5 Pro Wrestlers Who Beat Cancer

#4) Masahito Kakihara

Kakihara survived cancer and 19 of NJPW's undercard competitors at the January 4th Tokyo Dome show

Masahito Kakihara is veteran a martial artist and pro-wrestler who excelled in the old UWF-i shoot wrestling promotion,n which pulled off a successful invasion angle with New Japan Pro Wrestling that would later be mimicked by Eric Bischoff when he concocted the NWO angle in WCW. In December 2014, Kakihara announced via his personal Facebook page that he had been diagnosed with malignant lymphoma and would be undergoing immediate treatment.

Kakihara's story was similar to that of fellow Japanese wrestler Osamu Nishimura, who was diagnosed shortly after joining NJPW in 1998 and made a full recovery by 2001, going on to win the IWGP tag team titles twice, including with currently active New Japan veteran Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

Kakihara's cancer story appears to have concluded on a similar positive note as the survivor appeared at this years Wrestle Kingdom 12 pay-per-view from the Tokyo Dome, where he went on to win the annual 20-man New Japan Rumble gauntlet match during the events pre-show.