Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu; born Mitsuharu Kotake (小竹 光晴), June 18, 1962 – June 13, 2009) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter. He spent most of his career with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became the promotion's leading wrestler during the 1990s, before founding Pro Wrestling Noah in 2000. Misawa was one of AJPW's Four Heavenly Kings (プロレスの四天王, Puroresu no shiten'nō), alongside Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue; their matches became closely associated with AJPW's ōdō, or King's Road, style. Misawa debuted for AJPW in 1981 and wrestled as the second Tiger Mask from 1984 until unmasking in 1990. His victory over Jumbo Tsuruta that June established him as a rising main-event wrestler, and after Tsuruta's career was curtailed by illness, Misawa became AJPW's principal star. He won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship five times; his first reign, from 1992 to 1994, lasted 705 days, the longest in the championship's history. His rivalry with Kawada produced their June 3, 1994 match, which has been cited as one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time and became especially influential among overseas fans through tape trading. After Giant Baba died in 1999, Misawa became president of AJPW, but conflicts with Baba's widow and majority shareholder Motoko Baba led to his removal from the position in May 2000. He then led most of AJPW's native roster out of the company and founded Pro Wrestling Noah, serving as its president and one of its leading wrestlers. Misawa became the inaugural GHC Heavyweight Champion and held the title three times. As Noah's business declined in the later 2000s, he continued wrestling a full schedule despite accumulating injuries and worked to establish younger wrestlers as the promotion's future stars. On June 13, 2009, Misawa died at age 46 after taking a back suplex during a tag-team match in Hiroshima. The reported injury was a cervical fracture resulting in atlanto-axial dislocation. His death prompted renewed discussion in Japan about the regulation and safety of professional wrestling. Over his career, Misawa was an eight-time world champion, winning the Triple Crown five times and the GHC Heavyweight Championship three times, and he was named Wrestler of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 1995, 1997, and 1999.
Source: “Mitsuharu Misawa”, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), excerpt