Akebono Taro encyclopedia topics

Early career

Rowan won a basketball scholarship and was planning to study hotel management, but he had always been interested in sumo from watching television broadcasts. A family friend introduced him to Azumazeki Oyakata, the former Takamiyama, who also originally hailed from Hawaii. After some persuasion, Azumazeki agreed to let the young Rowan join his Azumazeki stable. He flew to Japan in early 1988. Adopting the shikona of Akebono ("new dawn"), he made his professional debut in March 1988, at the same time as Takanohana and Wakanohana, both of whom also eventually rose to the status of Yokozuna. This entry cohort was one of the most successful ever, producing a great Ozeki, Kaio, in addition to the three Yokozuna. Akebono rose rapidly through the ranks, equaling the record for the most consecutive kachikoshi (majority of wins in a sumo championship) from debut, reaching sekiwake before suffering his first makekoshi losing record. He was promoted to Juryo in March 1990 and to Makuuchi in September of the same year. In March 1991 he defeated Ozeki Konishiki in the first ever match between two non-Japanese wrestlers in the top division.

Promotion

In 1992, after a year of 8-7 or 7-8 records near the top of the makuuchi division, Akebono suddenly came alive with a 13-2 record in January of that year, narrowly losing the top division championship to Takanohana. A second 13-2 record two tournaments later, in May, saw him win the top division championship for the first time, and with it promotion to Ozeki. After an injury during the summer, he went on to win consecutive championships in November 1992 and January 1993 to win promotion to Yokozuna. At the time of his promotion, the rank of yokozuna had been vacant for 8 months (an exceedingly rare occurrence) and his promotion, despite the fact that he was the first foreign yokozuna, was welcomed by many. He had met the stipulation of winning two consecutive tournaments that had been mentioned by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council when turning down Konishiki the previous year, and was also seen as having conducted himself with the dignity and humility necessary for such an exalted rank. One commentator remarked, "He makes me forget he is a foreigner because of his earnest attitude towards sumo."

Yokozuna era

Akebono was a long standing and strong Yokozuna, lasting nearly eight years in the rank and winning the top division championship on a further eight occasions. His career highlights include the rare achievement of winning the top division championship in three consecutive tournaments. In July 1993 he beat Takanohana and Wakanohana in consecutive matches to win the honbasho when all three ended up tied at the end of the 15 day tournament, and in May 1997 he defeated Takanohana twice on the final day, once in their regular match and once in a playoff, to win his first title in over two years. He was, however, quite susceptible to injury because of his height and weight. He suffered his first serious knee injury in May 1994 when, after winning his first ten matches, he lost a bout to Takatoriki and fell awkwardly. He flew to Los Angeles and underwent career-saving surgery. From November 1998 to March 1999 he missed three successive tournaments due to a herniated disc in his lower back and faced calls for his retirement. However, after receiving the personal backing of the Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, he scored a respectable 11-4 record in his comeback tournament in May 1999. In 2000 he enjoyed his first completely injury-free year since 1993 and won two tournaments, finishing as runner-up in three others. He won 76 bouts out of a possible 90, the best record of any wrestler that year.

Akebono was one of the tallest sumo wrestlers ever, at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) tall, and also one of the heaviest with a fighting weight around 235 kg (517 lb). Despite having long legs, considered a disadvantage in sumo as it tends to make one top heavy and susceptible to throws, he covered for this by training exceptionally hard, and using his long reach to thrust his opponents out of the dohyo (ring). In his prime, he had incredible thrusting strength and on many occasions would blast lesser wrestlers out of the ring in one or two strokes. In later years he also used his reach to more often grab his opponent's mawashi, or belt, and then use his weight and power to force the opponent from the ring.

The competition between Akebono and Takanohana was said to be one of the great defining rivalries of postwar sumo. The two finished their careers with a 20-20 tie in bouts against one another.

At the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, a professional sumo wrestler was chosen to represent each of the competing countries and lead them into the stadium. After Takanohana fell ill, Akebono was given the honor of representing Japan in the opening ceremony.

Sumo top division record

Post-retirement career

After winning his eleventh top division title in November 2000, he suffered another injury and, after sitting out the tournament in January 2001, he decided to retire rather than face a daunting struggle back to fighting fitness. After his retirement, he became a member (or elder) of the Japan Sumo Association as a coach, or oyakata, and worked with his former mentor in the Azumazeki stable. He helped train the Mongolian wrestler Asashoryu who also became a yokozuna, and Akebono instructed him on how to perform the dohyo-iri, or yokozuna ring-entering ceremony.

While an oyakata, Akebono also appeared in TV commercials and opened a restaurant called ZUNA.

Akebono left the Sumo Association in November 2003 to join K-1. The decision was influenced by financial problems due to the failure of his restaurant, among other financial difficulties. His koenkai, or supporters network, had dissolved after his marriage in 1998, depriving him of a valuable source of income. In addition, he earned far less as an oyakata than he had as a yokozuna. K-1 offered him a chance to clear his debts by fighting for them.

He has managed only one win in 12 bouts in K-1 and mixed martial arts career. Tabloids and detractors have used the nickname Makebono (make meaning "lose" in Japanese).

He has also wrestled professionally in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling and made an appearance at World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) WrestleMania 21 in a sumo match against the Big Show.

After training with Satoru Sayama (the original Tiger Mask), he returned to the New Japan ring in the prestigious G1 Tournament which ran from August 5 to August 12 2007. He defeated Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan but failed to progress to the semifinal stage. He also joined the HUSTLE promotion as the character "Monster Bono", supposedly the offspring of The Great Muta and Yinling.

Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts record

December 31, 2003	Loss	Bob Sapp	K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite		KO	Round 1, 2:55
March 27, 2004	Loss	Musashi	K-1 World GP 2004 in Saitama	Decision 0-3	3 Rounds
July 17, 2004	Loss	Zhang Qing Jun	K-1 WORLD GP 2004 in Seoul	Decision 0-3	3 Rounds + Extra Round
August 7, 2004	Loss	Rick Roufus	K-1 WORLD GP 2004 in Las Vegas	Decision 0-3	3 Rounds
September 25, 2004	Loss	Remy Bonjasky	K-1 WORLD GP 2004 in Tokyo	KO (High Kick)	Round 3, 0:33
December 31, 2004	Loss	Royce Gracie	K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite		Submission (Wristlock)	Round 1, 2:13 (MMA)
March 19, 2005	Win	Nobuaki Kakuda	K-1 WORLD GP 2005 in SEOUL	Decision 3-0	3 Rounds
March 19, 2005	Loss	Choi Hong-man	K-1 WORLD GP 2005 in SEOUL	TKO	Round 1, 0:42
July 29, 2005	Loss	Choi Hong-man	K-1 WORLD GP 2005 in Hawaii	TKO	Round 1, 2:52
December 31, 2005	Loss	Bobby Ologun	K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite		Decision 0-3	3 Rounds (MMA)
July 30, 2006	Loss	Choi Hong-man	K-1 WORLD GP 2006 in Sapporo	KO	Round 2, 0:57
March 3, 2006	Loss	Don Frye	HERO'S 2006	Submission (Front choke sleeper hold）	Round 2, 3:50 (MMA)
December 31, 2006	Loss	Giant Silva	K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite		Submission (Armlock)	Round 1, 1:02 (MMA)

Personal life

He became a Japanese citizen in 1996, giving up his American nationality and changing his legal name from Chad Rowan to Akebono Tarō, as required by Japanese law. At the end of 1996 he was engaged to Yu Aihara, a television tarento, but broke it off the following year. In February 1998, Akebono announced his engagement to Christiane Reiko Kalina, a teacher who is of Japanese and American descent. They married in September 1998 and have two sons and a daughter.