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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hiroshi Ueda 20 June 1940 |
| Died | 21 December 2011(2011-12-21) (aged 71)[1] |
| Cause of death | Respiratory failure |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Umanosuke Ueda Mr. Ito Great Ito Tengu |
| Billed height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Billed weight | 118 kg (260 lb) |
| Debut | 1961 |
| Retired | 1998 |
Hiroshi Ueda (上田 裕司,Ueda Hiroshi; 20 June 1940 – 21 December 2011) was aJapaneseprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameUmanosuke Ueda (上田 馬之助,Ueda Umanosuke).[2] During his wrestling career, Ueda primarily stood out for wrestling with bleached blonde hair, a practice which was rare in his day but later became more common. His ring name was inspired by samurai warrior andShinsengumi member Umanosuke Ueda.
After debuting in the oldJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance in 1961, he started the circuit inLos Angeles in 1966. In 1974, he joinedJapan'sInternational Pro Wrestling where he held theIWA World Heavyweight Championship from June 11, 1976, till July 28, 1976. Ueda was considered one of the first "traitor heels" in Japan, as he broke societal mores by dyeing his hair and using a brawling style, and teaming with a hatedgaikokujinheel,Tiger Jeet Singh. The two men were the first team to win tag team titles in bothNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (the NWA North American Tag Team Championship) andAll Japan Pro Wrestling (the NWA International Tag Team Championship).
Mr. Gannosuke,Tatsutoshi Goto andToru Yano later based their "dye job brawler" ring personas on Ueda's style. More recently,Takaaki Watanabe has based his "Evil" persona on Ueda.[citation needed]
He later went on to appear as ahenchman in the Japanesegame showTakeshi's Castle up until the end of the show in the late '80s and also appeared in the movieBurst City.
In 1996, he was in a car accident, which left him paralyzed and eventually forced him to retire two years later.
Ueda died on December 21, 2011, fromrespiratory failure; he was 71 years old.
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