Seiji Yamakawa (山川 征二, Yamakawa Seiji; born 2 April 1970) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by…Seiji Yamakawa (山川 征二, Yamakawa Seiji; born 2 April 1970) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ryuji Yamakawa (山川 竜司, Yamakawa Ryūji). He is best known for his time with Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he spent the majority of his career between 1995 and 2012 as a deathmatch wrestler. He was one of the top wrestlers and an over main eventer of the company, winning the Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship two times and the Tag Team Championship seven times.
Kotogatake Koichi (born Yoshikazu Takeuchi; 24 September 1952 – 24 February 2024) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from…Kotogatake Koichi (born Yoshikazu Takeuchi; 24 September 1952 – 24 February 2024) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Teshikaga, Hokkaidō. He made his professional debut in November 1967 and reached the top division in July 1976. His highest rank was maegashira 1. Upon retirement from active competition he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association. He left the Sumo Association in March 1995. Koichi died from heart failure on 24 February 2024, at the age of 71.
Taihō Kōki (Japanese: 大鵬 幸喜; born Kōki Naya (納谷 幸喜, Naya Kōki), Ukrainian: Іва́н Маркіянович Бори́шко, Ivan…Taihō Kōki (Japanese: 大鵬 幸喜; born Kōki Naya (納谷 幸喜, Naya Kōki), Ukrainian: Іва́н Маркіянович Бори́шко, Ivan Markiyanovych Boryshko; May 29, 1940 – January 19, 2013) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He became the 48th yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time. Taihō won 32 tournament championships between 1960 and 1971, a record that was unequaled until 2014. His dominance was such that he won six tournaments in a row on two occasions, and he won 45 consecutive matches between 1968 and 1969, which at the time was the best winning streak since Futabayama in the 1930s. He is the only wrestler to win at least one championship every year of his top division career. He was a popular grand champion, especially amongst women and children. After retiring from active competition, he became a sumo coach, although health problems meant he had limited success. Taihō was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2004, and became the first sumo wrestler to be honored as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 2009. When he died in January 2013, he was widely cited as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period.
