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Mr. Pogo, Tetsuo Sekigawa, who helped popularize Japanese Death Match wrestling in the 1990s as part of the original Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) promotion, passed away today as the result of complications during a back surgery. He was 66 years old.
Pogo initially trained at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, debuting in 1972 before leaving the promotion and becoming a journeyman for much of his career.
In the 1970s, he headed to the United States and Canada and remained there for much of the '70s. Pogo worked for Stampede Wrestling as Judo Lee and later as Sekigawa, He also toured for a number of United States territories, playing the stereotypical Japanese heel under his own name as well as characters Mr. Togo and The Great Seki, among others. He spent a number of years working for the Central States territory but also poppd up in Mid-Atlantic, Texas for the Funks, Puerto Rico for the Colons and in Tennesee, among other companies.
Pogo returned to New Japan in the 1985 where he and Kendo Nagasaki worked as the Ninja Express, but despite a long career, it was in FMW in the 1990s where Pogo's legend was really born, feuding with the legendary Atsushi Onita and working as sorts of crazy death matches. He left the promotion for W*ING but eventually returned to FMW, where he suffered a broken neck during a Double Hell Fire Match against Terry Funk. Funk blew a fireball at Pogo, who took a bad bump of the ring into barbed wire outside the ring, breaking his neck in the process. Pogo did return to the ring but was never the same in terms of what he could do physically in the ring and retired officially in 1996. Like most wrestlers, Pogo made comebacks including a run as the first Big Japan Wrestling Death Match champion and more matches with Onita.
On behalf of everyone associated with PWInsider.com, I'd like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Pogo.
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