All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Atsushi Aoki Has Died At Age 41


All Japan Pro Wrestling

All Japan Pro Wrestling‘s Atsushi Aoki passed away on June 3 following a motorcycle accident in Tokyo, when according to a translation of a Kyodo article by author and NJPW commentator Chris Carlton, “his bike failed to take a curve and hit the wall of a tunnel.” Aoki had won the World Junior Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time on May 20. He was 41 years old.

Aoki began his wrestling career in Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2005 after training at their dojo. He left NOAH in 2012 after the firing of Kenta Kobashi, and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2013 as part of the Burning stable alongside Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaru Suzuki, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Along with his junior title wins, Aoki racked up tag team accomplishments working with Suzuki and Hikaru Sato in All Japan, became head trainer at their dojo, and was appointed the president of talent relations in 2016.


Wrestlers who had worked with Aoki, including Joe Coffey, Kikutaro, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Vinnie Massaro, Roderick Strong, Minoru Suzuki, Harlem Bravado, Rocky Romero, Kenta, and Kassius Ohno, made statements on social media after learning the news of Aoki’s death.

Strong and Ohno also shared links to Aoki matches – Strong the last time he saw him wrestle live in 2018, and Strong a match in which he and Eddie Edwards tagged against Aoki and Kenta in 2010.