One of many infamous WWE villains of yore has instantly handed away in his home nation of Japan.
In step with an English translation of Hochi Sports, Masashi Ozawa — larger recognized stateside by his ring moniker of “Killer Khan” — misplaced consciousness at a restaurant in Tokyo sooner than being rushed to a hospital on Friday.
Ozawa died of a ruptured artery. He was 76 years earlier.
When Ozawa obtained right here out West to ply his commerce after a worthwhile early occupation in Japan, he took on the id of a Mongolian “assassin.”
In 1980, he made his debut throughout the WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) as “Killer Khan” and was swiftly thrust proper right into a high-profile feud with one in all many agency’s largest — really — stars, Andre the Massive.
Pro wrestling followers, who largely nonetheless believed the sport was precise and by no means scripted, witnessed Khan “break” Andre’s ankle.
As outlined by skilled wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, that was a much-needed ruse to jot down Andre off for a bit because of he had legitimately broken his ankle — in a freak accident, not throughout the ring.
Very sorry to hearken to regarding the dying of Killer Khan as a consequence of a ruptured artery. Might have a critical story on him this week. Biggest recognized for breaking Andre’s ankle (which was a storyline cowl for an precise harm) leading to one in all many largest feuds of Andre’s occupation. Had plenty of the…
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) December 30, 2023
Andre and Khan clashed in an infamous “Mongolian stretcher match” in 1981, which was lauded on the time as a violent spectacle.
From there, Khan would switch on to feud with then-WWE champion and face of the company Hulk Hogan.
In the end, the legendary “heel” (villain in enterprise parlance) returned to Japan for another run with New Japan Skilled Wrestling.
Khan’s distinctive trend of wrestling is emulated by fairly just a few expert wrestlers right now.
Ozawa retired from skilled wrestling in 1987 and opened plenty of bars and consuming locations in Tokyo, in keeping with NJPW.
Hochi Sports activities actions reported that he’s survived by “an American partner and child, nonetheless they’ve been dwelling individually for a really very long time.”
This textual content appeared initially on The Western Journal.
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