8. Mitsuharu Misawa
Mitsuharu Misawa was one of the most popular Japanese wrestlers of all-time until a freak accident ended his wrestling career and his life. First gaining popularity in the 1980s as Tiger Mask II in All Japan Pro Wrestling, competing for the AWA and NWA world championships. The new booker of AJPW, Giant Baba, decided to make Misawa his biggest star so he unmasked Misawa and pushed him to the moon. Misawa defeated the legendary Jumbo Tsuruta in his first main event match, becoming a giant star in the process and forever being cemented as a main event player. He engaged in feuds with Tsuruta, Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, and Stan Hansen, capturing multiple titles and becoming a member of the inaugural Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 1996. Following the death of Giant Baba, Misawa left All Japan to form Pro Wrestling NOAH, taking most of the AJPW roster with him. Winning the heavyweight title three times from 2000-2009, Misawa continued performing his innovative moves like the Emerald Flowsion and Tiger Driver. Misawa also competed for Ring of Honor wrestling, defending his world title against Samoa Joe in 2007. It seemed like Misawa was ageless and would continue wrestling for as long as his body held up. In 2009, Misawa team with Go Shiozaki against Akitoshi Saito and gaijin Bison Smith at the Hiroshima Arena. Misawa took a belly to back suplex from Saito and lost consciousness in the ring. A few hours later, the legendary Misawa was pronounced dead at a Japanese hospital at the age of 46. An initial police report stated that Misawa had died from a spinal cord injury which caused a heart attack, however Japanese law states a cause of death will not be officially released if the family asks it to not be. So while we will never know for sure what killed Mitsuharu Misawa, we know for sure than an in-ring accident took his life well before his time.