Wrestling fans love a kooky conspiracy theory, from the debate over how many people portrayed the Ultimate Warrior (answer: six), to absurd speculation about what Bret Hart spelled out with his finger at the Montreal Screwball (answer: Wow.)

One of the kookiest conspiracy theories in wrestling alleges that Lord Tensai was and is — get this — not actually Japanese! 

Absurd, right?! 

One conspiracy theorist has ranted that the wrestler “looks less like a lord named Tensai than, say, some prince named Albert.”

But if His Lordship was not truly Japanese, why would his name be Tensai (天 てん 才 さい), the Japanese word for genius? Surely that’s not just happenstance. 

Need more proof that Lord Tensai is, was, and will always be a Japanese person? 

• He has Japanese writing tattooed on his face. Would a non-Japanese feudal lord do that? 
• Tensai humble ringside attendant threw salt, which is a purification ceremony from ancient Japanese art of flab-slapping, sumo. 
• Tensai shouted “Ichiban” when delivering his sit-out choke powerbomb, which is exactly the kind of thing any fluent Japanese speaker would choose to shout in such a situation.
• It was revealed in 2012 that Lord Tensai has a team of highly trained geisha who perform his daily back-shaving ritual. 
• In 2013, Lord Tensai was summoned by his native country to join the fight against its latest giant radioactive lizard attack — their fourth that year. 
• Lord Tensai was Japan’s official spokesperson during the pandemic, and spoke in fierce opposition to public-health mandates that would restrict the spewing of green mist into a rival’s face. 

Sorry, conspiracy theorists, but when it comes to Lord Tensai — what you see is what you get. He is born and trained in Japan, where he really saw his innate skills for the mat bloom.