Genichiro Tenryu

Quick Facts

Full Name	Genichiro Tenryu
Occupation	Rikishi
Date Of Birth	Feb 2, 1950(1950-02-02)
Age	74
Country	Japan
Horoscope	Aquarius

Genichiro Tenryu Biography

Genichiro Tenryu is one of the most popular and richest Rikishi who was born on February 2, 1950 in Japan. Genichiro Shimada (Dao Tian Yuan Yi Lang , Shimada Gen’ichiro born on February 2nd 1950) popularly referred to in the form of Genichiro Tenryu (Tian Long Yuan Yi Lang , Tenryu Gen’ichiro) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and promoter of professional wrestling. When he was 13 years old he began his journey into sumo wrestling and remained in the sport for 13 years. After which he moved to professional Western-style wrestling. “Tenryu” was his shikona. He was part of two stints with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and spent the majority of his time in addition to advertising Super World of Sports (SWS), Wrestle Association R (WAR) and the Tenryu Project. In the year of his retirement, professional wrestler writer and journalist Dave Meltzer wrote that “one could make a strong case [that Tenryu was] between the fourth and sixth biggest native star” in the time of Japanese professional wrestling.

In 1987 after the departure of Japan Pro talent, Kakuryu split up following the loss of the tag team title in the hands of The Road Warriors, which resulted in Tenryu creating his own team, “Revolution”, with former International Pro Wrestling wrestlers Ashura Hara and Hiromichi Fuyuki as well with All Japan rookies Toshiaki Kawada and Yoshinari Ogawa. Tatsumi Kitahara joined the team following their debut on the scene in. Tenryu and Hara had a dispute along with Tsuruta along with his new team Yatsu about their Pacific Wrestling Federation World tag team titles and later their successor which was that of the World Tag Team Championship (a combination of the PWF World and NWA International tag belts). Hara was exiled from the organization in late 1988 and Tenryu was replaced by Stan Hansen, with whom held the World Tag Team Championship as well.

In April 1990, Tenryu left All Japan to form Super World of Sports (SWS). After its collapse in June 1992, Tenryu, aided by Masatomo Takei (brother of his wife Makiyo) formed Wrestling and Romance (WAR). WAR became his base from where he would take on top wrestlers from other promotions, such as Atsushi Onita, Nobuhiko Takada, The Great Muta, Shinya Hashimoto and Masahiro Chono, all of whom he defeated. He also traded victories with Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki, thus becoming the only Japanese wrestler to defeat both Inoki and Baba by pinfall.

Tenryu’s most high-profile North American match was for the World Wrestling Federation in 1991 at WrestleMania VII, where he teamed with Koji Kitao to defeat Demolition. He also appeared in both the 1993 Royal Rumble and 1994 Royal Rumble; in the latter he made it to the final five but was eliminated by eventual co-winners Lex Luger and Bret Hart. An angle had he and The Great Kabuki hired as mercenaries by Yokozuna’s manager, Mr. Fuji, to attack Luger and prevent him from winning.

1984 witnessed Tenryu taking home in 1984 the NWA United National title, and is now as part of the Triple Crown, as well as the NWA International tag team title together with Tsuruta. The combination was known as “Kakuryu” (He = kaku = Tsuru (the “tsuru” in Tsuruta) + Long = Ryu In Tenryu). The team fought between Riki Choshu, and Yoshiaki Yatsu as the two leaders of the team in the “invasion” angle by the Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, and an All Japan satellite consisting members of the previous New Japan Pro-Wrestling talent.

Genichiro Tenryu Net Worth

Genichiro Tenryu is one of the richest Rikishi from Japan. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Genichiro Tenryu 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Awarded the coveted spot through Giant Baba, the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) owner, Tenryu was sent to Amarillo, Texas to be instructed under Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, and debuted in Texas in 1976, competing against Ted DiBiase. Following his return to Japan and a brief stint in the undercard until 1982, when he began to see a slight boost in the Champion Carnival tournament. In 1983, after an uninvolved stint with Jim Crockett Promotions, his campaign began to take off as Jumbo Tsuruta was able to win an NWA International heavyweight title, currently the main championship of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

A sumo wrestler Tenryu was classified as a sekitori in 27 tournaments. 16 of them being in the top makuuchi division. His highest ranking was maegashira 1. Following the demise of his stablemaster at the Nishonoseki stable, he wished to join Daikirin’s former stablemates’ newly founded Oshiogawa stable which was just breaking away from Nishonoseki however Nishonoseki’s Japan Sumo Association insisted he remain at Nishonoseki the stablemaster who was replaced, Kongo, he did not like. He won one more event in the end, and even though his professional career looked promising, he chose to retire from sumo at the age of 26 on September 26, 1976.

1989 was Tenryu’s banner year. Tsuruta became the first Triple Crown champion on April 18 of that year, and just two days later Tenryu became his first challenger. The Tsuruta-Tenryu series that ensued set the standard for all Triple Crown matches and feuds to follow. When Tenryu won the belts on June 5, the match was so spectacular it was deemed Match of the Year by major Japanese publications. The same year saw him finally pin his mentor Baba, albeit in a tag match – but still a major success for a Japanese wrestler. Only Mitsuharu Misawa would duplicate this feat. In addition, Tenryu was chosen to be one- third of the NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Champions with the Road Warriors after the Road Warriors turned heel against their former co-holder of the title, Dusty Rhodes. However, the relationship between All Japan Pro Wrestling and the NWA was significantly strained when Tenryu and the Road Warriors were scheduled to compete in a match Baba had advertised to his Japanese audience, but American booking decisions prevented the match from taking place. This created an uncomfortable situation where Giant Baba had to apologize to his Japanese audience for a match he had promoted not taking place, and was a key factor in All Japan Pro Wrestling’s ultimate withdrawal from the NWA. This also resulted in the six man championship being vacated and abandoned until 1991, when it was temporarily resurrected as a World Championship Wrestling championship.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Genichiro Tenryu height 6 ft 2 in Genichiro weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Genichiro Tenryu Dating?

According to our records, Genichiro Tenryu is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Genichiro Tenryu’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Genichiro Tenryu. You may help us to build the dating records for Genichiro Tenryu!

In December 2009, following the folding of Hustle, Tenryu began running his own Tenryu Project promotion. He still makes forays into other promotions, still active even past age 60.

Facts & Trivia

Genichiro Ranked on the list of most popular Rikishi. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Japan. Genichiro Tenryu celebrates birthday on February 2 of every year.

Tenryu appears as a gang member in the 2017 video game Yakuza Kiwami 2, alongside Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami. Tenryu is also a regular guest on the annual 24-hour comedy special, Gaki no Tsukai – No Laughing Challenge, often appearing as a character who occasionally (and intentionally) speaks unintelligibly to cause the contestants to laugh.