Tsuneharu Sugiyama

Tsuneharu Sugiyama (杉山 恒治, Sugiyama Tsuneharu, 23 July 1940 – 22 November 2002) was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight at the 1964 Summer Olympics. [1] After his competitve career, he worked in International Wrestling Enterprise, All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling under the ring name of Thunder Sugiyama, later becoming an actor and tarento until his death.[2]

Tsuneharu Sugiyama
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born(1940-07-23)23 July 1940
Itoigawa, Japan
Died22 November 2002(2002-11-22) (aged 62)
Sport
SportWrestling

Professional wrestling career

Along with teammate Masa Saito, who had competed in the freestyle tournament in 1964, they joined the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance dojo. Sugiyama was given the nickname "Thunder", which he used in his debut on 4 March 1966, against Kazuo Honma. Later in the year, however, he joined Isao Yoshiwara and Hiro Matsuda in forming a new promotion, International Wrestling Enterprise.[3]

Sugiyama was the second man to portray the "Tokyo Joe" character in North America after Mr. Hito and before fellow IWE wrestler Tetsunosuke Daigo, who debuted a few months after him in Tokyo Pro Wrestling.

In 1972 Sugiyama left IWE and went over to help Giant Baba form All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he competed until 1976. During 1977 he briefly returned to IWE, and in 1978 he moved to New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he stayed as heel until 1980 when he retired.[3]

Sugiyama died on 22 November 2002 of a heart attack.[3]

Championships and accomplishments

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1965Kigeki ekimae daigaku
1976Sister Street Fighter – Fifth Level FistNick
1978Message from SpaceBig Sam
1983RyôshokuKurokawa
1984Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond StreetOddjob
1985Kids
1989HarimaoYasufumi Yamashita
1994Iruka wa umi ni kaeru
2000Seigi no tatsujin: Nyotai tsubo saguri
2001Hitozuma-tachi no seihakusho: AV ni shutsuen shita wake
2003Nôsatsu tenshi: Sûi tsukushiteKageyama
2004Ryôjoku no tsumeato: Sakareta shitagiKaneda(final film role)

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tsuneharu Sugiyama Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  2. Forgotten International Wrestling, 2014, Baseball Magazine. ISBN 9784583620800
  3. Harris M. Lentz III (2003). Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 978-07-864175-4-4.
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