History Wrestling / Akebono

'''Akebono Taro''' (born 8 May 1969 as '''Chadwick Rowan'''-died 11 April 2024) is an American-born UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{professional wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master and fellow Hawaii native Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reaching up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, first appearing for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as part of a special sumo match against Wrestling/TheBigShow in Wrestlemania 21. He then joined Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, becoming a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

'''Akebono Taro''' (born 8 May 1969 as '''Chadwick Rowan''') is an American-born UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{professional wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master and fellow Hawaii native Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reaching up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, first appearing for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as part of a special sumo match against Wrestling/TheBigShow in Wrestlemania 21. He then joined Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, becoming a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Wrestled without shoes or boots at his first pro wrestling apparitions due to his sumo heritage.

'''Akebono Taro''' (born 8 May 1969 as '''Chadwick Rowan''') is an American-born UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{professional wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reaching up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, first appearing for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as part of a special sumo match against Wrestling/TheBigShow in Wrestlemania 21. He then joined Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, becoming a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebono_Taro The Other Wiki]].

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: His usual color theme is orange, evoking the daybreak's light. He also added black.

* TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KeijiMuto in AJPW, Riki Choshu in NJPW and Wrestling/SatoruSayama in K-1 and MMA.

* BashBrothers: With Wrestling/KeijiMuto (as Muto Room), Ryota Hama (as SMOP), Taiyo Kea (both out and in Partisan Forces), Wrestling/ShinjiroOtani (as KAZAN), Takeshi Rikio and Yutaka Yoshie.

* BashBrothers: With Wrestling/KeijiMuto (as Muto Room), Ryota Hama (as SMOP), Taiyo Kea (both out and in Partisan Forces), Shinjiro Otani (as KAZAN), Takeshi Rikio and Yutaka Yoshie.

* BigDamnHeroes: He appeared in a non-televised WWE event in Japan, saving Wrestling/BigShow from an attack by Wrestling/CarlitoColon and Matt Morgan. He also was the usual rescue person for babyface stables in AJPW.

* TheBigGuy: For all the factions he is part of, which comes with being the biggest professional wrestler in Japan.

* CanonImmigrant: Came to Dragon Gate as a freelancer mostly wrestling in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Wrestled without shoes or boots at his first pro wrestling apparitions, probably due to his sumo heritage.

* FinishingMove: Yokozuna Impact (a jumping piledriver), Yokozuna Press (a big splash, sometimes from the second or top rope), Yokozuna Drop/Japanese Drop (Samoan drop, also sometimes from the second ropes) and Muso (a waist-lift slam).

* TheGiant: An interesting subversion. While he is sometimes booked to be the conventional wrestling giant (albeit mostly as a babyface), he usually plays more a wrestler who simply happens to be a giant.

* {{Kevlard}}: His size also seems to make him extremely sturdy. He required ''five'' Bakatare Sliding Kicks by Naruki Doi to be pinned, an eventuality notable even for Doi's well known WorfBarrage.

* OddFriendship: With Wrestling/SatoruSayama, who he met in a party. Sayama taught him proper kickboxing in an attempt to improve his K-1 career.

* TheStoic: A requisite to gain ''hinkaku'' or sumo dignity, which is necessary to reach yokozuna level, is that of being focused and unflappable. Only when Akebono got into puroresu we got a look on his most emotional side, and even so he remains as a pretty serious and focused wrestler.

* UnskilledButStrong: Did his professional wrestling without any professional wrestling training: he simply picked his smaller opponent up in a bearhug, ran towards the corner and smashed him against the turnbuckle with all his weight. It was enough to knock out the poor guy.

'''Akebono Taro''' (born 8 May 1969 as '''Chadwick Rowan''') is an American-born UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{professional wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reachin up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, first appearing for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as part of a special sumo match against Wrestling/TheBigShow in Wrestlemania 21. He then joined Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, becoming a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

* BadassGrandpa: Was a member of the Dragon Gate faction Zetsurins, which was composed by over 40 years old wrestlers.

* BrokenPedestal: He supposedly never got along too well again with Azumazeki, his ''oyakata'' or sumo stablemaster, after Akebono felt he looked snidely at him and didn't encourage him. He also thought of Azumazeki as a SvengaliMentor, as he would be a bit too eager to capitalize on the yokozuna fame of his disciple. At the end, Akebono usually cites his friend Konishiki and his partners as his closest figures in his career in sumo.

* TimeToUnlockMorePotential: Unveiled a dangerous finishing move in 2015, the Yokozuna Final Impact, as he needed more power to climb up to main event level.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebono_Taro The Other Wiki]].

* {{Acrofatic}}: Mostly not (though he used to do some nimble baseball slides and diving splashes), but he played with the trope in the old WRESTLE-1 when he threatened to do a suicide dive over Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa and Yoshinori Ogawa, managing to scare them away.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: He is essentially a Japanese version of Wrestling/TheBigShow, but you can also compare him to Wrestling/MarkHenry - they both were great legit athletes before their jump to wrestling, both were involved with sexually bizarre storylines and humiliating losing streaks, and both managed to rise to main eventers and champions for a time.

* BashBrothers: With Wrestling/KeijiMuto (as Muto Room), Ryota Hama (as SMOP), Taiyo Kea (in Partisan Forces), Shinjiro Otani (as KAZAN), Takeshi Rikio and Yutaka Yoshie.

* BoringButPractical: His sumo style was neither technical nor complicated: he capitalized on his his large reach and strength to grab his opponents and simply push them out.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Came to Wrestling/BigShow's aid in Japan after besting him in United States in a sumo match.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Had his very first match in pro wrestling for WWE, crushing Eddie Vegas to show Wrestling/BigShow he could wrestle as well.

** His first finishing moves were the Magnitude 64, a koshinage or sumo-style hip toss, and the Banzai Drop.

* MightyGlacier: He is naturally not very fast, and usually follows the strategy of being immense and unmovable, but he is pretty damn good at it.

* StoutStrength: He is undoubtedly more heavy than muscled, but he is still the strongest guy around the Japanese rings.
* TimeToUnlockMorePotential: Unveiled a dangerous finishing move in 2015, the Yokozuna Final Impact, as he needed more power to climb to main event.

* WorthyOpponent: He and Wrestling/BrockLesnar treated each other as such, at least until Lesnar used his title belt to hit 'bono in the head and pin him.

* BigFun: In real life, he is known as a incredibly polite, friendly guy.

* FinishingMove: Currently, Yokozuna Impact (a jumping piledriver), Yokozuna Press (a big splash, sometimes from the second or top rope), Yokozuna Drop (Samoan drop, also sometimes from the second ropes) and Muso (a waist-lift slam).

* TheGiant: An interesting subversion. While he is sometimes booked to be the conventional wrestling giant (albeit mostly as a babyface), he is mostly booked as a wrestler who happens to be a giant.

* MightyGlacier: He is naturally not very fast, and usually follows the strategy of being immense and unmovable.

* FinishingMove: Currently, Yokozuna Impact (a jumping piledriver), Yokozuna Press (a big splash, sometimes from the second or top rope), Yokozuna Drop (Samoan drop, also sometimes from the second ropes) and Muso (a waist-lift slam). The last one is a tribute to his friend Takeshi Rikio.
** His first finishing move was the Magnitude 64, a koshinage or sumo-style hip toss.
** He also used the Banzai Drop as a tribute to Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}.

* GiantMook: One of [[Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada Generalissimo Takada]]'s long list in HUSTLE.

* BigDamnHeroes: He appeared in a non-televised WWE event in Japan, saving Wrestling/BigShow from an attack by Wrestling/{{Carlito}} and Wrestling/MattMorgan. He also was the usual rescue person for babyface stables in AJPW.

** He also used the Banzai Drop as a tribute to Wrestling/Yokozuna.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: He is essentially a Japanese version of Wrestling/TheBigShow, but you can also compare him to Wrestling/Mark Henry - they both were great legit athletes before their jump to wrestling, both were involved with sexually bizarre storylines and humiliating losing streaks, and both managed to rise to main eventers and champions for a time.

* ArchEnemy: They tend to be the only guys who are able to compete with him in terms of size and strength. Giant Bernard, Wrestling/GiantSilva and Wrestling/BobSapp are the main ones.

* BashBrothers: With Keiji Muto (as Muto Room), Ryota Hama (as SMOP), Taiyo Kea (in Partisan Forces), Shinjiro Otani (as KAZAN), Takeshi Rikio and Yutaka Yoshie.

* BigDamnHeroes: He appeared in a non-televised WWE event in Japan, saving Big Show from an attack by Carlito and Matt Morgan. He also was the usual rescue person for babyface stables in AJPW.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Came to Big Show's aid in Japan after besting him in United States in a sumo match.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Had his very first match in pro wrestling for WWE, crushing Eddie Vegas to show Big Show he could wrestle as well.

** He also used the Banzai Drop as a tribute to Yokozuna.

->''"Japan loves to put sumo wrestlers in non-sumo situations, and it has never gone well. Sumo skills translate to fighting about as well as they do to trampoline safety. Coming into his fifth fight, Akebono had never won a kickboxing match or even demonstrated that he'd seen a kickboxing match, so it should be safe to put him against the kickboxing champion of the world, right?"''

'''Akebono Taro''' (b. as '''Chad Rowan''' in 1957) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reachin up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, first appearing for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as part of a special sumo match against Wrestling/TheBigShow in Wrestlemania 21. He then joined Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, becoming a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

!!! "Daybreaking Tropes":

* [[IKnowKarate I Know Sumo]]: A former ''yokozuna'' or grand champion.

'''Akebono Taro''' (b. as '''Chad Rowan''' in 1957) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese sumo wrestler, {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter and kickboxer. Born in Hawaii, Rowan joined the sport of sumo after college and was put under renowned master Takamiyama from Azumazeki stable, adopting the name of Akebono ("daybreak"). He rose rapidly through the ranks, breaking records in wins, and ended reachin up the title of grand champion or ''yokozuna'' in 1993, being the 64th in the line. Akebono aspired to a tranquil retirement after it, but personal troubles and economic mismanagement caused him to go bankruptcy. It forced him to work a career in K-1 kickboxing and some MMA ventures, which only brought him a losing record and several heavily televised beatdowns. However, he would have infinitely more success in pro wrestling, joining Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling under Wrestling/KeijiMutoh to become a huge draw and one of its superheavyeight mainstays. Finally away from competitive sports, Akebono wrestled for all the major promotions in Japan, among them Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingZERO1, Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE and Wrestling/DragonGate, winning a string of championships. In 2015, after a long tenure in AJPW which got him touted as the next Giant Baba, he went to form his own promotion, Odo.

* ArchEnemy: In AJPW and NJPW, Giant Bernard, the only guy who was able to compete with him in terms of size and strength. In HUSTLE, Wrestling/GiantSilva, for the same reasons.
* AssKicksYou: Uses hip attacks, and for a time adopted the Banzai Drop as a finishing move.

* BigDamnHeroes: He appeared in a non-televised Wrestling/{{WWE}} event in Japan, saving Big Show from an attack by Carlito and Matt Morgan. He also was the usual rescue person for babyface stables in AJPW.

* TheGiant