Mitsuhiro Matsunaga

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
Birth nameMitsuhiro Matsunaga
Born (1966-03-24) March 24, 1966 (age 58)[1]
Chita, Aichi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
Billed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Billed weight231 lb (105 kg)[2]
Billed fromChita, Aichi, Japan
Trained byMasashi Aoyagi
DebutOctober 6, 1989
RetiredDecember 23, 2009

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (松永 光広, Matsunaga Mitsuhiro, born March 24, 1966) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for his deathmatch wrestling style, having competed in memorable deathmatches in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING). He is renowned for participating in the first-ever deathmatch in Japanese wrestling history on December 10, 1989[3] and is also credited for participating in a Piranha Deathmatch against Kendo Nagasaki on August 19, 1996, which has been considered to be the most popular and greatest deathmatch in Japanese wrestling history by wrestling journalists and many sports websites and Matsunaga has received critical acclaim for his performance.[4][5]

Matsunaga began his career in FMW where he specialized in the deathmatch wrestling style and adopted it as his own trademark style. He competed in many infamous deathmatches in W*ING and high-profile feuds with Mr. Pogo, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface in many successful deathmatches earned him the moniker of "Mr. Danger". After working as W*ING's ace from 1992-1993, Matsunaga left the company and returned to FMW where he headlined the successful 1993 Year End Spectacular event against Atsushi Onita. After an alliance with Onita, Matsunaga formed the W*ING Alliance to feud with FMW and avenge the demise of W*ING from FMW. Initially considered to be Onita's successor as FMW's ace, Matsunaga was demoted from his role and failed to gain prominence in FMW and ultimately quit the company in 1996. He then joined BJW and helped the promotion revolutionize in deathmatch wrestling and became a two-time Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion in the company before quitting in 2001.

  1. ^ a b "Mitsuhiro Matsunaga". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  2. ^ "Mitsuhiro Matsunaga Profile". Cagematch. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference fmwhistory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Daniel Massey. "CvC 2.0: What is the Greatest Death-Match of All Time?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  5. ^ Jerry Palleschi (May 31, 2017). "WEDNESDAY WRESTLING REVIEW: THE PIRANHA DEATH MATCH". Retrieved 2017-12-30.