Mitsuharu Misawa

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 re…