Sad news in the world of professional wrestling as former NJPW Young Lion Katsuya Kitamura has died at the age of 36.
Tokyo Sports has reported that Kitamura passed away on October 12. The cause of Kitamura’s death is unknown at this point.
It was reported that on October 12, Kitamura felt unwell which prompted him to call an ambulance and be taken to the hospital. It was noted that his condition changed after that.
Kitamura made his NJPW debut in 2016 and the following year he won, what was his biggest achievement, the 2017 NJPW Young Lion Cup.
In 2018 he was scheduled to compete in a trial series of seven matches for NJPW. He competed in 6 of the trial series matches but had to pull out of the last one against Manabu Nakanishi after suffering a cerebral concussion. He left NJPW in January 2019.
Kitamura competed in one MMA match for the RIZIN promotion losing to Bobby Ologun on November 20, 2021.
PWMania would like to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Katsuya Kitamura.
