Takao Kaneko

Takao Kaneko (金子武雄)

Profession: Wrestler, Referee
Real name: Takao Kaneko
Professional names: not applicable
Life: 1/15/1930-unknown
Born: Kanagawa, Japan
Career: 1954-1961, 1968 (as referee)
Height/Weight: 172cm/100kg (5’8”/220lbs.)
Signature moves: unknown
Promotions: Japan Wrestling Association, International Wrestling Enterprise
Titles: none

Puroresu’s first “macho wrestler”, Takao Kaneko worked for the JWA throughout the 1950s before opening his own gym.

The first generation of puroresu was made up of various sportsmen who transferred their skills into pro wrestling. Takao Kaneko was unique among these in that he did not compete in a combat sport; no, the 24-year-old from Kanagawa was a weightlifter. The light heavyweight champion debuted for the JWA in August 1954, as puroresu’s first “macho wrestler”. However good his body may have looked, though, he could only go so far with his frame. Kaneko participated in the 1956 Japan Light Heavyweight tournament, held to delegitimize and scout the JWA’s competition. In the second match, Kanji Higuchi allegedly injured Kaneko with a shoot arm lock to win. However, Kaneko continued to work for the company through February 1961. That April, Kaneko held a pair of shows in Seoul with Surugaumi, Osamu Abe, and some American soldiers. This was shortly before Jang Yeong-chol and Chun Kyu-deok began to run shows there themselves. Kaneko would then open the Sky Bodybuilding Gym in Yokohama. As a good friend of Isao Yoshiwara, Kaneko would not only refer his clients (Tenshin Yonemura, Masahiko Takasugi) to join the IWE, but also worked as a referee for around a year circa 1968. Other wrestlers associated with the Sky gym include Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Minoru Suzuki.