March 31, 2003 Observer Newsletter: Death of Hiromichi ‘Kodo’ Fuyuki

Hiromichi “Kodo” Fuyuki, a controversial and tragic figure in Japanese wrestling, passed away from cancer on 3/19 at the age of 42, just a few days after putting together and shooting the angle for what would have been just about the biggest match of his career.

Cancer overcame the president of the World Entertainment Wrestling promotion at 6:50 p.m. that night at Yokohama City Hospital. Within wrestling, word of his impending death had gotten around as wrestlers Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Chocoball Mukai and Shinsuke Same were at the hospital every night. Shinya Hashimoto, Mitsuharu Misawa, Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshinari Ogawa, Hayabusa, Rumi Kazama and Shinobu Kandori were also among the wrestlers who came to see him on the last three days of his life.

Just before his death, his wife, Kaoru Fuyuki, called reporters at Tokyo Sports and told them he wasn’t going to last the night, and said he wanted them to shoot newspaper photos of him with his wife.

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