 Kamata, circa 1979 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | McRonald Kamaka (1937-03-09)March 9, 1937[2] |
| Died | July 23, 2007(2007-07-23) (aged 70) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada[3] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Tor Kamata Tor Kamaka "King" Tor Kamaka Dr. Moto Killer Moto |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 350 lb (159 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Japan Polynesia |
| Debut | 1959 |
| Retired | 1987 |
McRonald Kamaka[3] (March 9, 1937 – July 23, 2007) was an American-Canadianprofessional wrestler known by thering nameTor Kamata. He won several heavyweight and tag team championships, most notably thePWF World Heavyweight Championship inAll Japan Pro Wrestling and theAWA World Tag Team Championship in theAmerican Wrestling Association. He was a classicheel, reviled for dirty tricks in the ring, included rubbing salt in his opponent's eyes.
After returning to Hawaii after leaving theUnited States Air Force,50th State Big Time Wrestling promoterEd Francis convinced Kamaka to try professional wrestling.[2] He was given the name Tor Kamata in reference toTomas De Torquemada of theSpanish Inquisition.[2] He also worked as Dr. Moto, holding theAmerican Wrestling Association'sAWA World Tag Team Championship withMitsu Arakawa. One of his signature moves, the "judo chop" became a popular phrase for all types of martial arts strikes in the 1960s, even being mentioned bySnoopy in the comic stripPeanuts (21 December 1964, 14 January 1967). A generation later, the phrase was satirised in theAustin Powers films.[2]
In the early 1970s, Kamata worked forStampede Wrestling in Canada, where he held theStampede North American Heavyweight Championship three times.[2] In the promotion, he feuded withDan Kroffat.[2]
In 1976 and 1977, Kamata wrestled in theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation. Managed byFreddie Blassie, he had two memorable matches withBob Backlund when Backlund was on the brink of becoming theWWWF Champion. In the first, Kamata threw salt into Backlund's eyes, which set the stage for a televisedTexas Death match, aired May 7, 1977. Again Kamata threw salt in Backlund's eyes, so Backlund merely used the referee's shirt to wipe it out. Then Backlund delivered anAtomic Knee Drop and won the match. At the time,Superstar Billy Graham had just defeatedBruno Sammartino for the championship and Backlund was being built up as the number one contender.
After WWWF, Kamata worked forAll Japan Pro Wrestling in 1978 where he worked there to the end of his career.
Kamata returned to WWWF, now WWF in 1980 feuding with WWF Champion Bob Backlund andPedro Morales. He left later that year and returned to Japan. He worked in various territories until his retirement in 1987.
Kamata was an amateur wrestler during high school.[2] He was a club bouncer before becoming a professional wrestler.[2] He joined theUnited States Air Force and trained with amateur wrestlers in Turkey.[2] During the 1970s, he owned restaurants inCalgary, Alberta, andSaskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he also ran ashiatsu business.[2][3]
Kamata died on July 23, 2007, in Saskatoon after almost a decade ofheart disease.[3]
,Internet Wrestling Database