 |
| Satoru Sayama | |
|---|---|
 Sayama, as Tiger Mask, with the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, 1982 | |
| Born | November 27, 1957 Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Satoru Sayama Tiger Mask Super Tiger Tiger King Sammy Lee The Mask of Tiger The Tiger |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 198 lb (90 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Karl Gotch Antonio Inoki Yoshiaki Fujiwara Kotetsu Yamamoto |
| Debut | May 28, 1976 |
Satoru Sayama (佐山 聡, Sayama Satoru) (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, writer, and mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling promoter, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger. He is the only man to hold the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship simultaneously.[2][3]
He is also recognized as a pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding Shooto in 1985, one of the first MMA organizations in the world. Sayama also started mixed martial arts training and developed his own Shooto syllabus for learning what could be considered the first put together MMA training of its kind, with a focus on striking from arts like Boxing, Muay Thai and Karate, and grappling from Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo. The curriculum would help produce the first well rounded fighters of MMA several years before the first UFC event.[4] He is also the founder of the martial art Seikendo and professional wrestling promotion Real Japan Pro Wrestling.
- ^ a b "Tiger Mask". WWE. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ "Satoru Sayama profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ Gould, KJ (July 24, 2012). "Satoru Sayama, Shooto And The Style Of Japanese Catch Wrestling". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved December 6, 2022.