Takamikuni Daikichi

Takamikuni Daikichi - 高見州 大吉 (born June 14, 1969) is a former American professional sumo wrestler from Laie, Oahu, Hawaii. He made his debut in March 1987 and wrestled for Azumazeki stable. His highest rank was makushita 2 and he retired in July 1989.

## **Early Life**

Taylor Wily was born Teila Tuli on June 14, 1969, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Laie, Hawaii. He attended Kahuku High & Intermediate School during his freshman and sophomore year of high school and played on the school's football team as an offensive tackle. Already weighing 400 pounds (181 kg), he was the heaviest high school football player in the state of Hawaii at the time.

After his sophomore year he transferred to Farrington High School to continue his high school football career. During his time in high school, he had been approached multiple times by former sekiwake Takamiyama Daigoro, another Hawaiian, to join professional sumo. Wily had dabbled in sumo already in junior high school and decided to join Takamiyama's Azumazeki stable after graduating from high school.

## **Career**

Wily made his professional debut in March 1987 and was given the shikona of "Takamikuni" (高見州). He was unbeaten in his first 14 official bouts, winning two consecutive yusho 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 Taro, 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. In March 1989 Takamikuni reached his highest ever rank of makushita 2, and even fought two bouts with elite juryo ranked wrestlers (one of whom, Toryu 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.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Professional Wrestling Career**

Takamikuni became a professional wrestler for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in 1990, joining Tatsumi Fujinami's "Dragon Bomber" unit with Takashi Iizuka and Nankairyu, but soon left after no success in the business.

### **MMA Career**

He competed as Teila Tuli in the first bout of the UFC 1 in November 1993, held in Denver, Colorado. It was shown on pay-per-view. Despite heavily outweighing his opponent, he lost to Gerard Gordeau, the match being stopped after Tuli was kicked in the face causing the loss of a tooth. This was Tuli's only MMA fight. The match has been described as one of the top five David and Goliath match-ups in MMA history.

### **Acting Career**

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.

## **Personal Life**

* Taylor Wily attended Dixie State University and Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
* He is of Samoan descent.

## **Fighting Style**

Takamikuni was an oshi-sumo wrestler who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi. Takimikuni was in sumo before kimarite for lower division matches were recorded so it is unknown what his most common kimarite was.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 57-27-14/84 (15 basho)
* **Makushita:** 30-19-14/49 (9 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 13-8/21 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 1988)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (July 1987)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (May 1987)

### **Achievements**

* **1st** foreign rikishi to win a makushita yusho

## **Shikona History**

* Takamikuni Daikichi - 1987.03 - 1989.07

## **Gallery**

Takamikuni participates at a Hawaii sumo tournament (c. 1983)Takamikuni gets recruited into Azumazeki stable (c. 1987)Takamikuni (right) converses with stablemate Takamio (c. 1987)Takamikuni during his time in maezumo (c. 1987)Takamikuni prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1987)Takamikuni defeats future ozeki Takanonami (c. 1987)Takamikuni after winning the jonokuchi yusho (c. 1987)Konishiki congratulates Takamikuni after jonokuchi yusho (c. 1987)Takamikuni after winning the jonidan yusho (c. 1987)Takamikuni is congratulated by his stablemaster (c. 1988)Takamikuni after winning the makushita yusho (c. 1988)Takamikuni and ozeki Konishiki
(c. 1989)Taylor Wily after his loss at UFC 1
(c. 1993)Taylor Wily becomes a successful actor (c. 2012)Takamishu with his stable master, the former Takamiyama (c. 2013)
## **See Also**

* List of American Sumo Wrestlers
* List of Heaviest Sumo Wrestlers

## **Sources**

* Takamikuni Daikichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Takamikuni Daikichi English Wikipedia Article
* Takamikuni Daikichi Rikishi Information
* Honolulu Advertiser, *Farrington's Wily to carry his weight into the sumo ring* by Ferd Lewis