The Gimmick Table: The Origin of The Great Kabuki

Brian Damage

A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality, whatever the case may be…some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not so favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.

Today we browse the gimmick of The Great Kabuki​

In the late 1970’s, while on a tour of the orient, manager/wrestler and booker Gary Hart was shopping at a market when he stumbled upon a poster featuring Kabuki dancers. The poster immediately fascinated Hart, and gave him an idea for a wrestling gimmick to incorporate what he saw. Gary Hart brainstormed the idea with booker Jim Barnett, who thought it was brilliant. Hart believed that Japanese wrestlers were severely typecast since the end of World War II with being generic heels who threw salt in an opponent’s eyes and “Pearl Harbor” attacked other wrestlers. 

Hart wanted to reimagine what a Japanese wrestler could be using the Kabuki idea. Not only that, but Hart was a big fan of Bruce Lee and felt that his gimmick could also use martial arts and nunchucks to add to the character’s mystique. The only problem was, he didn’t know of any wrestlers that could properly portray his character. Hart said it took him about 4 years to finally find the perfect wrestler to become his character. That happened when Hart’s friend Bruiser Brody knew of a Japanese wrestler on an excursion of the United States named Akihisa Takachiho. 

Akihisa ‘Takachiho’ Mera was already about a 15 year veteran of the squared circle, who was more of a journeyman with not much success. Hart sat and talked to Mera about the gimmick and Japanese culture and the two agreed to go ahead with the kabuki gimmick. Hart paid Mera about 4,000 dollars to shop and purchase all of the gear he would need to bring the kabuki character to life. Hart added a “poison green mist” to the gimmick after seeing his wife accidentally spill green food coloring while baking. Hart mixed the green food dye with mouthwash and placed it into a tightly wrapped condom. 

Mera would debut as The Great Kabuki for World Class Championship Wrestling in 1981 and become an instant sensation for the territory. So much so, that he became highly sought by other promoters across the country. The Great Kabuki was so much in demand that Gary Hart needed another wrestler to portray the gimmick when Mera was double booked. The Great Kabuki gimmick became the blueprint for many years to come and inspired booker Sandy Scott to copy that character a few years later with the Great Muta. The Kabuki gimmick still lives on in different capacities to this day.