Norio Honaga
| Norio Honaga | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 11, 1955 Tokyo, Tokyo |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Norio Honaga |
| Billed height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Billed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) |
| Trained by | NJPW Dojo |
| Debut | April 25, 1980 |
| Retired | April 30, 1998 |
Norio Honaga (保永 昇男 Honaga Norio?) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler.
Norio Honaga debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling on April 25, 1980, against Hiro Saito. In November 1982, after over two years on the undercard, Honaga was sent to on an excursion to Mexico, wrestling for Universal Wrestling Association. He returned to NJPW in March 1984, but political turmoil within the promotion forced Honaga to leave the promotion six months later.
After leaving NJPW, Honaga joined Riki Choshu's Japan Pro-Wrestling group, which joined forces with All Japan Pro Wrestling. In July 1985, Honaga won his only title in AJPW, the All Asia Tag Team Championship, with Isamu Teranishi, as Animal Hamaguchi gave his half to Honaga due to injury. He and Teranishi would hold on to the belts for over three months, before losing them to Takashi Ishikawa and Mighty Inoue in October 1985. Honaga remained with AJPW until March 1987.
Honaga returned to NJPW in May 1987. Upon his return, he formed a tag team with Hiro Saito. In August 1987, Honaga took part in a tournament for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, as Shiro Koshinaka vacated the title earlier that month due to injury; he lost to Tatsutoshi Goto in the first round. In January 1988, Honaga took part in the first-ever Top of the Super Juniors tournament, but he would place dead last with no points. In April 1989, Honaga took part in the Young Lion Cup tournament, despite being 33 years old with nine years of experience; he defeated Hirokazu Hata in the first round, but lost to eventual winner Naoki Sano in the semifinals. By the summer of 1989, Honaga and Saito formed the Blond Outlaws with Goto, and Super Strong Machine joined the group in 1990.
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