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Takashi Iizuka

Takashi Iizuka
Takashi Iizuka 2014.JPG
Iizuka in June 2014.
Birth name Takayuki Iizuka
Born (1966-08-02) August 2, 1966 (age 50)
Muroran, Hokkaidō
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Sambo Iizuka
Takashi Iizuka
Takayuki Iizuka
Billed height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Billed weight 107 kg (236 lb)
Trained by New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo
Debut November 2, 1986

Takayuki Iizuka (飯塚 孝之 Iizuka Takayuki?), better known by his stage name Takashi Iizuka (飯塚 高史 Iizuka Takashi?), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and one-time GHC Tag Team Champion.

Iizuka made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1986, wrestling against Akira Nogami. In June 1989, Iizuka and Hiroshi Hase went to the Soviet Union to be trained in sambo. A month later, he won his first championship, the IWGP Tag Team Championship, with veteran Riki Choshu. After losing the titles two months later to Shinya Hashimoto and Masa Saito, he floundered in the mid-card. In 1991, he wrestled in Europe, mainly in Austria and Germany for Catch Wrestling Association and in England for All Star Wrestling. He competed only twice in the United States, for the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance on September 21, 1991 against Owen Hart, and for World Championship Wrestling on May 17, 1992, teaming with the legendary Tatsumi Fujinami in a losing effort against The Steiner Brothers at WrestleWar. He formed what eventually became J-J-Jacks with Akira Nogami in 1992, before disbanding in 1996. Iizuka and Nogami would also briefly form a trio with El Samurai.


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