Mitsuharu Misawa
1962 - 2008Debuting 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.
The First Annual NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament
Bill Watts, Jim Crockett Jr.
Ric Flair, Virgil Runnels
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
ROH: Japan's Finest
Jonathan Figueroa, Ikuto Hidaka
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
NOAH Great Voyage
Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama
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
NOAH Departure 2004
Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama
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
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom III
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Keiji Mutoh
Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome (レッスルキングダムIII in 東京ドーム, Ressuru Kingudamu III in Tōkyō Dōmu) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2009. It was the 18th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the third held under the "Wrestle Kingdom" name. The event featured eleven matches (including one dark match), five of which were contested for championships. For the second year in a row, the show featured wrestlers from the American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In addition, the show also featured wrestlers from the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as part of a new relationship between NJPW and CMLL. Wrestlers from other Japanese promotions also took part in the show, including All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1, whose top title, the World Heavyweight Championship, was defended during the show.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom III
KENTA: Go 2 Sleep
Kenta Kobayashi, Brandon Silvestry
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
