History Wrestling / NobuhikoTakada

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Wrestling/AntonioInoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and made himself Japan's top {{Badass}}, giving legendary matches against Gary Albright and [[Wrestling/BigVanVader Super Vader]]. His star began to fade when he was obliged to take part in a hopeless MMA feud against Rickson Gracie, which killed UWF International, but it gave birth to PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan. After an ill-fated fighting career, he was appointed as PRIDE general manager and became its main executive figure along Nobuyuki Sakakibara. He also founded the over-the-top promotion Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where he portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Wrestling/AntonioInoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and made himself Japan's top {{Badass}}, giving legendary matches against Gary Albright and [[Wrestling/BigVanVader Super Vader]]. His star began to fade when he was obliged to take part in a hopeless MMA feud against Rickson Gracie, which killed UWF International, but it gave birth to PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan. After an ill-fated fighting career, he was appointed as PRIDE general manager and became its main executive figure along Nobuyuki Sakakibara. He also founded the over-the-top promotion Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where he portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

* FrikinLaserBeams: One of the Generalissimo's powers, and they had many effects, including healing injured wrestlers.

* AllOfYourBaseAreBelongToUs: After he just bought HUSTLE.

* TheChessmaster

* ShoutOut[=/=]{{Homage}}: His Generalissimo Takada persona was a blend of anime villains. He had [[TeitoMonogatari Yasunori Kato]]'s powers, [[RikiOh General Washikazi]]'s mannerisms and [[SpaceBattleshipYamato Dessler]]'s attire.

* [[TakeOverTheWorld Take Over the Pro Wrestling]]
* TheTysonZone: Due mostly to the deep ValuesDissonance between Japanese and international MMA, Takada is quite impopular to many Western fans, who consider him a phony with no ability who cheated his way through his career, and it has origined all sorts of outlandish anecdotes and stories which exaggerate his little in-ring skills to ridiculous degrees. Thereby it's said that he [[GirlyRun Girly Runned]] away from fistfights (which Keiji Muto could testify absolutely not), that he was tapped by BJJ white belts in schools (which sounds fairly improbable, even for him) and that Marco Ruas and Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba of all people [[FlatWhat used to harass him for being such a wuss]] (something utterly absurd), among others.

* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Akira Maeda's red. They even wore robes ColourCodedForYourConvenience while in NJPW.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: In 1991, Takada was stipulated to face boxing champion Trevor Berbick in a bout in which leg kicks were supposedly forbidden. However, shortly before the fight, Berbick tried to demand more money to the UWF International management, so they resolved to punish him in the ring and changed the rules without his knowledge. Takada shoot kicked his legs off and Berbick ended [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away from the ring]].
** Another version, however, says that Berbick simply didn't bother to learn the rules and thus didn't know that leg kicks were legal all along.

* BoringButPractical: Wasn't a great grappler when compared to his fellow shoot-style wrestlers, so he softened his opponents with simple but powerful kicks before submitting them. In MMA, he often resolved to buttscoot against superiors striker to avoid being hit.

* CurbStompBattle: Won his match against Bob Backlund with a [[OneHitKill single kick]].
** Most of his MMA fights were one-sided losses. To be fair, he had to face the best mixed martial artists at the time, counting from star grapplers like Rickson Gracie or Mark Kerr and even better strikers like Igor Vovchacyn and Mirko Cro Cop.

** During the second fight against Rickson, Takada tried his heart off while mounted by Gracie, managing to dismount him a couple of occasions and even try a leglock. Not even his comrade Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, who was a lightyears way better fighter, did that well against Rickson when the Brazilian took him down.

* IncompletelyTrained: He was one of the few shoot wrestler who had no real martial arts background, and this handicapped his shootfighting career.
* [[KickChick Kick Dude]]: To the extent that he bested Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto in hard kicking. Takada's kicks were defined as stronger than [[BatterUp baseball bat swings]].
* TheLancer: To Akira Maeda during their common career. Even after the UWF Newborn breakup and the foundation of UWF International, Maeda was always the most popular of the two.
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedKarma[=/=]RedemptionEqualsDeath: After his HeelFaceTurn, Generalissimo Takada didn't lived to tell it.]]

* OvershadowedByAwesome[=/=]SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: Despite his losses in mixed martial arts, Takada is credited by Billy Robinson as being a fairly good striker in his UWF times, and one of his most athletic trainees. However, he was a better striker than grappler at a time in which grappling was the most important MMA aspect, was weakened for ''many'' injuries, and lacked the adecuate mindset to face a fighting career, so his PRIDE tenure would be predictably difficult. The fact that his opponents were the most dangerous in the world buried him definitely.

* RedBaron: Actually many. "Saikyo" ("The Best in the World"), "Heisei no Kakuto O" ("The Fighting King from Heisei"), "Wagamama na Hikazoku" ("Egoist Kneecap") and "Seishun no Esperanza" ("The Hope of the Youth" - "Esperanza" being "Hope" in Spanish [[GratuitousSpanish for some reason]]).
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: In 1991, Takada was stipulated to face boxing champion Trevor Berbick in a shootfight in which leg kicks were supposedly forbidden. However, shortly before the fight, Berbick tried to demand more money to the UWF International management, so they resolved to punish him in the ring and changed the rules without his knowledge. Takada shoot kicked his legs off and Berbick ended [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away from the ring]].

* OvershadowedByAwesomeSorry[=/=]BillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: Despite his losses in mixed martial arts, Takada is credited by Billy Robinson as being a fairly good striker in his UWF times, and one of his most athletic trainees. However, he was a better striker than grappler at a time in which grappling was the most important MMA aspect, was weakened for ''many'' injuries, and lacked the adecuate mindset to face a fighting career, so his PRIDE tenure would be predictably difficult. The fact that his opponents were the most dangerous in the world buried him definitely.

** BadassTeacher: The founder of the Takeda Dojo, a mixed martial arts academy responsible for training fellow UWF International wrestler, Kazushi Sakuraba.

* BoringButPractical: Wasn't a great grappler when compared to his fellow shoot-style wrestlers, so he softened his opponents with simple but powerful kicks before submitting them.

** Most of his MMA fights were one-sided losses. To be fair, he had to face the best mixed martial artists at the time, counting from star grapplers like Rickson Gracie and even better strikers like Igor Vovchacyn and Mirko Cro Cop.

* HopelessWar: Takada had got his body broken in pro wrestling rings and had zero real fighting experience when he was forced to venture in MMA. Not that he didn't try it, however.
* IncompletelyTrained: He was probably the only shoot wrestler with no real martial arts background, and this handicapped his PRIDE career.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Despite his losses in mixed martial arts, Takada is credited by Billy Robinson as being a fairly good striker in his UWF times, and one of his most athletic trainees. The fact that his opponents were the most dangerous in the world buried him definitely.

* RedBaron: Actually many. "Saikyo" ("The Best in the World"), "Heisei no Kakuto O" ("The Fight King from Heisei"), "Wagamama na Hikazoku" ("Egoist Kneecap") and "Seishun no Esperanza" ("The Hope of the Youth" - "Esperanza" being "Hope" in Spanish, [[GratuitousSpanish for some reason]]).

* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: He was a better striker than grappler in a time in which grappling was the most important MMA aspect, was weakened for injuries, and lacked the adecuate mindset to face a fighting career, but he never backed up.

* TheTysonZone: Due mostly to the deep ValuesDissonance between Japanese and international MMA, Takada is quite impopular to many Western fans, who consider him a phony with no ability who cheated his way through his career. This has origined all sorts of outlandish anecdotes and stories which exaggerate his little in-ring skills to ridiculous degrees. Thereby it's said that he [[GirlyRun Girly Runned]] away from fistfights (which Keiji Muto could testify absolutely not), that he was tapped by BJJ white belts in schools (which doesn't explain why Royce Gracie himself couldn't tap him) and that Marco Ruas and Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba of all people [[FlatWhat used to harass him for being such a wuss]] (something utterly absurd), among others.

* BoringButPractical: Wasn't a great grappler when compared to his fellow shooters, so he softened his opponents with simple but powerful kicks before submitting them.

* {{Face}}: As shoot wrestlers didn't use to be gimmicky, Takada wasn't a picture perfect hero, but was massively popular thanks to his badassery and style.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: In 1991, Takada was stipuled to face boxing champion Trevor Berbick in a shootfight in which leg kicks were supposedly forbidden. However, shortly before the fight, Berbick tried to demand more money to the UWF International management, so they resolved to punish him in the ring and changed the rules without his knowledge. Takada shoot kicked his legs off and Berbick ended [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away from the ring]].

* TheTysonZone: Due mostly to the deep ValuesDissonance between Japanese and international MMA, Takada is quite impopular to many Western fans, who consider him a phony with no ability who cheated his way through his career. This has origined all sorts of outlandish anecdotes and stories which exaggerate his little in-ring skills to ridiculous degrees. Thereby it's said that he [[GirlyRun Girly Runned]] away from fistfights (which Keiji Muto could testify absolutely not), that he was tapped by BJJ white belts in schools (which doesn't explain why Royce Gracie himself couldn't tap him) and that Marco Ruas and Kazushi Sakuraba of all people [[FlatWhat used to harass him for being such a wuss]] (something utterly absurd), among others.

* AffablyEvil: Generalissimo Takada talked mostly in a soft-spoken way, when not ChewingTheScenary.

* TheTysonZone: Due mostly to the deep ValusDissonance between Japanese and international MMA, Takada is quite impopular to many Western fans, who consider him a phony with no ability who cheated his way through his career. This has origined all sorts of outlandish anecdotes and stories which exaggerate his little in-ring skills to ridiculous degrees. Thereby it's said that he [[GirlyRun Girly Runned]] away from fistfights (which Keiji Muto could testify absolutely not), that he was tapped by BJJ white belts in schools (which doesn't explain why Royce Gracie himself couldn't tap him) and that Marco Ruas and ''Kazushi Sakuraba'' of all people used to harass him for being such a wuss (something utterly absurd), among others.

* TheAce: Absolutely.
* AffablyEvil: As Generalissimo Takada.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Generalissimo Takada doesn't rule over HUSTLE for nothing.

** Most of his MMA fights were one-sided losses. To be fair, he had to face the best mixed martial artists at the time.

* HeroicBSOD: Had one after being submitted by Rickson Gracie in front of his people. He needed a year to got over it.
* HeroKiller: As The Esperanza.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Despite his losses in mixed martial arts, Takada is credited by Billy Robinson as being a fairly good worker in his UWF times, and one of his most athletic trainees. The fact that his opponents were the most dangerous in the world buried him definitely.

* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: In MMA. He was a better striker than grappler in a time in which grappling was the most important MMA aspect, was weakened for injuries, and lacked the adecuate mindset to face a fighting career.
* StartMyOwn: Co-founded UWF-i and founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}} and the MMA promotion, PRIDE. Despite the three promotions having a wild amount of success, all are currently defunct.

* PurpleIsPowerful: His trademak purple tights and boots.

* StartMyOwn: Co-founded UWF-i and founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}} and the MMA promotion, PRIDE. Despite all three promotions having a decent amount of success, all three are currently defunct.

** In a Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye promo, he parodied Muta as "The Great Nobu".

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Wrestling/AntonioInoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and became Japan's top {{Badass}}, but his star faded when was obliged to fight in an ill-fated MMA career with no victories. His participation, however, spawned PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan, being appointed PRIDE general manager. After his retire, he founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

** BadassTeacher: The founder of the Takeda Dojo, a mixed martial arts academy responsible for training fellow New Japan wrestler, Kazushi Sakuraba.

* RedBaron: Actually many. "Saikyo" ("The Best in the World"), "Heisei no Kakuto O" ("The Fight King from Heisei"), "Wagamama na Hikazoku" ("Egoist Kneecap") and "Seishun no Esperanza" ("The Hope of the Youth" - "Esperanza" being "Hope" in Spanish, [[GratuitousSpanish for some reason]])

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Antonio Inoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and became Japan's top {{Badass}}, but his star faded when was obliged to fight in an ill-fated MMA career with no victories. His participation, however, spawned PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan, being appointed PRIDE general manager. After his retire, he founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

* RedBaron: Actually many. "Saikyo" ("The Best in the World"), "Heisei no Kakuto O" ("The Fighting King from Heisei"), "Wagamama na Hikazoku" ("Egoist Kneecap") and "Seishun no Esperanza" ("The Hope of the Youth" - "Esperanza" being "Hope" in Spanish, [[GratuitousSpanish for some reason]])

* FreudianTrio: The [[TheKirk Ego]] to Akira Maeda's [[TheMcCoy Id]] and Wrestling/SatoruSayama's [[TheSpock Superego]].

* FinishingMove: Cross Armbar, Crossface Chickenwing and Kick to the Head.

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Antonio Inoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Akira Maeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and became Japan's top {{Badass}}, but his star faded when was obliged to fight in an ill-fated MMA career with no victories. His participation, however, spawned PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan, being appointed PRIDE general manager. After his retire, he founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Antonio Inoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Akira Maeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and became Japan's top {{Badass}}, but his star faded when was obliged to fight in an ill-fated MMA career with no victories. His participation, however, spawned PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan, being appointed PRIDE general manager. After his retire, he founded Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, where portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

* FakeUltimateHero: UWF International was claimed to be a shootfight company, so when Takada debuted in MMA, Japanese people expected him to being the best in the world like he had been in pro wrestling. Unfortunately, he couldn't live it up.

* RealSongThemeTune:
* RedBaron: Actually many. "Saikyo" ("The Best in the World"), "Heisei no Kakuto O" ("The Fighting King from Heisei"), "Wagamama na Hikazoku" ("Egoist Kneecap") and "Esperanza" ("Hope" in Spanish, [[GratuitousSpanish for some reason]])

* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: In MMA. He was a better striker than grappler in a time in which grappling was the most important MMA aspect, and lacked the adecuate mindset to face a fighting career.

* VitriolicBestBuds: In real life with Keiji Muto.

'''Nobuhiko Takada''' (b. 1962) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his role in the existence of PRIDE and the Japanese MMA boom. He debuted in 1981 for Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and competed as a promising rookie, acting as Antonio Inoki's assistant and replacing [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] in a high-level event in Canada. Eventually he left with Akira Maeda, Sayama and other wrestlers to form Universal Wrestling Federation, pioneering the realistic shoot-style wrestling. Upon his return to New Japan, he and Maeda figured as the young leaders of the shoot movement, gaining the IWGP Tag Team Championship with him and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and later IGWP Heavyweight Championship himself. They left again to form the second UWF, in which he was a main star until the promotion's demise. Then Takada founded the Union of Wrestling Forces International and became Japan's top {{Badass}}, but his star faded when was obliged to fight in an ill-fated MMA career with no victories. His participation, however, spawned PRIDE Fighting Championship and the rest of MMA ventures in Japan, being appointed PRIDE general manager. After his retire, he founded Wrestling/HUSTLE, where portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

* FreudianTrio: The [[TheKirk Ego]] to Akira Maeda's [[TheMcCoy Id]] Satoru Sayama's [[TheSpock Superego]].

* AscendedFanboy: Was a fan of Antonio Inoki before working for him.