for the "ganso bomb" spot in which Kawada, unable to lift Misawa all the way for a powerbomb, dropped him onto his neck. This was the last match that Giant Baba would watch, having reportedly called it the best match he had ever seen. Nine days later, he died of liver failure from complications of colon cancer. Misawa had not been aware of the severity of his condition, which was only known by Baba's innermost circle: his wife Motoko, older sister, and daughter, as well as referee Kyohei Wada and secretary Ryu Nakata. Although Motoko Baba had selected Mitsuo Momota to succeed her late husband as president, board member Jumbo Tsuruta used his influence to help Misawa inherit the position, before Tsuruta himself was forced out of the company with no severance package. Momota, who would function as an intermediary between Misawa and Motoko, ran the office while Misawa was trained for the position. After Misawa and Ogawa unsuccessfully challenged Kobashi and Akiyama for the tag titles in the semi-main event at a March 6 Budokan show, Misawa placed third in the 1999 Champion Carnival. He then defeated Vader for the Triple Crown championship on May 2, in the main event of the Giant Baba Retirement Show (so named because AJPW did not want to consider it a memorial event) at the Tokyo Dome. On May 7, a press conference was held to announce that Misawa was the new AJPW president. One month later, on June 11, Misawa successfully defended against Kobashi at Budokan. For the second consecutive year, Misawa and Kobashi won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Match of the Year award. However, Kobashi suffered a broken nose, and Misawa was so fatigued that, for the first time, reporters were not allowed to see him. Misawa successfully defended against Kawada on July 23, defeating him with the Tiger Driver '91. Misawa and Ogawa won both the All Asia and World Tag Team Championships from No Fear on August 25. They vacated the All Asia belts soon afterward, as the match was done to break up the monopoly No Fear had achieved in the company's tag division. Misawa arranged a tournament for the All Asia titles from October 9–25, in which he and Ogawa did not participate. Misawa and Ogawa lost the World Tag Team titles to Akiyama and Kobashi on October 23 in Nagoya when Kobashi pinned Misawa after a