Masa Saito

Masanori Saito (February 1, 1942 - July 14, 2018) was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or Masa Saito. He wrestled for several years in various promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He later joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he teamed with Mr. Fuji to hold the World Tag Team Championship twice. He also won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990. In Japan, Saito wrestled for both All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

Arrest

On April 6, 1984, Saito and Ken Patera were refused service at a McDonald's restaurant after the restaurant had closed. The two men threw a boulder through the restaurant's window in retaliation. When the police came, Saito and Patera fought with them before being arrested. As a result of the incident, Saito and Patera were convicted of battery of a peace officer and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

Later career

Following his release, Saito wrestled mainly in Japan, where he became involved in a feud with Antonio Inoki. To settle the feud, the two competed in an Island Death match on October 4, 1987. They were placed on Ganryujima Island and wrestled a match that lasted two hours and spread across the island. Ultimately, Inoki was victorious, defeating Saito by technical knockout. The following year, after leaving All Japan Pro Wrestling to return to New Japan Pro Wrestling, Saito won his first IWGP Tag Team Championship while teaming with Riki Chōshū. He followed this with a second victory the following year, this time with Shinya Hashimoto.

Saito's final major title came in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he defeated Larry Zbyszko for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in front of a hometown crowd of 63,900 fans at the Tokyo Dome on February 10, 1990. He lost the title two months later in a rematch with Zbyszko at AWA SuperClash IV. While wrestling in the AWA, Saito also formed a tag team with Jesse Ventura known as the Far East-West Connection.