Eddie Guerrero
Black Tiger (professional wrestling) was performed by whom from 1993 to 1994?
Black Tiger ( professional wrestling ) Origins . According to the storyline set forth by the original anime , Black Tiger is a wrestler trained and sent by a Yakuza-like organisation called the Tigers Cave . The Tigers Cave desire vengeance upon the wrestler Tiger Mask , a former trainee of theirs , for publicly turning his back on them and no longer paying them monetary tributes . With the animes protagonist translated by Antonio Inoki to actual NJPW wrestling events ( in the form of Satoru Sayama ) it was perhaps inevitable that his arch-enemy would also appear in the promotion . The wrestlers portraying Black Tiger have traditionally been gaijin , somewhat of a throwback to the days in which non-Japanese were portrayed as heels to fight against national heroes such as Rikidōzan to promote national pride after World War II , paralleling the way American promotions would often portray wrestlers depicted as , or indeed actually being from , foreign countries as villains pitted against American-born heroes . In other countries this has varied . Black Tiger IV was a member of Team Japan during the TNA 2006 World X-Cup Tournament and during his CMLL career Black Tiger III was overtly portrayed as being Japanese . Black Tiger V was the first time Black Tiger was played by a Japanese wrestler . Incarnations . Black Tiger I . Mark Rollerball Rocco , an established British wrestler , was the first to assume the persona in 1982 to oppose the original Tiger Mask , Satoru Sayama . His pinnacle of success was defeating Gran Hamada in a tournament final for the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship on May 6 , 1982 , and was defeated twenty days later by Tiger Mask for the belt . Sayama left NJPW in 1983 and the rights to Tiger Mask were purchased by All Japan Pro Wrestling the following year for the use of Mitsuharu Misawa . AJPW were not to create a Black Tiger counterpart . Rocco continued to portray Black Tiger in NJPW until 1990 . Black Tiger II . In August 1993 Black Tiger made a return , this time portrayed by Eddie Guerrero . His Tiger Mask rival at this time was Koji Kanemoto . Kanemoto unmasked in January 1994 , while Guerrero was a finalist in the 1994 Super Grade Junior Heavyweight Tag League with The Great Sasuke , came third in the 1994 and 1995 Best of the Super Juniors tournaments and was victorious in 1996 . Black Tiger III . Following the fall of WCW , alumnus César Cuauhtémoc González , better known as Mexican star Silver King began wrestling for NJPW through their working relationship with his home promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . Tiger Mask IV would not sign with NJPW until early 2003 and the highlight of Black Tiger IIIs Japanese run would be a failed attempt at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship alongside his real-life brother Dr . Wagner , Jr . before he devoted himself full-time to his CMLL career . González continued to use the Black Tiger name in Mexican independent companies even after CMLL repackaged him as El Bronco following NJPW unveiling Black Tiger IV in 2005 . His final match under the persona came when he lost a Mask versus Mask match to L.A . Park on February 4 , 2006 . He briefly wrestled under the persona again in 2017 , teaming with Black Tiger VII to take on Dr Wagner Jr . and El Hijo de Dr . Wagner Jr. . Black Tiger IV . In 2005 Rocky Romero debuted as Black Tiger IV by NJPW and immediately thrust into a feud with Tiger Mask IV , facing him for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on May 14 . He made his debut for Ring of Honor in America , making him the first Black Tiger to wrestle as Black Tiger in America since Mark Rocco . After winning the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship on August 25 he defeated Tiger Mask for his title on October 8 , defending them until losing both to Tiger Mask on February 19 , 2006 . Black Tiger would join Jyushin Thunder Ligers CTU faction and represent NJPW as a member of Team Japan in TNA Wrestlings World X-Cup . Black Tiger IV returned to New Japan in February 2009 , joining GBH and restarting his feud with Tiger Mask IV . On April 5 , 2009 , at Resolution 09 Tiger Mask IV defeated Black Tiger IV in a title vs . mask match . After the match Romero removed his mask and then raised the arm of Tiger Mask thus ending his run as Black Tiger . Black Tiger V . Black Tigers fifth Generation ( V ) arrived in NJPW at Tokyo Dome February 15 , 2009 , attacking Tiger Mask IV . For the next couple of months , the new Black Tiger disappeared and was replaced at shows by Black Tiger IV . On April 5 , 2009 , at Resolution 09 after Tiger Mask had defeated Black Tiger IV for the last time , he was once again attacked by the fifth Black Tiger , who gave him a Death Valley Driver and then unmasked him . On June 20 , 2009 , at Dominion 6.20 , Tiger Mask defeated Black Tiger V in a mask vs . mask match . After the match Black Tiger removed his mask revealing himself as Tatsuhito Takaiwa , breaking the Black Tiger tradition of foreigners under the mask . Takaiwa reprised his role as Black Tiger V in 2011 in Toryumon Mexico , where he lost the mask for the second time on May 14 , 2011 , to Último Dragón . Despite losing his mask twice , Takaiwa continues to make appearances as Black Tiger V . Black Tiger VI . Black Tigers sixth generation ( VI ) , Tomohiro Ishii , had the shortest run under the mask . In early 2011 , Ishii began feuding with Tiger Mask IV and , after losing his hair on January 23 , began wearing a Black Tiger mask , despite still going by his real name , which he then lost to Tiger Mask IV on February 20 at The New Beginning . Black Tiger VII . Black Tigers seventh Generation ( VII ) , referred to simply as Black Tiger , debuted during New Japans , which took place on April 14 and 15 , 2012 , and which he went on to win . Following Kazushige Nosawas May 23 arrest for smuggling cannabis , it was confirmed that he had been portraying Black Tiger . Two days later , New Japan officially pulled Tiger from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament . Nosawa has continued working as Black Tiger VII , most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling . External links . - BOTSJ tournament history