10 Wrestlers Who DOUBLED DOWN On Legendary Title Reigns
1. Mitsuharu Misawa
A Kings Road practitioner with some of the stiffest forearms the squared circle has ever seen, Mitsuharu Misawa was revered in his home country.
As Kenta Kobashi did with Pro Wrestling NOAH, Mitsuharu Misawa elevated All Japan Pro Wrestling up to the level of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. His second stint with the Triple Crown Championship, spanning 705 glorious days, is largely the reason for this. Pinning Stan Hansen after a fierce 24-minute epic, the aptly-dubbed 'Mr Triple Crown' was presented as the kingpin of All Japan Pro Wrestling, its backbone, its crown pillar; he was All Japan.
His preeminence travelled to AJPW's doubles division, too, as Misawa's lineup of tag team matches throughout the nineties makes The Young Bucks quiver. A total of eleven reigns as a Tag Team Champion saw Mitsuharu reign triumphant across AJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH; his third stint as AJPW World Tag Team Champion is regarded as Misawa at his tag team best. Though he and career rival-turned-tag team partner Kenta Kobashi only notched one successful defence across 351 days, that match was the 40-minute epic vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada.
It's the reason why All Japan Pro Wrestling was so hot in 1994.
And it's the reason why so many miss Mitsuharu Misawa dearly.