Wrestlezone is saddened to report that 50-year-old Japanese pro wrestling legend Yoshihiro Takayama is reportedly paralyzed from the neck down, after an injury suffered during a match back in May. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted this weekend that he took a bad bump during a sunset flip that landed him in the hospital, and now three months later is able to speak but has zero movement from the neck down.
Takayama is one of two men in history to have held New Japan Pro Wrestling’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship, All Japan’s Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and Pro Wrestling Noah’s GHC Heavyweight Championship. He is also well known for his incredibly brutal PRIDE fight against Don Frye in 2002, which has gone down in the books as one of the greatest showcases of combat sports ever.
Very saddened to learn of this news. A Warrior and a Gentlemen. My thought and best wishes to him during his recovery. https://t.co/upLgNk8tdh
— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) August 6, 2017
