Akio Sato

Central States Wrestling In 1986 Sato returned to the U.S. and his old stomping grounds of the NWA Central States territory. Here he won a 14-man battle royal on March 13, 1986, to win the NWA Central States Television title, eliminating Tommy Wright last to win the title. In 1987, he would form another team with a young Hiromichi Fuyuki.

Central States Wrestling (1988–1989) After a brief stop in the Pacific Northwest, Sato made one last run with the Central States territory in its dying days. Sato became the last ever Central States heavyweight champion holding the belt when the promotion closed its doors in 1989. and continued off and on for well over a year. The Orient Express got involved in the Legion of Doom / Demolition feud because Mr. Fuji managed both teams. Demolition was being phased out and the Orient Express took on the Legion of Doom instead. The Legion of Doom / Orient Express feud was extremely onesided due to the Legion of Doom's massive size advantage.

After WrestleMania VI Tanaka and Sato only made two Pay Per View appearances while in the WWF. Firstly at SummerSlam 1990 where the team were defeated by ”Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff. Secondly as part of the Sgt. Slaughter led team “The Mercenaries” (that also included Boris Zhukov). Sato was pinned by Butch Miller 1:46 into the match and Tanaka was pinned by Tito Santana only moments later, 2:13 into the match.

When Akio Sato decided to focus on foreign markets for the WWF in the latter days of 1990, they decided to reunite the team known as Badd Company, only this time with Paul Diamond wearing a mask to hide the fact that he's not Asian and using the name of Kato. He would also wrestle a match for WAR in 1992 and took a hiatus from wrestling for a couple of years.

In 1993, Sato made an appearance at SummerSlam as Yokozuna's flag bearer prior to his match against Lex Luger. Sato did return to the WWF in late 1994 as the white faced manager "Shinja" who advised Hakushi during his heel run with the company. His last TV appearance was on the July 24, 1995, edition of Raw, when he was piledriven by Bret Hart. When Hakushi turned face, Shinja was quietly written out of the storyline.

Wrestle Association R (1995–1996) After WWF, Sato returned to Japan working mainly wrestling for Wrestle Association R. He retired in 1996

Personal life In 1976, Sato married Betty Niccoli, whom he met in Bob Geigel's promotion in the United States. The couple had two daughters. Central States Wrestling NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) NWA Central States Television Championship (1 time) NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (2 times) – with Bob Geigel (1 time), Ted Oates (1 time) Continental Wrestling Association CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Tarzan Goto Western States Sports NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Mr. Pogo (2), John Tolos (1), and Mr. Kiyomoto (1) NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)