Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working with Jersey All Pro Wrestling in the U.S. and New Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan. Best known for his work with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling in Japan and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the U.S., Tanaka has held multiple championships in a variety of Japanese and American promotions.
Early Years
Born on February 28, 1973 in Wakayama, Japan, Masato Tanaka had his first professional match at the age of 20 on July 23, 1993. Tanaka began working for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, or FMW, that year, a Japanese promotion known primarily for its hardcore, death match-style of wrestling. Tanaka ascended the ranks of FMW over the years, eventually winning both the Brass Knuckles and Independent Heavyweight Championships on September 28, 1997. Due to this rise in popularity, Tanaka drew the attention of Extreme Championship Wrestling, or ECW, where he made his debut on March 1, 1998.
Work with FMW and ECW
Following his debut with ECW, Tanaka continued to work for FMW until December, 1999. During this period, Tanaka won a variety of titles in both promotions, including the FMW Brass Knuckle Tag Team Championship reigns in April 1998 and May 1999, the ECW Tag Team Championship reigns in November 1998 and February 2000, a second stint as the FMW Independent Heavyweight Champion in August 1999 and a brief FMW/World Entertainment Wrestling Heavyweight Championship reign in November 1999. On December 17, 1999, Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome to become the first non-American citizen to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. As his popularity largely arose from his feud with Mike Awesome, Tanaka's work with ECW came to an end shortly after Awesome left the promotion for WCW in April 2000.
Later Career
Tanaka returned to Japan following his departure from ECW, working for FMW from 2000 to 2001. Though he failed to maintain his previous popularity, Tanaka won the FMW/World Entertainment Wrestling World Tag Team Championship on January 7, 2001. This would be his final championship with the promotion, which he left to pursue other American and Japanese independent opportunities. Between 2001 and 2007, Tanaka won multiple championships with the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Alliance, Premier Wrestling Federation, Pro Wrestling Zero1, HUSTLE and Pro Wrestling WORLD-1. In addition to his independent work, Tanaka made two appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment, rekindling his feud with Mike Awesome in the 2005 and 2006 One Night Stand pay-per-views.
Current Work and Accomplishments
In addition to his ongoing independent work, Tanaka is on the permanent roster of both New Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan and Jersey All Pro Wrestling in the U.S. Though he has not held a championship since 2007, Tanaka remains one of the most successful Japanese wrestlers both within Japan and internationally. His brief reign as the first non-American ECW World Heavyweight Champion makes him one of very few Japanese professional wrestlers to hold a major American championship. Due to his successes in FMW and ECW, Pro Wrestling Illustrated, or PWI, ranked him #21 in the 2000 edition of their annual list of the world's top singles wrestlers. Though he has not approached this career-best ranking since, he has remained in PWI's list of the world's top 500 singles wrestlers since 1997.
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