Biography

Mitsuharu Misawa (三沢 光晴, Misawa Mitsuharu) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling before forming Pro Wrestling Noah. Misawa was known alongside Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, and Akira Taue under the informal nomenclature of AJPW's Four Pillars of Heaven, whose matches developed the ōdō (王道, "King's Road") style of puroresu and received significant critical acclaim. Despite never working in the United States during the 1990s, Misawa had significant stylistic influence upon American independent wrestling, through the popularity of his work among tape-traders in the country. However, while Misawa has been regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, the physical demands and consequences of the style in which he worked and the circumstances of his death have made his legacy, or at least that of ōdō, somewhat problematic. Debuting in 1981, Misawa became the second incarnation of the Tiger Mask gimmick in 1984, which he wrestled as, through to the decade's end.