FMW legend Tarzan Goto passes away

Seiji Goto, the wrestler best known as Tarzan Goto from FMW, has passed away. Slam Wrestling reports that Goto died on Sunday at the age of 58. The site reports that he passed due to liver cancer.

Goto began his pro wrestling career after first getting into sumo wrestling in 1979. He made his pro wrestling debut for AJPW in 1981 and was named Tokyo Sports’ 1983 rookie of the year. A student of Jumbo Tsuruta, he worked regularly in AJPW for the first several years and traveled to North America starting in 1985, where he worked for NWA Central States as well as the Continental Wrestling Association. He held the CWA International Tag Team Championships alongside Akio Sato five times between 1986 and 1987, and went on to work for WWC in Puerto Rico in 1988.

Goto returned to Japan in 1989, joining the fledgling FMW promotion. He battled Atsushi Onita in the first exploding barbed wire match in August of 1990 and became a mainstay of the promotion through the early 1990s. During his time there he had runs with the FMW WWA Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship and the FMW WWA Martial Arts Tag Team Championship. He also held the NWA World Tag Team Championships for a 255-day run in 1995 and 1996 alongside Mr. Gannosuke.

Goto exited FMW in April of 1995 and worked indies in Japan, as well as having two matches against Axl Rotten in ECW including Heat Wave 1996.