Kotetsu Yamamoto
Kotetsu Yamamoto was born in Minami-ku, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on October 30th, 1941 and is the Japanese Professional Wrestler And Referee. At the age of 68, Kotetsu Yamamoto biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 68 years old, Kotetsu Yamamoto has this physical status:
After graduating from high school, Yamamoto trained as a bodybuilder at a local YMCA while working for the then blossoming steel industry in Japan. In 1962, he was discovered by Rikidozan and trained as his last ever student. After Rikidozan died, he became the "tsukibito" or trainee of Antonio Inoki.
During January 1967, he along with Kantaro Hoshino were sent to the United States to gain experience. While there, the two became known as The Yamaha Brothers. They appeared at NWA Mid-America where Yamamoto won his first championship, when he and Hoshino defeated Bad Boy Hines and Billy Hines on August 3, 1967 to win the NWA Mid-America Southern Tag Team Championship but only held the titles for a week as they lost them to Bad Boy Hines and Len Rossi on August 10. He returned to Japan the same year. On May 2, 1969, he defeated Gorilla Monsoon gaining one of the largest upset victories of the time in less than 5 minutes. When Antonio Inoki was expelled from the JWA, Yamamoto went along with Inoki and helped start New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Along with Antonio Inoki and Karl Gotch, Yamamoto is said to be responsible for the fundamentals of the Japanese "strong style".
Yamamoto also participated in the first three New Japan World Leagues from 1974 to 1976. He placed 5th in his block with 3.5 points in 1975, 8th place with 8 points in 1975, and last place with no points in 1976. He also took part in New Japan's Pre-Japanese Championship tournament but again finished last with 0 points
By 1979, Yamamoto reunited with Hoshino at International Wrestling Enterprise where they defeated Animal Hamaguchi and Great Kusatu to win the IWA World Tag Team Championship on January 21, 1979. They held the titles for a month before losing them to Hamaguchi and Mighty Inoue on February 23.