Mitsuharu Misawa

Mitsuharu Misawa
Misawa in May 2009
Birth nameMitsuharu Kotake
Born(1962-06-18)June 18, 1962[1]
Yūbari, Hokkaido, Japan
DiedJune 13, 2009(2009-06-13) (aged 46)[1]
Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan[1]
Cause of deathAtlanto-axial dislocation[2]
Spouse(s)
Mayumi Misawa
​
(m. 1988)​
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
Billed height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Billed weight110 kg (240 lb)[1]
Billed fromSaitama, Japan
Trained by
DebutAugust 21, 1981[1]
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Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu, June 18, 1962 – June 13, 2009) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his 18-year stint with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and for forming Pro Wrestling Noah in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue, who came to be nicknamed AJPW's "Four Pillars of Heaven",[7][nb 1] and whose matches developed the ōdō (王道, "King's Road") style of puroresu and received significant critical acclaim.[9] Despite never working in the United States during the 1990s, Misawa had a significant stylistic influence upon independent wrestling,[10] through the popularity of his work among tape-traders worldwide including the United States,[11] the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

Debuting in 1981, Misawa became the second incarnation of the Tiger Mask gimmick in 1984, which he wrestled as, through to the decade's end. After the departure of Genichiro Tenryu, Misawa unmasked mid-match in May 1990 and began a rivalry with company ace Jumbo Tsuruta. Misawa's victory over Tsuruta on June 8, 1990, led AJPW to sell out every Tokyo event they held into early 1996,[2] and as Tsuruta receded from the main event due to hepatitis, Misawa was cemented as AJPW's ace when he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship from Stan Hansen in August 1992 and held it for the longest reign in the title's history. Misawa remained atop the company throughout the 1990s, and following the death of president Giant Baba in 1999, Misawa inherited his position, but conflicts with widow and majority shareholder[12] Motoko Baba led to his removal in May 2000. After this, Misawa led a mass exodus of the promotion's talent to form Noah.[13] Noah was successful in the first half of the decade, but as business declined and top star Kobashi left in 2006 for cancer treatment, Misawa continued to work a full-time schedule, despite mounting injuries,[6][14] for the company's survival.[2] On June 13, 2009, during a tag match in Hiroshima with Go Shiozaki against Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith, Misawa accidentally died after a botched belly-to-back suplex from Saito; his death was attributed to his numerous injuries that he had received for years before his death.

Misawa is regarded by some as the greatest professional wrestler of all time.[15] The physical demands and consequences of the style in which he worked and the circumstances of his death, however, have made his legacy, or at least that of ōdō, somewhat problematic.[16][17] Misawa was an eight-time world champion, having won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship five times and the GHC Heavyweight Championship (which he was the inaugural holder of) three times. He was also an eight-time world tag team champion. Fifty-three of the sixty-nine events at the Nippon Budokan that Misawa headlined were sellouts,[2] a drawing record that has been compared to Bruno Sammartino's run at Madison Square Garden.[18] Misawa was named Wrestler of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter on three occasions (1995, 1997 and 1999), and at the time of his death held the record for most WON five star matches, with 25, including one as Tiger Mask. His match with Kawada on June 3, 1994, has been cited as one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time.[11]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "三沢 光晴 (Mitsuharu Misawa) (profile)" (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling NOAH. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e Meltzer, Dave (June 22, 2009). "Misawa tragic death, UFC 99, Trump angle, TripleMania, Sylvia". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. ISSN 1083-9593. Retrieved December 21, 2019.(subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c Meltzer, Dave (July 1, 2009). "Part II of Misawa bio, big match history, news updates on TNA, WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.(subscription required)
  4. ^ a b c Schramm, Chris (June 13, 2009). "Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa dies in the ring". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  5. ^ Meltzer, Dave (May 13, 2002). "Career of Lou Thesz, WWF becomes WWE, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. ISSN 1083-9593. Retrieved January 11, 2020.(subscription required)
  6. ^ a b Schramm, Chris. "Funk Jr. & Dibiase remember Misawa as a trainee, foe and friend". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Podgorski, Alexander (July 17, 2017). "All Japan's Four Pillars of Heaven set the standard". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  8. ^ Charlton 2018.
  9. ^ Lindsay, Mat (August 15, 2016). "King's Road: The Rise and Fall of All Japan Pro Wrestling – Part 1". VultureHound. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  10. ^ "Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Remembers Mitsuharu Misawa". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Livingston, Tim (June 3, 2019). "Misawa vs. Kawada: 25 Years Later: How The Greatest Match Of All Time Endures". Fightful. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Meltzer, Dave (April 23, 2018). "Former AJPW owner Motoko Baba passes away at 78". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Japanese Wrestling Legend dies after Suplex move". The News Chronicle. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on November 12, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  14. ^ "神様が用意してくれた三沢さんとの最後のお別れ" [The Last Farewell to Misawa]. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 13, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  15. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 4, 2010). "HUGE 2009 BIZ YEAR IN REVIEW, BRET TO WWE, RUSSO/HOGAN SWERVE, MORE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 28, 2020.(subscription required)
  16. ^ Lindsay, Mat (August 21, 2016). "King's Road: The Rise and Fall of All Japan Pro Wrestling – Part 2". VultureHound. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  17. ^ Meltzer, Dave (June 17, 2019). "SCARY INCIDENTS IN THE RING, NJPW DOMINION REVIEW, MORE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 28, 2020.(subscription required)
  18. ^ Bogard, Guy (December 25, 2016). "TOP 5 LIST: The Top Five Native Stars in All Japan Pro Wrestling history from Kawada to Baba". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 29, 2019.


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