Poison Julie Sawada
| Poison Sawada Julie | |
|---|---|
Sawada in January 2012 | |
| Birth name | Atsuo Sawada |
| Born | February 5, 1964 Chūō, Tokyo, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names |
|
| Billed height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Billed weight | 90 kg (200 lb) |
| Trained by | |
| Debut | June 1988 |
| Retired | November 25, 2012 |
Atsuo Sawada (澤田 篤男, Sawada Atsuo; born February 5, 1964) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Dramatic Dream Team (today DDT Pro-Wrestling) under the ring names Poison Sawada Julie (ポイズン澤田JULIE, Poizun Sawada Jurī) and Poison Julie Sawada (ポイズンJULIE澤田, Poizun Jurī Sawada) among others. He is a former two-time KO-D Openweight Champion, nine-time and inaugural Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, two-time Jiyūgaoka 6-Person Tag Team Champion and one-time KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champion. He is also the winner of the 2004 King of DDT Tournament.
Sawada's best-known gimmick is that of a human serpent (蛇人間, hebi ningen), having suffered from venom during a match which made him possessed by a serpent god, giving him the ability to control his opponents' minds by waving two fingers at them while the audience mimics the sound of a rattlesnake. Sawada also used a poison mist that would turn its victims into a snake-like version of themselves, controlled by Sawada. This change in allegiance would be reflected in a change in their ring name, which often included a play on words involving the kanji 蛇 (ja; "snake") or some other snake-based pun, such as Mitsuya Nagai becoming Mitsuya Jagai (蛇が井満也, Jagai Mitsuya) or Mikami becoming Mijami.