16 Wrestlers Who Died in the Ring

On March 31, 1999, rookie Japanese wrestler Emiko Kado teamed with Michiko Omukai to take on the duo of Mariko Yoshida and Mikiko Futagami at Japan’s Korakuen Hall. Kado, who had wrestled 14 matches and lost every one, received a stiff shot to the head, apparently resulting in an acute sprained membrane in her brain. Kado was taken to the hospital where she died ten days later from a condition known as brain bleed. She was 23 years old.