Akebono Taro, the sumo wrestler-turned-pro wrestler who competed against The Big Show at WrestleMania 21, has passed away. The Japan Times reports that Akebono passed away at the age of 54 due to heart failure. He was less than a month away from his 55th birthday.
Akebono was the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to reach the rank of yokozuna, a status he reached in 1993. Born in Hawaii as Chadwick Haheo Rowan, became the 64th yokozuna and became incredibly popular during his sumo career. He retired from sumo in 2001 after suffering an injury and transitioned into kickboxing, competing for K-1, and MMA.
Akebono transitioned into pro wrestling in 2005 when he was brought in to face Big Show at WrestleMania 21 in a sumo match. He picked up the win over Big Show and then moved to AJPW, where he debuted at AJPW’s Wrestle-1 in August of 2005. He worked for a number of Japanese promotions including NJPW, Hustle, Dragon Gate and ZERO-1 before returning to AJPW for a seven year-run from 2008 through 2015. He had two runs with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, two with the All Asia Tag Team Championship alongside Ryota Hama, and the World Tag Team Championship twice — one with Taiyo Kea and one with and Yutaka Yoshie.
On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Akebono.
