Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Tsuruta participated in many sports, such as swimming, basketball, and sumo, while attending Hikawa Senior High School in Yamanashi-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture.

He won the All Japan Amateur Wrestling Championship in freestyle and Greco-Roman as a superheavyweight (at the time, an unlimited class for those weighing over 100 kilograms) in the years 1971 and 1972.

Known as "Tommy Tsuruta", he worked in several major NWA territories including Detroit, St. Louis, and Florida as well as West Texas.

[1] Some of his most notable opponents include Billy Robinson, Mil Máscaras, The Destroyer, Abdullah the Butcher, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, Jack Brisco, Harley Race, Ric Flair, Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel, Rick Martel, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Riki Choshu, Genichiro Tenryu, and Mitsuharu Misawa.

Four days after Tsuruta's retirement, he moved with his family to the United States to be a visiting researcher at the University of Portland in Oregon.