Championship History

All Asia Tag Team Championship
IWGP Tag Team Championship (3x)


Major Tournaments Won

None
Real Name: Junji Hirata
Birth: December 20th, 1956
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 265 lbs.
Background: New Japan Dojo
Debut: August 26th, 1978
Other Identities: Junji Hirata, Strong Machine, Strong Machine #1, Super Love Machine, and Black Strong Machine
Promotion History: New Japan (1978 to 1986), All Japan (1986 to 1987), and New Japan (1988 to present)

Awards and Recognition

Tokyo Sports Grand Prix:
None

Pro Wrestling Illustrated:
Highest Rank - #105 Wrestler in the World in 1997

Puroresu Central Awards:
None

Wrestling Observer Awards:
None

Notable Matches

November 18th, 1983 vs. The Cobra
October 30th, 1986 with Hara vs. Mighty Inoue and Ishikawa
March 16th, 1989 with Takano vs. Choshu and Masa Saito
July 13th, 1995 with Hashimoto vs. Norton and Mike Enos
December 14th, 2000 with Sasaki vs. Chono and T2000 Machine

Other Pictures

Black Strong Machine wants YOU!
Machine with the Devil Windmill Suplex to Ishii
A lariat by Strong Machine

Wrestling Moves Videos Reviewed Matches on Puroresu Central
Devil Windmill Suplex
Diving Headbutt
Lariat
Piledriver
  September 8th, 1990 - Hiro Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Strong Machine and Pegasus Kid
March 21st, 1991 - Hamaguchi, Kimura, Kido, and Hoshino vs. Strong Machine, Saito, Goto, and Honaga
January 4th, 1992 - Liger, Aoyagi, and AKIRA vs. Super Strong Machine, Hiro Saito, and Honaga
January 4th, 1993 - Koshinaka, Kabuki, Aoyagi, and Saito vs. Strong Machine, Saito, Goto, and Honaga
May 3rd, 1993 - Ten Man Tag with Super Strong Machine
January 4th, 1994 - Super Strong Machine vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
May 3rd, 2004 - Giant Machine, Strong Machine, and New Machine vs. Tenzan, Nishimura, and Makabe
January 4th, 2006 - Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Black Strong Machine and Hiro Saito
January 4th, 2010 - Jushin Liger, Kanemoto, and Okada vs. Strong Machine, Inoue, and Hirasawa
August 27th, 2011 - Destroyer Cup Battle Royal with Super Strong Machine
January 4th, 2014 - Tenzan, Honma, Cpt New Japan, and BUSHI vs. Nakanishi, Machine, Liger, and Komatsu
January 5th, 2014 - Yano, Iizuka, Jado, and Takahashi vs. Nagata, Nakanishi, Strong Machine, and Komatsu
Featured Signature Moves
Devil Windmill Suplex

German Suplex Hold

Lariat

2005 Recap:
Hirata had a quiet first half of 2005, assuming the role of mentor for the younger wrestlers in the form of tag matches and openers.  Once Choshu took over in the fall of 2005, he and Hirata clashed, as Hirata was "relieved" of his backstage duties.  The angered Hirata returned as Black Strong Machine, and their difficulties have yet to be resolved.

2006 Recap:
For all of 2006 Black Strong Machine continued feuding with New Japan Sekigun and Riki Choshu in particular, with varied amounts of success. In the first round of the New Japan Cup, Strong Machine lost to his rival Choshu. Strong Machine was not in the G1 Climax or the G1 Tag League, as he was mostly a support player for Black New Japan.

2007 Recap:
Strong Machine stayed in the mentoring role in New Japan in 2007, mostly wrestling in tag matches in the middle of the card with his BLACK team mates against New Japan. In the fall he joined the new Legend-gun faction, but New Japan remained his primary feud. He did not participate in any of the tournaments, but he did pick up several key wins in tag matches and he remained one of the more difficult veterans to score a pinfall victory on.

2008 Recap:
Strong Machine's workload decreased in 2008 as he focused on his behind the scenes work. Strong Machine was one of the lower ranking Legends (along with AKIRA) and tended to get pinned more then Koshinaka, Choshu, Chono, or Liger. He wrestled mostly on the first half of the card, helping mentor the younger wrestlers.

2009 Recap:
Strong Machine stayed active in 2009, but mostly wrestled in the mid-card at first with his Legend team mates and later with the Blue Justice Army. On March 6th, Super Strong Machine had his 25th Anniversary Match, teaming with Riki Choshu and Hiro Saito to defeat Shiro Koshinaka, Akira Nogami, and Masashi Aoyagi. In one of his few single matches of the year, on October 24th he lost to TAJIRI.