Japanese Wrestler And MMA Fighter Tomohiko Hashimoto Passes Away At 47

After announcing the diseases return, Hashimoto seemed positive that he would return. He said:

I will definitely come back to the ring after curing my illness with oriental medicine. I also have one more singles match with (Kazuyuki) Fujita and a goal to get revenge on, so please wait for me.Tomohiko Hashimoto

Hashimoto's Legacy In Wrestling

Tomohiko was a veteran of professional wrestling, starting his career on April 14th, 2000. He found considerable success in DDT Pro-Wrestling, capturing the KO-D Tag Team Championships three times as well as winning multiple Tag Leagues and tournaments.

After his time with DDT came to an end in 2006, Tomohiko became a freelance wrestler, mostly working with Apache Army and Cho Sento Puroresu FMW.

One of his biggest contributions to the sport came when he founded Pro-Wrestling A-Team, a successor to Apache Army when that promotion folded. Hashimoto competed there and would go on to capture the WEW Openweight Championship and WEW Tag Team Championships multiple times (the promotion's top singles and tag titles).

Outside of creating and running his own promotion, Hashimoto also helped introduce a talent that many consider one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Iyo Sky, formerly known as Io Shirai.

Iyo and her sister Mio Shirai represented Team Makehen, a stable of wrestlers trained by Tomohiko Hashimoto, competing in multiple independent promotions around Japan such as Pro Wrestling Wave, JWP Joshi Puroresu, and Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling.