Haruka Eigen, a longtime cult favorite preliminary wrestler in Japan who most recently served as Executive Director of Pro Wrestling NOAH, has passed away at the age of 70. Longtime peer Shinya “The Great” Kojika was the first to break the news in a blog post on Monday. Eigen was an active, full-time pro wrestler from his debut in 1966 through his retirement in 2006, and given his schedule, has to be up there in terms of wrestlers with the most matches in the history of Japan.
Eigen is best known for his role in the “old man” comedy matches that permeated the undercard of All Japan Pro Wrestling starting in the mid-1980s before spreading to Pro Wrestling NOAH when he jumped to the new promotion in 2000. His trademark spot saw him doing ridiculously overdramatic spit takes to sell his opponents’ chops while draped over the ropes and facing the crowd. The spit would visibly travel several rows deep, and it was part of the fun of going to an AJPW or NOAH card to come prepared with a newspaper or an umbrella to protect yourself.
While best known for comedy, Eigen really was a good utility mid card wrestler who had solid matches when not focusing on his comedy shtick, usually against longtime rival Mitsuo Momota. He also holds the distinction of being one of Andre the Giant’s opponents in Andre’s last match, as Andre, Giant Baba, and Rusher Kimura defeated Eigen, Masa Fuchi, and Motoshi Okuma on December 4, 1992. Eigen also had the honor of being on the opposing team for the retirement match of The Intelligent, Sensational Destroyer (Dick Beyer), when Destroyer, son Kurt Beyer, and Baba defeated Eigen, Fuchi, and Masao Inoue.
