Masao Inoue (March 6, 1970) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He has worked for Pro Wrestling NOAH and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).
Career[]
All Japan Pro Wrestling[]
Masao Inoue spent the better part of his time with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as an underling for Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue. He found little success until he started a regular tag team with Tamon Honda near the end of his All Japan stay. The tandem won the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship in 1999.
In mid-2000 Masao Inoue left All Japan Pro Wrestling along with all but two All Japan native workers to join Mitsuharu Misawa's newly formed Pro Wrestling NOAH. Inoue and Honda were still the All Asia Tag Team champions so the titles were vacated when they left.
Pro Wrestling NOAH[]
Inoue was a founding member of the Dark Agents stable along with Akitoshi Saito and Takashi Sugiura. He would be second-in-command to Saito. Inoue generally spent his time near the bottom card, not receiving very many high-profile matches. After several years of struggling to make it up the card, Inoue and seven other NOAH wrestlers were given a huge opportunity to main event a Tokyo Nippon Budokan event. GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama proposed a tournament to determine his next challenger. Masao Inoue shocked many wrestling fans by beating rookie Shuhei Taniguchi, Takuma Sano, and finally stablemate Akitoshi Saito to win the tournament. Inoue faced Akiyama in an emotional match and lasted over 23 minutes before falling to the wrist-clutch Exploder. After showing little promise in NOAH's early days, Masao Inoue greatly improved his stock in the company.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Signature moves
- Tag teams and stables
- Anti Wrestlers Alliance
- Dark Agents
- Funky Express
- Holy Demon Army
- Nicknames
- "INO"
- "Mario World"
Championships and accomplishments[]
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Tamon Honda (1) and Takao Omori (1)
- All Asia Tag Team League (1999) with Tamon Honda
- DDT Pro Wrestling
- DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Championship (2 times)
- Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
- WEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Yoshinobu Kanemaru (1)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #241 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006
- Pro Wrestling NOAH
- GHC Title Shot Tournament (2006)
- Global Tag League Technique Prize (2011) with Bison Smith
- Joikaru Cup Scramble Battle Royal (2013)
