Taka Michinoku

Taka Michinoku
Michinoku in February 2017
Birth nameTakao Yoshida
Born (1973-10-26) October 26, 1973 (age 51)[1][2][3]
Morioka, Iwate, Japan[4]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Pepe Michinoku
Piza Michinoku
Taka
Taka Michinoku
Takako Michinoku[5]
Billed height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[6]
Billed weight201 lb (91 kg)[6]
Trained byThe Great Sasuke[7]
Gran Hamada[8]
DebutSeptember 4, 1992[1][2][3]

Takao Yoshida (吉田 貴男, Yoshida Takao) (born October 26, 1973),[1][2] better known by his ring name Taka Michinoku (Taka みちのく) (stylized as TAKA Michinoku), is a Japanese professional wrestler[7] and former mixed martial artist. He primarily appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a member of the Just 5 Guys stable. From 2011, he was a member of Suzuki-gun, until the faction's disbandment in 2022. Michinoku also is the founder and regularly appears for Just Tap Out (JTO), which was founded in 2019.[9]

Michinoku is also known in North America for his work for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) where he had the first WWF Light Heavyweight Championship reign recognized by the promotion. Michinoku is the founder and former promoter of Kaientai Dojo (now Active Advance Pro Wrestling), where he also primarily wrestled until 2019.

Having held championship titles in Japan, North America, Mexico and Europe, Yoshida is known for his long title reigns. He held the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title for a combined duration of more than 15 months, the WWF Light Heavyweight Title for a then record-setting 10 months and the WEW Six-Man Tag Team Title for almost a year. Yoshida has held the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, Michinoku Pro Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship and Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) Strongest-K Championship simultaneously for almost 10 months. During his reign, he has defended his titles against both AJPW and independent circuit talent to increase his base of opponents, and thus has increased the reach of the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which was closed off to outside competition in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

  1. ^ a b c "Takaみちのく". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Takaみちのく". Kaientai Dojo (in Japanese). Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "TAKAみちのく │ JUST TAP OUT 公式サイト". pwjto.com (in Japanese). Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "PANCRASE Official Site | PANCRASE Fighters MICHINOKU, Taka". www.pancrase.co.jp. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  5. ^ "海王トーナメント〜夜の部〜". Kaientai Dojo (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  7. ^ a b "TAKA Michinoku profile". OWOW. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  8. ^ Guure (October 4, 2017). "Medium". Medium. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  9. ^ Angelita, Dark (July 5, 2019). "TAKA Michinoku lanza nueva empresa, Just Tap Out". Superluchas (in Spanish). Retrieved May 31, 2023.