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Mitsuharu Misawa (born June 18 1962 in Koshiyaga City, Saitama, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler.
Career
Misawa was trained in professional wrestling by Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer and Shohei Baba, and made his professional debut on August 21, 1981.
Early in his career, Misawa wrestled as the second generation of Tiger Mask. On May 17, 1990, during a tag match, he told his partner and future rival, Toshiaki Kawada, to unmask him, revealing his true face. Misawa then went on to dominate All Japan Pro Wrestling throughout the 1990s, with multiple Triple Crown and AJPW World Tag Team Title reigns. His rivalries with Jumbo Tsuruta, Toshiaki Kawada, and Kenta Kobashi are legendary, with many classics matches against them. Following the death of Baba and disagreements with his wife Motoko Baba, Misawa split from All Japan in mid-2000, taking all but two natives (Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi) to form Pro Wrestling NOAH with him. Now, he leads one of Japan's top promotions, and continues to wrestle a full-time schedule. An icon and legend, Misawa is one of the most decorated wrestlers of all time. Misawa has an unmatched list of great matches. In 2004, Misawa alongside his long time partner Yoshinari Ogawa returned the GHC Tag Team belts to NOAH from the New Japan Pro Wrestling combination of Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Championships/Accomplishments
- 5-Time AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion
- 5-Time AJPW World Tag Team Champion (with Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi, Yoshinari Ogawa and Toshiaki Kawada twice)
- 2-Time AJPW All-Asia Tag Team Champion (with Kenta Kobashi & Yoshinari Ogawa)
- 2-Time Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Heavyweight Champion
- 2-Time Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Tag Team Champion (with Yoshinari Ogawa)
- 1-Time NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time PWF Tag Team Champion (with Jumbo Tsuruta)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 6 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was also ranked twice in the best tag teams of the "PWI Years". He was ranked # 6 with Kenta Kobashi and # 11 with Toshiaki Kawada.