History Wrestling / NobuhikoTakada

* TheAce: As a pro wrestler, he had athleticism, charisma, credibility and on top of all he was knockout handsome. That he climbed to the top of some major promotion was a matter of time.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: To Shiro Koshinaka during the UWF-NJPW invasion, as Takada had been Wrestling/AntonioInoki's assistant while Koshinaka had been Giant Baba's. In his late role as UWF ace, Nobuhiko would became the UWF-i equivalent to RINGS's Wrestling/AkiraMaeda and Pancrase's Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki.

* CatchPhrase: "Otoko da!" ("You are a man!") and "Otoko no nakano otoko tachi, dete koiya" ("Men among men, stand up!).

* TheChessmaster: In HUSTLE, and arguably as GM of PRIDE.

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for booking himself against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Wrestling/GaryAlbright, Wrestling/DanSevern, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, Dennis and Duane Koslowski, etc. Coincidentally, in MMA he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. It's sure to state that, either in works or shoots, Takada has shared rings with some of the best amateur wrestlers of his time.

* BackyardWrestling: Nobuhiko was a huge fan of wrestling as a highschooler, and he used to work out and train moves from wrestling magazines. Also, he used to come earlier to the events and watch the wrestlers train (in Japan, pro wrestling sparring sessions in the arenas are usually public, as the rehearsals of the matches are done much earlier in their private dojos) to learn their moves.

* BrilliantButLazy: Takada's possible talent for MMA is ever a difficult topic, but it's clear that, in line with his lack of combat sports background, he never bothered to cultivate his shooting skills anyways. Interviews from insiders show that Takada rarely sparred for real, unlike younger people like Sakuraba or Kanehara, and if he had some familiarity with shooting at some point (which is actually very likely - you just didn't thrive on the shoot-style circuit being a complete fake), it was forgotten or wasn't enough for the time he had to train for his fight with Rickson Gracie.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With independence from his grappling skills, Takada had certifiedly some of the strongest kicks seen in Japan at the time. He once got his kicks checked in a Japanese TV science show and it gave crazy lectures, supposedly stronger than [[BatterUp baseball bat swings]]. His opponents in pro wrestling got giant bruises after one or two of his kicks, and even in MMA you can see him kicking Mark Kerr only once and making his thigh turn purple and red. One wonders WhatCouldHaveBeen if he pursued a career in kickboxing.

* CombatPragmatist: His wrestling matwork, while scarce and simpler than other shooters's, was based around smart moves, looking for the opening and taking what he could see rather than attacking and trusting in improbable counters just to keep the match moving along. The cross armbar was the hold he handled the best, so it was logically the only submission move he actively pursued when it was not safe.

* CoolTeacher: Unlike most of the trainers from the U-system, Takada has always been regarded as a gentle, reasonable teacher, someone completely unrelated to the sadistic Sayama or the brutal Suzuki. He has been praised both by teammates and patrons of the Takada Dojo.

* DanceBattler: Sometimes did the Creator/MuhammadAli dance circling before setting up his kicks.

-->'''Takada:''' Ogawa, Hashimoto, you bunch of hikikomori, what do these looks mean? Do you all come from a cosplay party?

** Even in MMA, he wasn't devoid of significantly good points in his performances. He not only survived the onslaught of a prime Igor Vovchanchyn for a round, he dismounted Rickson Gracie thrice and even tried a heel hook which almost locked - a shocking feat because, on his own admission, Rickson was specifically focusing on keeping mount, as he wanted the end of the round to be near before dropping for the armbar to avoid risks.

* SelfParody[=/=]ShoutOut[=/=]{{Homage}}: His Generalissimo Takada persona was a parody of his own career, out to rid the world of professional wrestling for shootfighting's sake (in fact, Nobuhiko is part of the reason why MMA are treated with almost equal respect to pro wrestling in Japan). The Generalissimo was also a blend of anime villains, as he had [[Literature/TeitoMonogatari Yasunori Kato]]'s powers, [[Manga/RikiOh General Washikazi]]'s mannerisms and [[SpaceBattleshipYamato Dessler]]'s attire.

* SunglassesAtNight: The Generalissimo tended towards this

** In promo for the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000 (in which Takada was supposed to face [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]], but he ended teaming up with him instead), he parodied Muta as "The Great Nobu", spitting purple mist.
* [[TakeOverTheWorld Take Over the Pro Wrestling]]: And replace it with MMA. HUSTLE being the last defense against Takada's ambition.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With independence from his grappling skills, Takada had certifiedly some of the strongest kicks seen in Japan at the time. He once got his kicks checked in a Japanese TV science show and it gave crazy lectures, supposedly stronger than [[BatterUp baseball bat swings]]. His opponents in pro wrestling got giant bruises after one or two of his kicks, and even in MMA you can see him kicking Mark Kerr only once and making his thigh turn purple and red. Wonder how a career in kickboxing would have gone if he tried it.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With independence from his grappling skills, Takada had certifiedly some of the strongest kicks seen in Japan at the time. He once got his kicks checked in a Japanese TV science show and it gave crazy lectures, supposedly stronger than [[BatterUp baseball bat swings]]. His opponents in pro wrestling got giant bruises after one or two of his kicks, and even in MMA you can see him kicking Mark Kerr only once and making his thigh turn purple and red.

-->--'''Keith Vargo''', Black Belt magazine writer, April 2003

-->--'''Nobuhiko Takada'''

* RealSongThemeTune: "Training Montage" from ''RockyIV''.

'''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 Wrestling/GaryAlbright 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/FightingOperaHUSTLE, where he portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009. Currently, Takada works as a matchmaker and spokesperson for Rizin Fighting Federation.

* IncompletelyTrained: He was one of the few shoot wrestlers who had no real martial arts background (literally nothing of it, not even judo or amaresu, which are the typical school sport choices for the men who become pro wrestlers in Japan), and this handicapped his shootfighting career.

* TheAce: As a pro wrestler, he had athleticism, charisma, credibility and on top of all he was knockout handsome. That he climbed to the top of some major promoton was a matter of time.

* TheApprentice: Was the ''tsukibito'' or assitant for Wrestling/AntonioInoki.

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for booking himself against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Wrestling/GaryAlbright, Wrestling/DanSevern, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, Dennis and Duane Kozlowski, etc. Coincidentally, in MMA he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. It's sure to state that, either in works or shoots, Takada has shared rings with some of the best amateur wrestling had to offer.

** In pro wrestling, he used simple but powerful kicks to soften his opponent before submitting them or directly knock them out. He also trusted a lot on the cross armbar.

* BrilliantButLazy: Takada's possible talent for MMA is ever a difficult topic, but it's clear that, aside his significative lack of combat sports background, he never seemed to cultivate his shooting skills anyways. Interviews from insiders show that Takada rarely sparred for real, unlike younger people like Sakuraba or Kanehara, and if he had some practice at shooting at some point (which is actually very likely - you just didn't thrive on the shoot-style circuit being a complete fake), it was forgotten or wasn't enough for the time he had to train for his fight with Rickson Gracie.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: [[PurpleIsPowerful Purple]], reflected in his trademark tights and boots.

* CoolTeacher: Unlike most of the trainers from the U-system, Takada has always been regarded as a gentle, reasonable teacher, someone completely unrelated to the sadistic Sayama or the brutal Suzuki. He has been praised both by his teammates and the patrons of the Takada Dojo.

* DanceBattler: Sometimes did the Creator/MuhammadAli dancing circling before setting up his kicks.

* HeroicSacrifice: It's sure to say that, had not Takada sacrified his career to build PRIDE with his own popularity, the MMA landscape would be vastly different and possibly much smaller today.

* HighHopesZeroTalent: The synopsis of his MMA career. Takada had his body broken by the pro wrestling rings and had zero real fighting experience when was forced to venture in top level cagefighting. Do the math.

->''"Men among men, stand up!"''

'''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/FightingOperaHUSTLE, where he portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009. Currently, Takada works as a matchmaker and spokesperson for Rizin Fighting Federation.

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for booking himself against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Gary Albright, Wrestling/DanSevern, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, Dennis and Duane Kozlowski, etc. Coincidentally, in MMA he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. It's sure to state that, either in works or shoots, Takada has shared rings with some of the best amateur wrestling had to offer.

* IHaveTheHighGround: Generalissimo Takada often talked from his balcony, which was lampshaded by Naoya Ogawa himself in HUSTLE House Vol.1.

* TheAce: As a pro wrestler, he had athleticism, charisma, credibility and on top of all he was knockout handsome. That he climbed to the top of a major promoton was a matter of time.

* ArchEnemy: In pro wrestling, Shiro Koshinaka, [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]], Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto and Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa. In real life, if you are reading an interview with Enson Inoue in which he doesn't diss out Takada at all, it is probably apocryphal.

* BadassTeacher: The founder of the Takada Dojo, a mixed martial arts academy responsible for training fellow UWF International wrestler, Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba. He also trained Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura, Daijiro Matsui and other wrestlers.

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for booking himself against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Gary Albright, Dan Severn, Mark Fleming, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, etc. Coincidentally, in MMA he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. It's sure to state that, either in works or shoots, Takada has shared rings with some of the best amateur wrestling had to offer.

* TheNicknamer: He was fond of insulting nicknames during trashtalks, since his UWF days, in which he called Kazuo Yamazaki "Yama-chan." His tenure in HUSTLE only increased it, as Naoya "Chicken" Ogawa and Shinya "Pork" Hashimoto can testify.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: The Esperanza just looked like Nobuhiko Takada in a really weird silver and purple suit. If anything, however, it only made him even creepier when compared to visually richer characters like The Great Muta.

-->--'''Keith Vargo''', lack Belt magazine writer, April 2003

->''"Takada was still a hero [...]. There was no shame in losing to a man largely regarded as the greatest jujutsu fighter alive. What's more, Takada [[{{Determinator}} continued fighting]] and took on the top heavyweights that are conspicuously absent from Gracie's fight record, like Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr and Igor Vovchanchyn. Sure, Japanese fans were disappointed when he lost, but they still loved and respected him because he took up the challenge instead of protecting his reputation. He was showing the courage and daring they expected from a hero."''
-->--'''Black Belt magazine''', April 2003

* TheAce: As a pro wrestler, he had athleticism, charisma, credibility and over all he was knockout handsome. That he climbed to the top of a major promoton was a matter of time.

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for booking himself against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Gary Albright, Dan Severn, Mark Fleming, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, etc. In MMA, he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman.

-->"Japanese pro wrestlers! Ladies and gentlemen! I am Takada, the generalissimo of the Takada Monster Army. In a near future, I promise, we will crush puroresu by the roots. Ogawa, I can see you there down, and you were no less insignificant than an insect. You should have silenced your impudent mouth in HUSTLE-1. You said you didn't care about how many opponents you would have to face, and your desire has been fulfilled. Come out, my Monster Army!"\\

* BigBad: In HUSTLE.
* BoringButPractical: In pro wrestling, he used simple but powerful kicks to soften his opponent before submitting them or directly knock them out.

* CatchPhrase: "Otoko da!" ("You are a man!") and "Otoko no nakano otoko tachi, dete koiya1" ("Men among men, stand up!).
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With independence from his shooting skills, Takada had certifiedly one of the strongest kickings seen in Japan at the time. He once got his kicks checked in a Japanese TV science show and it gave crazy lectures, supposedly stronger than [[BatterUp baseball bat swings]]. His opponents in pro wrestling got giant bruises after one or two of his kicks, and even in MMA you can see him kicking Mark Kerr only once and making his thigh turn purple and red.

** After negotiations with Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa to fight Takada fell off, PRIDE management thought of making Takada publicitly challenge Ogawa while doing commentary for the second fight between Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva, hoping it would lead Naoya to accept. However, being GenreSavvy enough to see it would be useless again again the stubborn Ogawa, Takada took over the decision, and instead challenging the judoka, he proclaimed Ogawa was nothing and that he wanted to fight a real opponent in form of Mirko Filipovic. This secured another big bout for PRIDE and damaged Ogawa's reputation.

* {{Determinator}}: One of the biggest in MMA. Despite facing hopelessly superior opponents, and especially despite being increasingly bashed for his losses by the crowd which had always loved him, Takada did not give up fighting, knowing that PRIDE and the blossoming mixed martial arts needed him to stay afloat.
** A more specific example. During the second fight against Rickson, Takada tried his heart off while mounted by Gracie, managing to dismount the Brazilian master thrice and even sharply trying a heel hook. Not even his comrade Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, who was light years way better grappler, did that well against Rickson in the ground.

* FakeUltimateHero: UWF International was claimed to be a shootfighting 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.

* FrickinLaserBeams: One of the Generalissimo's powers, and they had many effects, including healing injured wrestlers or boosting up their strenght.

* HighHopesZeroTalent: The synopsis of his MMA career. Takada had his body broken by the pro wrestling rings and had zero real fighting experience when was forced to venture in top level MMA.

* IncompletelyTrained: He was one of the few shoot wrestlers who had no real martial arts background, and this handicapped his shootfighting career. In fact, he rarely sparred for real as most of his partners (especially Sakuraba and Kanehara) did.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: During his famous match against the no less famous {{Jerkass}} Wrestling/KojiKitao, Takada broke the kayfabe and knocked him out with a kick to the head. This increased enormously his popularity and helped Kitao to reconcile with the crowd, as he bowed before them and shook Takada's hand despite the betrayal.

* LetsGetDangerous: His MMA career may have been a disaster, but he once had a mixed match against boxing champion Trevor Brebick (one of the few guys to beat UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli), who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere literally ran away from the ring]] without throwing a single punch after Takada kept kicking his legs and one kick to his head.

* TheNicknamer: He was fond of insulting nicknames in HUSTLE with pretty much everybody.

* ReligiousBruiser: Was sometimes seen praying in backstage vignettes, and it was rumored than he placed pieces of paper with Buddhist prayers written on them on his trunks.

* 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 [[GratuitousSpanish Esperanza]]" ("The Hope of the Youth").

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: The Esperanza basically looked like Nobuhiko Takada in a really weird silver and purple suit. If anything, however, it only made him even creepier when compared to more visually rotund characters like The Great Muta.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: The Esperanza, a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot wrestling android with supernatural powers]].

* AuthorAppeal: Had a thing for being booked against legit amateur wrestlers; in UWFI he faced Gary Albright, Dan Severn, Mark Fleming, Vladimir Berkovich, Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, etc. In MMA, he faced Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman.

-->'''Takada:''' Ogawa, Hashimoto, you bunch of hikikomori, what are those looks? Do you come from a cosplay party?
-->'''Kawada:''' You talk a lot, Takada, but you don't look precisely better than us. Isn't that generalissimo wannabe attire a cosplay too? \\

-->'''Ogawa:''' Takada, you don't stop looking people down from high places, don't you?\\

* BarBrawl: An anecdote tells how Takada and boxing champion Hidekazu Akai got drunk in a bar and brawled with each other to extenuation. The two woke up next morning covered in bruises and [[WhatIDidLastNigh with no knowledge they did the previous night]], and when they were told about the quarrel, they both found it incredibly funny. There is also a similar story with [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]], whose enmity with Takada was known in the entire NJPW Dojo, and another telling has an immensely wasted Takada getting knocked out by some famous Kyokushin karateka.

* TheAlcoholic: Downplayed, but nonetheless a self-confessed hard drinker.

* BarBrawl: An anecdote says how Takada and boxing champion Hidekazu Akai got drunk and brawled with each other to extenuation. Amusingly enough, there is an identical story with [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]].

* FingerGun: Generalissimo Takada's hand sign to use his powers, especially his deadly ''bitan'' laser.

* TheAce: Absolutely, at least in pro wrestling.
* AffablyEvil: Generalissimo Takada talked mostly in a soft-spoken way, when not ChewingTheScenery.

'''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/FightingOperaHUSTLE, where he portraited the promotion's villain Generalissimo Takada until 2009.

* IHaveTheHighGround: His signature move as a NJPW rookie was a missile dropkick. Funnily enough, he can be considered the UrExample, as the technique eventually became the signature move of all the puroresu rookies, and it's typically the only aerial move they are allowed to do as {{Jobber}}s.
* HighHopesZeroTalent: The synopsis of his MMA career. Takada had his body broken by the pro wrestling rings and had zero real fighting experience when was forced to venture in top level MMA.

* 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 originated a Tyson Zone of outlandish anecdotes which exaggerate his little in-ring skills to ridiculous degrees. Thereby it's said that he [[GirlyRun Girly Runned]] away from fistfights (which [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]] could testify absolutely not), that he was tapped by BJJ white belts in schools (which does not explain how Royce Gracie could not tap him) and that Marco Ruas and Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba of all people badmouthed him for being such a wuss (which is untrue, although Ruas did show himself pessimist about Takada in a interview), among others.

* {{Badass}}

* CatchPhrase: "Otoko da!" ("You are a man!").

* GameBreakingInjury: In kayfabe, he broke Wrestling/BigVanVader's arm with a cross armbar. In reality, he almost broke his legs. ([[DontExplainTheJoke Joke explained]]: Vader himself said he could barely walk the week after their match due to Takada's brutal stiff kicks.)

* VersusTitle: [=UWFi=] Pro Wrestling World Championship: Takada vs. Vader