Awards and Recognition

Pro Wrestling Illustrated:
Highest Rank - #78 in 2010

Notable Matches

February 12th, 2006 vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
March 19th, 2006 with Nagata vs. Tenzan and Chono
July 8th, 2007 with Tanahashi vs. Bernard and Tomko

Other Pictures

A Mid-Kick by Yamamoto
Yamamoto with a German Suplex

Career Recap:

Older then many of the other young lions, Yamamoto was slow to progress in 2005 past the lower mid-card barrier.  A future heavyweight fighter, Yamamoto had flashes of success (such as pinning Blue Wolf), but did not capitalize on his victories.  Yamamoto was popular with the crowd, however, and many thought he was poised to become a big player down the road for New Japan. Yamamoto was thrust into the main event in early 2006, much to everyone's surprise. He didn't have a lot of luck, often getting pinned, but working in big matches helped him progress as he wrestled against the best in New Japan. During the G1 Climax, Yamamoto went winless but put up a fight against many wrestlers, including Tenzan, Makabe, and Nagata. In the G1 League he teamed with Nakanishi, but the pair would only pick up one win, which was against Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko. Yamamoto did get the pin though against Tomko, one of his biggest pinfall victories in New Japan.

Yamamoto failed to live up to his sudden push of 2006 as he continued to struggle against the upper tier of New Japan. After being pinned by Suwama at the Tokyo Dome, Yamamoto did pick up a victory over Yano on the next show. He did not participate in the New Japan Cup or G1 Climax, however, and soon found himself back in the mid-card. In the G1 Tag League, he teamed with Iizuka but the pair would come in last place with Yamamoto picking up no victories. New Japan decided that Yamamoto needed an excursion, and he had his farewell match on November 2nd, 2006, losing to Yuji Nagata. Yamamoto stayed in WWE from 2007 to 2014, wrestling as Yoshi Tatsu, before returning to New Japan in 2014.