Tiger Mask is the persona of several Japanese professional wrestlers. The persona was inspired by the title character in Ikki Kajiwara's and Naoki Tsuji's manga series, Tiger Mask about a professional wrestler who was a feared heel in the United States, but became a face after returning to Japan when a young boy said that he wanted to be a villain like Tiger Mask when he grew up. As of July 18, 2010, five professional wrestlers have used the Tiger Mask persona during their careers.
The evil twin character Black Tiger was created by New Japan in 1981 to oppose Sayama, and portrayed by Mark Rocco, though he did not exclusively feud with Tiger Mask. As Black Tiger, Rocco also feuded with The Cobra, and the third incarnation Eddie Guerrero also feuded with Jyushin Thunder Liger and Wild Pegasus. For many years, Black Tiger was only portrayed by foreign wrestlers, but the tradition was broken in 2009, when Tatsuhito Takaiwa was unmasked as Black Tiger. Tomohiro Ishii also had a short-lived run as the sixth incarnation in 2010. When Tiger Mask IV was in Michinoku Pro Wrestling, he was briefly opposed by Masked Tiger, a doppelgänger character portrayed by Battlarts wrestler Takeshi Ono. Último Dragón, as a temporary break between gigs in the World Wrestling Entertainment, adopted the name and character The Tiger, modeled after the original, "The Tiger" Satoru Sayama, who was his childhood idol. Último also made a character called Tiger Dragon which saw his attire a blend of the Último Dragón and Tiger Mask garb. Sayama himself used the Super Tiger and uses the Tiger King and Original Tiger Mask characters in special appearances since 1996, as a means to differentiate himself as being the original. Real Japan Pro Wrestling, a promotion founded by Sayama, has a wrestler named Super Tiger II, who has an opponent named Tiger Shark. Both of them are Sayama trainees. Sayama also gave brief authorization for a female version of the character, called Tiger Dream, to be played by female wrestler Candy Okutsu in the mid-1990s. He and Tiger Mask IV also provided her with training. Osaka Pro has a wrestler named Tigers Mask who wears a mask similar to Tiger Mask and is portrayed as a fan of the Hanshin Tigersbaseball team. He even had an opponent named Black Tigers, a character based in Black Tiger and played by Jeremy Lopez. Former Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling superstar Ricky Fuji developed a Tiger Mask persona of his own called Calgary Tiger, influenced by the Canadian city, where he was trained, and debuted as a wrestler. He had debuted under the Tiger Mask persona in Stampede Wrestling, before changing his persona to Black Tomcat, while in the North Western Wrestling Federation in Canada. American pro wrestler Treach Phillips Jr. wrestled as Tiger Mask V in the early 2000s, but is not recognized as an official incarnation of the character. Ken Peale and Tommy Gilbert have also wrestled under the name "Tiger Mask" at certain points in their careers. In 1971 Samson Kutsuwada portrayed Tiger Mask on one Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance tour of South Korea.
Signature moves associated with the character
Championships and accomplishments
Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Mitsuharu Misawa's version of Tiger Mask No. 37 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003.
