Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Emiko Kado
Emiko Kado had a background in playing softball, but decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler instead. She had a rather small build standing 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing a little over 130 pounds. Kado was trained by Aja Kong in the promotion called Arsion. She trained in various aspects of wrestling including lucha libre and shoot wrestling. Emiko Kado made her pro debut on February 18, 1999 against her mentor Kong in a losing effort.
Emiko would wrestle a total of 14 matches, losing every single one. Despite the losses, the Arsion promotion thought highly of Kado’s potential to one day be a star for them. On March 31, 1999…in her 15th professional match…Kado teamed with Michiko Omukai to face the team of Mariko Yoshida and Mikiko Futugami. 22 minutes into the match, Kado received a back suplex from Mariko Yoshida hitting her head hard on to the canvas. Kado remained motionless, as the match was stopped for medical personnel to attend to her.
She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she received emergency surgery on her brain. Kado was in a coma for approximately nine days before she died from her injuries which were bleeding on her brain. Emiko Kado was just 23 years old at the time of her death. She was just the second wrestler in Japan to die from in ring action with the first being Plum Mariko two years earlier.