Early career (1970–1979) Akio Sato made his professional wrestling debut in 1970 in the
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, but left that promotion in 1972 to co-found (with
Giant Baba)
All Japan Pro Wrestling. During the middle of the 1970s, Sato went to the US and competed in various territories. He first attracted the attention of the US fans when he competed for the NWA Central States territory run by
Bob Geigel as a
face teaming with people like Jerry Oates and the Viking. On February 19, 1976 Sato teamed up with promoter Bob Geigel to win the "Central States" version of the
NWA World Tag-Team Titles. The team vacated the titles by July, most likely so that Geigel could focus on booking the territory. Sato and new partner
Pat O’Connor were unable to win the vacant titles. and
Curtis Hughes. Because Sato only toured with the AJPW and wasn't a regular, he mainly worked with the foreign talent between 1986 and 1989.
Central States Wrestling (1986) In 1986 Sato returned to the U.S. and his old stomping grounds of the
NWA Central States territory. Here he won a 14-man battle royal on March 13, 1986, to win the NWA Central States Television title, eliminating Tommy Wright last to win the title. In 1987, he would form another team with a young
Hiromichi Fuyuki.
Central States Wrestling (1988–1989) After a brief stop in the Pacific Northwest, Sato made one last run with the Central States territory in its dying days. Sato became the last ever Central States heavyweight champion holding the belt when the promotion closed its doors in 1989. and continued off and on for well over a year. The Orient Express got involved in the
Legion of Doom /
Demolition feud because Mr. Fuji managed both teams. Demolition was being phased out and the Orient Express took on the Legion of Doom instead. The Legion of Doom / Orient Express feud was extremely onesided due to the Legion of Doom's massive size advantage. After WrestleMania VI Tanaka and Sato only made two Pay Per View appearances while in the WWF. Firstly at
SummerSlam 1990 where the team were defeated by
”Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and
Nikolai Volkoff. Secondly as part of the
Sgt. Slaughter led team “The Mercenaries” (that also included
Boris Zhukov). Sato was pinned by
Butch Miller 1:46 into the match and Tanaka was pinned by
Tito Santana only moments later, 2:13 into the match. When Akio Sato decided to focus on foreign markets for the WWF in the latter days of 1990, they decided to reunite the team known as
Badd Company, only this time with Paul Diamond wearing a mask to hide the fact that he's not Asian and using the name of Kato. He would also wrestle a match for WAR in 1992 and took a hiatus from wrestling for a couple of years. In 1993, Sato made an appearance at
SummerSlam as
Yokozuna's flag bearer prior to his match against
Lex Luger. Sato did return to the WWF in late 1994 as the white faced manager "Shinja" who advised
Hakushi during his heel run with the company. His last TV appearance was on the July 24, 1995, edition of
Raw, when he was piledriven by
Bret Hart. When Hakushi turned face, Shinja was quietly written out of the storyline.
Wrestle Association R (1995–1996) After WWF, Sato returned to Japan working mainly wrestling for
Wrestle Association R. He retired in 1996 ==Personal life==