Toshiki Kawada retired at the age of 47, long before most Japanese wrestlers hang up their boots.
However, his age is important in the matter. The fact is that he was only one year older than Mitsuharu Misawa on the day the legend died.
The pair came up together in All Japan Pro Wrestling, alongside the other Four Pillars – Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue.
They wrestled each other numerous times, including some of the best matches so all time. Their match on 3/6/1994 is considered one of the best matches ever, and earned a 6-star ranking from Dave Meltzer.
However, when Misawa died in the ring on June 13, 2009, something changed for Kawada.
He continued to wrestle for the following year, but it was clear that his love for the sport had gone.
Without Misawa in the world, he saw no interest in continuing his career, seeing the pro-wrestling world as a much darker place without “The Emerald Wizard” in it.
He unofficially retired following his last match in NJPW, retiring to open his own ramen noodle shop in Tokyo, named the Dangerous K Noodle House.
Kawada hasn’t wrestled since retirement, and has spoken about Misawa’s death sapped his love for wrestling, eventually forcing him to retire from the sport.
Speaking about Misawa’s death, Toshiaki Kawada said:
“I haven’t officially announced my retirement yet, but I’ve been in the same world as Misawa-san since I was 15.
When that senior was suddenly gone,I asked myself,”What am I going to to chase after?”And I felt like I had lost my goal.I only wrestled a few matches for a year after Misawa’s death.”
However, there has been recent talk about Kawada coming out of retirement for one more match.
NJPW’s Taichi, who was once a student of Kawada, has challenged the legend to one last match in pro-wrestling.