Post by Taylor McKnight on Jun 14, 2009 3:30:40 GMT -5
On Saturday, June 13th at 10pm local time in Japan, the wrestling world tragically lost one its most influential and talented competitors. Mitsuharu Misawa , perhaps best known to American wrestling fans as the ever iconic Tiger Mask II, died following a back suplex that rendered him unconcious during a tag team match for NOAH.
After wrestling as Tiger Mask II from 1985-1990, Misawa unmasked to wrestle under his real name, and went on to be one of the most beloved and respected stars in the history of the sport. A leader outside the ring as well as inside, in 2000 Misawa left a top position in All Japan Pro Wrestling, to form "NOAH", taking many of AJPWs superstars along with him and thus creating what would become the most respected modern promotion in the East. MISAWA fittingingly would go on to become the first Global Honored Champion in the promotion, and in 2004 also became the GHC Tag Team Champions, along with Yoshinari Ogawa.
It was these very same championships that Misawa was fighting for on Saturday, when his life came to a tragic end at the hands of a back suplex. While this was a manuever Misawa certainly had taken thousands if not millions of times, on this night it served as a strong reminder that no matter how routine a single manuever can seem, each and every time a wrestler steps through the ropes, they risk life and limb for the sake of bringing happiness and honor to the true fans of professional wrestling.
Great Championship Wrestling and the staff at GCWACTION.COM offer sincere sadness for the loss of such an important person in our sport.
