Mitsuharu Misawa

Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu, June 18, 1962 - June 13, 2009) was a Japanese professional wrestler. Considered one of the best wrestlers in professional wrestling history, Misawa was a five-time AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion and was named Wrestler of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter three times; in which Meltzer has also given Misawa the most 5-Star rated matches in professional wrestling history with 24 all together.^[1][2] Misawa was also known as Tiger Mask II. On June 13, 2009, Misawa teamed with Go Shiozaki against GHC tag team champions Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith at Hiroshima Green Arena in a title match. After taking a belly to back suplex from Saito, Misawa lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital. He was pronounced dead in the hospital at 10:10 p.m.^[2][3]

1. ↑ Molinaro, John F. (2000-06-15). "Misawa's departure cripples All Japan". Slam! Wrestling. SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-06-13.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Schramm, Chris (2009-06-13). "Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa dies in the ring". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2015-04-18. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
3. ↑ "Misawa Passes Away After Backdrop In Hiroshima Match". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. 2009-06-13. Retrieved 2009-08-08.