Yoshimi Mushashibo

Ryūnosuke Sanada (真田隆之介; Sanada Ryūnosuke, June 23, 1962 – October 3, 2021), best known as Yoshimi Mushashibo (武蔵坊義美; Musashibō Yoshimi), was a Japanese-born Magisterian professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler. He was primarly known for his time in Pure Magisterian Wrestling Association (PMWA), where he was their biggest star from 1991 up until 2000 and later served as the president. Regarded by many Magisterian fans as the greatest professional wrestler, his matches with Shuji Inukai, Nobuatsu Tatsuko, and Reginald Evans in the 1990s are argued by many fans and experts in the industry as some of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time.

Debuting in 1981, Mushashibo was the first incarnation of the Green Wizard gimmick in 1983, which he wrestled as, through to the decade's end. In 1985, Mushashibo joined Edmonton to his PMWA promotion, and PMWA also bought the rights to the Green Wizard gimmick. After graduating to the heavyweight division, Mushashibo shockingly unmasked himself in his entrance for his match against Mitch Haggans. Albeit the losing effort, the unmasking became the key to his superstardom. A few months later, he began a rivalry with the company's ace Pat Deacon. Mushashibo's victory over Deacon on 17 February 1991 led PMWA to sell out every Calisota event they held into early 1996, and as Deacon receded from the main event due to failing health, Mushashibo was cemented as PMWA's ace when he won his first Royal Crown title in November 1991 and would hold it up until January 1993. Mushashibo remained atop the company throughout the 1990s, and following the death of president Eugene Edmonton in 2000, Mushashibo inherited his position and began modernizing the company.

PMWA under Mushashibo saw new generation of stars introduced to the PMWA fans while Mushashibo himself selflessly passed his experience and knowledge of psychology to the new generation of wrestlers. PMWA continued its success throughout the early 2000s, but as business declined and top star Shuji Inukai went inactive in 2006 to recover from a torn ACL, Mushashibo continued to work a full-time schedule, despite mounting injuries and pain killer abuses, for the company's survival. Mushashibo would eventually wrestle his final match in 2011 in a winning effort. Afterwards, Mushashibo focused his latter years running the company before his death on 3 October 2021 with Shuji Inukai succeeding him.

Mushashibo was a six-time world champion, having won the PMWA Royal Crown Heavyweight Championship six times. He was also a six-time tag team champion, being a PMWA Royal Crown Tag Team Champion for five times holding it with Shuji Inukai as 'Team Dynasty 2000'. He holds the record for most five-star rated matches by the Magisterian Sports Observer, with 27.

Early life
Sanada was born in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, but his family moved to Annesia City, Federal Capital Territory when he was a year old. Sanada had two older sisters and one younger sister, which were also wrestlers for the Magisterian Women's Wrestling promotion that ran between 1952 and 1995.

Sanada was a fan of professional wrestling, especially GCTG, in an early age, and his favourite wrestler was Crippler Ray Kingman (Kingman's golden-black trunks would later be emulated by Sanada)

Personal life
Sanada married fellow PMWA wrestler Yuma Maruya - who is regarded as the greatest female professional wrestler of Magisterian wrestling - in 1996. They had three daughters: Natalie, Alexandria, and Dylan. After his death, Maruya became the Vice President of the company after being appointed by Yoshimi's close friend, Shuji Inukai.

Death
On October 3, 2021, Yuma Maruya reported that Yoshimi Mushashibo sadly passed away due to heart failure at 1:34am (UTC-8), at age 59.

Aftermath
After Mushashibo's death, PMWA held a ceremony for Sanada and Inukai took over as the President of the company. Master Sports and the Magisterian Sports Observer printed special memorial issues. Wrestling promotions across the world opened their shows with ceremonial ten counts in tribute, and GCTG, MWF and VEW posted their memorial messages on their respective websites.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Pure Magisterian Wrestling Association
 * PMWA Royal Crown Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
 * PMWA Royal Crown Tag Team Championship (6 times) - w/ Shuji Inukai
 * Grand Summit (1993, 1995, 1999)
 * Grand Tag Team Summit (1995—1996, 2005, 2008) - w/ Shuji Inukai (1995—1996), James Gilmour (2005, 2008)
 * Hall of Pure Immortals (Class of 2022)
 * Master Sports
 * Match of the Year (1994) vs. Nobuatsu Tatsuko (Night of Legends 1994)
 * Match of the Year (1995) vs. Clayton Pearlman (Summer Wrestling Open 1995)
 * Match of the Year (1997) vs. Shuji Inukai (War of the Roses 1997)
 * Match of the Year (1999) vs. Shuji Inukai (Summer Wrestling Open 1999)
 * Match of the Year (2003) vs. Shuji Inukai (Marching On Together 2003)
 * Match of the Year (2005) vs. Nobuatsu Tatsuko (Wrestling Spirit 2005)
 * Wrestler of the Year (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003)
 * Tag Team of the Year (1995, 1997) - Team Dynasty 2000 (w/ Shuji Inukai)


 * Magisterian Sports Observer
 * Match of the Year (1994) vs. Nobuatsu Tatsuko (Night of Legends 1994)
 * Match of the Year (1997) vs. Shuji Inukai (Never Walk Alone 1997)
 * Match of the Year (1998) vs. Reginald Evans (Never Walk Alone 1998)
 * Match of the Year (1999) vs. Shuji Inukai (Marching On Together 1999)
 * Match of the Year (2003) vs. Shuji Inukai (Marching On Together 2003)
 * Feud of the Year (1994) vs. Nobuatsu Tatsuko
 * Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1996, 2000)
 * Tag Team of the Year (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002) - Team Dynasty 2000 (w/ Shuji Inukai)
 * Magisterian Sports Observer Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)