Jumbo Tsuruta

Young lion Jumbo Tsuruta puts a headlock on an older lion, communicating to the wrestling world that he is a big cat on the rise! Jumbo is one of the great joys to watch on my bootleg All Japan Pro Wrestling video compilations, fighting hard against opponents like Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, the Road Warriors (with partner Genichiro Tenryu), and NWA title shots against Harley Race and Ric Flair. He was Giant Baba's protege, also training under the Funk brothers early in his career. Jumbo defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA world championship in Tokyo on February 23, 1984 and held the title for several months until losing it to Rick Martel in St. Paul on May 13th. However, that was hardly the pinnacle of Tsuruta's illustrious 26-year career. Jumbo also held All Japan's Triple Crown heavyweight championship three times and enjoyed numerous tag team title reigns with various partners. Tsuruta also won All Japan's World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament five times—two times each with Giant Baba and Genichiro Tenryu and once with Yoshiaki Yatsu. His career has enjoyed many more accolades than those! Do yourself a favor and scour the depths of YouTube for any Jumbo Tsuruta matches you can find.