21-Year-Old AJPW Talent Passes Away After Bus Accident
A 21-year-old AJPW talent has passed away following an accident with a tour bus back in May.
On September 7th, All Japan Pro Wrestling released a statement confirming that Taishin Nagao had passed away aged just 21. The statement noted that Nagao had suffered traumatic shock to his abdomen after being hit by a tour bus.
The full statement from AJPW reads:
Our wrestler, Taishin Nagao, was hit by a tour bus on May 31st and suffered traumatic shock due to abdominal compression. He was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit, but passed away today, September 7th, at the age of 21 at the hospital where he was admitted.
Regarding the cause of death, the body has been handed over to the police and an investigation is underway, so we will report back as soon as we know.
We deeply apologize for the suddenness of this incident and for the concern and inconvenience caused to all those involved.
We would also like to express our gratitude to everyone for the support and encouragement they have shown to Nagao Kazutashin up until now, and we would like to inform you of this.
We offer our deepest condolences to the late Kazuta Nagao.
We will inform you of future plans after consulting with your parents.
September 7, 2025
All Japan Pro Wrestling Co., Ltd.
Nagao Hit By AJPW Tour Bus
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave more insight into Nagao’s death and confirmed it was an AJPW tour bus which hit the young talent:
He was one of the young boys, 21 years old, training and everything like that. They were about to take the tour bus to go to Sendai from Tokyo and he had to bring some stuff behind [the bus] and the driver didn’t know it, backed out of the driveway and ran him over.
The people who were there, there were a couple of people there, Dave Boy Smith Jr., Xyon Quinn was there, some of the other wrestlers, they thought there was no way he could survive. He had been a coma ever since and finally, this weeked they pulled the life support and he did pass away.
They kept this quiet, nobody knew he had been in a coma this whole time, they’d kept that quiet and then before the All Japan show, the talent were told we’re pulling the plug on him and then they announced it to the public that he had passed away.
2025 has been a tough year for wrestling, as WWE icon Hulk Hogan also passed away, as did NFL icon and former WCW star Steve McMichael following a long battle with ALS.
Everyone at TJR Wrestling sends their condolences to the family of Taishin Nagao at this difficult time.