In the past, there was also an indecent assault scandal… A bitter argument for a “hit-and-run accident” between Shinya Hashimoto and a famous former wrestler in an electric current match.

The scene was a one-lane prefectural road with good visibility.

The accident occurred just before 3 p.m. on October 13. A minicar traveling on a road in Inage-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, hit a 64-year-old woman riding a bicycle on her right elbow. Despite causing minor injuries, the car fled the scene, and two minutes later rear-ended a car driven by a 77-year-old man that had stopped about 390 meters away. The two passengers, a 78-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman, sustained minor injuries.

On October 14, the Chiba Kita Police Station in Chiba Prefecture arrested Lee Hyun-ho, 53, a Korean national living in Chuo-ku, Chiba City, on suspicion of violating the Automobile Driving Punishment Law (negligent injury) and the Road Traffic Law (hit-and-run). A man driving the car that was rear-ended called 110. The police officers who arrived at the scene interviewed the suspect and arrested him.

When questioned, the suspect admitted to the crime, saying, “There is no doubt about it. The area is not a place where traffic accidents are likely to occur because of its good visibility,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s society section.

The “Rampage of Ise Bay

Lee is a former famous professional wrestler who went by the ring name “Kintaro Kanamura. He has been a big fan of Terry Funk since he saw a video of a match when he was in junior high school, and after graduating from high school, he moved from his hometown of Mie to Tokyo and knocked on the door of Animal Hamaguchi Gym. Since his debut in December 1990, he has belonged to various wrestling organizations and won many titles, including the WEW Single Title.

He is famous for his barbed wire death matches with Atsushi Onita and others. When his master Hiromichi Fuyuki passed away in March 2003, he held a no-rope current bombing match with the late Shinya Hashimoto at Kawasaki Stadium. He was known as “the ruffian of Ise Bay” and “the unreasonable boy,” specializing in off-the-field brawls using desks and chairs, but he also had the charm of performing a unique dance called the “Bli Bla Dance” and comedy in the ring,” said a reporter for a sports newspaper.

Lee, nicknamed “Kin-chan,” retired in December 2004. However, even during his active career, negative rumors were constant.

Just before a wrestling event in January 2008, he was suspected of indecently assaulting a female staff member. The female staff member filed a damage report with the police, claiming that a cover-up had taken place. While noting that there were inconsistencies in her claims, Lee and the other suspects held an apology press conference and announced the indefinite suspension of their athlete activities (they returned to work in March of the same year). The case was settled when a settlement was reached with the woman”.

The car that Lee was driving in the hit-and-run accident was owned by a junior wrestler. The junior wrestler posted on his social networking site, “He really should have stopped, but why did he run away? I can’t defend him. I feel sorry for the victim. I’m sorry to the victim, and I’m going to have to apologize.

The wrestling community has been critical of the incident, saying, “I can’t defend him anymore.” What the suspect Lee is saying in the police interrogation is a bitter argument. ‘I left the scene thinking it was no big deal. I was in a daze and didn’t notice the car that rear-ended me until it was too late.

By fleeing the scene of the accident, the “irrational boy” of the pro wrestling world has betrayed the trust of his fans and the wrestlers who supported him. What is expected of him in the future is to act in good faith and based on reason.