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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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.