Legendary AJPW/NOAH wrestler Mitsuharu Misawa dies

All Japan Pro Wrestling legend turned Pro Wrestling NOAH founder Mitsuharu Misawa died suddenly Saturday at the age of 46. Misawa became unconscious after taking a back suplex from Akitoshi Saito during a tag team match and never woke up.

The official story is that Misawa died at the nearby hospital though it is widely believed that Misawa actually died in the ring itself. As noted by F4Wonline.com, Misawa's actual cause of death will not be made public by request of his family under Japanese law.

Misawa was the consensus best wrestler in the world during much of the 1990s, established early on as Tiger Mask II then under his own name for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Misawa later broke away from the company soon after the death of promoter Giant Baba to help found NOAH.

Though Misawa wasn't well connected to North American wrestling, he did establish some connections to the product in his final years. Misawa defending NOAH's top title against then-Ring of Honor star Samoa Joe in Japan, helping to establish Joe's bonifides in the process. He later took NOAH's title itself to North America to be defended at Ring of Honor.

The few North Americans who got to see Misawa at his best will remember him fondly. It's saddening that the parochial nature of pro wrestling has denied most of us that same chance.

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