WWE Legend Masashi Ozawa, AKA Killer Khan, Dies at Age 76

Masashi Ozawa, best known to WWE and pro wrestling fans as Killer Khan, has died at the age of 76.

WWE announced Ozawa's passing Saturday and remembered him for his multiple stints with the company in the 1980s.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that Ozawa died on Friday after collapsing in a bar he owned in Tokyo.

After beginning his pro wrestling career in the early 1970s under his real name, the Japan-born Ozawa created the Killer Khan character and became a heel billed from Mongolia.

Khan began wrestling in the United States in 1979 and remained in North America for a large portion of the 1980s.

He memorably feuded with André the Giant in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1980, which led to him signing a deal with WWE.

Khan was instantly utilized as one of WWE's top villains, feuding with WWE champion Bob Backlund, intercontinental champion Pedro Morales and André the Giant.

Arguably the most famous match of Khan's career occurred in 1981 when André defeated him in a Mongolian Stretcher match.

Over the next several years, Khan competed in multiple territories and won many titles, including the World Class Championship Wrestling Television Championship, the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion in Canada, the NWA United States Tag Team Championships in Championship Wrestling from Florida and both the Mid-South Louisiana Championship and Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Championship in the Mid-South Wrestling Association.

Khan also worked in NJPW and All Japan Pro Wrestling before resurfacing in WWE in 1987.

His second stint in WWE lasted only about seven months, but it was a memorable run, as Khan had several house show matches against WWE champion Hulk Hogan.

Khan's time in WWE ended in late 1987 when he retired from pro wrestling and transitioned into owning and operating bars and restaurants in Japan.