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Tomomi Tsuruta
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Jumbo Tsuruta Tommy Tsuruta
Billed height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Billed weight	122 kg (270 lb)
Born	March 25, 1951 Makioka, Yamanashi
Died	May 13, 2000 Philippines
Trained by	Dory Funk, Jr., Lou Thesz, AJPW Dojo
Debut	March 24, 1973 vs. El Tapia
Retired	1999

Tomomi Tsuruta (March 25, 1951 - May 13, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta, was a professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling for most of his career.

Contents 1 Career 2 Illness, life after wrestling and death 3 Finishing and signature moves 4 Championships and accomplishments 5 References

Tsuruta was very athletic, participating in swimming, basketball, and sumo while attending Hikawa Senior High School in Yamanashi-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture. While at Chuo University, he began an amateur wrestling career. He adapted to the business quickly, having classic matches in the first few years of his career. He won the All Japan Amateur Wrestling Championship in freestyle and Greco-Roman as a superheavyweight (at the time, an unlimited class for those weighing over 100 kilograms) in the years 1971 and 1972. He also competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Scouted by AJPW promoter Giant Baba, he was sent to the local Amarillo, Texas promotion in the U.S. to train as a pro under Dory Funk Jr. The name "Jumbo" was given to him by a fan contest in Japan to replace his given name, which was seen as too feminine.

During his 26 year career, he fought in 3,329 matches. He fought Stan Hansen, The Destroyer, Bruiser Brody, Genichiro Tenryu, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr., and Mitsuharu Misawa. He also fought world-renowned champions such as Harley Race, Verne Gagne, Jack Brisco, Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkel (from whom he won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on October 9, 1982), and Rick Martel. Tsuruta was the first AJPW Triple Crown World Heavyweight Champion (unifying the Pacific Wrestling Federation, All Japan United National, and All Japan International titles), defeating Stan Hansen on April 19, 1989 in Tokyo.

His level of work while still an active, full-time wrestler never declined and if anything, his highest rated work came in the last five years of his career, in his seminal feuds with Genichiro Tenryu and Mitsuharu Misawa. His skills allowed him to continue as a top line worker into his forties, well past his athletic prime. In the wake of his death, the press called him the strongest wrestler in the history of Japanese wrestling.^{[citation needed]}

In the summer of 1992, he was diagnosed with Hepatitis B and never fully recovered, completing the "October Giant Series" tour before disappearing from the company for almost a year. For the rest of his career, he participated mostly in comedic matches because his health prevented him from working a full physically demanding schedule. He announced his retirement on February 20, 1999 and held a ceremony on March 6, 1999, after being forced out of his front-office position by Motoko Baba in the aftermath of her husband's death.

Four days later, he and his family moved to the United States so that he could take an Assistant Professor position at the University of Portland in Oregon. Tsuruta had degree in law and earned his teaching credential in 1994, later becoming a professor at his old University.

His health deteriorated, however, as he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer, which eventually spread to his liver, and by the end of the year he was back in Japan. In April he left for Australia, where he had an operation to remove the cancer, while there a kidney donor was found in Manila. Tsuruta died in the National Hospital in the Philippines on May 13, 2000, from complications of the kidney transplant. He was 49 and was survived by his wife and three sons.

• Belly to back suplex
• Bridging belly to back suplex
• Coconut Crush (Side headlock facebreaker knee smash)
• Gutwrench suplex
• High knee
• Lou Thesz press
• Diving knee drop
• Lariat
• Double underhook suplex
• Bridging German suplex
• Spinning toe hold
• Front missile dropkick
• Double overhead chop to the back of the opponent's neck

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• AJPW Triple Crown Championship (3 times)
• AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (7 times) – Yoshiaki Yatsu (5), The Great Kabuki (1) and Akira Taue (1)
• PWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Tiger Mask II (1) and Yoshiaki Yatsu (1)

• National Wrestling Alliance

• NWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
• NWA United National Championship (5 times)
• NWA International Tag Team Championship (9 times) – Giant Baba (6), Genichiro Tenryu (2) and Yoshiaki Yatsu (1)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) – with Giant Baba

• American Wrestling Association

• AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
• 1990 Feud of the Year (vs Mitsuharu Misawa)
• 1991 Wrestler of the Year
• 1991 Feud of the Year (vs Mitsuharu Misawa)

• Miscellaneous

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him #28 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

Persondata
NAME	Tsuruta, Tomomi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Tsuruta, Jumbo (ring name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH	March 25, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH	Makioka, Yamanashi, Japan
DATE OF DEATH	May 13, 2000
PLACE OF DEATH	Philippines

May 22, 2000 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter