Paul Stanley 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2003 from www.puroresufan.com/njpw: President Naoto Morishita of DSE (Dream Stage Entertainment), the man in charge of the immensely popular MMA promotion, PRIDE, committed suicide last night. He killed himself in a hotel in the Shinjuku shopping/entertainment ward of Tokyo. A female acquaintance of Morishita found him hanging with a belt in the bathroom at around 12:20am today. Morishita had just given an interview to announce the revival of the PRIDE GP concept, and the reason for his suicide is unknown, but financial problems are rumoured. Naoto Morishita was 42 years old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Thread Killer Report post Posted January 9, 2003 Yeah, I just read this over in the Sherdog Forum. Well, rumors have been floating around for over a year now that DSE has been losing money, and if you remember how the owner of FMW reacted to that company's bankruptcy, it figures. I also heard that there were problems between Inoki and others at DSE, but I'm not even sure how much actual POWER Inoki had with DSE, although I know he did have considerable political and popular influence. I guess we'll have to see. It's tragic, but unfortunately, suicide is a culturally accepted practice in Japan, at least more so than here in North America. (My ex was a teacher in Japan.) What this means for PRIDE and MMA in general now remains to be seen. R.I.P. Morishita-san and thanks for all the memories. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Doyo Report post Posted January 9, 2003 Meltzer at wrestlingobserver.com says: "Regarding the death of Naoto Morishita at about 12:20 a.m. late Wednesday night via hanging at the Tokyo Hilton in the Shinjuku section, the police at this point are treating it as a suicide. There was no suicide night and speculation because of that has run rampant. What was strange was Morishita, 42, just hours earlier had appeared to be in a great mood when discussing Pride's 2003 plans including the announcement of many shows. Some have tried to blame it on a problem with a woman, and while that may be true, that is a frequent cover story used in Japan when gangland slayings are involved." Where he says "night", I think he meant "note" Did this guy piss off the Yakuza? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dangerous A Report post Posted January 10, 2003 Word is now that the suicide may have been prompted by an argument with a mistress. This from puroresupower.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
