Sad news today as Japanese Wrestling Legend Mitsuharu Misawa died last night, 5 days short of his 47th birthday. After receiving a belly to back suplex in a tag match with himself and Go Shiozaki against Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito, Misawa landed awkwardly on his head and lost consciousness, he was later prounounced dead doctors were unable to save him as his heart apparently stopped in the ring.

Misawa for those who don't follow Puro, is the man who dominated All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 90's, having had a crack at playing the second incarnation of the legendary Tiger Mask in the 80's and also gave us Pro Wrestling Noah since the millennium.

Since 1983, there have been 65 matches which Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter felt were worthy of getting a five star rating, Mitsuharu Misawa holds the record of having been involved in 24 of these 65 matches, more than any other wrestler. And when you take into account that in the WWE's history, only 4 matches have ever been considered worthy of 5 stars, this should give some idea of what kind of level Misawa was on.

RIP

Yeah I just seen this. A very, very sad day. A true legend if ever there was one, and if there's anybody here who hasn't seen his work, I urge you to check it out, some of his 5 star matches are in the International Promotions section here.

I guess with the sort of style that they wrestle in Japan, it's surprising that there haven't been more incidents like this over the years. In Japan wrestlers get dropped on their heads on a regular basis, and while it looks great, it can in no way be good for the competitors taking those bumps.

R.I.P.

Yeah I mean Misawa in particular I've seen dropped on his head so many times. The GHC Title match with Kobashi in 2003 when he takes a half nelson suplex off the apron to the floor i think it was is just nasty. Or the Ganso Bomb from Kawada with a broken arm, how that didn't break his neck I'll never know. I'm away to play Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 and go Misawa

Sounds like a plan, think I may have to bust out Fire Pro too. Had many a classic Misawa vs Kobashi match on that, think it's time for another.

just seen this on bbc 606. came on here to show respect . RIP

Shocking. genuinely one of the all-time greats.

RIP.

RIP-Unbelieavable way to die-Tragic

Never seen any of his work, what an awful way to die, RIP.

Who gave him the suplex? Bison or Saito? Some of that puro is mental, they really do take it to another level, and we know how much the Jap's love their wrestling, this is going to be an harsh day for those lot. RIP.

Not sure who gave the suplex. there doesn't seem to be full details of the incident just yet. Although from what i read it wasn't a botched suplex and was just delivered as it normally would, and he ended up suffering a heart attack.