Kenta Kobashi diagnosed with kidney cancer -- to undergo surgery soon
On Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 1:55 PM EST The Wrestling Observer is reporting today that Kenta Kobashi, known to wrestling fans in Japan as pro wrestling's Iron Man, was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer and is currently being hospitalized.
Kobashi, who is 39 years old, was diagnosed with cancer when results came back after a routine medical examination. Mitsuharu Misawa announced earlier today in Tokyo that Kobashi was in so much pain that he informed him that he could not wrestle at the moment.
He stated that Kobashi later went on to complain about severe pain in his waist during the examination. After a scan last Thursday, results showed a tumor on his kidney. Although not much isn't known at this time, it is believed that Kobashi will be undergoing surgery to remove the cancer. Kobashi is often considered one of the greatest wrestlers of this generation and is only second to Ric Flair when it comes to winning the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair award for Wrestler of the Year in The Wrestling Observer winning in 1996, 2003, 2004 and 2005. He also won Match of the Year recently after his highly praised match with Samoa Joe in New York for Ring of Honor.