 TARU in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1964-08-23)August 23, 1964 (age 61) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Fujiwara no Sumitomo[1] The Great Ruta Taru TarUltimo Dragon Yoshikazu Taru |
| Billed height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 111 kg (245 lb)[2] |
| Trained by | Koji Kitao |
| Debut | 1996[2] |
Yoshikazu Taru[3] (多留 嘉一,Taru Yoshikazu; born August 23, 1964) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler, better known simply asTaru (stylised in all capital letters). He is signed to Makai, while also working forPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) andAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the leader of theVoodoo Murders. He also previously worked inDiamond Ring,Wrestle Association R (WAR) and Toryumon Japan, later known asDragon Gate (DG).
Taru trained in professional wrestling from akarate background as part ofKoji Kitao's Buko Dojo and started wrestling in 1996 for Wrestle Yume Factory,Wrestle Association R (WAR) and other independent promotions.
He debuted in WAR in December 1996 under his real name as part of Kitao's entourage. Like his partners, Taru wrestled in a modifiedkarategi and utilized kicks and grappling holds in ashoot-stylegimmick. Although he sometimes teamed up withMasaaki Mochizuki and Takashi Okamura, Taru wrestled mostly low level matches, having an on/off rivalry with Osamu Tachihikari and other beginners. In November 1998, as part of a working agreement between WAR andÚltimo Dragón'sToryumon, Taru traveled to Mexico, where he took part in team matches along with theheel stable Crazy MAX (Shiima Nobunaga,Judo Suwa andSumo Fujii). Around this time, Taru changed his gimmick away from his shoot-style roots, starting to use boots, leather bodysuits and more villainous traits. He never returned to WAR after his Mexican tenure, instead moving full-time to Toryumon.
Taru's debut in the Japanese branch of Toryumon happened on February 3, 1998, where he participated along with Mochizuki, Okamura and Keiichi Kono in a special match between Buko Dojo members. About the end of the match, Crazy MAX came to the ring and attacked all the wrestlers except by Taru, whom they inducted officially into their stable. Through this way, Taru adopted his definitive role in Toryumon and became Crazy MAX's suaveyakuza-likemanager and mouthpiece. He would always be clad in tailored dark suits and wield a black-paintedbaseball bat which he would use to attack their enemies with.[4] For many years they were a powerful faction inToryumon Japan andDragon Gate but the group dissolved on November 2, 2004, and Taru left the promotion.
After leaving Toryumon, Taru soon showed up inAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he formed a tag team withJohnny Stamboli. After addingChuck Palumbo, he created the stableVoodoo Murders and announced his plans to take over AJPW. This prompted them to clash with another villainous faction,Taka Michinoku and his groupRoughly Obsess and Destroy (RO&D), causing them to feud for the next year.[5] Taru recruited his former Toryumon enemiesShuji Kondo andYasshi, as well as the superheavyweightGiant Bernard, and changed his yakuza outlook for a more bizarre, sinistercult leader image. Under this new character, he now used illegal tactics and weapons likegarrotes andlead pipes, and often opted to grant himself disqualifications in the process of beating down opponents with the help of his stablemates.[6]
The rivalry with RO&D ended in September 2006, when Taru and Michinoku agreed to a trios match where the loser should disband his stable. However, unbeknown to his opponent, Taru had secretly bought the loyalty of Michinoku's partnersD'lo Brown andBull Buchanan, who betrayed RO&D in midst of the bout to give Voodoo Murders the final win. Taru and his group proceeded to beat down Taka untilKeiji Mutoh andKaz Hayashi made the save. As a consequence, Voodoo Murders left as AJPW's greatest heel faction, and Mutoh and his alliance ofbabyface wrestlers became their main opponents.
Taru wrestled one match againstThe Great Muta as The Great Ruta in November 2005. Taru challengedSatoshi Kojima for the Triple Crown on January 8, 2006. However, Kojima successfully defended his title. in July 2007, however, Kojima shocked the All-Japan roster when he turned on them and joined the Voodoo Murders, where he was quickly made the group's co-leader alongside Taru. Soon after joining, Kojima and Taru won theWorld Tag Team Championship. Along withBig Daddy Voodoo, he also won theAll Asia Tag Team Championship.
On June 1, 2011, Taru was suspended indefinitely by AJPW after an alleged attack on stablemateNobukazu Hirai leaving Hirai hospitalised with an acute hematoma. All Japan later also suspended Taru's stablematesMasayuki Kono,Mazada andMinoru for not attempting to stop Taru's assault on Hirai and immediately disbanded the Voodoo Murders, while the promotion's presidentKeiji Mutoh took the blame for the incident and resigned from his position on June 7.[7] On June 30, TARU's suspension was upheld, while his former stablemates were allowed to return to action.[8] Taru took a near two-year hiatus from professional wrestling after the incident.
On January 22, 2013, announced that he would be returning to professional wrestling for theDiamond Ring promotion on February 11.[9] Taru's return match, where he andKazunari Murakami facedKento Miyahara andTaishi Takizawa, ended in a no contest, following run-ins from "brother" Yasshi and Kengo Nishimura. Afterwards, Taru, Murakami, Yasshi and Nishimura, reforming the Voodoo Murders, were defeated in an eight-man tag team match by Miyahara, Takizawa, Satoshi Kajiwara andMitsuhiro Kitamiya. After the match, Miyahara and Takizawa turned on their partners and joined the new Voodoo Murders, with Yasshi positioned as the leader.[10] The new Voodoo Murders would decrease their appearances in Diamond Ring in favor ofPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1), where they moved to after the former promotion's demise.
Voodoo Murders would debut in Zero1 attacking Kamikaze and feuding with him. However, Kamikaze would then turn on his teammates and join Taru. Voodoo Murders then allied with Daemon Ueda's Daemon-gun, forming a super stable unofficially named VD-gun.
On January 3, 2015, AJPW announced that Taru would be returning to the promotion on January 31 to take part in Giant Baba's memorial event. This would mark his first match for the promotion in four years.[11] In the match, Taru andJinsei Shinzaki defeatedTaiyō Kea and Yuto Aijima.[12]
,Internet Wrestling Database