Ted Tanabe (1962 - 2009)

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Just the day after Mitsuharu Misawa died, Tetsuo "Ted" Tanabe passed out after an Osaka Pro card. He remained to be unconscious at hospital and passed away at 12:23pm on 2009/06/15.

Tanabe (no relation to me, by the way) debuted as a referee in 1987 with the old Japan Women's Pro Wrestling. When Gran Hamada and he Shinmas started the Universal Pro-Wrestling, the first "lucharesu" organization, in 1990, Tanabe joined them. Between 1992 and 2006, he was the senior referee for Michinoku Pro-Wrestling. He had been working for Osaka Pro since 2006.

Ironically, Tanabe was the same age as Misawa.

RIP.

[The Great Gouki]

So I'm guessing Mr. Tanabe was a referee during a match, what happened? Heart problems? Man, this is getting crazy......R.I.P. Ted Tanabe.




wow...never thought I'd write that twice, so close together.....

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Another tragedy...

He really was my favorite ref. It seems that he was in the ring for every MPro match I have ever seen, along with a ton of other shows...

Rest in Peace, sir.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

Man, too many people are leaving this earth man.

My condolences, prayers and thoughts go out to Ted Tanabe's family and friends.

Gambate Tanabe-San, RIP