10 Masked Wrestling Gimmicks That Changed Ownership

Tiger Mask's anime arch enemy, Black Tiger was brought to life by Marc Rocco in 1982 to oppose his fictional foe.

Becoming the first WWF Junior-heavyweight champion, Black Tiger's feud with Tiger Mask came to an end in 1983 with Sayama left NJPW. Rocco, however would continue to perform as Black Tiger until his retirement in 1991, to be replaced by fellow gaijin Eddie Guerrero in 1993.

Opposing Tiger Mask III, Guerrero balanced Black Tiger II duties while competing in ECW and later WCW. Guerrero's full time commitments to WCW however, would spell the end of his portrayal as Black Tiger in 1996.

Fellow luchador Sliver King was cast as Black Tiger III in 2003, situating the character in CMLL for the first time, before losing the mask to L.A Park in 2006.

Rocky Romero then continued the Black Tiger tradition as Black Tiger IV sporadically from 2005 to 2009 before losing his mask to Tiger Mask IV, who would subsequently make quick work of Black Tiger V, Tatsuhito Takaiwa later in 2009, unmasking him after a 6-month run.

An official Black Tiger wouldn't return until 2012, when Nosawa assumed the role, only to be fired after being arrested for smuggling cannabis a few weeks later.