Former WCW United States Champion and Japanese wrestling great Kensuke Sasaki has had a long and memorable career. He has been involved in classic matches for many promotions, winning numerous titles along the way. As good as his career has been, however, it is somewhat overshadowed by a murky incident that occurred at the NJPW dojo in 1995. During a training session at the dojo, student Hiromitsu Gompei died while under the watch of Sasaki. According to the book Ring of Hell, Gompei was not performing his gruelling tasks up to standard and was beaten and repeatedly suplexed by Sasaki because of it, leading to severe head trauma and, ultimately, his death. New Japan wrestlers Scott Norton and Bam Bam Bigelow also alluded to Sasaki's involvement during shoot interviews. No criminal charges were brought against Sasaki and his career went on as usual. Sasaki's tag team partner Hiroshi Hase, racked with guilt over what had transpired in the dojo, soon quit the company and never teamed with Sasaki again. Again, Sasaki was never formerly charged over the death of Gompei, but there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the incident.
