Yoshihiro Takayama Yoshihiro Takayama ( September 19 , 1966 ) is a Japan ese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist . Takayama is well known for his ability to endure massive amounts of punishment , especially after his fight at PRIDE 21 against Don Frye . He has since retired from MMA . Career . Takayama started in UWF International , but due to the focus of the promotion on star Nobuhiko Takada , he wasn ' t able to go past the mid - card level . In 1995 - 96 , with the interpromotional feuds with New Japan Pro Wrestling and WAR , he formed the " Golden Cups " stable with Yoji Anjo and Kenichi Yamamoto to compete in tag team and six - man matches . In New Japan he and Anjo assumed masks as the " 200 % Machines " to mock " Super Strong Machine " Junji Hirata . In WAR , they feuded with Gedo , Jado and Hiromichi Fuyuki . After UWFI ' s subsequent collapse , he joined Kingdom , but after it also collapsed , he joined All Japan Pro Wrestling as a free agent along with former UWFi comrade Masahito Kakihara . In the beginning , Takayama was put in a feud with Toshiaki Kawada ( against whom he had lost once in an interpromotional match before the UWFI ' s collapse ) , but as he lost matches often , he was back in the undercard . He joined former UWFI foreigner Gary Albright and native Takao Ōmori in a new version of the " Triangle of Power " stable Albright had formed with Steve Williams before he briefly went back to the United States . In 1999 , upon Shohei Baba ' s death , Mitsuharu Misawa made him and Kakihara full - time members of All Japan . Pushed as the NO FEAR team with Ōmori , Takayama found instant success , first winning the Asian tag team title from Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki and then the Double Cup from Johnny Ace and Bart Gunn . However , they were eventually defeated by the combination of Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa . In 2000 , when Misawa announced plans for his new promotion , Pro Wrestling Noah , Takayama followed him . During the first few months of Noah ' s existence , Takayama competed in the first ever GHC Heavyweight Championship tournament , but lost to Mitsuharu Misawa in the final match . He found continued success in Noah , winning the new GHC Tag Team Championship with Takao Ōmori , too . It was around 2001 that , spurred by his old UWFI comrades ' success in the PRIDE fighting circuit , decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts competition . Although defeated by Kazuyuki Fujita , he impressed " real - fight " pundits enough to warrant more fight offers . In what many PRIDE fans consider to be one of the organizations most exciting matches ever , Takayama faced Don Frye in a slugfest at PRIDE 21 , and although he lost the match , Takayama solidified his reputation as one of the toughest Japanese fighters in PRIDE . Also , his battle with Frye appeared at number one on Fox Sports Network ' s " Best Damn 50 Beatdowns " . Takayama also competed in memorable Noah matches during 2002 , winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Yoshinari Ogawa on September 7 before losing it to Mitsuharu Misawa later that month . Takayama declared free agency from Noah so he could pursue mixed martial arts , as well as matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he began challenging the top stars , such as Yuji Nagata , Masahiro Chono , and Hiroyoshi Tenzan . In 2003 and 2004 he participated in New Japan ' s annual G - 1 Climax tournament . In mid - 2004 he affiliated himself with former Pancrase wrestler Minoru Suzuki , and they won the IWGP tag team title , but he suffered a stroke later in the year following a brutal match with Kensuke Sasaki . During his time away from the ring , Takayama provided occasional colour commentary for Pro Wrestling Noah , famously saying , " I hope this never ends " during a chop exchange between Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki on the July 18 , 2005 " Destiny " show . In June 2006 , Pro Wrestling Noah announced that Takayama would return at the July 16 Nippon Budokan show , and would team with Kenta Kobashi to take on Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa . The match was later changed due to Kobashi needing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor , leading to Takayama teaming with Kensuke Sasaki against Akiyama and Misawa . However , when Kenta Kobashi returned , it would be in the same match , teaming with Yoshihiro Takayama to take on Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa . Takayama then started teaming with old UWFI comrade Takuma Sano in a tournament for the GHC Tag Team Championship vacated by Kenta Kobashi and Tamon Honda due to Kobashi ' s kidney tumor ( Takayama and Sano woud reach the final where they would lose to Mohammed Yone and Takeshi Morishima ) . On December 27 , he showed up at a Pro Wrestling ZERO1 - MAX show , attacked former partner Takao Ōmori , and promised to return at the next show . Takayama defeated Great Muta on March 14 , 2009 at Pro - Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol . 7 to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship . With this victory , Takayama became the second wrestler ( the other being Kensuke Sasaki ) to win the three major heavyweight titles in Japan : NOAH ' s GHC Championship , New Japan ' s IWGP Championship , and All Japan ' s Triple Crown Championship . Takayama held the Triple Crown for almost seven months , losing the title to Satoshi Kojima on September 26 . On January 4 , 2010 , at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Takayama to retain his IWGP Heavyweight Championship . In 2010 Takayama and Sano competed in NOAH ' s " Global Tag League " tournament and emerged the victors , however they were subsequently unable to dethrone the GHC Tag Team Champions Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone . From March 28 to May 2 , 2010 , Takayama competed in ( and eventually won ) Pro - Wrestling Noah ' s 1st ever Global League Tournament . He defeated Jun Akiyama in the final match of the tournament , finishing up with a total of 7 points . It was then announced that due to his victory , Takayama had earned a GHC Heavyweight Championship match versus Takashi Sugiura on July 10 . On September 18 , 2010 , Takayama and Takuma Sano defeated Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith to win the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship . On January 4 , 2011 , at New Japan ' s " Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome " Takayama and Sugiura defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match . Acting . Takayama has acted in small parts in several films , beginning with Muscle Heat in 2002 , and continuing with Cromartie High - The Movie and Nagurimono in 2005 . He also appeared in 2004 ' s The Calamari Wrestler , playing himself in a cameo role .