Puroresu Central

Mitsuharu Misawa

Birthdate: June 18th, 1962
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 243 lbs.
Debut: August 21st, 1981
Background: All Japan Dojo
Promotion History: All Japan (1981 to 2000) and NOAH (2000 to present)
Alliances: Teams with Ogawa
Ring Attire: Green pants
Card Position: Main Event
Major Tournaments Won: Champion Carnival (1995 and 1998) and the Real World Tag League (1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995)
Current Title Held: None

Championship History:

GHC Heavyweight Championship (Held Three Times):
- Defeated Yoshihiro Takayama on 4/15/01 and lost to Jun Akiyama on 7/27/01
- Defeated Yoshihiro Takayama on 9/23/02 and lost to Kenta Kobashi on 3/1/03
- Defeated Naomichi Marufuji on 12/10/06 and lost to Takeshi Morishima on 3/2/08

GHC Tag Team Championship with Yoshinari Ogawa (Held Two Times):
- Defeated Vader and Scorpio on 11/30/01 and lost to Omori and Takayama on 12/9/01
- Defeated Nagata and Tanahashi on 1/10/04 and lost to Scorpio and Williams on 1/23/05

Triple Crown Championship (Held Five Times):
- Defeated Stan Hansen on 8/22/92 and lost to Steve Williams on 7/28/94
- Defeated Stan Hansen on 5/26/95 and lost to Akira Taue on 5/24/96
- Defeated Kenta Kobashi on 1/20/97 and lost to Toshiaki Kawada on 5/1/98
- Defeated Kenta Kobashi on 10/31/98 and lost to Toshiaki Kawada on 1/22/99
- Defeated Vader on 5/2/99 and lost to Vader on 10/30/99

All Japan World Tag Team Championship with Toshiaki Kawada (Held Two Times):
- Defeated Terry Gordy and Steve Williams on 7/24/91 and Vacated on 12/6/91
- Won Real World Tag League on 12/4/92 and lost to Gordy and Williams on 1/30/93

All Japan World Tag Team Championship with Kenta Kobashi (Held Two Times):
- Won Real World Tag League on 12/3/93 and Vacated on 11/94
- Won Real World Tag League on 12/10/94 and lost to Kawada and Taue on 6/9/95

All Japan World Tag Team Championship with Jun Akiyama:
- Defeated Kawada and Taue on 5/23/96 and lost to Williams and Johnny Ace on 9/5/96

All Japan World Tag Team Championship with Yoshinari Ogawa:
- Defeated Omori and Takayama on 8/25/99 and lost to Kobashi and Akiyama on 10/23/99

All Asia Tag Team Championship with Kenta Kobashi:
- Defeated Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas on 4/9/90 and Vacated on 5/17/90

All Asia Tag Team Championship with Yoshinari Ogawa:
- Defeated Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama on 8/25/99 and Vacated on 8/25/99

NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Championship:
- Defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi on 8/31/85 and Vacated in 1986

PWF Tag Team Championship with Jumbo Tsuruta:
- Defeated Hansen and DiBiase on 7/3/87 and lost to Hansen and DiBiase on 7/11/87

Biggest Matches:
- July 6th, 1991 with Kawada vs. Terry Gordy and Steve Williams (title win)
- August 8th, 1992 vs. Stan Hansen (title win)
- December 3rd, 1993 with Kobashi vs. Akira Taue and Kawada (tournament win)
- April 15th, 1995 vs. Akira Taue (tournament win)
- April 15th, 2001 vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (title win)

Pictures:
- Elbow Suicida to Steve Williams
- Misawa battles with Takayama
- A Tiger Driver to Taue

Signature Moves:
- Elbow Smash
- Emerald Frosion
- German Suplex Hold
- Tiger Driver
- Tiger Suplex

Big Match Moves:
- Tiger Driver '91
- Tiger Suplex '85 (HQ)

Super Signature Moves:
- Avalanche Emerald Frosion (HQ)
- Avalanche Tiger Driver
- Avalanche Tiger Suplex '85
- Elbow Smash to the Back of the Head
- Emerald Frosion on the Ramp
- Senton from the Apron to the Floor
- Tiger Driver off the Apron
- Tiger Driver on the Outside
- Tiger Suplex off the Ramp (HQ)
- Vertical-Drop Emerald Frosion (HQ)

Signature Moves (as Tiger Mask II):
- Dropkick
- Fake Dive
- Pescado

Signature Moves (Pre-Tiger Mask):
- Diving Crossbody
- Somersault Senton to a Standing Opponent

Special High Quality Videos:
- Misawa debuts the Emerald Frosion against Akiyama on 1/26/98, 40 seconds, 3.5 MB
- Misawa defeats Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight Championship on 12/10/06, 39 seconds, 5 MB

Career History:
written by Charles Schaeffer

Mitsuharu Misawa was born on June 18, 1962 in Koshiyaga, Saitama, Japan. Misawa grew up as an amateur wrestler, even competing at 1980 freestyle World Championships. Misawa then moved onto professional wrestling. In the process being trained by the likes of Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer, Shohei Baba, and Dory Funk, Jr. He showed a lot potential and on August of 1981, he made his debut for AJPW. Misawa continued to train and learn everything he could. It was not till around 1984 that he got his first break. He was chosen to be the next Tiger Mask. Misawa dawned the mask from 1984 till around 1990. He saw minor success with being Tiger Mask, but he strived for more. After Misawa had his mask removed by, his partner at the time and long since rival, Toshiaki Kawada he has only seemed to have gotten better. Just weeks after Misawa had his masked removed he landed a major upset by defeating Jumbo Tsuruta. This was the point where everyone knew that Misawa would eventually become the future of the sport. After his win over Jumbo, Misawa earned the right to challenge for the then vacant Triple Crown Belts. It just so happened that his challenger would be Stan Hansen. Even though he seemed to give it his all it was not enough to beat the bigger and stronger Hansen. After the loss to Hansen he fought his way back up and fought Jumbo, who was now the champion, in a rematch. This time Jumbo was ready and he defeated Misawa to retain the Triple Crown. Misawa decided after to pursue the Real World Tag League. He teamed with his partner Kawada. They showed themselves to be a great tag team even beating the team of Jumbo and Taue, but in the end it still was not good enough and they ultimately placed third overall. On April of 1991 he challenged Jumbo again, but fell to synch the victory once more. Misawa that year continued on his journey of greatness by winning the AJPW World Tag Team Belts, with his partner Kawada. This led them to the historic day, at the end of September, when in their first title defense against Jumbo and Akira Taue. Misawa managed to submit Jumbo Tsuruta, and retain the AJPW World Tag Team Belts. This is by far one of his greatest achievements of all time.

After beating Jumbo with a submission Misawa would then finally go on to win the Triple Crown when he defeated Stan Hansen on August of `92. He would back up that win by yet again winning the AJPW World Tag Team Titles with Kawada. They would hold the titles for over a month till they were beat by Terry Gordy and Steve Williams. He would come back from the loss and on December 3, 1993 he partnered with Kobashi and they won the titles through the World Tag League. Misawa would loss both the Triple Crown and the Tag Titles in 1994, but he and Kobashi would regain the Tag Titles at the end of the year. On May of 1995 Misawa would win the Triple Crown for the second time when he again defeated Stan Hansen. A few weeks later Misawa and Kobashi would meet defeat by the hands of Kawada and Taue. Misawa would keep his the Triple Crown around his waist for a year, and on May of 1996 he would team with Akiyama to win the World Tag Team Titles from Kawada and Taue. A day later his Triple Crown Title would be on the line against Akira Taue, and after almost a year he finally met defeat. He would continue to battle for the Triple Crown and on January of 1997 he would yet again win the Triple Crown when he defeated long time rival Kenta Kobashi. He would be successful at defending the title until he met Kawada on May of 1998. He would climb back up the ranks and on October of `98 he would do battle with Kobashi again. After they managed to beat each other with ever move they could possibly do Misawa would get the win and become the Triple Crown Champion for the fourth time. Around this time Kawada was rising in the rankings and on January of `99 they would meet again. After a grueling and hellacious match Misawa seemed to be close to winning, but Misawa got caught and was driven on his head not once but twice in a row. Misawa lost the Triple Crown that night and that would be the last time he would ever hold the Triple Crown. Misawa would go on, with Yoshinari Ogawa, to hold the AJPW World Tag Team and the All Asia Tag Team Titles before the decade was over.

The beginning of the new decade started off on a bad foot for Misawa. The man in charge of regulating All Japan Shohei "Giant" Baba passed away. Misawa would become the new President of the company, but Shohei Baba's widow Motoko Baba couldn't agree with any decisions that he had and she had him removed from the All Japan Board of Executives in early 2000. Misawa would then leave AJPW and go on to create pro wrestling NOAH. The name was quite fitting since it was like a flood hit All Japan since all but three wrestlers followed him to his new endeavor. Pro wrestling NOAH would hold their first show on August 5, 2000. After being around for almost a year the GHC "Global Honored Crown" was introduced. There would be a tournament to see who would become the first ever champion. Misawa would make all the way to the finals and on April 15, 2001 Misawa would defeat Yoshihiro Takayama to become the first GHC Heavyweight Champion. Misawa would hold the title for only a few months losing to Akiyama in July. Misawa would continue to watch his company grow and in November of 2001 him and Ogawa would defeat Takayama and Omori for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles. They would hold the titles for 10 days when in a rematch with Takayama and Omori they would lose the titles back to them. He would win the GHC Heavyweight Title, for the second time, when he defeated Yoshihiro Takayama on September 23, 2002. He would hold on to the title till he faced Kenta Kobashi on March 1, 2003. In what is considered one of the greatest matches ever, if not the greatest ever. Misawa would return to AJPW, for the first time since his departure, and defeat Satoshi Kojima in July of 2004. He would return again in on October and team with Keiji Mutoh to take on Kensuke Sasaki and Hiroshi Hase in Dream Tag Bout. Misawa would finish out 2004 with many tag wins and on January 10, 2005, with Yoshinari Ogawa, they would defeat Yuji Nagata and Hiroshi Tanahashi and bring the titles back to pro wrestling NOAH. They would end up losing the titles at the end of the month to Scorpio and Doug Williams. Misawa would continue to wrestler in tag matches and keep active and on December 10th, 2006 he would defeat the Jr. Heavyweight Naomichi Marufuji for his third GHC Title win.

Misawa was never known as the strong wrestler, but the wrestler who had the heart and spirit of puroresu. He always seemed to take the beatings during his matches, but in the end his opponents met their doom when he hit them with all his force and signed their defeat with a Tiger Driver. Over the years Misawa has developed into a living legend and has become an icon of the sport. He showed that a tremendous heart can be your greatest tool, and that you do not have to have muscles to clinch the victory. Misawa has beaten many wrestlers throughout his time from Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Akira Taue, Toshiaki Kawada, and even Samoa Joe. Misawa still shows that heart every match he is in, and there is no sign of him hanging up his tights anytime soon.

2007 Recap:
Misawa held the GHC Heavyweight Championship for all of 2007, defeating all challengers. In order, he defeated Takeshi Morishima, Takuma Sano, Bison Smith, Akira Taue, Naomichi Marufuji, Samoa Joe, and KENTA during the year. In other words, Misawa mowed down almost the entire NOAH heavyweight division. He also took part in Kobashi's return to the ring, as he teamed with Akiyama to take on Kobashi and his partner Takayama. Kobashi was unable to shake off the ring rust against his greatest foe however and Misawa would pin him with the Avalanche Emerald Frosion. As the year ended Misawa continued to hold onto his title but he remains a marked man and will no doubt be challenged even further in 2008.

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