10 best retired wrestlers you have never heard of

#3 Akira Taue

He might not look like much, but Taue was a very good wrestler in his prime.

If AJPW’s Four Pillars of Heaven were akin to the Beatles, Akira Taue was its version of George Harrison: he was good, just less of a star when compared to his more famous co-workers.

But Taue was a great and underrated wrestler nonetheless. The former sumo wrestler was a master of ring psychology and storytelling and acted as the perfect villain in many outstanding matches during the 1990s.

Taue was also a tag team specialist, winning AJPW’s World Tag Team a record 7 times, six of which were with famous partner Toshiaki Kawada. Together, Taue and Kawada (known collectively as the Holy Demon Army), dominated AJPW’s tag team division.

By the time he had retired, Taue had won several championships and 14 5-star matches, 10 of which were in tag matches with Kawada. Talk about a perfect tag team.