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Sorakichi Matsuda

Era - 1880s - Catch Wrestling

Perhaps the first Japanese born man to compete in Professional Wrestling, Sorakichi Matsuda was a pioneer of the sport. Born in 1862 in the Fukui prefecture of Japan, Matsuda started his grappling career in Sumo, before leaving for the United States in 1884.

He quickly took to the professional wrestling scene, befriending Richard Kyle Fox, the head of the National Police Gazette, which was one of the leading sources on pro wrestling and boxing at the time. His connections set him up with matches against some of the top wrestlers of the time, including Edwin Bibby, Tom Cannon, Karl Abs, William Muldoon and Ernst Roeber.

However, it would be a series with the original Strangler, Evan Lewis, that would be Matsuda's most infamous. The two had a hardfought meeting in the first contest, which Lewis won with his trademark hold, but there was bad blood. Matsuda was noted for his own rough tactics, especially his crushing headbutts. This led Lewis to sucker Matsuda into a vicious leglock in their rematch, nearly destroying his knee in the process.

While Matsuda was not quite on the same level of the champions of his era, having to learn their preferred Catch and Greco styles on the fly, and unable to bring Western style Pro Wrestling back to his own homeland, he still stands out as the true grandfather of Japanese Pro Wrestling, decades before Rikidozan would bring the sport to true prominence in the Land of the Rising Sun.

As with all my edits, full AI-Moveset-Parameters are set.

Attire:
1. Grey trunks and black tights
2. White trunks and black tights
3. Dark grey tights
4. Sumo pants