(NOAH) "Murderer", "Die", "Self promotion"... a lot of slander...Pro wrestler Mitsuharu Misawa's last opponent, Akitoshi Saito retires, the man himself admits "Quit pro wrestling, or kill yourself", the answer he chose that day.

12th November 2024
Shueisha Online

Pro Wrestler Akitoshi Saito, known as the last opponent of the legendary Mitsuharu Misawa, will end his active career with his retirement match on November 17th. In 2009, Saito, who applied a technique to Mitsuharu Misawa, who lost consciousness in the ring, has been subjected to numerous slanderous comments for fifteen years. Saito, who has silently accepted and faced the criticism, now speaks out. 

There is no end to the slanderous comments made against athletes on social media. 
During the Paris Olympics this summer, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes Association announced that there were over 8,500 malicious online posts during the event, and they issued a statement condemning the slander. In professional baseball in Japan, the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) announced in March last year, that they would take decisive measures, including legal action, against extremely malicious slanderous posts. While organizations and athletes in various genres are struggling with countermeasures, Akitoshi Saito, who is active in Pro Wrestling Noah, performed a move on Mitsuharu Misawa (46 years old), a top star in pro wrestling, lost consciousness and passed away suddenly in the ring. Since then, Saito has been subjected to a series of slanderous comments online, and directly in letters. Saito will have his retirement match on the 17th November at the Dolphins Arena (Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium) in Nagoya. Before ending his thirty-four year career as a professional wrestler, Saito opened up about the abuse he has received, and how he has dealt with it. 

On June 13th 2009, Saito faced Misawa in a tag match at the Hiroshima Prefectural Gymnasium*. Misawa lost consciousness after a back drop in the ring, and was rushed to hospital. Resuscitation was attempted in the intensive care unit, but Misawa suddenly passed away from a "disarticulated cervical spinal cord*". As the final opponent of Misawa, who had led the wrestling world with immense popularity, Saito received a great deal of abuse online. 

"At the time, I was appearing on a TV information program. I was running a blog using the TV stations server, but there was so much abuse posted, that the server crashed. However, I read them all. From comments like "You should quit", to "Murderer", and "Die", I received abuse not only from ordinary people, but also from professional wrestlers and martial artists in the same industry". 

"Should I quit? Or should I take my own life?"
He chose the answer from these two options. 

At the time, the social media platform Twitter (now X) had only been around for three years since its launch in 2006, and it did not have as many users as it does now. However, the comment section of blogs and online articles were used the same way fifteen years ago as it is today, and Saito continued to receive slander online through this media. 

On the other hand, Saito had been prepared to receive such abuse immediately after Misawa's death, and the morning after Misawa's death, he made a decision. "Should I just quit being a wrestler? Should I take my own life? I was torn between those two options. However, there was something I thought at that time; if I retired or took my own life, it would seem like I had fulfilled my responsibilities. But Misawa-san has fans, family, and people who supported him. When I'm gone, where will they direct their anger?" I wondered. So I decided to take it all on, and I decided that in order to do that, I had to "step into the ring". 

Fifteen years have passed since then, and social media has expanded rapidly, but Saito says he still receives abuse and slanderous comments. 

"I replied to those who directly commented on my X, both then and I now. I replied "I am very sorry. I have made a promise to Misawa-san. I have something I need to do, so please let me get into the ring a little longer" Even so, some people respond to me saying, "Stop bullshitting me, you fucking idiot". I accept that too. Some of the posts are, to put it bluntly, just for fun. However, no matter what the content of the post is, I respond to the post properly, and that way the same person does not post repeatedly. Some of them are sincerely thinking about Misawa-san, but some are not. But since I was prepared to take it all on that day, I treat everyone who comes the same way. I think words are gifts. So I want to give my own gift to everyone."

Saito, who has decided to "accept" and "deal with" everything and is responding to media interviews about Misawa-san as much as possible. Amongst the abusive comments are posts that criticize his talking about Misawa as "self promotion". 

"I think there is something I need to convey about Misawa-san. I have been in the Pro Wrestling Noah ring since October 2000, and Misawa-san's incredible defensive skills and generous personality have had a huge impact on my life. As his final opponent, I feel I need to pass on the story of how amazing he was."

And he had this to say to those who write abusive comments; 
"When you post slanderous comments, you may have a sense of justice. You may be thinking that you should make that person suffer. However, people feel differently when they experience it for themselves. The person who made the abusive remarks stands out online, and is the one who is slandered in return. I think that in those cases, you can understand the feelings of the person who was criticized. And there is a difference between "slander" and "opinion." Some opinions are correct, but I don't think its right to call it abuse if the person on the other end doesn't care about it". 

It must be difficult to endure the harsh slander that Saito received, which is why he made this appeal.

"When I think about what I can do now, there are people who abuse others online, and there are people who end their lives because they are constantly exposed to such abuse. I want to tell those people that it is wrong. In particular, if there are people who are suffering from abuse and thinking about taking their own lives, I can held even one in a hundred people to think twice by sharing my experience."

On November 17th, Saito will retire from his beloved pro wrestling. However, he is determined to keep promise right until the end. 


Notes
Hiroshima Prefectural Gymnasium: Formerly the Hiroshima Green Arena. 
Disarticulated cervical spinal cord: Basically, the spinal cord where the back meets the neck snapped, but as Saito said he could feel something was wrong when he lifted Misawa past his shoulders, I think a contributory cause may well have been a heart attack. This is borne out by Misawa's state of health before the match, which indicated heart problems. 

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