 Jumbo Tsuruta (top) applies an abdominal stretch on Ron Bass (bottom), circa 1984 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tomomi Tsuruta (1951-03-25)March 25, 1951 Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan |
| Died | May 12, 2000(2000-05-12) (aged 49) Quezon City,Metro Manila, Philippines |
| Cause of death | Complications fromliver transplant |
| Alma mater | Chuo University |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jumbo Tsuruta Tommy Tsuruta The Terror of Yamanashi |
| Billed height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Billed weight | 130 kg (287 lb) |
| Trained by | Dory Funk Jr. Lou Thesz All Japan Pro Wrestling |
| Debut | March 24, 1973 |
| Retired | February 20, 1999 |
Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田 友美,Tsuruta Tomomi; March 25, 1951 – May 12, 2000), better known by hisring nameJumbo Tsuruta (ジャンボ鶴田,Janbotsuruta), was a Japaneseprofessional wrestler who wrestled forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first everTriple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won thePWF Heavyweight Championship, theNWA United National Championship, and theNWA International Heavyweight Championship, and unifying the three titles. He is also known for being one-half of the firstWorld Tag Team Champions withYoshiaki Yatsu, having won theNWA International Tag Team Championship and thePWF Tag Team Championship, andunifying the two titles.
Tsuruta participated in manysports, such asswimming,basketball, andsumo, while attending Hikawa Senior High School in Yamanashi-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture.
While atChuo University, he began anamateur wrestling career. He won the All Japan Amateur Wrestling Championship infreestyle andGreco-Roman as asuperheavyweight (at the time, an unlimited class for those weighing over 100kilograms) in the years 1971 and 1972.
He also competed in the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich.[1] He finished the Greco-Roman tournament with no wins.
Scouted by AJPW promoterGiant Baba, he was sent to the localAmarillo, Texas, promotion in the U.S. to train as a pro underDory Funk Jr. Known as "Tommy Tsuruta", he worked in several major NWA territories includingDetroit,St. Louis, andFlorida as well as West Texas. He was among the first Japanese wrestlers to be cheered by an American crowd, due to his hard work ethic and wrestling ability. The name "Jumbo" was given to him by a fan contest in Japan to replace his first name, which was seen as toofeminine. He defeatedNick Bockwinkel on February 23, 1984, to win theAWA World Heavyweight Championship inTokyo, Japan. He lost the title toRick Martel on May 13, 1984, inSt. Paul, Minnesota. Tsuruta andYoshiaki Yatsu became the firstWorld Tag Team Champions on June 10, 1988.
During his 26-year career, he fought in 3,329 matches.[2] Some of his most notable opponents includeBilly Robinson,Mil Máscaras,The Destroyer,Abdullah the Butcher, Dory Funk Jr.,Terry Funk,Jack Brisco,Harley Race,Ric Flair,Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel, Rick Martel,Bruiser Brody,Stan Hansen,Riki Choshu,Genichiro Tenryu, andMitsuharu Misawa. Tsuruta was the firstTriple Crown Heavyweight Champion (unifying the Pacific Wrestling Federation, NWA United National, and NWA International Heavyweight titles), defeating Stan Hansen on April 18, 1989, in Tokyo.
In 1992, he completed the October "Giant Series" tour before disappearing from the company for almost a year due toHepatitis C.[3] For the rest of his career, he participated mostly in comedic (i.e. exhibition) six-man tag team matches; he frequently teamed with Baba and old rivalRusher Kimura in matches against teams which includedMasanobu Fuchi,Haruka Eigen, and other old-timers. Tsuruta's last match was on September 11, 1998 in a six man tag. He announced his retirement on February 20, 1999, and held a ceremony on March 6, 1999.
Four days after Tsuruta's retirement, he moved with his family to theUnited States to be a visiting researcher at theUniversity of Portland inOregon. Tsuruta had a bachelor's degree in political science and earned a master's degree in coaching in 1997, later becoming a part-time instructor in physical training at his old University.
His health deteriorated, however, as he had been diagnosed withHepatitis B which eventually turned to full blownliver cancer as well ascirrhosis of the liver, and by the end of the year he was back in Japan. Due to strict laws over organ donation in Japan, meaning only relatives with matching blood types can donate, Tsuruta had to try and find a donor elsewhere. In April 2000, he left for Australia in search of a liver donor, and two months later, a donor was found inManila in thePhilippines. Tsuruta underwent surgery on May 12, but during the liver transplant he began bleeding uncontrollably, and died at theNational Kidney and Transplant Institute inQuezon City,Philippines on May 12, 2000, from complications of theliver transplant at the age of 49.
,Internet Wrestling Database| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
