Nickname: "Muscle Beast," "Rampaging Choujin"
Birthplace: Toyonaka, Osaka
Birthdate: January 23, 1981
Theme Music: "Jigoku Rock" - Jigoku Shoujo OST
Weight: 114kg (253lbs)
Height: 177cm (5'10")
Debut: August 14, 2002 (vs. Akira Takayoshi)
Physical Appearance: TAKU is a physical beast, with his body yielding the results of years of hard work and dedication. TAKU's hair is mostly shaven, with a stylized tuft of hair left atop his head; typically with an orange streak through it.
Ring Costume: TAKU wears slick black trunks, which sports an orange, red, and white design. In addition to black bicep ties and white wrist tape, TAKU wears black knee pads and matching boots; fashioned with tassels.
Title History:
* F-MAX Tag Team Titles (2)
- (w/ Mastodon Fukuda) Yoshihiro Shimoda & Jin Hiroto (12/14/2007) / Akira Takayoshi & Naoyuki Watanabe (5/31/2009)
- (w/ Go Taniguchi) RYUJI & Manabe Tsuji (4/11/2010) / Vacated (11/02/2012)
* HEC Heavyweight Title
- Kenji Tanamura (03/15/2013) /
Tournament History:
* 5th ANNIVERSARY CUP (FURY - 10/21/2007): Hiroaki Nakata, TAKU & Mastodon Fukuda beat Etsuya Kawachi, Kazumitsu Takemura & Hidaka Kamon (15:28) when TAKU used the Kinniku Buster on Kamon.
* Sakura Tag Festival (FURY - 2010): TAKU & Go Taniguchi beat RYUJI & Manabe Tsuji (22:17) when Taniguchi used the Tama Tama Drop on RYUJI.
* Emperor's Cup (KJPW - 2013): TAKU beat Kenji Tanamura (20:32) with the Choujin Lance.
Trademark Moves:
* Kinniku Buster (Muscle Buster; early-era finisher)
* Jackhammer
* Choujin Bomber (Main finishing move; a concussive sliding lariat to a seated opponent. Choujin translates to "Super Human.")
* Choujin Lance (New-era limit breaker; A top-rope diving lariat to a seated opponent. Effectively, a leveled up version of the Choujin Bomber.)
Biography: Coming from a strong background in rugby, Taku Okamoto joined Kazuma Fujita's school in 2002, and made his in-ring debut later in the year. Feeling self-conscious and lacking confidence, Taku feigned injury during a match against friend Go Taniguchi (competing as "Hisai Tomagotchi" at the time) to give himself time to develop a persona. Harking back to his love of manga and Superheroes, he based his wrestling character loosely on the Kinnikuman manga and wore a similar mask and outfit to the protagonist of the second Kinnikuman series, Kinniku Mantarou. Trying his best to avoid an IP lawsuit from the creators, he named himself Kinniku Kamen.
The loving tribute was immensely popular among fans, as the man who used to have no charisma and microphone ability was suddenly one of wrestling's hottest casual attractions, and brought him to Burning Spirit Pro-Wrestling, where he had a widely popular feud with comedy wrestler Atsushi Ono. The two had a mock-faction war, parodying the commonly seen "group-vs-group" concept see in pro-wrestling. While largely a light-hearted rivalry, the two would find themselves involved in an electrified barbed wire match; with both men being KO'd. Taku returned to FURY as Kinniku Kamen in 2004 -- taking his parody to an even bigger level by becoming "Kinniku Sentai Kinranger" to battle FURY's resident Monster Comedian, Hisai Tomagotchi.
Through out his time under the mask, Taku would occasionally have break out performances; showing that he was capable of being so much more than a simple comedy wrestler. As he begun to fight more and more seriously, he became embroiled in a bitter feud with KEIJI in 2005, which ultimately resulted in Taku being forced to drop his mask after losing an elimination match. Choosing not to look back however, Taku exposed his face for the first time in years, and re-introduced himself with his real name, and announced his plans to fight as a Heavyweight for the first time in his career.
Wrestling simply as "Taku Okamoto" only lasted so long however. In 2007 following heel turn and the public betrayal of Akira Takayoshi, Taku formed the widely popular "UPRISER'Z" heel faction, before romanizing his name to all capital letters and becoming "TAKU." As TAKU, he formed the "Choujin Powers" with Naoki "Mastodon" Fukuda. Together, the two reigned as FURY's Tag Champions for almost two years. After losing the titles, TAKU and Fukuda would have a bitter split, with Fukuda ejected from UPRISER'Z. However, TAKU himself would meet the same fate months late, prompting a reconciliation. After joining Naoki's "REAL-ONE" faction, TAKU became a tag champion for a second time, this time with best friend Go Taniguchi.
TAKU established himself as a top level singles star in the first months of 2013. By the Spring, TAKU emerged as the winner of KJPW's inaugural EMPEROR'S CUP tournament to seize the HEC Heavyweight Title.
TAKU established himself as a top level singles star in the first months of 2013. By the Spring, TAKU emerged as the winner of KJPW's inaugural EMPEROR'S CUP tournament to seize the HEC Heavyweight Title.
