Real Name - Yoshiaki YatsuBirthdate - 7/19/56
6'1" 260 lbs. - Oura, Gunma Japan
Athletic Background - Wrestling (`76 Olympics)
Teacher(s) - [New Japan Dojo]
Professional Background - New Japan(`80-`84), WWF(`80), WCCW(`83), Japan Pro(`84-`87), All Japan(`87-`90), SWS(`90-`91), SPWF(`9?-), IWP(`94), Pride(`00-`01), WJ(`03-)
Aliases - Akiyoshi Tsuya, The Great Yatsu, Tola Yatsu
Groups - Ishingun
Peak Years - `85-`90
Finisher(s) -
- Jailhouse Lock (Double Chickenwing)
- Powerslam
Favorites -
- Piledriver
- Bulldog
- Back Suplex
- Enzugiri
- Neckbreaker Lariat
Ringwork Rating -
| Move Set | 8 |
| Science | 3 |
| Aerial | 2 |
| Power | 9 |
| Strikes | 5 |
Intangibles Rating -
| Entertainment | 5 |
| Selling | 6 |
| Bumping | 6 |
| Carrying | 6 |
| Heat | 6 |
| Legacy | 5 |
Place in History - One of Japan's many great amateurs, even a former Olympian, turned pro wrestler. Yoshiaki Yatsu was always a solid wrestler who could have great matches with top level wrestlers. He was regularly a tag wrestler, so his strength (powerhouse amateur-type offense) were played to and his weakness (inconsistency) was minimized. Yatsu competed in both New Japan and All Japan. In the latter company, he came in as part of Riki Choshu’s invading Ishingun stable. He and Choshu battled Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu in some great matches. Yatsu, like many Olympians, had missed his opportunity to win a medal with the 1980 boycott. He had placed first in the Japanese trials in 1986, but the Olympic committee soon dashed his dreams of competing in the 1988 Olympics when they declared that wrestling as a professional made him ineligible. He returned to All Japan and formed a new tag team with Tsuruta, known as “The Olympics,” and they were a dominant pairing. When Genichiro Tenryu left, Yatsu was one of many that joined him. The SWS failed, but Yatsu formed his own company Social Pro, which was one of the numerous independents in the Tokyo area in the mid-1990s. Yoshiaki Yatsu had seemingly retired quietly until he took a fight on an early Pride FC show. It was yet another challenge that he took and it went poorly. After a brutal loss and rematch to Gary Goodridge, he did not pursue MMA further. Yoshiaki Yatsu is one of the notable supporting characters in 1980s puroresu and about the equivalent of Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco or Magnum TA in the US. His Olympic background gave him legitimacy and he was certainly powerful and could throw his opponents around impressively, this gave Yatsu a place within the Japanese wrestling world and he is still remembered from that hot period.