Mitsu Arakawa
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Mack Mitsukazu Arakawa (May 23, 1927 – April 17, 1997) was an American
professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...
. He is best known for his appearances with the
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
,
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
-based NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club/American Wrestling Association.


Early life

Arakawa was born in Hawaii in 1927. He enlisted in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
in 1945.


Professional wrestling career

Arakawa was trained to wrestle by The Great Yamato. He made his professional wrestling debut in 1953. Wrestling as a
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...
throughout his career, Arakawa was billed as being a Japanese citizen who had survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and bore a grudge against the United States as a result. He spent the early years of his career wrestling throughout the
Midwest United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
. In 1957, Arakawa debuted in the NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club (later renamed the
American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...
), where he was billed as Kinji Shibuya's cousin. In August 1957, he and Shibuya defeated
The Kalmikoffs The Kalmikoffs were a professional wrestling group of fictitious Soviet brothers. It began as a tag team consisting of Ivan (Edward Bogucki) and Karol (Karol Piwoworczyk) who were later joined by "brothers" Nikita (Nikita Mulkovitch) and Stan (o ...
to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Minneapolis version)''. They lost the championship to Joe Brunetti and Guy Brunetti in November 1957. In December 1967, Arakawa and Dr. Moto defeated Pat O'Connor and Wilbur Snyder for the
AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...
. They held the championship for over a year before losing to The Crusher and
Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis Jr. (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and National Football League player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with ...
in December 1968. In 1959, Arakawa joined the
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
-based
World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
(WWA). In October 1966, he defeated Dick the Bruiser to win the
WWA World Heavyweight Championship The World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling All-Stars. It was the primary championship in the WWA. The title was sanctioned by WWA as their wor ...
. He lost the championship to Wilbur Snyder in September 1967. Arakawa toured Australia in 1965, 1966 and 1970, winning the IWA World Heavyweight Championship during his first tour. In the mid-1960s, he performed in Canada with Shibuya, with the duo winning the
Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...
in 1963. In the late 1960s, Arakawa and
Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, martial artist and actor. He was known by the ring names Professor Toru Tanaka, or simply Professor Tanaka. He was best know ...
began wrestling for the
World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...
(WWWF) as "The Rising Suns". In June 1969, The Rising Suns were crowned the inaugural WWWF International Tag Team Champions (they were billed as having won a tournament that never took place). They lost the championship to Tony Marino and Victor Rivera in December 1969. In 1973, Arakawa appeared in ''The Wrestling Queen'', a documentary on rookie professional wrestler Vivian Vachon. Arakawa retired in 1976.


Personal life

Arakawa was married to Patti, with whom he had two sons, David and Michael, and a daughter, Teresa.


Death

Arakawa died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
on April 17, 1997.


Filmography


Film


Championships and accomplishments

*American Wrestling Alliance **AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kinji Shibuya * NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club/American Wrestling Association **
AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...
(1 time) – with Dr. Moto ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Minneapolis version)'' (1 time) – with Kinji Shibuya *
NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989. History Early history Although other wrestling promotions e ...
** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kinji Shibuya ** NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mr. Moto *
NWA San Francisco NWA San Francisco was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, California in the United States. Founded in 1935 by "The Utica Panther" Joe Malcewicz (1897–1962), the promotion joined the National Wrestling Alliance in ...
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...
(1 time) – with Kinji Shibuya * National Wrestling Federation ** NWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yoshino Sato *
Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...
**
Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...
(1 time) – with Kinji Shibuya *
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
** IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *
World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
**
WWA World Heavyweight Championship The World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling All-Stars. It was the primary championship in the WWA. The title was sanctioned by WWA as their wor ...
(1 time) ** WWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dr. Moto *
World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...
** WWWF International Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural) – with
Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, martial artist and actor. He was known by the ring names Professor Toru Tanaka, or simply Professor Tanaka. He was best know ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arakawa, Mitsu 1927 births 1997 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American people of Japanese descent Faux Japanese professional wrestlers People from Honolulu Professional wrestlers from Hawaii United States Army soldiers AWA World Tag Team Champions NWF World Tag Team Champions Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) WWF International Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Minneapolis version)