Keisuke Yamada (山田 圭介, Yamada Keisuke; born July 6, 1974) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Black Buffalo (ブラックバファロー, Burakku Bafarō). 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 Buffalo (バッファロー, Baffarō).
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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.
Freelancing and Makai (2014–present)
On April 22, 2014, Yamada announced that in the future he would be working under a new mask with the shortened ring name Buffalo. Yamada also started working for the Tottori Darazu Puroresu promotion under the ring name Inaba no Buffalo ("Buffalo of Inaba"). On September 10, Buffalo returned to Pro Wrestling Noah to take part in an Osaka Pro Wrestling alumni tag team match, where he and Atsushi Maruyama, the former Tigers Mask, were defeated by Daisuke Harada and Quiet Storm. On February 16, 2015, Buffalo put his mask on the line in a VKF Championship match against Yoshiaki Yago. Buffalo won the match, retaining his mask and becoming the new champion. On February 28, Buffalo and Tsubasa, the reformed Infinity tag team, defeated Hayata and Tadasuke to capture the Dove-Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship. On March 23, Buffalo and Yuya Susumu defeated Gentaro and Kenichiro Arai to win Pro Wrestling Freedoms' King of Freedom World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Kamui and Mammoth Sasaki on May 1. On June 7, Buffalo made his debut for Wrestle-1, teaming with Jay Freddie in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Seiki Yoshioka and Yasufumi Nakanoue. In December, Buffalo started working for women's wrestling promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu as a member of Syuri's Narcissist-gun stable. By 2017, Buffalo had ended his freelancing days by signing with the Makai company, which presents shows combining music, theater and wrestling.
Championships and accomplishments
Dove Pro-Wrestling
Dove Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tsubasa
Dove Pro Tag Team Title Tournament (2014-2015) – with Tsubasa
Dramatic Dream Team/DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (4 times)
Itabashi Singles Tournament (1999)
International Wrestling Association of Japan
IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Osaka Pro Wrestling
Interim Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tigers Mask
Osaka Pro Wrestling Championship (1 time)
Osaka Pro Wrestling Battle Royal Championship (1 time)
Osaka Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Tsubasa (2), Daio Quallt (1), Billyken Kid (1), and Tigers Mask (2)
UWF Super Welterweight Championship (1 time)
1st Anniversary Tag Tournament (2000) – with Dick Togo
Osaka Mixed Pancake Tournament (2002) – with Tsubasa and Tsubasa Kuragaki
Osaka Pro Wrestling 12th Anniversary Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2011) – with Naoki Setoguchi and Tigers Mask