Mitsuharu Misawa
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was a Japanese
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
and
professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
(AJPW), and also for forming the
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside
Toshiaki Kawada (born December 8, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), whom he worked for from his debut in 1982 up until 2008. In All Japan, he was a 5 time Triple Crown Heavyweight ...
,
Kenta Kobashi is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Cham ...
, and
Akira Taue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is also a former All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and has had fourteen 5 Star Matches as awarded by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. ...
, who came to be nicknamed AJPW's " Four Pillars of Heaven", and whose matches developed the '' ōdō'' (, "King's Road") style of
puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's ac ...
and received significant critical acclaim. Despite never working in the United States during the 1990s, Misawa had significant stylistic influence upon American independent wrestling, through the popularity of his work among tape-traders in the country. Misawa is regarded by some as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. However, the physical demands and consequences of the style in which he worked and the circumstances of his death have made his legacy, or at least that of ''ōdō'', somewhat problematic. Debuting in 1981, Misawa became the second incarnation of the
Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...
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 An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...
. Misawa's victory over Tsuruta on June 8, 1990 led AJPW to sell out every Tokyo event they held into early 1996, and as Tsuruta receded from the main event due to
hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
, Misawa was cemented as AJPW's ace when he won the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championsh ...
from
Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...
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 , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...
in 1999, Misawa inherited his position, but conflicts with widow and majority shareholder Motoko Baba led to his removal in May 2000. After this, Misawa led a mass exodus of the promotion's talent to form Noah. 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, for the company's survival. On June 13, 2009, during a tag match in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
with
Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...
against
Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi ...
and
Bison Smith Mark Smith (September 24, 1973 – November 22, 2011) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bison Smith. He's best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan; and World Wrestling Council and Int ...
, Misawa died after a
belly-to-back suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featur ...
from Saito. Misawa was an eight-time
world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, having won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship five times and the
GHC Heavyweight Championship The is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the Pro Wrestling Noah brand division. It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alo ...
(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 The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...
that Misawa headlined were sellouts, a drawing record that has been compared to
Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...
's run at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
. Misawa was named Wrestler of the Year by the ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...
'' on three occasions (1995, 1997 and 1999), and holds the record for most ''WON'' five star matches, with 24. He is also one of the eleven wrestlers to have been awarded a six-star rating by the publication, for his match with Kawada on June 3, 1994, which has been specifically cited as one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time.


Early life

Misawa was born in Yūbari,
Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...
, but the family moved to
Koshigaya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 345,353 in 158,022 households and a population density of 5700 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is famous for producing daruma dolls ...
, Saitama as the coal mine where his father worked declined. Misawa had an older brother, who was favored by his father. According to Misawa, his father was violent towards his mother, and once stabbed her with a kitchen knife; they divorced during his first year of elementary school. Misawa won a long jump competition held by Koshigaya in elementary school, and joined the gymnastics club in junior high.


Amateur wrestling

Misawa was a fan of professional wrestling, especially AJPW, from an early age, and his first favorite wrestler was Horst Hoffman. (Hoffman's emerald green trunks would later be emulated by Misawa.) Misawa had wanted to pursue a vocation as a professional wrestler since he was 12, and planned to do so after completing junior high, but his mother and teacher persuaded him to continue his studies so that he could attend a school with a good amateur wrestling program. Misawa attended the high school at the
Ashikaga Institute of Technology is a private university in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of J ...
in Tochigi on a scholarship, alongside Toshiaki Kawada, who was a year below him. He wanted to drop out in his second year to begin training, but during an encounter with
Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...
, the latter convinced Misawa to complete high school education, and to concentrate on
amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...
if he was serious about professional wrestling. Wrestling at 187 pounds, Misawa won the national high school championship in 1980, and in the same year he placed fifth at the freestyle World Championships, competing in the junior age group. Despite his success, Misawa disliked amateur wrestling, and only saw it as a means to an end for a career in professional wrestling.


Professional wrestling career


All Japan Pro Wrestling (1981-2000)


Debut and early years (1981–1984)

Misawa entered the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) training camp in March 1981, and was trained mainly by
Kazuharu Sonoda also known under the ring names and , was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was a former NWA Western States Tag Team Champion, NWA/WWC North American Tag Team Champion with Mitsu Ishikawa and the WCCW All Asia Tag Team Championship with t ...
and Akihisa Takachihō, though he also received training from Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer, Shohei Baba,
Dory Funk Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter ...
, and eventually
Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...
. He made his professional debut on August 21, 1981, where he lost against
Shiro Koshinaka is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Career ...
in an outdoor show in Urawa. After losing his first seventeen consecutive matches, Misawa had his first win on October 9 in a tag match with
Mitsuo Momota (born September 21, 1948) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and executive, known for his work in the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and later in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is the son of wrestler Rikidōzan. Career Japan Wres ...
against
Hiromichi Fuyuki (May 11, 1960 – March 19, 2003) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter better known by his ring name best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), ...
and Nobuyoshi Sugawara, and won his first singles match against Sugawara four nights later. In April 1983, Baba held a
round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...
for AJPW's lower-ranked wrestlers called the Lou Thesz Cup, and Misawa entered the tournament alongside Koshinaka, Fuyuki, Mitsuo and brother
Yoshihiro Momota (March 15, 1946 – November 22, 2000) was a professional wrestler and a former ring announcer, known for his tenure in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was the son of wrestler Rikidozan and the older brother of Mitsuo Momota. Career On October 21, ...
, Sugawara, Kawada, and
Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...
. Misawa reached the finals, and on April 22 in the
Nakajima Sports Center The was a multi-purpose event facility located in Nakajima Park in Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It was built in 1954 for the National Sports Festival of Japan. A concert by the rock band Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenom ...
, Misawa made his televised debut in the final match for the Lou Thesz Cup (which Thesz himself refereed), again wrestling Koshinaka to a loss. Baba had intended to send the tournament winner on a foreign excursion, but while Misawa lost the match, he was perceived as the superior talent, despite Koshinaka being three years his senior, so Baba decided to send them both. Misawa had his first title match on May 20, when he and Koshinaka unsuccessfully challenged Mighty Inoue and
Ashura Hara (January 8, 1947April 28, 2015) was a Japanese rugby player and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . Rugby career Susumu Hara began his rugby career in high school, playing for the Agricultural High School in the Isahaya regi ...
for the attende. Misawa and Koshinaka arrived in Mexico on March 16, 1984, where they wrestled for
EMLL Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a '' lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Me ...
as a tag team under the names Samurai Shiro and the Kamikaze (or Kamikaze Misawa). Misawa improved his aerial skills under the guidance of
La Fiera Arturo Casco Hernández (March 17, 1961 – September 12, 2010) was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name La Fiera, which is Spanish for "The Wild Beast". Hernández was a second-generation wrestler, fo ...
, and on April 5, Misawa had his first major singles championship match, headlining
Arena México Arena México is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico, located in the Colonia Doctores neighborhood in the Cuauhtémoc borough. The arena is primarily used for professional wrestling, or ''lucha libre'', shows promoted by Consejo Mundial de Luc ...
and wrestling NWA World Middleweight champion
El Satánico Daniel López López (born October 26, 1949) is a Mexican '' luchador'' (professional wrestler) and trainer, best known under the ring name El Satánico (Spanish for "The Satanic One"). He was originally an ''enmascarado'' (masked wrestler), but ...
to a loss. This excursion was meant to last one year, but Baba called Misawa and asked him if he could "jump from the corner post", and when Misawa replied that he could, he was called back.


Tiger Mask and unmasking (1984–1990)

For the rest of the decade, and into spring 1990, Misawa wrestled as the second generation
Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...
, succeeding Satoru Sayama, as Baba purchased the rights to the character's likeness from ''
Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...
''
mangaka A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...
Ikki Kajiwara , known by the pen names and , was a Japanese author, manga writer, and film producer. He is known for the work about sports and martial arts, with images of heroic young men with the occasional fine details as he moves from one topic to anoth ...
. Misawa debuted as the character at a July 31 show in the
Kuramae Kokugikan was a building situated in the Kuramae neighborhood of Taitō, Tokyo which was built by the Japan Sumo Association and opened in 1954. Its construction was decided to replace the old bomb-damaged Ryogoku Kokugikan. It closed its doors in 1984 ...
, and in his first match he defeated La Fiera at the sold-out Denen Coliseum on August 26. Misawa would notably work with
Jerry Estrada Jerry Estrada (full name, Gerardo Hernández Estrada; born January 10, 1958, Monclova, Coahuila) is a semi-retired Mexican people, Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (professional wrestler). For most of his career, he has portrayed a ''rudo'' (H ...
and Pirata Morgan over the rest of the year. In 1985, Baba would bring in top junior-heavyweight talents and high flyers to further establish the new Tiger Mask, including the
Dynamite Kid Thomas Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), ...
and
Kuniaki Kobayashi Kuniaki Kobayashi (小林邦昭) (born January 11, 1956) is a retired Japanese Junior Heavyweight professional wrestler most notable for being the generational rival of the famous Tiger Mask character in Japanese pro wrestling. He wrestled nume ...
, the premier rivals of the original. While he was Sayama's most notable rival during his time as Tiger Mask, the Dynamite Kid had signed with the WWF by this time, so Kobayashi became Misawa's most notable feud in this period. Their first match on February 1 ended in double disqualification, when Kobayashi ripped up Misawa's mask and busted him open by running him into the ring post. A rematch at Sumo Hall on March 9 ended in double count-out. On June 21, in his first match at
Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...
, Misawa unsuccessfully challenged Kobayashi for the
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, St ...
in a match rated the best of the year by the readers of the ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...
''. Misawa blew out his knee before the match, and still delivered a "great performance" in what wrestling journalist and historian
Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...
called "the best match of the Tiger Mask era", but he would require surgery afterward. The aerial style which Misawa had been made to adopt under the Tiger Mask II gimmick strained his knees. According to
Masanobu Fuchi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is also a director and the co-head booker. Fuchi has exclusively worked for All Japan since his debut in 1974, and holds the record for the longest ...
, Misawa was actually more interested in working a ground-based style, and years later, he would comment that it was more difficult to elicit crowd reaction when working under the hood. Nonetheless, since the audience expected the superhuman from the Tiger Mask character, crowds were more difficult to impress during this period than they were after his unmasking. Upon his return, the Tiger Mask-Kobayashi program culminated on August 31 when Misawa won the title from Kobayashi in a rematch, with a variation of the tiger suplex wherein one of Misawa's hands was used to put Kobayashi in a
half nelson A nelson hold is a grappling hold which is executed by one person from behind the opponent, generally when both are on the mat face down with the opponent under the aggressor. One or both arms are used to encircle the opponent's arm under the armpi ...
before lifting him; this would become known as the '' Tiger Suplex '85''. After a successful defense in
Aizuwakamatsu is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 118,159 in 50,365 households, and a population density of 310 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Aizuwakamatsu is located in the west ...
against
Chavo Guerrero Sr. Salvador Guerrero Llanes (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017), better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for ...
on October 28, Baba graduated Misawa to the heavyweight class due to his knee problems, and the championship was vacated in March 1986. While he did not stop performing aerial maneuvers, Misawa would use them more sparingly going forward. On April 19, 1986, Misawa and Baba participated in the
Crockett Cup The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (also known simply as the Crockett Cup) is a professional wrestling event produced every April by the professional wrestling promotion, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The event features a ...
, a single-elimination tag team tournament held at the
Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
. They reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual second-place team
Ronnie Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federati ...
and
Magnum T. A. Terry Wayne Allen (born June 11, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Magnum T. A. Allen won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship twice and was being groomed for a potential run with the N ...
The next day, Misawa was taken to the AWA's
WrestleRock 86 WrestleRock was a professional wrestling supercard event promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In June 2016 the event was added to the WWE Network. Background The event was held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapoli ...
event by
Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...
, where he defeated
Buck Zumhofe Eugene Otto "Buck" Zumhofe (born March 21, 1951) is a convicted sex offender and former American professional wrestler better known as "The King of Rock n' Roll" Buck Zumhofe. In 2014, Zumhofe was sentenced to 25 years in prison for criminal sex ...
. Misawa entered his first
World's Strongest Tag Determination League __NOTOC__ The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually ...
(WSTDL) in 1986 alongside Baba, where his role was to lose pinfalls when they faced that year's star teams. The pair would tie for sixth place with three wins, three losses, and one double count-out. The next March, Misawa was defeated in his only match against then- NWA champion
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
. Misawa transitioned into being Tsuruta's occasional tag partner as Tsuruta's feud with Genichiro Tenryu became AJPW's main program. On July 3, Misawa and Tsuruta won the
PWF World Tag Team Championship The Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling, created in 1984. It was unified with the NWA International Tag Team Championship in 1988, to create ...
from
Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...
and
Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...
by count-out, which they held for eight days before dropping them back to the previous champions. In what was then "the biggest singles win of his career", according to Meltzer, Misawa pinned DiBiase on July 19. For the 1987 WSTDL, Misawa entered alongside Shinichi Nakano, and the two tied for eighth place, with three wins, seven losses, and one double count-out. On the
undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
of the WSTDL final, Misawa faced Kawada for the first time inside the Budokan, in the context of a tag match pitting himself and
Takashi Ishikawa is a former professional wrestler and sumo wrestler from Fujishima, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Sumo wrestling career He played baseball up to junior high school, but at Sakata Minami High School he switched to sumo an ...
against Kawada and Fuyuki, and he pinned Kawada with a Tiger suplex. On AJPW's first event of 1988, Misawa wrestled an AWA World Heavyweight Championship match against
Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE) ...
. Misawa won by
countout Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
, but the title did not change hands. This was very controversial at the time, since titles frequently changed hands via countout in Japan. For that year's WSTDL, Misawa teamed with
Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...
, where they tied for seventh place with seven points. In a tag match held during the League but not towards it, Misawa had his first match against Kenta Kobashi (teaming with Ishikawa) on November 24, which he and Snuka won. On March 8, 1989, in the penultimate match of a card at the Nippon Budokan, Misawa received an NWA title shot against
Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...
, which he lost. He ruptured his left
Anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
during the match, and was inactive for the rest of 1989. Misawa returned after his injury by participating in a main-event battle royal at
Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...
in Tokyo on January 2, 1990, the first date of AJPW's New Year Giant Series. On February 10, Misawa would wrestle for the first time inside the
Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...
, though not in an AJPW event. NJPW president
Seiji Sakaguchi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and judoka, Sakaguchi holds a 7th dan red and white belt in Judo. Sakaguchi was a mainstay of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the Nati ...
asked Baba to help the company with their second Tokyo Dome show after plans with
WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...
fell through, and he agreed under the condition that the AJPW wrestlers would not be beaten or made to look weak. Misawa teamed with Genichiro Tenryu in a victory by countout against
George Takano , born June 23, 1958, is an American-Japanese retired professional wrestler better known under the ring name . He was also billed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona. He worked for various Japanese and American wres ...
and
Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestle ...
, in an event that sold out the Tokyo Dome with 53,000 people in attendance (the day after
Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas, billed as ''Tyson is Back!'', was a professional boxing match that occurred at the Tokyo Dome on February 11, 1990. The then-undefeated, Undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson lost by ...
drew 30,000 people). Despite the event's success, Misawa's match was never broadcast on television, since performers' contracts included exclusivity clauses to the television networks which broadcast their respective promotions' programming. On April 9, Misawa and
Kenta Kobashi is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Cham ...
won the
All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...
from
the Can-Am Express The Can-Am Express was a professional wrestling tag team comprising Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat/Phil LaFon who wrestled in promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Universal Wrestling Association ...
, and four days later, Misawa wrestled
Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling back ...
to a time-limit draw at the WWF/NJPW/AJPW Supershow in the Dome. Later that month, top star Genichiro Tenryu abruptly departed AJPW. He disagreed with Baba's creative direction, especially the booker's resistance to
shootfighting Shootfighting is a martial art and combat sport, with competitions governed by the International Shootfighting Association (ISFA). It incorporates techniques from a multitude of traditional martial arts, the most principal of these being wrestli ...
influence on the All Japan product. Tenryu received a lucrative offer from Hachiro Tanaka, executive of eyewear company Megane Super, who had been interested in building his own wrestling promotion (and had almost signed
Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and N ...
instead, but was blocked by Sakaguchi). This was initially under the auspices of becoming an ambassador for the brand, but the actual intentions of this deal were made clear months later by the formation of wrestling promotion
Super World of Sports Super World of Sports, more commonly known as SWS, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1990 to 1992. Its motto was "Straight and Strong". History Formation In April 1990, Genichiro Tenryu, one of the top stars of All Japan Pro Wr ...
(and a resultant exodus of talent in its wake). Since this departure left
Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...
as the only native main event star that the promotion had, Baba made the decision to turn Misawa into his new rising star. During a tag match with Kawada against
Yoshiaki Yatsu Yoshiaki Yatsu (谷津嘉章 ''Yatsu Yoshiaki'', born July 19, 1956) is a Japanese professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is known for being one-half of the first-ever All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Champi ...
and Samson Fuyuki (both of whom would later join SWS) on May 14, Misawa commanded Kawada to unmask him, and thus abandoned the Tiger Mask gimmick. After winning the match, Misawa challenged his "childhood hero" Tsuruta to a singles match. After a successful defense of the All Asia Tag Team Championship against
Davey Boy Smith David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
and
Johnny Smith Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote "Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life During the Great D ...
, Misawa and Kobashi vacated the titles, foreshadowing Misawa's main-event
push Push may refer to: Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010 Songs * "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...
.


Feud with Jumbo Tsuruta and first Triple Crown victory (1990–1993)

The tour built up to the Misawa-Tsuruta match through a series of six-man tags in which Misawa and fellow young stars, later to be known under the faction name of the Super Generation Army (, ''Chosedaigun''), wrestled Tsuruta's stable. During the third of these matches, at Korakuen Hall on May 26, Tsuruta bullied Misawa's partners, Kobashi and
Akira Taue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is also a former All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and has had fourteen 5 Star Matches as awarded by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. ...
, by knocking them off the apron unprovoked. However, when he tapped the active Misawa's shoulder minutes later, Misawa retaliated with an elbow strike that downed Tsuruta for several minutes. On June 8, Misawa would face Tsuruta for the main event at Budokan. Baba was convinced in consultation with wrestling journalist Tarzan Yamamoto that Misawa had to defeat Tsuruta by pinfall. According to a now-famous backstage story which has been recounted several times by Meltzer, Baba's decision to put Misawa over came during the event itself as, in the culmination of a trend that had been observed at house shows leading to this, Baba arrived at the venue to fans chanting "Misawa" outside, and noticed a significant boost in Misawa merchandise sales. Misawa defeated Tsuruta in a 24-minute match. This show had drawn about 500 people shy of a sellout, which was a rare attendance figure for All Japan. However, the momentum of Misawa's push led All Japan to sell out every event they held in Tokyo after this until early 1996. This victory also marked the beginning of a feud between the Super Generation Army, with Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid. Professional wrestling career All Ja ...
, and the Tsuruta-gun stable, a mix of veterans and younger talent. Akira Taue was initially among Misawa's allies, but he soon defected to Tsuruta-gun. On July 27, Misawa made his first challenge for the vacant
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championsh ...
in July, losing to Stan Hansen. Misawa lost to Tsuruta in a rematch on September 1, which determined the number one contender for the Triple Crown. Misawa teamed with Kawada to place third in the WSTDL, beating Tsuruta and Taue on the final day. In a match against Taue on January 26, 1991, Misawa won by debuting the '' Tiger Driver '91'', a variation of his ''Tiger Driver'' (sitout double underhook powerbomb) wherein he kept the double underhook applied while Taue was in midair to cause him to land on his head and shoulders. On February 26, Misawa and Kawada unsuccessfully challenged the team of
Terry Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim ...
and Steve Williams, known as Satsujin Gyorai, for the World Tag Team championships in
Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...
. During the match, Misawa was knocked out in
kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged ...
by a Gordy
powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a sta ...
to the arena floor, which left Kawada to fight the champions alone. Misawa then entered the 1991 Champion Carnival, held for the first time since 1982, and placed second in his block, with only one loss on April 6 to eventual second-place winner Stan Hansen. Misawa challenged Tsuruta for the Triple Crown on April 18, in the main event of a Budokan show that set an attendance record, but lost to him for the second consecutive time in singles competition. On June 9, Misawa pinned former Triple Crown champion Terry Gordy during a singles match in what was considered an upset, and when Misawa and Kawada faced Satsujin Gyorai on July 24 for a second tag title match, he pinned Gordy again. The pair made their first defense against Tsuruta and Taue on September 4 at Nippon Budokan, with Misawa historically forcing Jumbo to submit to a standing variation of the
crossface Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a Submission wrestling, submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ri ...
to end the match. They vacated the belts for the 1991 WSTDL, which they entered. On a tournament match on November 21 against Kobashi and Kikuchi, Misawa's eye was swollen shut after an elbow strike from Kobashi. Misawa and Kawada reached the finals despite this, wherein they lost to Satsujin Gyorai in 25:24. At a Budokan event on March 4, 1992, which drew a record attendance figure of 16,300 people, Misawa unsuccessfully challenged Triple Crown champion Hansen for the belts. In the 1992 Champion Carnival, which took place from March 20 to April 17, Misawa reached the finals for the first time. On the twelfth date of the tournament, April 2, he wrestled Tsuruta in what would be their final singles match, and the two went to a 30-minute time-limit draw. Reigning Triple Crown champion Stan Hansen, who had lost to Tsuruta in the previous Champion Carnival final, defeated Misawa for his first CC win. On June 5, Misawa and Kobashi challenged Tsuruta and Taue for the World tag titles, but Taue pinned Kobashi for a successful defense. Misawa injured his shoulder in July and missed a few small dates. However, Tsuruta was also absent from the tour, for what was initially reported as a knee injury, and then as a case of gout upon his return, but was actually more serious, and AJPW did not want to lose both of their biggest draws for a whole tour. As a result, Misawa was forced back into action before he was ready, and worked matches while wearing a sling. On August 22, 1992, Misawa defeated Hansen to win the first of what would eventually be five Triple Crown championships. In his first defense, on the final card of the October Giant Series tour, Misawa defeated Kawada at Budokan. He and Kawada would later win the 1992 WSTDL, defeating Taue and Jun Akiyama (who had only debuted that September) on December 4 and earning their second World Tag Team Championship as a result. They would again drop the belts to Satsujin Gyorai in their first defense on January 30 when Williams pinned Misawa. On February 28, however, Misawa successfully defended his Triple Crown title against Taue.


Feud with Toshiaki Kawada and teaming with Kenta Kobashi (1993–1995)

The Misawa-Kawada team would soon end. Jumbo Tsuruta's career, at least as a main-event wrestler, was over; he had abruptly left after completing the October Giant Series tour, and was diagnosed with
hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
. Due to the void this left in the All Japan product, and Taue's specific need for a tag partner, Baba split Kawada from Misawa in the spring of 1993 to become his premier native rival in singles competition. In early March 1993, Kawada announced that he would no longer work as Misawa's tag partner after the advertised matches on the tour had been fulfilled. At the time he denied that he would join up with the remains of Jumbo's faction, who were being led by Akira Taue. However, Kawada and Taue ended their feud with a handshake after wrestling to a draw in the 1993 Champion Carnival, and shortly thereafter formed
the Holy Demon Army The Holy Demon Army (HDA) was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue. The HDA competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s and is considered the most successful and dominant team in the history of Al ...
(, ''Seikigun''). Kenta Kobashi would take Kawada's place as Misawa's tag partner. Misawa entered the 1993 Champion Carnival and reached the finals to face Hansen again, who defeated him for his second Carnival victory on April 21 in Yokohama. Nevertheless, Misawa made a successful Triple Crown defense against Hansen on May 21 in Sapporo. On May 20, the HDA won the World Tag Team championships from Satsujin Gyorai on May 20, ending their fifth and final reign. Misawa and Kobashi unsuccessfully challenged them for the championships on June 1. Misawa defended the Triple Crown three more times in 1993: against Kawada on July 29, Williams on September 3, and Hansen on October 23, during which Misawa broke his breastbone. Misawa and Kobashi entered the 1993 WSTDL, and defeated the Holy Demon Army in the finals. This marked Misawa's second victory at the annual tournament, and his first tag championship reign with Kobashi. On February 15, 1994, Misawa was issued an invitation to participate in UWF International's (UWFi) summer tournament through a press conference, but this was ignored by the isolationist AJPW. On March 21, the third date of that year's Champion Carnival, Misawa faced
Doug Furnas Dwight Douglas Furnas (December 11, 1959 – March 2, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and powerlifter. He was an APF National and World Powerlifting Champion, who set multiple world records in the 275 pound weight class. As a wrestler, ...
in a tournament match. He won via submission, but a
Frankensteiner Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...
from Furnas was said to have badly injured his neck, and after trying to work a six-man tag two nights later sat out the rest of the tournament. This injury was later reported to have been a
work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...
; Misawa had been written out of the Carnival so that Kawada and Williams could be established as singles stars through the tournament. Upon his return, Misawa and Kobashi successfully defended the tag titles against the Holy Demon Army on May 21 in Sapporo. Two weeks later, on June 3, Misawa defeated Kawada at Budokan in Kawada's third challenge for the title, and the final successful defense of Misawa's first Triple Crown reign. This match was the second to receive a six-star rating from Dave Meltzer, and would be the last one to do so until 2017. It has been specifically cited as one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time, and even the "consensus Greatest Match of All Time" from the tape-trading era of American
puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's ac ...
fandom. Although he and Kobashi successfully defended against Steve Williams and
Johnny Ace John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted guns ...
on July 22, Misawa dropped the world championship to Williams six days later. At 705 days, Misawa's first reign is the longest in Triple Crown history. Misawa and Kobashi vacated the World Tag Team belts for the 1994 WSTDL, which they won for the second consecutive year on December 10 against Williams and Ace in 25:05. Although they only defended the belts once, Misawa and Kobashi's first reign was the longest in the title's history for over a decade. On January 24, 1995, they successfully defended against the Holy Demon Army, working to a time limit draw. The story of this match had Kawada knock out Misawa with a punch to the chin at the 24-minute mark, which forced Kobashi to essentially work a handicap match for 25 minutes. However, Misawa recovered to make a successful comeback. Misawa and Kobashi then defeated Williams and Ace on March 3 at Budokan for their second and final successful defense. The next month, Misawa participated in the penultimate match of the
Weekly Pro Wrestling Tokyo Dome Show The Weekly Pro Wrestling Tokyo Dome Show, often referred to as Bridge of Dreams, was a multi-promotional professional wrestling event hosted by Japanese wrestling magazine, Weekly Pro Wrestling. The event took place on April 2, 1995 at the Tokyo D ...
, a six-man tag in which he, Kobashi, and Triple Crown champion Hansen wrestled to a thirty-minute time-limit draw against Kawada, Taue, and Ace. Misawa entered the 1995 Champion Carnival. Despite reportedly suffering a broken orbital bone after a Kawada kick during a match on April 6 which ended in a time-limit draw, Misawa did not miss any shows. He proceeded to the finals with seven wins and three draws, and won the Carnival against Taue on April 15. On May 26, he won his second Triple Crown championship against Stan Hansen in Sapporo, ending his then-record fourth (and final) Triple Crown reign. Misawa and Kobashi lost the tag titles in the ''
Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...
'' match of the year on June 9, when the Holy Demon Army defeated them at Budokan. What made this match particularly significant is that it was the first time Kawada got a pinfall over Misawa in their rivalry, as well as the first time Misawa himself had lost a pinfall to anyone since Williams had defeated him for the Triple Crown. However, this success would not repeat itself, as on July 24 at the sold-out Budokan, Kawada fell short against Misawa once again, in the first defense of this Triple Crown reign. On September 10, Misawa defended the title against Taue, but on October 15, Misawa and Kobashi failed to win the World Tag Team titles back from the Holy Demon Army, in another sixty-minute time limit draw in
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
. Misawa won his first Triple Crown defense against Kobashi ten days later, but the two again entered the 1995 WSTDL as a team, defeating the Holy Demon Army for Misawa's fourth consecutive win of the tournament. In a story similar to previous matches between the teams, Misawa sold a Kawada kick to the eye by lying outside the ring for ten minutes. Kobashi managed to get the pinfall himself, though, with a
moonsault A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. It was innovated by Mando Guerrero. Much of its popularity in both Japanese and American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being u ...
to Taue. This would be Misawa's final WSTDL win, and through this win he and Kobashi became the first tag team since
Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...
and Dory Funk Jr. to win the tournament three times. The tag titles, however, did not change hands, as they had not been vacated before the tournament by the Holy Demon Army.


Teaming with Jun Akiyama (1996–1998)

On March 2, Misawa defended the Triple Crown against
Gary Albright Gary Mitchell Albright (May 18, 1963 – January 7, 2000) was an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Japan, first with UWF International (UWFi), and later All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In AJPW, Albright was a two-time Worl ...
, who had signed with AJPW in late 1995 after departing the UWFi. This was the main event that broke AJPW's Tokyo sellout streak, drawing only 14,000 people to Budokan. In April, Misawa participated in the Champion Carnival, and tied for third place. On May 24, at the
Nakajima Sports Center The was a multi-purpose event facility located in Nakajima Park in Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It was built in 1954 for the National Sports Festival of Japan. A concert by the rock band Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenom ...
in Sapporo, Misawa dropped the championship to Taue, who had won that year's Carnival. The next week, Misawa and new partner
Jun Akiyama is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, c ...
won the World Tag Team titles from the Holy Demon Army. They made two successful defenses—the first on June 8 against Williams and Ace (voted match of the year by the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''), and the second on July 9 against the Holy Demon Army—before dropping the titles to Williams and Ace on September 5. Misawa and Akiyama entered the 1996 WSTDL, and were defeated in the final match by the Holy Demon Army when Kawada pinned Misawa in 31:37. On January 20, 1997, Misawa defeated Kobashi in the
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament ( honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the ...
to win his third Triple Crown championship. He defeated Steve Williams in his first defense on March 1, which was the retirement match of referee
Joe Higuchi , better known as was a Japanese professional wrestler, road agent, on-air personality and referee best known for his tenures with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) and All Japan Pro-Wrestling. The first official Japanese referee in the N ...
. Misawa then entered the 1997 Champion Carnival. Unlike the previous two years, Misawa reached the finals, with nine wins, two losses to Kobashi and Williams, and one draw against Kawada. However, as he, Kobashi, and Kawada had achieved a three-way tie, a one-night round-robin tournament playoff between the three was held to determine the victor. After Misawa and Kobashi wrestled first to a time-limit draw, Kawada defeated Misawa in singles competition for the first time in their rivalry, pinning him in 6:09. On May 31, 1997, Misawa had a six-man tag with Kobashi and
Kentaro Shiga is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. He returned from a two-year hiatus due to injury in 2005. History All Japan Pro Wrestling (1994−2000) Shiga trained in the All Japan dojo and debuted in All Japan Pro Wr ...
against Williams,
Richard Slinger Richard Aslinger (born September 16, 1971) is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Richard Slinger. Slinger was a long-time mainstay of All Japan Pro Wrestling and later Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was one of two ''gai ...
and
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
which was billed as Misawa and Kobashi's last match as tag partners. After they won, Kobashi thanked Misawa with a handshake. The next week, Misawa defeated Kawada again in a June 6 Triple Crown match. On a sold-out July 25 Budokan show, Misawa made a successful title defense against Taue. On August 26 in Sapporo, though, he and Akiyama lost a world tag title shot against Albright and Williams when Albright pinned Misawa with a
dragon suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featu ...
. On September 6, Misawa defeated Akiyama in his first Triple Crown title match. In October, Misawa made two more successful defenses ten days apart. The first was against Williams on October 11 in
Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
, and the second was against Kobashi on October 21 at the Budokan, during AJPW's 25th anniversary event. The latter won the Match of the Year award from ''
Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...
''. Misawa and Akiyama entered the 1997 WSTDL, and reached the finals against the Holy Demon Army again, to lose at Budokan on December 5. AJPW announced the show had sold out, but it was reported as actually having drawn 800 seats below the Budokan's maximum capacity. For his first defense of 1998, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium on January 26, Misawa defeated Akiyama by debuting the '' Emerald Flowsion''. One month later, he had his final successful defense of the reign against Johnny Ace at the sold-out Budokan. This February 28 event was the first in a Budokan sellout streak that would last until Misawa's departure from AJPW. Misawa entered the 1998 Champion Carnival, and proceeded to the finals with eight wins, three draws against Akiyama, Hansen, and Kawada, and one loss to Taue. This was despite various neck and back injuries, a broken finger, and a broken left kneecap, the latter of which was suffered during a match on April 6 against Ace. Despite this, and against a doctor's recommendation to perform surgery and take six weeks off, Misawa continued to work, and won the Champion Carnival for the second and final time in another match against Akiyama.


Final years (1998–2000)

In an effort to increase All Japan Pro Wrestling's visibility amidst unsatisfactory sales and television viewership numbers, Baba decided after years of refusal to book the Tokyo Dome for a belated AJPW 25th Anniversary show on May 1, despite the reservations of Misawa and Kobashi. Plans to use this as a "soft reset" for the company product, including an
FMW Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...
-style exploding ring deathmatch with
Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...
and a potential partnership with the WWF, were vetoed by Baba, who believed that "if
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
were to do this, it would have to be as service to heirfans". For the main event of this show, Kawada received his second title shot against Misawa during this reign, which All Japan announced in a March 16 press conference would have no time limit. In a result that had been foreshadowed over the past year, through not only Kawada's tainted victory over him in the 1997 Champion Carnival finals, but the draws that they had wrestled to in both of their other meetings during the last two Carnivals, Misawa finally dropped the championship to Kawada. Misawa went into the match with two blown knees and a bad neck and back, and as he suffered a legitimate concussion during the match he could not remember the finish afterwards; Baba announced that Misawa would take a break to heal. Misawa returned on August 22 to work the first main event of the Summer Action Series II tour, a six-man match with Akiyama and
Satoru Asako is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling (1991–2000) Asako made his debut in a tag team match with Richard Slinger, losin ...
against Kobashi, Ace, and
Johnny Smith Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote "Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life During the Great D ...
. He admitted that his knees were still a problem and that he only felt sixty percent healthy, but he considered his return necessary because the two tours without him had been the worst-performing in company history. Misawa and Akiyama officially disbanded their team on August 30 after defeating Kobashi and
Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...
in the main event of a show in Hakata. While he had had creative influence before this, it was around September when Misawa took over the booker position almost entirely after he reportedly threatened to start his own promotion. However, Baba still booked the Triple Crown programs and finishes through the end of 1998. In October, he started wrestling tag matches with
Yoshinari Ogawa (born November 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" from the English-speaking Puroresu fanbase due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting his ...
. At the Budokan on October 31, Misawa faced Triple Crown champion Kobashi for the title, and won to start his fourth Triple Crown reign in 43:29. This match was rated Match of the Year by ''Tokyo Sports'', ''Nippon Sports'', and the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''. Misawa and Ogawa participated in the 1998 WSTDL and placed fifth with a 3-3-1 record. On January 22, 1999, Misawa lost the Triple Crown to Kawada in his first defense, but Kawada vacated it the next day. Seven minutes into the match, he had delivered a spinning backfist to the back of Misawa's head with such force that he broke his right forearm and wrist. This is the reason for the "ganso bomb" spot in which Kawada, unable to lift Misawa all the way for a powerbomb, dropped him onto his neck. This was the last match that Giant Baba would watch, having reportedly called it the best match he had ever seen. Nine days later, he died of liver failure from complications of colon cancer. Misawa had not been aware of the severity of his condition, which was only known by Baba's innermost circle: his wife Motoko, older sister, and daughter, as well as referee
Kyohei Wada is a Japanese professional wrestling senior referee best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the All Japan Pro Wrestling roster, having worked for the company from 1972 to the present day. T ...
and secretary Ryu Nakata. Although Motoko Baba had selected
Mitsuo Momota (born September 21, 1948) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and executive, known for his work in the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and later in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is the son of wrestler Rikidōzan. Career Japan Wres ...
to succeed her late husband as president, board member Jumbo Tsuruta used his influence to help Misawa inherit the position, before Tsuruta himself was forced out of the company with no severance package. Momota, who would function as an intermediary between Misawa and Motoko, ran the office while Misawa was trained for the position. After Misawa and Ogawa unsuccessfully challenged Kobashi and Akiyama for the tag titles in the semi-main event at a March 6 Budokan show, Misawa placed third in the 1999 Champion Carnival. He then defeated Vader for the Triple Crown championship on May 2, in the main event of the Giant Baba Retirement Show (so named because AJPW did not want to consider it a memorial event) at the Tokyo Dome. On May 7, a press conference was held to announce that Misawa was the new AJPW president. One month later, on June 11, Misawa successfully defended against Kobashi at Budokan. For the second consecutive year, Misawa and Kobashi won the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' Match of the Year award. However, Kobashi suffered a broken nose, and Misawa was so fatigued that, for the first time, reporters were not allowed to see him. Misawa successfully defended against Kawada on July 23, defeating him with the Tiger Driver '91. Misawa and Ogawa won both the All Asia and World Tag Team Championships from
No Fear No Fear is an American lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1989 by Mark Simo, Brian Simo, Boris Said, and Marty Moates. No Fear Inc. products are sold at various retail stores ancompany owned stores It also offers No Fear energy drin ...
on August 25. They vacated the All Asia belts soon afterward, as the match was done to break up the monopoly No Fear had achieved in the company's tag division. Misawa arranged a tournament for the All Asia titles from October 9–25, in which he and Ogawa did not participate. Misawa and Ogawa lost the World Tag Team titles to Akiyama and Kobashi on October 23 in Nagoya when Kobashi pinned Misawa after a '' Burning Hammer''. Then, Misawa's fifth Triple Crown reign ended at Budokan on October 30, when he was defeated by Vader. In the 1999 WSTDL, Misawa and Ogawa scored nine points (4-1-2), achieving third place in a three-way tie. In a Budokan show on February 27, 2000, Misawa was pinned by Akiyama for the first time in singles competition during the semi main-event. Misawa then entered the 2000 Champion Carnival, which he changed from round-robin format to a single-elimination tournament for the first time since 1974. Reigning Triple Crown champion Kobashi defeated him in the semifinal, and went on to win his first Champion Carnival after ten consecutive appearances.


Exodus (2000)

While Misawa became company president in 1999, and had been head booker for several months before that, Shohei Baba's widow Motoko held eighty-five percent of AJPW's shares with Nippon TV holding the other fifteen. There were reports of a "quiet" power struggle between Misawa and Motoko in March 1999, and Tsuruta confirmed this when he left Japan for
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. In fact, the two had had professional tensions long beforehand. Motoko had opposed the decision to push Misawa in the wake of Genichiro Tenryu's departure in 1990. The two began conflicting as early as 1996. In the year before Shohei Baba's death, Misawa even asked him on behalf of the locker room to have his wife leave the company. He was somewhat successful in that she ceased to have any creative influence when Misawa began booking. Misawa attempted to keep her content by maintaining the same salary that she had been paid when her husband was alive (approximately $500,000), but since she was the majority shareholder this did not change the power dynamic. Misawa's wish to change the AJPW product, and to modernize its presentation, to address their box office troubles ran in direct opposition to Baba's intent to maintain her late husband's booking philosophy. Misawa was particularly intent on pushing the company's younger talent. In September 1999 he and Baba had a major fight over his decision to have Akiyama and
Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...
headline a Budokan show (which sold out), although this match's placement had been decided by a fan ballot. Motoko's conservatism was partially due to her belief that the company, and Japanese wrestling as a whole, had fallen from its peak. Misawa was also angry with Motoko over fiscal matters, as he had discovered that much of the company's merchandise sales did not produce funds for AJPW, but for a subsidiary that she had set up. At some point, Misawa approached Nippon TV with his plans to leave AJPW to start a new promotion, and told them that nearly everyone in the locker room would follow him. NTV officials sided with Misawa in this dispute, but told him that they needed to keep their agreement quiet for one year after the meeting. Due to the proximity of Baba's death, the station wanted to wait until enough time had passed to drop All Japan's television program, which had been associated closely with NTV since its formation. Nevertheless, rumors that NTV had taken Misawa's side in his dispute against Baba saw print in February 2000, and ''Weekly Fight Magazine'' reported that AJPW would split itself into two groups in May, though Misawa declined to comment on this. Adding to the situation was that, as of the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2000, all the promotion's talent were working as free agents, since Misawa was not authorized to give the raises he intended to award all native workers. Misawa had also wanted to modernize their contracts, providing wrestlers with full medical coverage, full injury pay, and possibly stock options (which NJPW's contracts offered). As the result of these disagreements, the AJPW executive board voted to remove Misawa from the presidential position on May 28. All parties agreed to keep this news private until the end of the current tour, and Misawa attempted to persuade Baba to give him her public blessings to start a new company, so as to smooth the public transition and preserve the legacies of Giant Baba and the recently deceased Tsuruta. Baba refused this proposal or relinquishment of any of her majority share, and so ''Tokyo Sports'' broke the news on June 12. At an emergency board meeting held in response on June 13, co-vice president Mitsuo Momota and fellow boardsmen Kobashi, Taue, Kenichi Oyagi, and
Yoshihiro Momota (March 15, 1946 – November 22, 2000) was a professional wrestler and a former ring announcer, known for his tenure in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was the son of wrestler Rikidozan and the older brother of Mitsuo Momota. Career On October 21, ...
collectively resigned from their positions. On June 16, Misawa led a press conference, in which he was accompanied by all of AJPW's native wrestlers except Kawada and Fuchi. He announced that after finishing their last commitments to AJPW in July, all 23 who accompanied him to the conference would depart with Misawa to form a new promotion in August. The next day, Misawa announced the name of the new promotion:
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
. On June 20, Misawa met with
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...
officials, who had cancelled All Japan's television program, and secured a time slot for Noah programming. On July 20, he wrestled his last AJPW match for several years, in which he and Ogawa won against Taue and Masao Inoue.


Pro Wrestling Noah (2000-2009)


First years (2000–2002)

Pro Wrestling Noah debuted with two events, collectively called Departure, on August 5 and 6 at
Differ Ariake was an indoor sporting arena located in the Ariake neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 1,246 seats and it was opened in 1999. It was mainly used for professional wrestling and martial arts events. The arena became known a ...
. While they sold out in minutes, the events themselves were not profitable. The low ticket prices attracted scalpers, who resold $60 ringside seats for $2700. Noah also spent more than the live gate of the first show to place a screen in the parking lot for the 1,300 people watching outside the venue. In the first show's main event, Misawa and Taue lost to Kobashi and Akiyama in a two-out-of-three-falls tag match, and in the second, Misawa and Ogawa defeated Kentaro Shiga and
Daisuke Ikeda is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah ...
. The company would struggle to grow from here, because legal threats against NTV from Motoko Baba kept Noah off television until April 2001. Misawa had not expected as much of AJPW's talent to join him in the exodus as they had, and financial difficulties caused Misawa to cancel his insurance and borrow money from his home to fund their salaries. However, Noah sold out their biggest show to date, December 23's Great Voyage at
Ariake Coliseum is an indoor sporting arena in located in Ariake, Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It has a capacity of 10,000 and is one of the few professional tennis venues which has a retractable roof. Events The arena is used as the center court for the Japan ...
, well in advance. In his first major singles match for his own promotion, Misawa defeated Vader in the semi-main event. Another problem for Noah arose on January 18, 2001 when, during a tag match with Taue against Misawa and
Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), ...
, Kobashi severely injured his right knee. Kobashi's knees had been in poor condition as early as 1991, due to his use of the
moonsault A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. It was innovated by Mando Guerrero. Much of its popularity in both Japanese and American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being u ...
and general overachieving nature in the ring. While he intended to have double knee surgery performed at the end of his tenure in AJPW, he did not go through with it when Departure was scheduled for August, and he continued to work Noah's events thereafter. Kobashi had surgery on January 25 to transfer cartilage from his elbow to his knee. While it was initially reported that he would be able to return in July, this was much too optimistic as Kobashi would have several more procedures throughout the year. In early 2001, Misawa had his only two matches against
Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the pr ...
, who had worked on the Great Voyage card. In the first, on January 13, Misawa and Ogawa defeated Hashimoto and
Alexander Otsuka , better known by his ring name Alexander Otsuka and Otoko Sakari, is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Having competed for multiple pro wrestling organizations in his career, most recently with Antonio Inoki's ...
at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium when Misawa pinned Otsuka after a tiger driver. In the second, the main-event of the inaugural show of Hashimoto-cofounded promotion
Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...
, March 2's Truth Century Creation, Misawa and Akiyama defeated Hashimoto and
Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...
in the sold-out Ryōgoku Kokugikan. From March 18 through April 15, Noah held the Navigation for the Victory GHC tour, which featured a sixteen-man, single-elimination tournament held to determine the inaugural
GHC Heavyweight champion The is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the Pro Wrestling Noah brand division. It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alon ...
. At the first stop of the tour in Differ Ariake, Misawa defeated
Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi ...
in the first round, and proceeded to the finals after victories over Ogawa in
Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...
on April 4, and Akiyama in Hiroshima on April 11. For Noah's first television taping, at the Kokusai International Center on April 1 (aired April 6), Misawa and Ogawa won against Marufuji and
Takeshi Rikio Takeshi Inoue (born December 20, 1972) known by his stage name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler. Sumo career He made his sumo debut in March 1988, after leav ...
. On April 15, before a reported crowd of 12,000 people in the Ariake Coliseum, Misawa defeated
Yoshihiro Takayama is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and ...
to become the first GHC Heavyweight champion. During this match, Misawa began bleeding from his mouth after a high kick from Takayama legitimately knocked his jaw out of alignment, and also ended the match with a five-centimeter cut which required six stitches. After a successful defense against Taue on May 18 in Sapporo, Misawa lost the championship to Akiyama on July 28, in a sold-out Budokan event for the promotion's one-year anniversary. In October, Misawa and Ogawa participated in the Navigation Tug of War tournament to determine the first
GHC Tag Team champions The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...
, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Akiyama and Saito. Misawa and Ogawa became the second team to hold the belts when they defeated Scorpio and Vader on November 30 in Sapporo, but this reign only lasted nine days before they dropped the belts to
No Fear No Fear is an American lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1989 by Mark Simo, Brian Simo, Boris Said, and Marty Moates. No Fear Inc. products are sold at various retail stores ancompany owned stores It also offers No Fear energy drin ...
in the sold-out Ariake Coliseum. On February 17, 2002, at Nippon Budokan, Misawa teamed with the returning Kobashi for a match against Akiyama and
Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...
which Akiyama pinned Kobashi to win. It appeared that Kobashi was going to resume full-time work for Noah in their next tour, and this was greatly anticipated, as the return show had sold out over a month in advance. However, Kobashi further damaged ligaments in his left knee during the match. Kobashi was advised to take the next six months off, or have major surgery that would prevent him from wrestling for another year. While he initially intended to ignore medical opinion, Misawa cancelled his appearances. This essentially forbade Kobashi from returning before he was ready, despite the increased business that this would have brought Noah. On May 5, Misawa wrestled his first match for New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 1990, in which he faced
Masahiro Chono is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for ...
for the Toukon Memorial Day event in the Tokyo Dome. The two wrestled to a thirty-minute time-limit draw, as has been Noah's insistence, particularly from Ryu Nakata, in order to bolster the nascent company's credibility. On September 23, 2002, Misawa defeated GHC Heavyweight champion Takayama to begin his second reign. Takayama was at the peak of his stardom, due to his fight against
Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and ''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments ...
at
Pride 21 The year 2002 is the 6th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2002 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...
, and according to Meltzer in his 2009 Misawa obituary, this was when Noah "really started taking off". The match was noted for its brutality, and it caused Takayama to suffer a dislocated AC joint, torn shoulder ligaments, and a broken eye socket bone (the latter was the same injury he received during the Frye bout). Misawa made his only successful defense on December 7, defeating Ogawa.


The peak of Noah (2003–2005)

At Great Voyage 2003, the first event of the year (at the sold-out Budokan), Misawa and Chono were defeated in the semi-main event by Kobashi and Taue when Kobashi pinned Misawa. On March 1, 2003, in the sold-out Budokan, Kobashi used the ''Burning Hammer'' to defeat Misawa for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, in their first Noah singles meeting. Like Kawada's Tokyo Dome win over Misawa in 1998, this was the culmination of years of failure on Kobashi's end to overcome Misawa in title matches. The resultant match received significant critical acclaim. As they had done in 1999, Misawa and Kobashi won Match of the Year awards from ''Tokyo Sports'' and the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''. Meltzer wrote in 2015 that the Misawa/Kobashi rivalry "peaked" with this match. Misawa said afterwards that this would be their final singles match, and with the exception of the opening match of Noah's 2004 Christmas Eve show (a ten-minute time-limit draw), this would be honored. At Great Voyage 2004 on January 10, in the sold-out Budokan, Misawa and Ogawa began their second GHC Tag Team Championship reign when they defeated NJPW stars
Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...
and
Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...
. Alongside
Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), ...
and
Kenta Kobayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the mononymous ring name Kenta (stylised in all capital letters), and is a member of the Bullet Club stable. He also makes occasional appear ...
winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team championships from
El Samurai Satyam Kumar (born 06 August 1997), known professionally as Technical Satyam, is an Indian YouTube personality based in the UAE. Chaudhary is notable for producing YouTube videos concerning graphics and technology in English and Hindi. In 202 ...
and
Wataru Inoue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Inoue made his debut on New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1999. He aligned himself with New Japan Junior Seikigun, a face ...
in the semi-main event, this was a victory for Noah as they had lost their last four interpromotional matches with NJPW talent. This also made Misawa and Ogawa the first two-time GHC Tag Team champions, and this reign would last far longer than their first. After successful defenses on March 6 against Ikeda and
Muhammad Yone , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in 2 ...
, and on April 25 against Kobayashi and Marufuji, Misawa and Ogawa appeared for American independent promotion Pro Wrestling IRON, defending the belts against
Nigel McGuinness Steven Haworth (born 23 January 1976), better known by his ring name Nigel McGuinness, is an English actor, professional wrestling commentator and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE where he worked as a color ...
and Bart Blaxson on June 11 in
San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...
. Misawa and Ogawa's next defense was Noah's first interpromotional match with AJPW wrestlers since the mass exodus. On July 10, Noah held their first Tokyo Dome show, Departure, and in the penultimate match, they defended against AJPW president
Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and N ...
and Taiyo Kea, one of the few AJPW wrestlers who had not joined the Noah exodus. Eight days later, Misawa had his first AJPW match since July 2000, where he defeated
Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wrest ...
in the semi-main event of Battle Banquet. On September 10, Misawa and Ogawa defended against Saito and Inoue, and on October 24, they defended against Taue and
Takuma Sano (born February 2, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist most notable for being the generational rival of legendary Japanese pro wrestler Jushin Liger. During the last years of his career he went by the ...
. Misawa returned to AJPW on October 31 for the Keiji Mutoh: Love and Bump
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
, where he and Mutoh defeated
Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Prior to his appointment in the Cabinet, he also ser ...
and
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
in what was billed as a "Special Dream Tag Match". After another successful GHC Tag Team defense against
Donovan Morgan Andrew Vassos (born January 10, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Donovan Morgan. Best known for his near five-year run as a Pro Wrestling NOAH mainstay in Japan and Ring of Honor in the United States, M ...
and
Michael Modest Michael K. Cariglio (born July 19, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name, Michael Modest (sometimes shortened to Mike Modest). Modest ran the promotion Pro Wrestling IRON with tag partner Donovan Morgan and Fr ...
on December 4 in Yokohama, Misawa and Ogawa lost the titles to Doug Williams and Scorpio on January 23, 2005 when Scorpio pinned Ogawa. Misawa made several interpromotional appearances in the first half of 2005, including a UK tour. On March 18, he and Ogawa defeated Doug Williams and Stevie Knight in a British Championship Wrestling event. The next day, at The Wrestling Channel's International Showdown supercard, Misawa, Ogawa, and
Kotaro Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . He is currently working as a freelancer, mainly for promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Pro Wrestling Noah (2001-2013) Suzuki was the last person remaining of a grueling th ...
were defeated by Williams, Scorpio, and
James Tighe James Tighe (born 27 March 1982) is a semi-retired English professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Frontier Wrestling Alliance. He currently competes around the United Kingdom. Professional wrestling career In the FWA, Tighe wa ...
. On March 20, Misawa and Suzuki appeared for German promotion
Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its eve ...
, losing to
Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
and Ahmed Chaer. At a Budokan show on April 24 which drew 15,800 people, Misawa and Suzuki lost to Marufuji and
Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...
. During this event, Kawada made his first appearance for Noah after the third match. He then challenged Misawa to a match on Noah's July 18 Tokyo Dome show. In his final interpromotional appearance of the year, Misawa and
Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...
defeated Masahiro Chono and
Jushin Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...
at NJPW Nexess VI on May 14. At July 18's
Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
, the promotion's second Tokyo Dome event, he faced Kawada for the first time since the exodus in the main event, which he won. Noah claimed a sellout crowd of 62,000 people attended the event, but a later earnings report recorded that the company lost 10 million
yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
on the show. Destiny was Noah's final Tokyo Dome event. Misawa unsuccessfully challenged Rikio for the GHC Heavyweight Championship in the sold-out Budokan on September 18, and on Noah's final Budokan show of the year on November 5, which sold out, he defeated Genichiro Tenryu.


Noah's decline (2006–2009)

On the undercard of Noah's April 23, 2006 Budokan show, Misawa and Ogawa defeated Minoru Suzuki and Takahiro Suwa. Noah announced an attendance of 14,200 people, but the real number was reportedly under 10,000. In July, Misawa announced that Kobashi would be out indefinitely to treat
kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include sp ...
, which had been diagnosed through tests run during his annual physical. Noah's next Budokan show on July 16 was set to have Kobashi and Takayama face Misawa and Akiyama in the main event. This was Takayama's first match in two years, as he had suffered a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
after a 2004 NJPW
G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...
match against
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
. Misawa arranged Sasaki himself as a replacement for Kobashi, and the resultant event was a sellout. After this, though, Budokan show attendance declined throughout the year, as Misawa gave junior heavyweight Marufuji a GHC Heavyweight Championship run (which he won from Akiyama in September). When Misawa decided to break tradition further, and hold a Budokan show on October 29 wherein Marufuji defended the title against fellow junior Kobayashi, only 5,000 people of the 11,500 reportedly in attendance paid to see the event. Adding to the situation was that Noah depended on events that they sold to local promoters, who most often were older, wealthy men who did not follow the product closely and bought a Noah show to see Misawa and Kobashi. Misawa had planned to retire in 2007, but he was the only consistent top draw that Noah had. Misawa decided to put the world title on himself for Noah's survival, because he felt pressured to appear on every show at least until Kobashi returned. He defeated Marufuji at Great Voyage at the Budokan on December 10 to win his third GHC Heavyweight Championship. Misawa held the GHC Heavyweight Championship for 448 days, his longest championship reign since his fourth Triple Crown reign, and made seven successful defenses throughout 2007. The first of these was on January 12, when he defeated
Takeshi Morishima (born October 15, 1978) is a Japanese former professional wrestler. Morishima is best known for his work with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has also performed for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the Un ...
. On April 28, he defended against
Takuma Sano (born February 2, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist most notable for being the generational rival of legendary Japanese pro wrestler Jushin Liger. During the last years of his career he went by the ...
.
Bison Smith Mark Smith (September 24, 1973 – November 22, 2011) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bison Smith. He's best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan; and World Wrestling Council and Int ...
challenged Misawa on June 3, and Taue challenged on July 15. In late August, it was announced that Misawa would be on the November 2 and November 3
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
(ROH)
Glory By Honor Glory By Honor is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). There have been 11 events in the Glory by Honor chronology, some of which occurred over two nights. Since its inception in 2002, all events ha ...
cards in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
respectively. On September 29, Misawa defeated Marufuji in a rematch for the GHC title, and on October 27, Misawa successfully defended against
Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Samoa Joe who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Joe is currently a double champion - in his first reign both as AEW ...
in a Budokan show with 14,000 people in attendance. The following week, Misawa traveled to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for the ROH appearances. On the first night, he teamed with Kenta Kobayashi to face Morishima and Marufuji, wrestling to a thirty-minute time-limit draw. The following night, he defended against Kobayashi. Despite having reportedly contracted flu, this match was considered by some to have been Misawa's best in years, and Meltzer stated in 2009 that it was Misawa's final singles match "in the **** our-starrange". On December 2, Misawa and Akiyama wrestled Kobashi and Takayama, in Kobashi's return match. This match, which was held before a Budokan sellout crowd of 17,000 people (reportedly the venue's all-time attendance record), and which Misawa won with an ''Emerald Flowsion'' to Kobashi off the middle rope, was awarded Match of the Year by ''Nikkan Sports'' and ''Tokyo Sports''. Misawa himself was awarded Wrestler of the Year by ''Tokyo Sports'', and received the ''Nikkan Sports'' MVP award as determined by fan voting. On March 2, 2008, Misawa was defeated by Morishima for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. After this, Misawa still felt obligated to work every Noah event; while Kobashi had returned, by this time the company was struggling too much to handle losing Misawa on their cards. His injuries were accumulating, including
osteophyte Osteophytes are exostoses (bony projections) that form along joint margins. They should not be confused with enthesophytes, which are bony projections that form at the attachment of a tendon or ligament. Osteophytes are not always distinguished ...
s on his neck which caused pain during simple tasks, such as brushing his teeth and touching the collar of his gown, and a visual impairment in his right eye which was discovered in 2007. Misawa had also long been a chain smoker. Misawa mostly worked mid-card tag matches where his partners did much of the work, which was how Giant Baba had remained an active wrestler until the last two months of his life. Misawa and Ogawa entered Noah's first
Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...
, held from March 29 to April 27, and reached the finals, where they were defeated by Saito and Smith at Budokan. In June, Noah went on a brief European tour. On June 21, Misawa and Marufuji defeated Kobashi and
Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...
in
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
; after this, NOAH split to work shows in Farringdon and
Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
, the latter for Westside Xtreme Wrestling. Misawa worked the former show, where he and Kotaro Suzuki defeated Smith &
Mark Haskins Mark Haskins (born 25 June 1988), is an English professional wrestler currently signed with Ring of Honor. He is known internationally for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as well as his appearances in Progress Wrestling, Revolution ...
. While these events were relatively successful, Noah had their lowest crowd to date for a July 18 Budokan show, with only 6,000 people attending the event. In September, Nippon TV affiliate
Yomiuri TV JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the subsidiary of the eponymous Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomer ...
cancelled their Noah broadcasts. As the
Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...
had historically been a hotbed for Baba, this was seen as indicative of the end of an era. Around this time, Noah announced that they would no longer take their entire roster on tours in order to cut travel costs. On December 17, Nippon TV announced that they would be cutting Noah's television program in March to compensate for advertising losses in the wake of the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
. This marked the end of a 55-year period of wrestling programming on the station, going back to the JWA. The program, which had been airing in a thirty-minute Sunday slot floating between 1:30 and 3 AM, was still Noah's best means of mainstream exposure. Misawa appeared at NJPW's
Wrestle Kingdom III was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2009. It was the 18th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the third held ...
on January 4, 2009, losing alongside
Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...
to Shinsuke Nakamura and
Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii ...
. On March 1, Noah held their final NTV taping at Budokan, with a near-sellout of 14,200 people in attendance. This show was also significant for Kobashi's return after a September elbow surgery. Noah announced television deals with satellite stations Nittele G+ and
Fighting TV Samurai Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
. However, there was a low percentage of Japanese homes with satellite television. This meant that the most television exposure Noah would have going forward was a half-hour timeslot after midnight on TV Osaka (a smaller affiliate of
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
). Misawa decided to set up Shiozaki as Noah's new ace as opposed to Morishima, whose championship reign had seen business decline, and whose weight had become a concern. He did this by giving him several big wins before an unsuccessful title match against Akiyama on April 16. In order for Shiozaki to rebound and gain credibility, Misawa formed a tag team with him, and they entered the second
Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...
, which took place from April 11 to May 6. They reached the finals with nine points (4-2-1), and defeated Morishima and Sasaki to win. This final match was held at Budokan, and was Misawa's sixty-ninth main event at the venue. It would be his final date there, and as the first Noah Budokan show since losing NTV coverage, only 7,300 people attended. The backing of local promoters in rural areas was more important than ever, and these promoters wanted Noah's biggest stars to wrestle even if they weren't in the physical condition to do so. Four days before his death, Misawa admitted to a ''Tokyo Sports'' reporter that he wanted to retire, and that "he couldn't do this until he was 48". Despite this, he said that he was not going to take a break, because he needed to put Shiozaki over and "if he rested just once, he would be unable to return". According to Ryu Nakata in an interview given shortly after Misawa's death, Misawa had told his wife that day that he planned to retire by the end of the year and work in another unspecified field, and had told Nakata that he did not wish to work a farewell tour.


Personal life

Misawa married actress Mayumi Shiina on May 10, 1988. They had two children, a daughter named Kaede and a son named Shizuma, who were reported to have been 20 and 17 years of age, respectively, at the time of his death. After his death, Mayumi became a majority shareholder in Noah. Misawa was very private about his life outside of wrestling, to the point that wrestlers who had known him for decades were unaware that he had children. He was also said to have been an avid gamer, and at one point revealed to video game magazine ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' a list of his favorite video games. Misawa said that
Horst Hoffman Horst Hoffman (29 September 1935), is a former German professional wrestler. Hoffman worked in Germany, Europe, Japan and American Wrestling Association in the United States during his 20 year career. Professional wrestling career Hoffman st ...
was influenced by Hoffman's green attire and boots that Misawa wore.


Death

On June 13, 2009, Misawa teamed with Shiozaki against
GHC Tag Team Champions The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...
Saito and Smith in a title match at
Hiroshima Green Arena is an indoor arena located in Hiroshima, Japan. The original arena was built sometime shortly after World War II. The arena was rebuilt for the 1994 Asian Games. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship and ...
. The match was supposed to last 37 minutes, but around ten minutes before the scheduled finish, Misawa took a back suplex from Saito. Misawa was motionless, and referee Shuichi Nishinaga stopped the match. A doctor in attendance attempted to perform CPR, but was unsuccessful, and Misawa's body discolored as
emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...
s attempted to revive him with an
automated external defibrillator An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them thro ...
. Misawa was taken to the
Hiroshima University is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...
hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:10pm JST, at age 46. Although Misawa's family invoked a Japanese law that requested the police not publicly release the official cause of death, it was speculated in the official police report to have been a cervical injury, and the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Central Office stated the night after the accident that the "diagnosis was cervical cord transection". The injury was specified and reported by Meltzer as the separation of Misawa's first and second
cervical vertebrae In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In ...
(''atlanto-axial dislocation'').


Aftermath

Misawa's death was the leading story amongst the Japanese sports press. ''Nikkan Sports'' and ''Tokyo Sports'' printed special memorial issues on June 22, and ''Weekly Pro Wrestling'' printed photographs of the maneuver which killed Misawa. However, highbrow newspapers and mainstream sources gave the event little coverage (
NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...
only devoted one minute to the story on their primetime newscast), since older editors did not consider wrestling major news due to its great decline in overall popularity. An exception to this trend was NTV broadcaster
Kazuo Tokumitsu is a Japanese TV presenter and announcer. He is the main presenter on the Nippon Television Sunday morning TV topical news programme ''The Sunday Next''. He is also the main presenter on the Tokyo Broadcasting System programme . Wrestling promotions across the world opened their shows with ceremonial ten counts in tribute, and
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
both posted memorial messages on their respective websites. WWE wrestler CM Punk wrote 'MISAWA' on his wrist and forearm tape as tribute during the June 15 episode of ''
WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...
''. At a tour bus meeting after Misawa was taken to the hospital, Noah wrestlers were informed that he had died, but that the company could not afford to cancel the tour's remaining dates. The next day, they proceeded with a Fukuoka show. Vice President Momota did not reveal Misawa's cause of death, as was requested by his family (this was before the Hiroshima police released their report), and Akiyama, who was set to defend the title that night against Rikio, vacated the championship. Akiyama had continued to work despite significant pain, and had been in too much pain the night before to go to ringside when attempts were made to revive Misawa. Misawa's death spurred him to seek examination, and a hernia was found between his L4 and L5 vertebrae. For the replacement main event, Shiozaki defeated Rikio by pinfall to win the vacated championship. Saito and his family were harassed for his role in Misawa's death, although the deceased's family did not hold him responsible for the incident, and Noah officials called to stop the harassment. Saito later admitted to suicidal ideation during this period. A private funeral was held on June 18, with around 100 people in attendance. While much of the Noah roster could not attend due to a Nagoya show, many wrestlers still attended the ceremony, including Kawada, and Motoko Baba was also present. Kobashi, Taue, Ogawa, Shiozaki, Marufuji, Asako, Kotaro Suzuki, and Ippei Ota were the pallbearers. On July 4 at Differ Ariake, Noah held a public ceremony at which Tokumitsu spoke. Despite the 27 °C (80.6 °F) temperature, this event, for which they had anticipated an attendance of 5,000 people, attracted a line of 26,000 people which stretched for 2.4 kilometers. Meltzer reported that this was the second most-attended public funeral for a Japanese athlete (only surpassed by the April 17, 1999, ceremony for Giant Baba at Budokan, attended by 28,000 people), and possibly (at the time) the fourth-most attended public funeral for an athlete in history. At a stockholders' meeting held the next day, Taue was named Noah president, and Kobashi and Marufuji were promoted to vice presidents. While Misawa had intended to groom Marufuji to eventually take his place, he arranged for Taue to succeed him in the event that he was unavailable. The power struggle in the wake of his death caused demoted Vice President Mitsuo Momota, who had co-founded AJPW alongside his brother Yoshihiro and Giant Baba when they left the JWA and had gone with Misawa during the Noah exodus, to quit. Momota himself had said that he believed the company's biggest star should be the president, and had pushed for Kobashi to become a vice president. However, he did not expect to lose his own position in the process, and demotion to counselor after Taue's promotion left Momota with no political power. Kobashi and Akiyama attempted to dissuade him, but Momota tendered his resignation to Taue on July 7. Momota's role was taken over by
Haruka Eigen (January 11, 1946 – November 28, 2016) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was an executive director of Pro Wrestling Noah. Sumo career In July 1961, Haruka Eigen began wrestling as a sumo. He was part of the Tatsunami stable. He quit s ...
, and a power struggle for control of the company between Kobashi, who felt that the company should remain loyal to its talent, and Ryu Nakata, who believed cuts were necessary in Noah's financial state, ended in Nakata's favor. Eigen and Nakata were implicated in the
Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
-related "black money" scandal whose fallout would affect Noah in 2012. Misawa's death caused several wrestling promotions to work toward a stronger approach to regulating professional wrestling in the country. On what would have been his 47th birthday, June 18,
Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Prior to his appointment in the Cabinet, he also ser ...
organized a meeting towards this end with the heads of NJPW (Naoki Sugabayashi), AJPW (Keiji Mutoh), and Noah (business head Ryu Nakata) in attendance, as well as
Yoshirō Mori is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between April 2000 and April 2001. He was unpopular in opinion polls during his time in office, and is known for making controversial statements, both during and after his ...
, Kenshiro Matsunami, and
Shinobu Kandori is a retired Japanese wrestler and politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yokohama, Kanagawa, she ran unsuccessfully for House of Councillors in 20 ...
. While the unified regulating body favored by Mutoh did not come to exist, these talks did have some positive effects.


Championships and accomplishments


See also

*
List of premature professional wrestling deaths According to a 2014 study by Eastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011, mortality rates for professional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United State ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links

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Puroresu.com: Mitsuharu Misawa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Misawa, Mistuharu 1962 births 2009 deaths Japanese male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling deaths Professional wrestling executives Sport deaths in Japan Sportspeople from Hokkaido GHC Heavyweight Champions GHC Tag Team Champions All Asia Tag Team Champions World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) Triple Crown Heavyweight Champions PWF World Tag Team Champions