Mitsuharu Misawa 1962-2009

Sometimes something hits you hard, so hard that you can't even deal with life as you know it, a tragedy strikes you right in the pit of your stomach and you don't know how you'll continue to go on with life as you know it. Other times it's a nagging feeling that never seems to go away, it eats at you until you simply wish you could shut the world off and go away. Lately, for me, it seems as if I may never have another day where I don't feel markedly depressed because of the loss of one of my heroes, Mitsuharu Misawa.

This is a man whose work meant the world to me, Misawa was to Professional wrestling what Rembrandt was to art, what John Lennon was to Music, or what Jesus Christ was to the downtrodden and hopeless Roman population. He was quite possibly the greatest “worker” (speaking purely in the terms of someone who had very good, entertaining matches) of all time, and he was largely considered a sports hero in Japan, with popularity that far exceeds that of the American professional wrestling names most of you are probably familiar with such as Hulk Hogan or The Rock. Misawa was considered a star more akin to Kobe Bryant or Tom Brady in the states.

Above all, the loss of Misawa hurts me personally. I had the honour of seeing him perform in November 2007 when he made his first appearances in America in over 20 years. This was at Ring of Honor's annual “Glory by Honor” shows in Philadelphia and New York. Some thought I was crazy to make such a long journey from my home state of South Carolina simply to see, as they put it, “some Japanese guy”, but to me it was the ultimate honour. To see my idol do what he does best, live in person was a huge deal to me, and this was an opportunity that I simply could not pass up. I saw him wrestle to a 30 minute draw in a tag tam match the first night, and the next night I saw him defend the GHC title (Global Honored Crown, the top championship in Pro Wrestling NOAH, the company that Misawa owned, and was the top star of) against KENTA. I will never forget the feeling in my heart as the lights went dark, the emerald green spotlight hit the entrance ramp and “Spartan X” (Misawa's long time entrance theme) started blaring on the speakers. The building grew to a roar as those of us fortunate enough to be in attendance started chanting “MI-SA-WA!, MI-SA-WA!, MI-SA-WA!, MI-SA-WA!” and as the roar grew from excited to deafening, he walked through the curtain and I exploded with joy at the sight of him. He was here, it was really him, Mitsuharu Freakin' Misawa was in the same building as me, and he is about to do what he does best a scant 30 feet or so away from the chair that I was sitting in, but will probably no longer need. I felt the tears well up in me and the feeling of amazement I felt was unparalleled at the time, and will rank with my eventual wedding and the eventual birth of my children as the greatest moments of my life.