is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Originally starting his career in International Wrestling Association of Japan, where he worked under his real name, Yamada found a new home promotion in 1999 in Osaka Pro Wrestling, where he began wrestling under a mask and the ring name Black Buffalo. For most of his career in Osaka Pro, Yamada has portrayed a villainous character, having been a part of every major villainous alliance in the history of the promotion. During his first years in the promotion, Buffalo went on to become a four-time Tag Team Champion. In February 2008, Buffalo was forced to unmask and reveal his true identity, after losing a match, and afterwards began teaming with the man, who unmasked him, Tigers Mask, with two becoming two-time Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions together. Finally, in March 2012, Buffalo managed to win Osaka Pro's top title, the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. Backstage, Yamada served as the vice president of Osaka Pro Wrestling. Yamada left Osaka Pro Wrestling after the promotion went through a corporate restructuring in April 2014, shortening his ring name to .
Professional wrestling career
Debut (1993) Yamada made his professional wrestling debut on August 2, 1993, working under his real name for the Oriental Puroresu promotion. Shortly afterwards, he left the promotion to become a freelancer.
IWA Japan (1994–1999) In 1994, Yamada joined the International Wrestling Association of Japan promotion. During his years in IWA Japan, Yamada had several high-profile matches with the likes of Cactus Jack, Terry Funk and Tiger Jeet Singh, and, at the end of his run, also served as the president of the promotion. He quit the promotion in 1999.
Osaka Pro Wrestling (1999–2014) In April 1999, Yamada joined the Osaka Pro Wrestling promotion, where he began wrestling under a mask as Black Buffalo, a character inspired by the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes baseball team. He made his debut for the promotion at its first event on April 29, where he, Dick Togo and Violencia, forming the villainous alliance Legion of Violence (LOV), were defeated in a six-man tag team main event by Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa and Super Delfin. Buffalo kept teaming with Togo for the rest of the year. On November 21, Buffalo won his first title in Osaka Pro, when he defeated Super Delfin for the UWF Super Welterweight Championship, only to lose it back to him seven days later. In early 2000, LOV was joined by Daio Quallt and Policeme~n, replacing Violencia. On May 1, Buffalo and Togo defeated Super Delfin and Super Demekin in the finals to win the 1st Anniversary Tag Tournament. In September, Buffalo took part in the inaugural Tenno-zan tournament, where he made it to the semifinals, before being eliminated by Super Delfin. After Dick Togo left Osaka Pro at the end of 2000, LOV was disbanded and replaced by the new group, FLUXxx, as a member of which Buffalo formed a new tag team named Infinity with Tsubasa. After reaching the semifinals of the 2001 Osaka Tag Festival, Buffalo and Tsubasa defeated Super Delfin and Takehiro Murahama on July 21 to win the vacant Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. They would lose the title to Murahama and Kaiju Zeta Mandora on August 24. The following October's Tenno-zan saw a repeat of the previous year's tournament as Buffalo was eliminated in the semifinals by Super Delfin. On January 27, 2002, Buffalo, Tsubasa and Gamma defeated Super Delfin, Super Demekin and Takehiro Murahama to win the Trios Cup Tournament. On August 25, Buffalo and Tsubasa regained the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship by defeating the Kishiwada Gurentai (Big Boss MA-G-MA and Daio Quallt). After a five-month reign, they would lose the title to Jyushin Thunder Liger and Takehiro Murahama on February 1, 2003.
After Buffalo and Tsubasa failed to regain the title from Liger and Murahama on August 13, Buffalo turned on Tsubasa on November 15 and jumped to Big Boss MA-G-MA's Kishiwada Gurentai stable. Buffalo and Tsubasa had their big grudge match against each other on May 29, 2004, ending with Buffalo picking up the win. On December 19, Buffalo and Daio Quallt defeated Billyken Kid and Tigers Mask to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Their reign would last until February 13, 2005, when they were defeated by Billyken Kid and Perro. On April 29, Buffalo and Tsubasa reformed Infinity for one night, when they defeated Kageki Pro representatives Aztec and Kaze in a special interpromotional tag team match. After the Kishiwasa Gurentai was disbanded in the aftermath of Big Boss MA-G-MA leaving Osaka Pro, Buffalo, Hideyoshi, Masamune and Toru Owashi formed the promotion's new top villainous alliance, Buraikan, on June 25. In November, Buffalo made it to the semifinals of the Tenno-zan for the third time, but was there once again defeated by Super Delfin. On January 28, 2006, longtime babyface Billyken Kid shocked Osaka Pro by turning on Tigers Mask and the Osaka Pro Seikigun ("regular army") and taking over Buraikan, which was then renamed Vendaval, with Buffalo becoming his second-in-command. On February 26, Buffalo and BKK defeated Flash Moon and Tigers Mask to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. The two teams faced each other in a rematch on June 3 in the finals of the 2006 Tag Festival, which was won by Flash Moon and Tigers Mask. On July 15, Buffalo added another title to his résumé, when he defeated ten other men to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship. However, on July 29, Osaka Pro announced that Buffalo had suffered a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder and stripped him of both the Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team and the Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship.
After remaining inactive for the rest of 2006, Buffalo showed up in Mexico in early 2007, making his debut for AAA on February 16 as a member of La Legión Extranjera, a villainous stable of foreigners. During his stay in Mexico, Buffalo teamed with Rossy Moreno to unsuccessfully challenge Cynthia Moreno and El Oriental for the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship on March 23. After spending almost a year away from Osaka Pro, Buffalo made a surprise return to the promotion on June 30, 2007, by attacking Kuishinbo Kamen and Miracle Man, revealing himself as Bad Force leader Gaina's partner in the 2007 Tag Festival. After defeating Miracle Man and Kuishinbo Kamen in less than a minute, Buffalo and Gaina picked up their second win of the night by defeating Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada in the following match. After defeating Asian Cougar and Tsubasa in their semifinal match on July 8, Buffalo and Gaina advanced to the finals of the Tag Festival, where, on July 14, they were defeated by Tigers Mask and Billyken Kid, who had rejoined the Osaka Pro Seikigun during Buffalo's time away from the promotion. On August 25, Buffalo unsuccessfully challenged Tigers Mask for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. Buffalo kept teaming with Bad Force for the rest of the year, pinning Tigers Mask in a non-title match on October 8. On December 8, Buffalo pinned Tigers Mask again, this time in a Captain's Fall tag team match, and afterwards challenged him to a match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship. On December 22, the two men agreed to the match with the added stipulation, that the loser of the match would also be unmasked. On February 11, 2008, Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask faced each other in a Mask vs. Mask match for the Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship in the main event of Osaka Pro's biggest annual event, Osaka Hurricane. After being pinned by Tigers Mask for the win, Buffalo was forced to unmask and reveal himself as Keisuke Yamada of IWA Japan. In an out-of-character post-match speech, Yamada revealed that the real reason he had spent a year away from Osaka Pro was that he had been battling depression and alcoholism, which he had managed to overcome with Tigers Mask's support. Buffalo was then kicked out of Bad Force, which led to Tigers Mask inviting him to join the Osaka Pro Seikigun. After spending some time away from Osaka Pro, Buffalo returned to the promotion on March 29, accepting Tigers Mask's invitation. Despite being unmasked, Yamada continued performing under the Black Buffalo ring name.