Mitsuharu Misawa
Acting
Biography
Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling before forming Pro Wrestling Noah. Misawa was known alongside Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue under the informal nomenclature of AJPW's Four Pillars of Heaven, whose matches developed the ōdō (王道, "King's Road") style of puroresu 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. However, while Misawa has been regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, 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 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 Jumbo Tsuruta. 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, Misawa was cemented as AJPW's ace when he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship from Stan Hansen 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 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 with Go Shiozaki against Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith, Misawa died after a belly-to-back suplex from Saito. Misawa was an eight-time world champion, having won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship five times and the GHC Heavyweight Championship three times. He was also an eight-time world tag team champion. Fifty-three of the sixty-nine events at the Nippon Budokan that Misawa headlined were sellouts, a drawing record that has been compared to Bruno Sammartino's run at Madison Square Garden. Misawa was named Wrestler of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter on three occasions, and holds the record for most WON five star matches, with 24. He is also one of the nine 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.
Known For
Pro Wrestling promotion based in Japan formed from the AJPW's Four Pillars. Featuring a roster of stars, legends and rising stars
Pro Wrestling NOAH
A combined WWF, AJPW and NJPW supershow: April 13th, 1990 from the Tokyo Dome.
WWF/AJPW/NJPW Wrestling Summit
Volume One, matches 100-47.
ROH: Top 100 Matches, Vol 1
Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2009, headlined by Keiji Muto (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 3
Nick Bockwinkel challenges Stan Hansen for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.
AWA WrestleRock 1986
The first Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament was held on April 19, 1986. The tournament featured 24 tag teams.
The First Annual NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament
Since its inception, Ring of Honor has prided itself on presenting the absolute best professional wrestling on the planet with the top athletes not just from the United States but from around the world. In that endeavor, we have been graced with the presence of numerous wrestlers from the world of Japanese Puroresu; from young up & comers to the legends of the squared circle, ROH has been home to them all over the years. Be it Jushin 'Thunder' Liger & The Great Muta or Go Shiozaki & Dragon Kid, they have all competed here and enriched the great history of ROH.
ROH: Japan's Finest
"European Navigation 2008" was the first ever Pro Wrestling NOAH card ever held in the UK, taking place on 21st June 2008, from the Coventry Skydome.
NOAH: European Navigation 2008
Departure was a major professional wrestling event produced by Pro Wrestling Noah. The event took place on July 10, 2004 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and marked Noah's first ever show in the arena. The main event was marketed as the culmination of the long running feud between former allies and tag team partners Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, then held by Kobashi. Beginning on Noah's very first show in 2000 and having spanned over four years since then, it marked the first time Akiyama and Kobashi had faced off in singles competition since August 6, 2000 where Akiyama won by referee stoppage.
NOAH: Departure 2004
December 23rd, 2000 :: Pro Wrestling Noah presents The Great Voyage. In the wake of the great Exodus from All Japan Pro Wrestling the young upstart Pro Wrestling Noah promotion embarks on one of its' inaugural shows which took place in Tokyo at the Ariake Colosseum. The show marked third event held by the Pro Wrestling Noah and was considered the biggest show up to that point. Matches include: ⦁ Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama ⦁ Mitsuhara Misawa vs. Vader ⦁ Shinya Hashimoto vs. Takao Omori ⦁ Akira Taue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama ⦁ Daisuke Ikeda & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi ⦁ Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & KENTA vs. Scorpio & Kishin Kawabata ⦁ Naomichi Marufuji & Tamon Honda vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Tetsuhiro Kuroda ⦁ Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takeshi Morishima vs. Masao Inoue, Takeshi Rikio & Takashi Sugiura ⦁ Rusher Kimura, Mitsuo Momota & Makoto Hashi vs. Jun Izumida, Satoru Asako & Haruka Eigen
NOAH: Great Voyage
The innovator of the Go 2 Sleep, a multi-time GHC champion in both the Junior Heavyweight Singles & Tag Divisons, one of the hardest-hitting individuals to ever enter the ROH ring, he is KENTA! KENTA debuted in Ring of Honor in late 2005 and immediately established himself as a force to be reckoned with in his GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title affair against Low Ki. With his crisp chops, vicious kicks, and lightning fast reflexes, KENTA was right at home in Ring of Honor, and it was those attributes that lead to his domination of ROH in 2006, culminating in the epic ROH World Title bout with Bryan Danielson. Whether it be Austin Aries, Rocky Romero, or Samoa Joe, nearly every one in ROH went toe-to-toe with KENTA and had the scars to prove it.
KENTA: Go 2 Sleep
The 1999 Super Power Series comes to a close with its 14th day of action, headlined by Mitsuharu Misawa taking on Kenta Kobashi in an instant classic.
AJPW Super Power Series 1999 Finals
Pro Wrestling NOAH caps off a thrilling year with their final Budokan event of 2005.
NOAH: 3rd Great Voyage 2005
Pro Wrestling NOAH's Summer Navigation tour rolls on from Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
NOAH Summer Navigation '07 - Day 12
Pro Wrestling NOAH's Navigate for Evolution tour continues, headlined by a tag team match between Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
NOAH Navigate For Evolution 2002 - Day 10
NWA Central States Wrestling presents an all-star card!
CSW International Bash
AJPW's Giant Series comes to a conclusion as Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi face off in a classic encounter.
AJPW October Giant Series 1998 - Day 18
Pro Wrestling NOAH's Navigation Over the Date Line tour sails on, headlined by a GHC Heavyweight Title match between champion Kenta Kobashi and Yujii Nagata
NOAH Navigation Over The Date Line 2003 - Day 13
NOAH The Second Navigation 2009: Day 7 was a professional wrestling event that took place on March 1, 2009, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
NOAH The Second Navigation 2009: Day 7
The energy, sensations, and signature colors of 1990s All Japan Pro Wrestling coalesce and explode within a vibrating, flickering, memory-like time capsule of the first ever Triple Crown victories of the Four Pillars of Heaven: Mitsuharu Misawa (green), Toshiaki Kawada (yellow), Akira Taue (red), & Kenta Kobashi (orange).