sek69 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 So this got posted on YouTube yesterday, and it's the first time I ever got to see it after decades of hearing about it. From what I can tell, Kitao seems mad at something (some old sumo beef? Tenta coming in as a bigger star in his home turf?) and just decides to stop cooperating. Tenta can be clearly heard yelling at him variations of "what the fuck", but the funny part is no one is going to take him down if he doesn't want to be taken down so he just stuffs him. Kitao throws what appears to be a shoot kick at the ref to get DQ'd, and the video (that appears to be from a commercial release) stops before the part that made this really well known: Kitao got on the house mic and said pro wrestling is fake and that's the only way Tenta could beat him. He ended up getting fired from SWS for that one. I always wondered if there was anything more to it other than Kitao just being the surly bastard he tended to always be. It was just such a random thing for him to just start no selling Tenta Anyway, if you've never seen it here you go: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 1 hour ago, sek69 said: From what I can tell, Kitao seems mad at something (some old sumo beef? Tenta coming in as a bigger star in his home turf?) I always wondered if there was anything more to it other than Kitao just being the surly bastard he tended to always be. It was just such a random thing for him to just start no selling Tenta It comes from their sumo days. Kitao had reached the rank of Yokozuna (despite winning 0 basho, but that's another issue), so he was at the very top of the hierarchy. During his days of sumo, I don't think Tenta reached much better than lowly Maegashira (which is still quite a feat especially for a foreigner at that time), so needless to say not in the same ballpark at all. Kitao saw Tenta as below him because of that, and wasn't gonna do the job nor sell for him. That and Kitao being a complete prick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Just confirming what El-P said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 That crowd is definitely not impressed with ol' Fred's temper tantrum, as I recall. IIRC Kitao had already done one job to Tenta and was extra-pissed at having to do another one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World's Worst Man Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 In other words, Kitao was a jabronie mark that didn't know it was a work and worked himself into a shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 I love how Tenta won't back down and he's willing to get nuts and Kitao is kind of a pussy that won't commit because he isn't sure if he can take Tenta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Bix and Kris Zellner went a bit into this in a recent episode of Between the Sheets. Tenta and Kitao had a match two days earlier (at the Tokyo Dome), and maybe there was something happening already then already. From what I got, (foreign talent?) booker (or co-booker? I would assume that Tenryu was the main guy) Great Kabuki told Tenta that he should try to provoke Kitao a bit (probably under the assumption that a mad Kitao would lead to some stiffer work or similar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 4 hours ago, Mad Dog said: I love how Tenta won't back down and he's willing to get nuts and Kitao is kind of a pussy that won't commit because he isn't sure if he can take Tenta. Yes, seeing Tenta go from "wtf is wrong with you" to "are we really going to do this" to finally "alright motherfucker, it's on" was great, especially when Kitao seems to realize perhaps he made a mistake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 The real mistake Kitao did was signing with UWF-I and taking that match with Takada... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Tenta looked like he was on the verge of blowing up, so there's actually a pretty good chance Kitao would have come out on top in a real fight. But saying that there was no way Tenta could beat him if it was real when he was just as hesitant to make a move made him look like a chump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 26, 2020 Report Share Posted June 26, 2020 Tenta wasn't even 30 in this video which blows my mind. And I *love* how Kitao wants to go for the eye poke. Classic heeling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrainfollower2 Posted June 28, 2020 Report Share Posted June 28, 2020 Oddly enough the next to last episode of my podcast covered this. The new school fans I work with described it as a bad UFC prelim match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted June 30, 2020 Report Share Posted June 30, 2020 Bret talked about it in his book and said him and Hogan were prepared to come down and back Tenta up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted June 30, 2020 Report Share Posted June 30, 2020 16 hours ago, flyonthewall2983 said: Bret talked about it in his book and said him and Hogan were prepared to come down and back Tenta up “Yeah, brother! Let’s get down there and help Quake! You go first, Hitman. I’ll...uh...be right behind you.” - Hogan probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 30, 2020 Report Share Posted June 30, 2020 Hogan, that shooter... In Japan, no less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPS Posted July 1, 2020 Report Share Posted July 1, 2020 8 hours ago, El-P said: Hogan, that shooter... In Japan, no less. He front facelocked Verne Gagne brother Seriously though in Bret's book he gives a first hand account of Hogan and Dr D. getting into an inpromptu shoot wrestling match in a hotel and Hogan managed to hook Dr D and make him give up which sounds like BS but when you take into account how much Bret praises Dr D in his book and buries Hogan, I don;t know why he'd add it if it were untrue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmo Posted July 1, 2020 Report Share Posted July 1, 2020 The argument in Hogan's favor is that he was trained by Hiro Matsuda who was notorious shooter so he might have picked up a thing or two and also he is a Legitimately huge guy so he can rely on his size to a point. Would I prefer to have Haku or Brock in a fight sure but you could do far worse than Hogan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted July 5, 2020 Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 Wonder what Vince made of it, if it was even brought to his attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.