 Hamaguchi in February 2011. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Heigo Hamaguchi (1947-08-31)August 31, 1947 (age 78)[1] Hamada, Shimane, Japan |
| Family | Kyoko Hamaguchi (daughter) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Animal Hamaguchi Heigo Hamaguchi Higo Hamaguchi |
| Billed height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
| Trained by | Karl Gotch Rusher Kimura Tsutomu Yoshihara |
| Debut | September 20, 1969[1] |
| Retired | 1995[1] |
| Animal Hamaguchi | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 濱口 平吾 | ||||
| Hiragana | はまぐち へいご | ||||
| Katakana | ハマグチ ヘイゴ | ||||
| |||||
Heigo Hamaguchi (濱口平吾,Hamaguchi Heigo; born August 31, 1947) is a Japanese retiredprofessional wrestler, better known by thering nameAnimal Hamaguchi (アニマル浜口,Animaru Hamaguchi). During his career he was recognized as a talentedtag team wrestler despite his relatively small size for a heavyweight, and today he is recognized as a trainer in both professional and amateur wrestling. He is the father offreestyle wrestlerKyoko Hamaguchi.
Hamaguchi debuted in 1969 withInternational Wrestling Enterprise. He was a regular midcarder although his teams with Sueo Inoue andRusher Kimura were main event. He also made forays into North American wrestling in the late 1970s, winning titles inPuerto Rico'sWorld Wrestling Council andCanada'sStampede Wrestling.
In 1981, when IWE collapsed, Hamaguchi teamed with Kimura and Isamu Teranishi in an "invasion" angle inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling. When the angle was dropped, Hamaguchi joinedRiki Choshu in forming the original Ishin Gundan rebel stable.
In 1984 Ishin Gundan left NJPW and formedJapan Promotion, which eventually became a mere stable ofAll Japan Pro Wrestling. AJPW promoterGiant Baba ordered Choshu to replace Hamaguchi, who was rather small-sized, with rookieYoshiaki Yatsu in order to feud withJumbo Tsuruta andGenichiro Tenryu in the upper card. Hamaguchi thus reformed his team with Inoue in the lower card.
After Japan Pro Wrestling broke up and Choshu and others went back to NJPW in 1987, Hamaguchi chose to retire.
In 1990 he returned asBig Van Vader's partner againstAntonio Inoki andTiger Jeet Singh in Inoki's 30th anniversary match. Hamaguchi competed sporadically until settling in Tenryu'sWAR in 1993. In his last earnest comeback he teamed with Tenryu andKoki Kitahara to win his last title, theWAR 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
Hamaguchi retired in 1995, after his team lost the title, to dedicate full-time to his dojo, today recognized as one of the premier independent wrestling schools in Japan. Famous pros trained by him includeSatoshi Kojima,Shinjiro Otani,Shingo Takagi,Tetsuya Naito,Bushi andTakao Omori.
He also trains amateur wrestlers, including his own daughterKyoko, who is one of the premier amateurs in Japan. She is a two timerOlympic bronze medalist in 72 kg weight class and she has won the FILA Wrestling World Championship 5 times.
,Internet Wrestling Database| International | |
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