Date: 06/15	3:30 PM
Views: 1,211

WWE's John Laurinaitis issued a brief statement on the passing of Mitsuharu Misawa. "On behalf of WWE, we were deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Mitsuharu Misawa. We extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans. Misawa will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in Japan." Laurinaitis would know better than almost anyone in WWE as he actually worked in the ring with Misawa during his 'Johnny Ace' days and had one of the most memorable matches of Misawa's career with him.

Officially the cause of Misawa's death remains undisclosed due to his family's request for privacy. Unofficially it has leaked to Wrestling Observer and other websites from the police reports and hospital workers who treated Misawa that the death was caused by a spinal cord injury from the back suplex. Personally I think 20 years of "strong style" wrestling are just as much to blame and that one suplex was only the last straw.

Jim Ross had this to say about Misawa in his latest blog.

Mitsuharu Misawa was never an acquaintance of mine but I felt like I knew him from watching many of his DVD's which were usually with men that I did know. Misawa was arguably the best in ring performer in the world in his prime. First of all, Misawa knew how to wrestle and how to wrestle physically. The fundamentals had been drilled into this legend as a young man who went on to become a Japanese National Amateur Champion. Several things stood out to me about Misawa. In addition to be a physical, fundamentally sound athlete, timing and toughness were two of his greatest attributes. Great timing is a gift that largely can't be taught. It's like ring psychology. Some of it can be taught but mostly it must be a learned trait and some people are in the business for years and never learn great timing or main event level ring psychology. Toughness is another trait that can be nurtured but generally can't be taught. Misawa was naturally tough and it showed. And his fans loved him for it. They also loved his passion and the emotional ride on which he would take them. That's what pro wrestling is, selling emotion.

You can read the rest of his blog including some comments on Umaga HERE. Also FWIW, The Sun in the UK posted a photo of him being carried out of the ring HERE.

TNA also issued a stateament about Misawa on their website. "TNA Wrestling is saddened to hear of the sudden and tragic loss of Misawa. He was respected around the world and he will be missed. We pass on our sincere condolences to his family and those who worked with him in Japan."

WWE developmental talent and former ROH & TNA star Low-Ki posted a statement about the passing of  Misawa today on www.low-ki.com. "He was the first person I saw after my first championship match in NOAH and he said something that meant so much to me, 'Good job.' It was an honor to be a part of his company. I just can't believe he's gone. I don't know what else to say. This is terrible. I feel terrible."

Chris Hero posted a statement about Misawa's passing on his MySpace page HERE. Hero was doing a storyline in ROH where Misawa had given him an elbow pad so he could adopt Misawa's elbow into his arsenal of moves.

ESPN posted an article on the passing of Mitsuharu Misawa HERE.

The Mainichi Daily also confirms that Misawa's cause of death was damage to his cervical spinal cord HERE.

Ring of Honor released the following statement on passing of Mitsuharu Misawa.

    Everybody at Ring of Honor would like to send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Mitsuharu Misawa along with all of the wrestlers and staff at Pro Wrestling NOAH. Although Misawa only appeared on two ROH events, his impact on pro wrestling was very evident in many of the matches our fans watch today, and in the style of many of the wrestlers in Ring of Honor.

    In the past several years of working with Pro Wrestling NOAH, Misawa was a great supporter of ROH, and was an integral part of making it possible for wrestlers such as KENTA, Namomichi Marufuji, Takeshi Morishima, and Go Shiozaki to come to wrestle for our company.

    We mourn the loss of a true wrestling legend and he will certainly be missed by all of us here at Ring of Honor.