Japanese pro wrestling referee
Ted Tanabe died on June 15th, 2009 after he had a heart attack while refereeing a match for Osaka Pro Wrestling in Japan.
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On February 8th, 2004 I was ring side at Blue Field in Ciba Japan for a Kaientai Dojo show where Tanabe was one of the referees. Tanabe was the first one I met at Blue Field as he was the one who got me my press pass. In the photo above Tanabe is raising Tsubo Genjin's hand to award him the match.
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Tanabe was one of the most well know refs in Japan. There is even a referee in the Fire Pro wrestling video game that looks just like Tanabe.
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