it was replaced in July 1999 with the World Entertainment Wrestling Six-Man Tag Team Championship. The final...
(1 time) – with Kodo FuyukiHiromichi Fuyukiwas a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Association R and other Japanese and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s as the leader of 6-man tag team Fuyuki-Gun with Gedo and Jado.He is best known,...
and Jado - WEW Hardcore Tag Team ChampionshipFMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team ChampionshipThe FMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship was a tag team hardcore wrestling championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling from April 2000 until FMW closed in February 2002...
(1 time) – with Jado - WEW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionshipFMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionshipThe FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. It was active from May 1996 until May 1999. The title was then abandoned, but it was replaced in July 1999 with the World Entertainment Wrestling Six-Man Tag Team Championship. The final...
(2 times) – with Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa (1) and Koji Nakagawa and Jado (1) - WEW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Koji Nakagawa (1), Kodo Fuyuki (1) and Masato TanakaMasato TanakaMasato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling in Japan and in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States where he was a one-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once...
(1)
- New Japan Pro WrestlingNew Japan Pro Wrestlingis a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipThe IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998 at a NJPW live event...
(4 times) – with Jado - Super J Tag League (2010) – with Jado
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him #146 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001
- Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
- Best Tag Team (2001) - with Jado
- Toryumon X
- UWA World Trios ChampionshipUWA World Trios ChampionshipThe UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995....
(1 time) – Jado and Katsushi Takemura
- Universal Wrestling AssociationUniversal Wrestling AssociationThe Universal Wrestling Association was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995...
- UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team ChampionshipUWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team ChampionshipThe UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship created from the working relationship between the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and the Japanese Universal Lucha Libre from 1991 to 1993, when the title became inactive...
(4 times) – with Punish (2), Pat TanakaPat TanakaPatrick "Pat" Tanaka is a semi-retired American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express...
(1) and Dick Togo (1)
- Wrestle Association "R"WAR (wrestling promotion)Wrestle and Romance, and later Wrestle Association R, was a professional wrestling promotion founded and run by Genichiro Tenryu as the successor to Super World of Sports, and which lasted from 1992 to 2000. The promotion had very few regular contracted workers, instead most of the workers were...
- WAR International Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipWAR International Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship was a title contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Wrestle Association R , which closed in 2000. It was part of New Japan Pro Wrestling's short-lived J-Crown Championship in 1996 and 1997. The title was revived in April...
(2 times) - WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipWAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipThe Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship formerly contested for in the Japanese promotion WAR, and later Dragon Gate. It was created in WAR on February 23, 1996 when Gedo and Lionheart defeated Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in a...
(1 time) – with LionheartChris JerichoChristopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer... - WAR World Six-Man Tag Team ChampionshipWAR World Six-Man Tag Team ChampionshipThe WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a tag team title previously contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Wrestle Association R ....
(6 times) – with Hiromichi Fuyuki and Jado