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.
Giant Ochiai
Takayuki Okada was a former MMA fighter turned professional wrestler. He stood 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighed closed to 300 pounds. His MMA record was 3 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws. Okada was trained by both the original ‘Tiger Mask’ Satoru Sayama and by Kenzo Suzuki. He debuted as a pro wrestler in 2000 under the moniker of the ‘Giant Ochiai.’ The last name was in honor of his famous uncle who played baseball in Japan named Hiromitsu Ochiai.
Okada signed with Riki Choshu’s World Japan promotion where he began training in their dojo under the tutelage of Kenzo Suzuki. During an intense training session with Suzuki in the dojo, Okada collapsed and fell unconscious in July of 2003. Okada was rushed to the hospital where he slipped into a coma. He remained comatose for over a month until he passed away on August 8th, 2003. An autopsy revealed that he died from acute subdural hematoma aka bleeding of the brain.
After Okada’s death, Kenzo Suzuki was fired by Riki Choshu and allegedly blackballed from every promotion in Japan. Suzuki ended up traveling to the United States to find work wrestling for both TNA and eventually WWE. The Japanese media’s scrutiny over the tragic incident grew once owner Riki Choshu refused to take responsibility for Okada’s death in his dojo. The family of Okada accused Choshu of negligence…but was never formally charged in the incident. World Japan eventually folded later that year. Takayuki ‘Giant Ochiai’ Okada was just 30 years old at the time of his death.