May 10, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Kazushi Sakuraba, Brock Lesnar

Hero’s pulled one of the biggest coups of this or any other year when Kazushi Sakuraba, the man who put Pride on the map, showed up doing an interview in the ring at its 5/3 show at the Tokyo National Gym, broadcast later that night in a two-hour prime time network special on Japan’s TBS.

After intermission, in a move that shocked virtually everyone as there were no hints of this ahead of time, Akira Maeda got in the ring and said he was going to introduce a newcomer to Hero’s. They showed a masked man and quickly went to a commercial break. They came back and Maeda was still building up and Sakuraba’s entrance music played and Maeda introduced the newcomer as Tiger Mask.

 It’s somewhat well known that the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, was Sakuraba’s idol when he was in middle school. Everyone began chanting the name “Sakuraba,” immediately recognizing him from his blue jeans and yellow comedy T-shirt, plus, on the forehead of his Tiger Mask was a “KS.” When asked what his name was, he said, “Tiger Mask,” to laughs. Sakuraba said a few words, posed for photos. The TV announcers called him Tiger Mask, but said he looked like Sakuraba.

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