10 Most Unprofessional Wrestlers Ever

8. Koji Kitao

Ultimate Warrior
WWE/SWS

Super World of Sports should have known what they were in for when debuting Koji Kitao in November 1990.

Trouble followed him wherever he went because, with his ornery disposition, he invited trouble. He was disgraced as a sumo wrestler when he purportedly struck a young member of his stable. This prompted an altercation with stable boss Tatsunami, whose wife he allegedly hit in the melee. Despite dropping his 'shikona' (a sumo's ring name) in a bid to disassociate himself from the controversy, he adopted the 'Bad Man' nickname in New Japan Pro Wrestling during an ill-fated run scuppered when he racially abused Riki Choshu.

As part of the WWF's business relationship with SWS, Kitao appeared at WrestleMania VII, at which he and Genichiro Tenryu defeated the Wish Demolition crew of Smash and Crush.

It was against another WWF star, Earthquake, when Kitao disgraced a second industry.

Booked to do the job against a lower-ranked fellow sumo, Kitao and his shoot credentials could not handle it. Putting his ego above the business, an irate Kitao stood there and stalled, treating 'Quake like a nobody whose stuff didn't hurt. They'd just cooperated, barely, two days prior - but in the second match, Kitao tried to poke John Tenta's eyes out. This infuriated Tenta so much that phlegm flew out of his mouth in an expletive-laden outburst.

After the match was thrown out, Kitao grabbed a mic and said "You're just a monkey in this fake wrestling circus".

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!