The Wrestling World in Mourning

While most American wrestling fans are relatively unfamiliar with the work of Mitsuharu Misawa, he was reportedly an iconic figure in Japanese wrestling similar to that of the Rock or Hulk Hogan in the States. As you might imagine, if one of them died in the ring it would be big news here. According to Namiko Abe, the About.com Guide to Japanese, the news about Misawa's death was the most accessed story on Japanese news sites.

According to the Mainichi Daily News, Misawa died due to damage to his cervical spinal cord. His heart stopped beating shortly after due to the damage.

As if the Japanese wrestling world didn't suffer enough tragedy this weekend, referee Ted Tanabe died on Monday after suffering a heart attack during a match on Sunday. The Wrestling Observer reported that just like Misawa, he was 46 years old.

Since the passing of Misawa, the web has been filled with tributes and notes of mourning about his passing. All three major American company websites have made note of the loss as have dozens of individual wrestlers MySpace and Twitter accounts. Of all of these mentions, two seemed to stand out from the rest.

Current Ring of Honor star Chris Hero was at this tragic event and shared his experiences on his MySpace page.

"Words cannot express how deeply shocked I am. We're all just in utter disbelief. Stunned sadness.

The moments at ringside felt an eternity. Never, in my life, have I wanted the fighting spirit to jump into someone's being more than I wanted tonight. The fans chanted Misawa, Misawa, Misawa. They wanted their Hero to get up so f*****g bad. Just get up. Come on! You're too tough for this. Too strong. I grabbed his boots and held onto them til they took him away.

My heart goes out to his family. His students. His peers. His friends. His fans. His opponents tonight and his partner. It was a freak accident. No one is at fault.

Rest in Peace Shacho."

Jim Ross wrote about the passing of Misawa on his BBQ Blog.

"Mitsuharu Misawa was never an acquaintance of mine but I felt like I knew him from watching many of his DVD's which were usually with men that I did know. Misawa was arguably the best in ring performer in the world in his prime. First of all, Misawa knew how to wrestle and how to wrestle physically. The fundamentals had been drilled into this legend as a young man who went on to become a Japanese National Amateur Champion. Several things stood out to me about Misawa. In addition to be a physical, fundamentally sound athlete, timing and toughness were two of his greatest attributes. Great timing is a gift that largely can't be taught. It's like ring psychology. Some of it can be taught but mostly it must be a learned trait and some people are in the business for years and never learn great timing or main event level ring psychology. Toughness is another trait that can be nurtured but generally can't be taught. Misawa was naturally tough and it showed. And his fans loved him for it. They also loved his passion and the emotional ride on which he would take them. That's what pro wrestling is, selling emotion.

Another significant piece of Japanese, wrestling history died this weekend. Mitsuharu Misawa apparently died in the very spot that he gained his incredible fame and resounding respect from wrestling fans around the Globe....inside a wrestling ring.

It's a damn shame that the vast majority of American wrestling fans won't give a second thought about the untimely death of "a Japanese wrestler." I encourage all fans to find DVD's of Misawa and watch him in his prime, in the 90's especially. If one is really serious about about being a highly skilled, pro wrestler, then study the late Mitsuharu Misawa.

May he rest in peace."