Takao Yoshida

October 26, 1973 — Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Takao Yoshida better known by his ring name TAKA Michinoku is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for WWE where he had the first ever WWE Light Heavyweight Championship reign recognized by the North American promotion. Michinoku is the founder and former promoter of Kaientai Dojo, where he also wrestled until 2019. In 2019, Michinoku started another promotion, Just Tap Out. Michinoku currently appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a freelancer, where he is a member of Suzuki-gun.