Gran Hamada Explained

Gran Hamada
Birth Name:Hiroaki Hamada
Names:El Gran Hamada
Gran Hamada
Hiroaki Hamada
Little Hamada
Makai Masked Hurricane
Mini Love Machine
Height:1.68m (05.51feet)[1]
Weight:92kg (203lb)
Birth Date:November 27, 1950
Birth Place:Maebashi, Gunma, Japan
Retired:2018

, better known by his ring name, is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro Wrestling and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre. He has also had stints with the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States. His daughters Xóchitl Hamada and Ayako Hamada are professional wrestlers.

Professional wrestling career

He was one of the first dojo trainees at New Japan Pro-Wrestling, being known as Little Hamada in the beginning. He was sent to Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association because of his lack of size and he found a lot of success there - so much so that Mexican fans and promoters began calling him Gran Hamada (Great Hamada).[2] He also competed in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, which added El (The) to the front of his name: El Gran Hamada.

In 1984, he became a member of the initial roster of the original Japanese UWF, but found that his flamboyantly acrobatic style clashed with the martial arts-inspired style and focus on realism of the UWF and soon left for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He eventually broke off from AJPW to form his own promotion in 1990: Universal Lucha Libre.[2] However, wrestlers began to leave the group in 1993 and in 1995 Hamada closed the promotion to join Michinoku Pro, which had been formed by former Universal Lucha Libre wrestlers. On April 13, 1997, Hamada teamed with Great Sasuke and Masato Yakushiji (who substituted for Gran Naniwa, who was injured) to defeat Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo and Mens Teioh (AKA "Terry Boy") at ECW Barely Legal.

In 2001, he began competing for All Japan again, this time as a free agent. He briefly was part of the "Love Machines" stable under a mask as "Mini Love Machine" with "Super Love Machine" (Junji Hirata of New Japan, reprising his old role as "Super Strong Machine") and "Love Machine Storm" (Arashi, whose stage name literally means "storm").[1] They used Morning Musume's hit song "Love Machine" as their entrance theme. He would also briefly work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Land brand as Makai Masked Hurricane but only wrestled two shows under that name.

His daughters Xochitl and Ayako, who are half Mexican, are also professional wrestlers.[3]

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

width=20% scope="col"Winner (wager)width=20% scope="col"Loser (wager)width=20% scope="col"Locationwidth=20% scope="col"Eventwidth=15% scope="col"DateNotes
El Texano (hair) Gran Hamada (hair) N/A Live event N/A  
Gran Hamada (hair) El Coloso (hair) N/A Live event N/A  
Gran Hamada (hair) Astro Rey (hair) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event N/A  
Gran Hamada (hair) Flama Azul (hair) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event N/A  
Gran Hamada (hair) César Valentino (hair) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event N/A  
Gran Hamada (hair) René Guajardo (hair) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event N/A [23]
El Signo (hair) Gran Hamada (hair) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event [24]
Aníbal (mask) Gran Hamada (hair) Nezahualcoyotl, State of Mexico Live event [25]
Gran Hamada, Enrique Vera and Kobayashi (hair) Los Misioneros de la Muerte (hair)
(El Signo, El Texano and Negro Navarro) 		Mexico City Live event [26]
Gran Hamada (hair) Black Power (mask) Tokyo, Japan Live event  
Gran Hamada (hair) El Engendro (hair) Cuernavaca, MorelosLive event  

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gran Hamada. April 17, 2010. Online World of Wrestling.
  2. Book: Madigan, Dan. Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. 2007. Okay... what is Lucha Libre?. 29 - 40. 978-0-06-085583-3.
  3. Book: Madigan, Dan. Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. 2007. A family affair. 128–132. 978-0-06-085583-3.
  4. Web site: AJPW Junior Tag League 1984 . Pro Wrestling history . June 26, 2015.
  5. Web site: B.J.W. Heavyweight Title. April 17, 2010. wrestling-titles.com.
  6. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications . 2006. 4th . Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title . 389–390 . 0-9698161-5-4.
  7. At the time EMLL was part of the National Wrestling Alliance
  8. Web site: Tiger Mask IV's Purolove profile. 2010-08-22. Purolove.
  9. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications . 2006. 4th . Los Angeles: WWA/NWA Americas Title (Gene LeBell & Mike LeBell). 295–296 . 0-9698161-5-4.
  10. Web site: One Night Eight Man Tag Team Tournament . June 19, 2015 . Cagematch.net.
  11. News: Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 of the PWI Years: 87 Gran Hamada . Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States. June 2003. 21. May 21, 2003.
  12. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Japan: Universal UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Title (Hisatsune Shinma). 384. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  13. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Japan: Universal/FULL Federacion Universal de Lucha Libre UWF Super Middleweight Title. 384. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  14. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications . Mexico: Universal Wrestling Federation Junior Light Heavyweight Title. 397. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  15. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Mexico: Universal Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Title. 397. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  16. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Mexico: UWA Middleweight Title. 399. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  17. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Mexico: UWA Tag Team Title. 399. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  18. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. Mexico: UWA Welterweight Title. 400. 2000. 0-9698161-5-4.
  19. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will. Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. 2006. 4th. Mexico: UWA WWF World Light Heavyweight Title. 399. 0-9698161-5-4.
  20. Web site: Daily pro wrestling (04/17): WCW Spring Stampede 1994 . April 17, 2020 . April 17, 2020 . . Brian . Hoops.
  21. Hamada won the WWF title during a time that it was promoted by the UWA and exclusively in Mexico. The title reigns are not officially recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. No reign with the championship prior to December 1997 is officially recognized or acknowledged by the World Wrestling Entertainment.
  22. Web site: WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Title history . April 17, 2010 . Solie.org.
  23. News: L.L. Staff . Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero . Rene Guajardo (1933 - 1992) . . Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre . 49 . 2008 . es.
  24. News: Enciclopedia de las Mascaras . Signo . Mexico City, Mexico. Tomo V. 31. September 2007. es.
  25. News: Enciclopedia staff . Enciclopedia de las Mascaras . Aníbal . . Tomo I . 16–17 . August 2007 . es.
  26. Web site: En un día como hoy… 1981: Promociones Mora llega a la Arena México, Los Misioneros, pelones… Black Shadow se despide de Pantitlán . June 6, 2015 . June 26, 2015 . Teddy . Centella . . es.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gran Hamada".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.