Tamon Honda

**Tamon Honda** (本田 多聞, *Honda Tamon*) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler. Before his semi-retirement in 2019, he was a freelancer, and mostly worked for Pro Wrestling Noah.

## Amateur wrestling career

Tamon Honda began his amateur wrestling career in 1983, while attending Nihon University, competing in Freestyle wrestling.

### 100 kg division

In September 1983, Honda wrestled his first tournament, the World Championship, in Kiev, U.S.S.R., where he placed in seventh. Two months later, he wrestled at the Asian Championship in Tehran, Iran, where he placed first, earning him a gold medal. In 1984, he wrestled at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where he placed fifth. In May 1985, he wrestled at the World Super Championship in Tokyo, where he placed third, earning him a bronze medal. In October 1986, he wrestled in the Asian Games in Seoul, South Korea, where he placed seventh. In August 1987, he wrestled at the World Championship in Clermont-Ferrand, France, where he placed eleventh. In 1988, he returned to Seoul to wrestle at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

### 130 kg division

By 1990, Honda moved up from 100 kg to 130 kg. In September 1990, he wrestled at the Asian Games in Beijing, China, where he placed fourth. In April 1992, he wrestled the Asian Championship in Tehran, Iran, where he placed third, earning him a bronze medal. Later that year, he wrestled in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed eleventh.

## Professional wrestling career

### All Japan Pro Wrestling (1993-2000)

He almost joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1980s, but it wasn't until after he turned 30 years old that he debuted. Although he never reached the main event level many believed he would, Honda held the All Asia Tag Team Championship twice in the late 1990s.

### Pro Wrestling Noah (2000-2010)

After joining Pro Wrestling Noah, he gradually became a regular on the roster, with 2002 and 2003 seeing major progress for him. Honda left NOAH in January 2010, deciding not to sign a new contract with the promotion and become a freelancer. He still appears on occasion in the promotion.

## Family

Honda is married to a piano instructor. His father Daizaburo was a canoeist who represented Japan in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His cousin Keisuke Honda is a Japanese football player.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Dead End* (High-angle German suplex, sometimes in an avalanche variant)
	+ *Olympic Hell / Tamon's Lock* (Arm triangle choke)
	+ *Rolling Olympic Hell Special* (Arm triangle choke transitioned into a cradle)
	+ *Straight Jacket Dead End* (High-angle straight-jacket German suplex)
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Airplane Spin* (Fireman's carry spin)
	+ Diving knee drop
	+ *Facecrusher* (Running bulldog)
	+ Fireman's carry dropped into a single-knee gutbuster, sometimes after an *Airplane Spin*
	+ Headbutt, sometimes done in a diving or falling variant, or to the abdomen
	+ Lariat, sometimes done in the corner
	+ Multiple arm triangle choke variations
		- *Rolling Olympic Hell 0* (Flying)
		- *Rolling Olympic Hell IV* (Flying inverted)
		- *Rolling Olympic Hell V* (Hammerlock ura-nage followed by an)
		- *Rolling Olympic Hell VI* (Bridging)
		- *Rolling Olympic Hell VII* (Russian legsweep floated over into an)
	+ Multiple powerbomb variations
		- Sitout
		- *Tamon's Power* (Catching sit-out from a running opponent)
		- *Tamon's Power (II)* (Belly to back suplex transitioned into a standing one shoulder)
		- *Tiger Driver* (Sheerdrop double underhook sit-out)
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- *Backdrop* (High-angle belly-to-back)
		- Belly-to-back
		- *Butterfly* (Double underhook front suplex)
		- *German Hold* (Bridging German)
		- *Mountain Bomb* (Arm-trapped overhead)
	+ *Rolling Olympic Hell* (Grounded rolling fireman's carry floated over into a leg hook neck crank)
	+ *Rolling Olympic Hell II* (Grounded rolling fireman's carry floated over into a cradle)
	+ *Rolling Olympic Hell III* (Cross-legged double ankle lock)
	+ *Rolling Olympic Hell XI* (Rear arm triangle choke transitioned into a grapevine cradle)
	+ Running neckbreaker drop – adopted from Giant Baba
	+ *Standing Neck Choke* (Standing front-face neck clutch)
	+ Step-over toehold facelock – *STF*
	+ *Tamon Shooter* (Over the shoulder step-over toehold facelock)
	+ *Vader Bomb* (Corner slingshot splash) – adopted from Vader
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Amaresu no Kami-sama"** (Japanese for "God of Amateur Wrestling")
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "No Survivors" by GBH (AJPW/NOAH)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ All Asia Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jun Izumida and Masao Inoue
	+ Asunaro Cup (1996)

* **Pro Wrestling Noah**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kenta Kobashi
	+ WEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Naomichi Marufuji

* **Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards**
	+ 5 Star Match (1995) with Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Satoru Asako on June 30

## Notes

1. ↑ asahi.com 一人立つ、夢への舞台 サッカー・本田圭佑さん - 家族物語 - retrieved on February 13, 2009