Trivia / Nobuhiko Takada

• Follow the Leader: Although the archetype didn't take off until Takada had retired (and curiously caught more with junior wrestlers than heavyweights like Takada himself), he was still the wrestler that codified the ubiquitous combo of being handsome, wearing tights with leggers and kicking a lot. Just every Japanese company, indy or major, has at least a couple of those in its roster since.
• He Also Did:
  • To prove how popular the Generalissimo Takada act was, an anecdote tells how Nobuhiko was asked to perform it during an unrelated visit to a Japanese university, where he had originally go as a PRIDE representative to answer questions about professional fighting, and he did it to the students's amusement.
  • In addition to his wrestling and live acting career, Takada also voiced The Underminer in the Japanese dub of The Incredibles and its sequel, The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns and James "Monster" Murray in Sabotage.
• Hostility on the Set: In real life, if you are reading an interview with Enson Inoue in which he doesn't diss out Takada at all after their time together in PRIDE, it is probably apocryphal.
• Promoted Fanboy: Was a fan of Antonio Inoki before working for him.
• Real Song Theme Tune: "Training Montage" from Rocky IV.
  • In UWFI, he also used "Power And Glory" by Yngwie Malmsteen, who made it specifically for Takada. It was also included in a released in Japan only EP called “I Can't Wait” in 1994. It was included in his 2004 Instrumental Best Of Album under the title "Power And Glory - Takada’s Theme".
• What Could Have Been:
  • Takada could have appeared in the first UFC event in Japan facing Ken Shamrock, possibly in a worked match to put him over after his defeat to Rickson, but he was removed from the event when negotiations fell apart. There were also talks of a him going against Tank Abbott at another of the shows, but nothing came off it.
  • He could have returned to NJPW in 1999 to work an IWGP Heavyeight Championship feud with Kensuke Sasaki and Kazuyuki Fujita, but negotiations about the push weren't successful and Takada sticked with PRIDE.
  • He was originally going to face either Hidehiko Yoshida or Naoya Ogawa in his retirement fight before it settled down on Kiyoshi Tamura.
  • According to Dave Meltzer, he was planning on having his retirement match with PRIDE in May 2001 and if it went through, he would then try his hand at amateur wrestling and compete in the senior nationals (above 35-years-old) of that year.