Shunji Takano
| Shunji Takano | |
|---|---|
| Born |
16 February 1964 Fukuoka, Fukuoka |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Shunji Takano Giant Dos Caras Giant Zebra Super Ninja Gulliver X |
| Billed height | 201 cm (6 ft 7 in) |
| Billed weight | 130 kg (287 lb) |
| Debut | December 8, 1981 |
| Retired | December 26, 1996 |
Shunji Takano (高野 俊二 Takano Shunji) (born February 16, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler.
Shunji Takano debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling on December 8, 1981, defeating Fumihiro Niikura. In his early years, he stayed within the undercard and the lower mid-card area, wrestling the likes of Niikura, Shinichi Nakano, Shunji Kosugi, Norio Honaga, Nobuhiko Takada, Masanobu Kurisu, and Junji Hirata. In 1983, Takano went on an excursion to Canada, wrestling for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary. While there, he formed a tag team with Hiro Saito called the Calgary Hurricanes, which would later become a trio with Junji Hirata, who by then became known as the masked Super Strong Machine. Upon his return to NJPW in October 1984, Takano began moving up the card slowly, but his unhappiness with the company caused him to leave NJPW in September 1985.
After a brief return to Calgary, Shunji Takano went to All Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1985, originally as part of Riki Choshu's Japan Pro-Wrestling group. In October 1986, Takano went on an excursion to the United States. His first stop was for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association in Minneapolis, through Masa Saito's connections, where he wrestled under a mask and went by the name, the Super Ninja. Upon his debut, he was aligned with Larry Zbyszko. In January 1987, Takano had his first major title match against Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, in which he lost by disqualification. In May 1987, he moved to Portland to wrestle for Don Owen's Pacific Northwest Wrestling, still wrestling under the Super Ninja persona. In July 1987, Takano won his first championship, the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship with Rip Oliver, with whom he held the titles for nearly two months, before Oliver left the territory, and was replaced by Joey Jackson, who Takano held the titles for nearly two months with, before finally losing them to The Southern Rockers (Steve Doll and Scott Peterson).
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