Tor Kamata

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[JerryvonKramer]

Tor Kamata was one of those travelling heels from the 60s and 70s whose career ended before national expansion and so is more or less totally forgotten by most fans.

 

He had runs in GCW (see him and Ray Stevens vs. Bob and Brad Armstong) and WWWF, where he has one really good match tagging with Bulldog Brower (awful) against Steamboat and Youngblood, and one in 1980 vs. Pat Patterson, but is probably best viewed in the international all-star scene of 1970s All Japan where he was very often an ersatz Abdullah or filled in for The Sheik. He has effective bouts against Billy Robinson, Terry Funk, Dick Murdoch, Giant Baba, and Dick Slater. Our friend in Japan has made some of this footage available.

 

In terms of his working style, think of a hybrid of the Wild Samoans and Abby, with a more martial arts slant. He's actually more agile than Abby and easily a better worker than Afa or Sika.

 

Again, if he'd come just a few years later, the crowd who are high on the Kamalas and John Tentas of this world would no doubt have nominated him already.

 

I think he was probably a more accomplished worker than Kamala, as a basis of comparison.