10 Shocking Japanese Wrestling Incidents That You Need To Know About

9. Tiger Mask Breaks Kayfabe

The Original Tiger Mask is one of the greatest high-flyers of all-time. Real name Satoru Sayama, Tiger Mask had a series of breathtaking matches with The Dynamite Kid in the 1980s that set the template for the cruiserweights of the 90s. They even had a match (a total show-stealer) at Madison Square Garden on a WWF card on August 30th, 1982. Sayama left New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1983 while he was at the top of his game, upset with the politics and the behind-the-scenes madness that came with the territory. His next venture would be training prospective fighters for the UWF promotion. After growing disillusioned with the pseudo-soot company, he left there after only a year. Sayama's exit was controversial (many despised his apparently selfish leadership of the company) but that was nothing compared to what he did next. Sayama penned a book in 1985 titled 'Kayfabe' in which he detailed the inner workings of pro-wrestling. He was tired of fake wrestling and wanted to expose the business for the 'sham' that it was. After an unsuccessful shooting career, Sayama returned to wrestling in the mid-90s, a lot slower and about a hundred pounds heavier than he was during his early days.