"Just wanted to come here and say I heard what you said Hamza Tufail, you realise Rey Mysterio got his 619 from a move called Tiger Feint and Satoru Sayama learned that move probably from other Luchadors, never say Tiger Mask is a bad seller and Luchador"
[9.0] "The definition of innovation. Tiger Mask not only had the athleticism, and the looks, but he also had the mind. His highlight real is unparalleled."
[10.0] "One of the most revolutionary talents of all time. He was a high-flying, quick moving genius. His work in NJPW stands above that of his peers."
[10.0] "The David Bowie of wrestling. By that I mean, much like with David Bowie, imitators made entire careers out of copying just a single element of what Sayama was doing. Deserving of that 10, but I can see a 9 just because his career was cut short by simply being pushed out of wrestling by Inoki's hate for cruiser/junior weights, literally fighting with the other wrestlers who went on to form shootstyle and shooting (which he did as well) and his hate of wrestling after all the backstage politics. On the other hand: don't read into homeboy's politics outside the ring, and also the fact that he was TOO CRUEL for Karl Gotch to be named his successor? Makes Ultimate Warrior seem like a bleeding heart liberal."
[10.0] "Satoru Sayama aka the original Tiger Mask was perhaps one of the greatest pioneers and innovators professional wrestling has ever seen. Satoru took a popular manga/anime character in Japan at the time in Tiger Mask and brought him to life. His jaw dropping aerial maneuvers mixed with his martial arts background made him the most unique talent in the business at the time. His matches with Dynamite Kid were legendary and every fan of wrestling should watch those. He paved the way for the junior heavyweight style in NJPW as well as Japan in general. He was way ahead of his time too as most wrestlers weren't doing what he was doing at the time. His UWF work was absolutely sensational as well. Many Tiger Mask's came after him, including the late great Mitsuharu Misawa, but nobody could quite do justice to the mask like he did. Misawa's best work was after he had dropped the Tiger Mask persona anyways so I don't identify the mask with him as much as I do with Sayama."
[9.0] "His initial NJPW and UWF run was really his entire career so it's not super long but he was absolutely ahead of his time. The run from 81-84 is arguably a good a three year stretch as anyone has ever had. Inspired a whole generation."
[10.0] "There are few I actually give a full rating for, but Tiger Mask for me is one of my personal favourites: someone who just was such a natural master at what he did that even today people are struggling to keep up, with a unique blend of kickboxing, wrestling, lucha, British catch, and Japanese Gotch shoot-style. No one since has been able to capture the grace and agility of Sayama at his very best, and even when he was much fatter, barely wrestling and in his 40's he could still completely astound crowds with his spots despite far younger spot-monkeys being around at the same time; they lacked his showmanship, his charisma, but also his ability to make his spots seem natural and seamless: never looking convoluted or overtly fake, but also immensely crisp and fast. The truly amazing fact is that Sayama only actually wrestled full time for about 9 years (7 if you just include NJPW work, and he leaves early in 1983, and you can also exclude his unseen Young Lion years as well) before leaving to do Shooto: less of a decade was all he needed to establish himself as one of the greatest of all time, and that's not including his matches post-return in 1995 which he went on to actually have a lot of good to outright fantastic showings. How many performers have that accolade? Very few from what I can see. He's one of the few guys you could take completely from his era in his prime, make no changes whatsoever and he'd still be as over now as he was then, he was that good. I implore people to check out his UWF and later work as well: despite it being mostly shaken off it massively benefits his case with the sheer amount of quality he has despite the less than stellar conditions. He works a good part-time ace in RJPW for a good long while until his retirement as well. Easily one of the best in wrestling and someone that always delights in his matches regardless of the era."
[10.0] "Masterful at his craft. Incredibly influential and well regarded wherever he went. Legend, icon, whatever you want to call him, Tiger Mask was all of that."
"Satoru knew how to wrestle, it was clear. Man killed it in so many matches and pioneered the Tiger Mask trend in wrestling. He was a clean wrestler, and I think that's because he also had some remarkable trainers. Awesome wrestler."
[10.0] "It is absolutely incredible how outstanding of a wrestler Sayama was. He was performing moves and spots back in the 80s which would shock and wow people even today. His agility, speed, flexibility, sharp striking, and precise grappling were all absolutely perfect. While the majority of US wrestlers in the 80s were messy-brawling and lumbering around the ring, Sayama was effortlessly flying and dancing around like wrestling was as natural to him as breathing. Sayama was always best when booked against a really dirty heel because he could then embarrass them with his flashy moves and bravado. His speed really cannot be understated. Plenty of times I've had to rewind some of his sequences because I would swear that his movement could only have been so quick with the use of video editing. How could he spin around someone with perfect technique and at such a drastic pace' The answer was that he was simply one of the most creative and exciting wrestlers ever to grace the art. Very few people are able to wrestle such a dazzling style without coming off as superficial like a total exhibition performer, but Sayama found a way to have extremely compelling match stories all while putting on a world-class in-ring display. He always made his opponents' own offence feel important (even if his selling was sometimes suspect), but he was simply so spectacular that he always overshadowed them nonetheless. Definitely a pioneer for the high-flying wrestling style. I usually only reserve 10/10 ratings for wrestlers who have had multiple world-class (****1/2+) matches, but for people as immensely skilled in their era and as influential for the entire art of pro-wrestling as Sayama was, I can't deny that the man deserves a 10/10. If he wasn't treated as so much of a pure "attraction" then he could have had many great matches throughout the 80s and 90s, but I have no issue judging/presuming from his incredible individual performances that it wouldn't have been hard for bookers to have him put on some truly world-class matches if they so wished. It's a shame that he is often overshadowed by the far inferior Liger when it comes to popular consensus on the best and most influential high-flyers and junior-style wrestlers of all time, but I have no doubt that Tiger Mask/Sayama is one of the greatest ever."
[10.0] "The First Tiger Mask is one of the most legendary junior heavyweights to ever live. His matches with Dynamite Kid and Yoshiaki Fujiwara are as legendary in the Puro world as any matches in the subgenre."
[10.0] "Satoru Sayama was not only one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but also one of the most influential. Whether a wrestler establishes himself as a technician, a high-flyer, a shoot-styled wrestler or a combination of any of those, it's more than likely he owes something to Sayama's work, even if he's not aware of it. After a bumpy start in his career, Sayama received proeminece as the first (and, to this day, the most praised) incarnation of the character Tiger Mask, based on the homonymous manga. Under this new persona, Sayama took part in a series of game-changing matches (most notably, against Dynamite Kid), gaining universal acclaim for his intense in-ring work, which included top-level agility, crispy moves and an impressive aerial offense. After his retirement as Tiger Mask and taking his interest in proper martial arts to the next level (Sayama had been formally training in sambo and kickboxing by that time), he would be on of the pivotal wrestlers to kickstart the shoot-craze. Under either his real name or the purple and grey Super Tiger gimmick (Misawa was the new Tiger Mask by that time), he'd go on to have a different kind of unique matches in prime UWF, with a more realistic approach, heavy on kickboxing strikes (the latter being met with much disgrain of fellow pivotal shootwrestler Akira Maeda). After retiring from pro wrestling altogether, he would go on to create Shooto, dedicate himself exclusively to martial arts and help to introduce Vale Tudo in Japan, ultimately becoming a key figure in paving the ground to what would become MMA. Eventually, he would return to pro wrestling, helping to put over younger talent (including his protegé Tiger Mask IV), taking part into matches with other aging legendary wrestlers from his era and, at last, creating his own promotion, Real Japan Pro Wrestling, with a mix of pro wrestling and martial arts showcases. As for some constant revisionist criticism, such as calling him sloppy or saying he didn't have psychology in the ring, those have been played up a lot by the naysayers. Not only Sayama was pioneering styles of wrestling in an era when both the audience and critics had a different mindset regarding what a good match was, but most of his matches have, in fact, aged gracefully. He would occasionally botch some of his moves, but that never really took too much from his matches, specially because he was polished in mostly everything. All in all, Sayama has made his mark both in the ring and also behind-the-scenes, earning his status a legend."
[7.0] "Von einem athletischen Standpunkt aus war Tiger Mask I über jeden Zweifel erhaben, ganz klare Sache. Allerdings war er an Dingen wie Selling oder Matchstruktur nur mäßig interessiert. Dies zog sich auch durch seine 90er-Kämpfe. Zwar konnte er reihenweise schöne Moves auspacken, aber an wirklich mitreißenden Matches, welche das Publikum auch psychologisch aufpeitschten, war Sayama nur selten beteiligt. So gesehen könnte man Sayama als frühen Spotmonkey einordnen, ein paar starke Kämpfe in der UWF ziehen die Wertung aber noch nach oben."
[10.0] "Everything about Sayama's contributions to professional wrestling has already been said, but it should be noted that he was one of the founding fathers of shoot-style, which speaks volumes about his overall ability as a wrestler and innovator."
[9.0] "Let's get one thing out of the door: I will be forever indebted to Satoru Sayama for introducing me to pro-wrestling. As Tiger Mask he was so ahead of his time, so innovative and so exciting he managed to get me hooked pretty much right away. His matches with technically gifted luchadores like Fishman and Ultraman introduced me to the good side of lucha libre: Tiger Mask had tremendous matches with these great wrestlers. However Satoru Sayama also has a dark side: he's an extremely bad seller. I don't know if this is a choice, a quirk or just the way Inoki trained him but even my young impressionable self kept on wondering on why Tiger Mask kept on shrugging off Fishman's mat work aimed at neutralizing his kicks by working on the legs. Thanks for everything Tiger-sama, but that awful selling costs you one point!"
[10.0] "A pioneer as a cruiserweight and high flying. In 1982 he wrestled in the WWF as the Junior Heavyweight champion and bought in many things to North America such as smaller wrestler and high flyers."
[10.0] "Satoru Sayama was a great worker, and revolutionary for his time; his impact on wrestling cannot be overstated. A lot of his moves and matches still hold up today, but even if they didn't, to hold that against him is to completely miss the point of a wrestling match."
[9.0] "Highly influential, innovative. When you watch clips of Sayama, you see just how quick and smooth he was. Sure, there are far better technical wrestlers theses days but none of them could probably do the moves Sayama did at the speed he did it. So quick. His kicks were lethal and pinpoint. Very underrated in his ground game. Sayama often doesn't get the credit he deserves in the shoot style and what lead to. Whilst his preference of kicks lead to UWF going out of business, they were so important later in the future."
[10.0] "It's impossible to understate the influence of Sayama/Tiger Mask on junior heavyweight wrestling. Without him, there would be no Jushin Ligers, no Rey Mysterios, and certainly no CM Punks or Daniel Bryans. While he wasn't the first guy to wrestle shoot style or use high flying techniques, his melding of the two is what helped to create the style that would push smaller wrestlers into the mainstream. All of this while not even including the fact he's one of the most important figures in MMA history with his formation of the Shooto organization in the mid 80s. There's a reason so many people cite Sayama as an influence on modern day wrestling; because he was an amazing wrestler. EDIT: Also, to the people saying he was "sloppy" based off of one clip/gif they saw; go watch TM vs Bret Hart, or his match with Akira Maeda. Even his stuff in World of Sport is very clean."
[10.0] "trust me i was there when this guy was doing his thing... it was like watching the first star wars movie then or now... seeing black and white tv then or now... wrestling in a work between 2 guys... your opponent needs to do his job to let you do yours. tiger mask was revolutionary and very few guys were trained to work with him. he was doing his matches for the first time... not copying proven routines with 20 years of track record. if todays youtube crowd want to judge him anything less than a 10 with their 30 years of sunday morning quarterbacking... they are wrong"
[7.0] "He is credited as both a great high flyer and the first high flyer, but I'm not sure either are quite warranted. Some of his matches with Dynamite Kid hold up and some don't, but his case outside those matches is very thing. He can be entertaining but also very sloppy, and I think his influence is somewhat overrated. Still a notable talent but not quite so much as he gets credit for."
[10.0] "Was kann man hier Anderes vergeben als 10? Als Wrestler top, als MMA-Fighter top, Shooto top, Alles top. Super-Super. Sollte die Bayern trainieren."
[8.0] "Innovative worker, but Sayama also botched a lot of his moves. Very often lacked any psychology or selling (I haven't seen his more recent stuff). I admire the fact, that his matches with Dynamite Kid inspired so many wrestlers, but to be honest, I thought that DKid carried Sayama more that the other way around. So, overall a good wrestler, but not someone, who was a complete package in the squared circle like Tsuruta, Misawa or Flair."
[8.0] "Ist zwar heute mehr ein Garfield als ein Tiger, aber so ist das eben mit dem Alter. Natürlich ein Pionier und wegweisender Wrestler desen Gimick ja immer noch sehr wertvoll ist, siehe die nachfolgenden Tiger-Mask-Wrestler. Sein Matches gegen Dynamit Kid sind immer noch wieder gern gesehene Klassiker, aber auch die leider etwas vergessene Fehde mit Tiger Hunter Kobayashi zeigen das da mehr war als“nur „Technik und Highflying. Aber genau wie Inoki einer der meinte gewisse Shoot-Fighter wären bessere Wrestler, dennoch eine Legende."
[10.0] "Satoru Sayama is a legend in pro wrestling, and not just in Japan, but in general. When he debuted as Tiger Mask in 1981 and feuded with the Dynamite Kid for 2 years, history was made. Their matches were fast, exciting, explosive, full of risks, and containing spots that were way before their time. Their last singles match together received the 1st 5-star match from Dave Meltzer. In his prime, I feel he would still hold up well in today's industry, even though " the game" has evolved so much. Sayama was also 1 of the 1st wrestlers in Japan to suggest a more realistic approach to wrestling matches, which lead to him (very temporarily) joining Akira Maeda's UWF promotion, which eventually helped the evolution of what is now known as Mixed Martial Arts. The mark that Sayama has left is a large one. One that opened many doors for both cruiserweights and stiffness in wrestling."
[10.0] "Zu den Verdiensten dieses genialen Mannes in der Vergangenheit ist schon alles gesagt, aber darüber hinaus kann man sich den Mann auch heute noch angucken - Respekt! Wrestlet heute noch deutlich besser als Ric Flair mit dreißig."
[10.0] "Zu sagen das Dynamite Kid ihn durch die Matches ziehte grenzt schon fast an einer Frechheit wirklich. Mr. Sayama ist ganz ganz große Klasse. ER war es der die Jr. Heavyweightszene revolutionierte und er war immer cool mit seinen coolen Karate Kicks."
[10.0] "Der erste Tiger Mask ist wohl eine der legendärsten Figuren des japanischen Wrestlings und setzte zu seinen besten Zeiten in Punkto Technik und High Flying Standards. Man muss sich nur seine Matches mit Dynamite Kid anschauen (unter anderem das erste ***** Match von Meltzer) um zu sehen wie fantastisch der Mann auf seinem Höhepunkt war. Kenne nicht viel Aktuelles von ihm, aber seine vergangenen Leistungen sind mir die 10 wert."
[7.0] "Sicherlich zwischen 9-10 Punkte für die guten Jahre und wegweisenden Matches als Junior Heavyweight wie auch als Shootstyle-Wrestler. Heute kriegt er zwar seine Trademark-Spots trotz Übergewicht und hohem Alter noch erstaunlich gut hin, hat aber jegliches "Feuer" verloren und ist allenfalls für die damalige Generation junger Wrestling-Fans für einen Nostalgie-Effekt gut. Abgesehen davon hat er durch seine damalige Abkehr vom Pro Wrestling, den damaligen Äußerungen und seiner darauf folgenden Rückkehr zum Wrestling zumindest bei mir keine Pluspunkte gesammelt, was jedoch nicht in meine Wertung einfließt."
[10.0] "Wohl eine der bedeutendsten Figuren im Jr. Heavyweight Bereich. Legendäre Matches gab es zu Genüge und in den 80ern hat er Sachen gemacht, die seiner Zeit vorraus waren und auch heute noch mithalten können und zum Staunen bringen."
[10.0] "Absolut geile Matches die er gegen Dynamite Kid und Steve Wright auf die Matte gezaubert hatte. Auch sonst einfach ein großartiger Wrestler, der es zwar vielleicht übertreibt mit der aktiven Zeit, aber das ist für mich bei ihm kein Abzug wert, da man sich die Kämpfe schon noch ansehen kann, und nicht wie bei anderen in Langeweile ausarten, 10 Punkte."
[10.0] "Eine Klasse für sich, damals. Sollte jedoch aufhören mit seinen Teilzeitaktivitäten, den heutzutage ist er nun wirklich nicht mehr der Beste. Aber trotzdem 10 Punkte, allein wegen seiner Matcheserie gegen Dynamite Kid."
"wenn man bedenkt das Hogan bei WM 3 weltweit begeistern konnte mit einem powerslam, aber zu der Zeit Tiger Mask in Japan schon seinen Highflyer Stil gezeigt hat. Dann frag ich mich wirklich wie ungerecht das Geschäft sein kann. War seiner Zeit wirklich um Jahre vorraus, so wie es die Japaner immer sein werden."
[10.0] "Tiger Mask ist das Paradebeispiels eines Highflyers. Im Ring unheimlich wendig und in seinem Vorgehen nachvollziehbar bestizt er auch ein großes Arsenal an Moves."
[10.0] "Es ist schwer in objektiv zu bewerten, da jeder von seinen legendären Matches gegen Dynamite Kid gehört hat. Wer sich wirklich intensiv mit ihm und seiner Geschichte beschäftigt weiß, dass er seiner Zeit mindestens 15 bis 20 Jahre voraús war. Er hat Standards gesetzt und Mauern eingerissen, ohne die das heutige Wrestling nicht so wäre wie es ist. Absolut und ohne Frage ist er einer der legendärsten Puroreso-Wrestler aller Zeiten."
[10.0] "Vorreiter der Junior Heavyweights in Japan. Die unumstrittene Nummer 1. Tiger Mask's Stil war einfach einzigartig und bleibt für immer unerreicht. Alleine die Matches gegen Dynamite Kid rechtfertigen die Bestnote."
[10.0] "Der Typ ist der Beste Wrestler für mich den es gab. Seine MAtches sind Legendär, schade das er aufgehört hat ..... wer immer noch einer der die Massen Begeistern kann und vieleicht wird mal eine der anderen Tiger Masks ran kommen an ihn!"
