Takao Omori

Real Name - Takao Omori

Birthdate - 10/16/69

6'2" 242 lbs. - Tokyo, Japan

Athletic Background - Football

Teacher(s) - Animal Hamaguchi; Dory Funk Jr. (All Japan Dojo)

Professional Background - AJPW(`92-`00), NOAH(`00-`02), Zero-One(`01), Indies(`02-), WJ(`03-`04), Zero-One(`03-`08), All Japan(`04), New Japan(`06-`12), Smash(`10-`11), AJPW(`10-)

Aliases - Omori, X

Groups - TEAM NO FEAR, Axe Bombers, Axe

Peak Years - n/a

Finisher(s) - 

- Axe Bomber

- Axe Guillotine Driver / Axe Grinder (Back-to-Belly Tombstone)

- Wild Express (Axe Bomber & Enzui Axe Bomber Barrage)

- Flying Elbowdrop

Favorites -

- Flying Kneedrop

- Sitting Full Nelson Slam

- Release German Suplex

- Spin Wheel Kick

- European Uppercutt

Ringwork Rating - 

Intangibles Rating - 

Place in History - In the late 1990s, Takao Omori was emerging was one of the potential future stars for All Japan Pro-Wrestling.  He was paired up with Jun Akiyama, who was at a similar level, but it was his later pairing with former UWFi wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama that really moved his career forward.  The two, known as Team NO FEAR, were pushed hard and became the only tag team to hold the All-Asian and Double Tag titles.  As a single, Omori was pushed to the finals of the 2000 Champion Carnival.  He seemed poised for big things when the most of wrestlers left All Japan to form NOAH.  He and Takayama showed up with bleached blond hair and they were hugely over.  After a falling out of favor with Mitsuharu Misawa early on, Omori never really emerged as the top star that he should have been.  Team NO FEAR won the GHC Tag titles, but it was short run and an uneventful end to the popular tag team.  Omori continually tried to find a place in Riki Choshu’s World Japan, in Shinjiro Otani’s Zero1-MAX and later the recovering New Japan.  He did have some opportunities feuding with Masato Tanaka, Steve Corino, Hiroshi Tanahashi and wrestling many top stars in “dream matches.” Omori worked best in tag teams.  Some like his Akiyama and Takayama teams are fondly remembered, but his pairings with Manabu Nakanishi and Manabu Soya were successful in their own ways.  In 2011, Takao Omori, in his forties and semi-retired, re-joined All Japan.  The company had once been arguably the greatest in Japan, if not the world, but had struggled since the NOAH split.  Keiji Muto left with key talent that was quickly replaced by Jun Akiyama and talent from NOAH.  Akiyama and Omori were regular partners and opponents as All Japan enjoyed a resurgence of sorts.  Although Omori is not remembered with the upper echelon of Japanese heavyweights, he was always able to hang with them and not seem inferior.  Unfortunately, his departure from NOAH before becoming a full-fledged top star proved to hobble his progress for years.  In the past few years, Takao Omori, the grumpy veteran, has found a comfortable place in All Japan.