Taka Michinoku brought the wrestlers from Michinoku Pro Wrestling in Japan to ECW in early of 1997. They had a 6-man tag team match in Webster, MA on February 14 1997 and then came back with a 6-man tag team match on ECW's first PPV, Barely Legal, on April 13 1997.
Taka then returned to ECW two years later for a handful of matches, both in singles competition as well as tagging with Yoshihiro Tajiri. His opponents in 1999 included:
- Jerry Lynn
- Mosco de la Merced
- Papi Chulo (later in then-WWF as Essa Rios)
- Spike Dudley
- Super Crazy
During the 1997-1998 period, he was in WWF and even won the company's first Light Heavyweight Championship. He then was part of the Kaientai stable. A few of the wrestlers from the ECW appearances in 1997 (Dick Togo, Great Sasuke and Terry Boy "Men's Teioh") worked with Taka during the WWF Kaientai era. Afterward, Take partnered with Funaki and received significant television time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taka_Michinoku
Taka's last match in ECW was on June 6, 1999. He then wrestled in Japan for roughly two months before returning to WWF on August 30, 1999.