Mitsuharu Misawa: The Supreme Triple Crown Champion
Childhood, amateur wrestling, Tiger Mask II, the Super Generation Army, the Triple Crown Champion, the Four Heavenly Kings of Pro Wrestling...the adolescence of a man who devoted himself to professional wrestling!
Chapters
Introduction
1.
INTRODUCTION
"The Eternal Strongest Champion Jumbo Tsuruta," published in May 2020, was a new and direct challenge for me, who, as a former reporter for All Japan Pro Wrestling in Weekly Gong, had not been able to effectively convey the wrestler, Jumbo Tsuruta. The book was published twenty years after his passing, but it has been read by far more people than I had imagined, and the overwhelming response has not only helped me to reaffirm the greatness of Jumbo Tsuruta as a professional wrestler, but also served as a memorial for him.
This time, I'm working on Misawa Mitsuharu. He was one year younger than me, and unlike Tsuruta, he joined All Japan Pro Wrestling the year after I started working part-time at the Gong editorial department, so he was a familiar presence. During his Tiger Mask days, I casually called him "Tiger!", but after he unmasked in May 1990, "Misawa-kun" didn't feel right, and I couldn't just call him "Misawa" without his first name, so I started calling him "Mitsu-chan" just like his friends in private. He called me "Osano-kun!" and remained friends with me even when my relationship with All Japan was strained after I became the reporter covering SWS*.
As he rose to become the ace of All Japan and the president and ace of Pro Wrestling Noah, I would address him in public as "Misawa-san" and use honorific language. However, when I did, he would grin and ask, "Osano, what's wrong?" He'd treat me as he would normally, which sometimes made interviewing him difficult. Of course, he made a clear distinction between work and personal life, but I was glad that deep down he treated me like a friend.
Looking back, after an interview three months before his death, he asked me " "Osano, do you have work today? If not, do you want to go out for drinks for the first time in a while?" We went bar-hopping at cabaret clubs in Okachimachi, Tokyo, which turned out to be the last time we would spend together. I've suddenly written a lot of personal details, but this book is not intended to be about reminiscing about my memories with Misawa, it examines his roots as a member of the wrestling club at Ashikaga Institute of Technology High School (now Ashikaga University High School), his days as a young wrestler who was said to have "changed All Japan's undercard," his controversial period as the second Tiger Mask, his Super Generation Army period that revitalized All Japan after Genichiro Tenryu left, and his time as the Four Heavenly Kings, who remained true to pure pro wrestling even during the martial arts boom and captivated wrestling fans... This book analyzes and examines the life of Mitsuharu Misawa in each era. It also portrays All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s through his lens. And rather than depicting Misawa's entire life, I've deliberately narrowed my focus to the period leading up to his match with Toshiaki Kawada at the Tokyo Dome on May 1, 1998. I think you'll understand why if you read to the end.
Misawa was also a pro wrestler who was difficult to put into words, in a different sense than Tsuruta. Particularly during his time as one of All Japan's Four Heavenly Kings, he expressed everything through offense and defense in the ring, and rejected verbal pro wrestling, but even in interviews he answered frankly and matter-of-factly, without any lip service or embellishment. Even when things were actually difficult, he didn't use fancy words and spoke naturally, which made it difficult to come up with impactful headlines.
Even when he fought with all his heart and soul, he never said things like "for the fans" or "if the fans want it." Even if he did say it, he would express it as, "He never said "for the fans" or "if the fans want it." Even if he did say it, he would express it as "The cheering supports me. It gives me a strong sense of motivation that tells me I can't continue like this, so I want to cherish that" or "I want to continue working hard so I don't succumb to those cheers." Misawa Mitsuharu was the kind of person who didn't want to be embarrassed by expecting something in return, so he would simply say, "I don't want to have any regrets" or "It's for my own good." After one match at the Nippon Budokan, Misawa was sprawled out in the waiting room, and when I asked him, "Are you sure you okay with going this far?" He stared up at the ceiling and said, "Why go this far? Well, it's easiest to just listen to the pin without reading into it. Because that's how the match ends, right? But I'd hate to regret it later, thinking, "Maybe I could have kicked out then. That's why I kick out".
Misawa Mitsuharu never boasted, never whined, never complained, and never took on a lofty stance. He was natural, and casually put his life on the line in his wrestling. He was the coolest wrestler to interview, and a person I respected beyond my professional sphere.
At the end of 2021, marking the 13th anniversary of his death, we will analyze and examine Misawa's professional wrestling at the time, incorporating testimonies from various people involved, and at the same time, we will once again explore how that strong professional spirit hidden within him was nurtured... We would like to shed light on the determination of the man, who was healed by the supreme professional wrestling known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of Wrestling."
NOTES
SWS: Genichiro Tenryu's first promotion after leaving All Japan, to be replaced by the far better WAR.
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