Mitsuharu Misawa

Uncommon card · No. 129748

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...

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