Takamikuni Daikichi | |
---|---|
高見州 大吉 | |
Personal information | |
Born | Teila Tuli June 14, 1968 Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Weight | 450 lb (200 kg) |
Career | |
Stable | Azumazeki |
Record | 57–27–14 |
Debut | March 1987 |
Highest rank | Makushita 2 (March 1989) |
Retired | July 1989 |
Championships | 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonidan) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
Taylor Wily (born Teila Tuli, June 14, 1968) is an American actor, former sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist. [1] He is from Laie, Hawaii and is of American Samoan descent. He is commonly known for his recurring role as Kamekona Tupuola on Hawaii Five-0 . He also has a recurring character on Magnum, P.I.
In March 1987, Wily was recruited by former sekiwake Takamiyama Daigorō, another Hawaiian, and joined Azumazeki stable, which Takamiyama had founded the previous year. He was given the shikona (sumo name) of Takamikuni. [2] He was unbeaten in his first 14 official bouts, winning two consecutive yūshō or tournament championships. Weighing nearly 440 lb (200 kg), he was one of the largest wrestlers in sumo. In March 1988, he was promoted to the third highest makushita division, and became the first foreign born wrestler to ever win the championship in that division. In the same month, future yokozuna Akebono Tarō, also from Hawaii, joined Azumazeki stable. As the highest ranking wrestler in the stable, he was a mentor to Akebono and gave him advice on how to adjust to life in Japan. [3] In March 1989, Takamikuni reached his highest ever rank of makushita 2, and even fought two bouts with elite jūryō ranked wrestlers (one of whom, Tōryū Kenji, was a former sekiwake). Takamikuni was never to reach sekitori status himself. He did not compete in the following tournament, and retired from sumo in July 1989 due to knee problems.
Year in sumo | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo | March Haru basho, Osaka | May Natsu basho, Tokyo | July Nagoya basho, Nagoya | September Aki basho, Tokyo | November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | x | (Maezumo) | EastJonokuchi#7 7–0 Champion | EastJonidan#48 7–0–P Champion | EastSandanme#49 4–3 | WestSandanme#31 5–2 |
1988 | EastSandanme#10 4–3 | EastMakushita#55 7–0 Champion | EastMakushita#10 2–5 | WestMakushita#23 4–3 | EastMakushita#16 5–2 | WestMakushita#8 5–2 |
1989 | WestMakushita#4 4–3 | EastMakushita#2 3–4 | EastMakushita#6 0–0–7 | EastMakushita#46 Retired 0–0–7 | x | x |
Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) |
After leaving sumo, Wily went to New Japan Pro Wrestling in September 1990 and joined Tatsumi Fujinami's stable, Dragon Bombers, as a trainee, alongside fellow former sumo Nankairyū Tarō. However, the stable dissolved in 1992 and he left NJPW. He continued his training, which evolved into mixed martial arts, preparing him for the first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championships.
He competed as Teila Tuli in the first bout of the UFC 1 in November 1993, facing savate expert Gerard Gordeau. [5] Tuli rushed forward, but lost his balance and was met with a brutal kick to the head that knocked a few of his teeth out, and a punch that broke Gordeau's hand, with the referee stopping the fight as a TKO win for Gordeau. [6] This was Tuli's only MMA fight. [5] The match has been described as one of the top five David and Goliath match-ups in MMA history. [6]
1 match | 0 wins | 1 loss |
By knockout | 0 | 1 |
By submission | 0 | 0 |
By decision | 0 | 0 |
Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | Gerard Gordeau | TKO (head kick) | UFC 1 | November 12, 1993 | 1 | 0:26 | Denver, United States | First televised fight in UFC history] |
Credited as Taylor Wily, he had a role in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a hotel worker who befriended the main character played by Jason Segel. He also has a recurring role on the television series Hawaii Five-0 . Wily made a cameo on the 20th edition of The Amazing Race , and handed out clues to racing contestants. He also appeared as an extra in Magnum, P.I. 's 1982 episode titled "The Eighth Part of the Village" in a street scene near a pool hall.
He also appeared as a sumo wrestler in "Battle of the Titans", an episode of One West Waikiki , another TV show filmed in Hawaii starring Cheryl Ladd. In that series, he had hair, unlike his character in Hawaii Five-0, wrapped in the sumo style.
Year | Film/Series | Role | Note |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | North Shore | Bartender | "Ties That Bind" |
2008 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Kemo | |
2010–2020 | Hawaii Five-0 | Kamekona Tupuola | 171 Episodes (25 Credit only) [7] |
2012 | The Amazing Race 20 | Cameo | 12th Leg |
2017 | MacGyver | Kamekona Tupuola | |
2018–present | Magnum P.I. | Kamekona Tupuola |
Akebono Tarō is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining sumo in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990. After two consecutive yusho or tournament championships in November 1992 and January 1993 he made history by becoming the first non-Japanese-born wrestler ever to reach yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo.
A rikishi (力士), sumōtori (相撲取り) or, more colloquially, osumōsan (お相撲さん), is a professional sumo wrestler. Rikishi follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official tournaments is the only means of marking achievement in sumo, with the rank of an individual rikishi based solely on official wins. The number of active rikishi peaked at 943 in May 1994, at the height of the "Waka-Taka boom," but had declined to 665 by January 2022.
Takamiyama Daigorō is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. Wrestling for Takasago stable for twenty years from 1964 to 1984, his highest rank was sekiwake. Takamiyama set a number of longevity records in sumo, including most tournaments ranked in the top makuuchi division, and most consecutive top division appearances. In July 1972, he became the first foreign-born wrestler to win the top division championship. He is also the first foreign-born wrestler ever to take charge of a training stable, founding Azumazeki stable in 1986. His most successful wrestler was fellow Hawaiian Akebono who reached the sport's highest rank of yokozuna in 1993. Takamiyama retired as a coach in 2009.
Takasago stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these kanji is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋".
Takamisakari Seiken is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1999 and established himself in the top division in 2002 after a brief appearance in 2000. He received five special prizes for his achievements in tournaments and earned two gold stars for defeating yokozuna. The highest rank he reached was komusubi, which he held on two occasions. He was one of the most popular wrestlers in sumo in his time, largely due to his eccentric warm-ups before his matches. He retired in January 2013 to become a coach at Azumazeki stable, having taken the toshiyori-kabu Furiwake-oyakata. In January 2020 he became head coach of Azumazeki stable, following the death of the former Ushiomaru.
Tochinonada Taiichi is a former sumo wrestler from Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. An amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 1996 and reached the top makuuchi division in 1997. He earned twelve kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna, the second highest ever, and he was a runner-up in two tournaments. His highest rank was sekiwake. He is now a coach at Kasugano stable under the name Takenawa Oyakata.
Ushiomaru Motoyasu was a sumo wrestler from Shizuoka, Japan. He began his professional career in 1994 and first reached the top division in 2002. His highest rank was maegashira 10. He retired in May 2009 to take over the Azumazeki stable.
Fujinishiki Akira was a sumo wrestler from Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan. His highest rank was komusubi, which he held on ten occasions. He won the top makuuchi division tournament championship or yūshō in 1964 and was runner-up in two other tournaments. He won seven special prizes and seven gold stars for defeating yokozuna. After his retirement in 1968 he was an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and was the head coach of Takasago stable from 1988 until shortly before his retirement from the Sumo Association in 2002. He died of liver disease in 2003.
Nankairyū Tarō is a former sumo wrestler from Samoa. His highest rank was maegashira 2. He was the third foreign-born wrestler to reach the top makuuchi division after Takamiyama and Konishiki. However he quit sumo suddenly in September 1988 after an argument with the head coach of Takasago stable about his persistent drinking problem. He subsequently had a brief spell as a professional wrestler with New Japan.
Azumazeki stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Takasago group of stables. It was founded in February 1986 by the Hawaiian born Takamiyama of the Takasago stable in Higashi–Komagata, Sumida, Tokyo. It was the first stable ever to be run by a foreign-born coach. Azumazeki's first sekitori was Akebono, also from Hawaii, in 1990, who subsequently reached the yokozuna rank. A total of nine foreign born wrestlers have fought for the stable: seven from the United States, one from Great Britain and one (Kosei) from China who retired in January 2017. The stable's first Japanese sekitori was Takamisakari. As of January 2021 it had seven wrestlers.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2003.
Musashimaru Kōyō is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. He was born in American Samoa, before moving to Hawaii at the age of 10. At 18 he moved to Japan and made his professional sumo debut in 1989, reaching the top makuuchi division in 1991. After reaching the rank of ōzeki in 1994 his progress seemed to stall, but in 1999 he became only the second foreign-born wrestler in history to reach the sport's highest rank of yokozuna. Musashimaru won over 700 top division bouts and took twelve top division tournament championships during his career. His sheer 235 kg (518 lb) bulk combined with 1.92 m of height made him a formidable opponent, and he was remarkably consistent and injury-free for most of his career. An amiable personality, his fan base was helped by a surprising facial resemblance to Japanese warrior hero Saigō Takamori. After becoming a Japanese national in 1996 and retiring in 2003, he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and founded the Musashigawa stable in 2013.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2000.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 1999.
The following are the events in professional sumo in 1998.
The following were the events in professional sumo during 1997.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 1996.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 1995.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 1992.