Antonio Inoki Inducted Into Hall O Fame

Tha O Show is proud to induct Japanese icon, Antonio Inoki into the "Hall O Fame."

In a business that spans decades and continents many people, deserving or not, are called legends. What title then do you give a man who has far surpassed the level of legend? What do you call an innovator who's achievements in the ring are almost out done by his incredible credentials as a promoter and as a teacher? Such a man is in his own class. Such a man is Antonio Inoki.

The incredible story of Inoki begins with another Japanese cultural icon, professional wrestler Rikidozan, who was a mentor to both Inoki and Giant Baba.


The impact of Rikidozan on Japanese wrestling history is imperative as his two top disciples, Inoki and Baba went to on to begin promotions. Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling while Baba was one of the original promoters of All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Starting with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, Inoki was the company's top star wrestling stars such as Karl Gotch, Stan Hansen, and even Hulk Hogan. Inoki realized early that he would be able to utilize monster foreign talent to draw large crowds as they would face Japan's wrestling hero. NJPW, with major influence from both Inoki and Gotch, popularized a physical shoot-style to pro wrestling which by today's standards would be called "strong style." The influence of this style of wrestling would not just affect this industry as Inoki was a major proponent of mixed martial arts.

The roots of modern MMA lie deep within the teachings of Karl Gotch to his top student, Antonio Inoki. Incorporating catch wrestling and judo into NJPW popularized this form of entertainment as compared to the traditional form of professional wrestling. Gotch would then go on to teach other students who went on to start the UWFI promotion which was considered a "worked shoot" style of professional wrestling. The Inoki style of professional wrestling continued to evolve to the point where matches, as you see them today, were 100% shoot.

Realizing the potential of this evolution, Inoki began to promote matches between pro wrestling stars and world renowned MMA stars in shoot matches. Companies such as RINGS and Pride used professional wrestlers in mixed martial arts events to show how legitimately tough the "real" fighters were. Unfortunately, the constant defeating of professional wrestlers by MMA fighters is largely what has hurt wrestling in Japan.

Before Pride and RINGS ever matched up professional wrestlers and real fighters, Inoki had the idea. A true pioneer, Inoki challenged Muhammed Ali to a 15 round shoot match in 1976. Initially planned to be a worked match, Ali feared that the match was going to become a shoot and thus forced rule changes up until 2 days before the fight.

Grappling became disallowed as were leg kicks if one of Inoki's knees were not on the ground. The 15-round match ended in a 3-3 draw with Ali suffering leg injuries from Inoki' constant barrage of kicks.

The Ali match proved to do what Inoki had been attempting to do for several years, bring legitimacy to professional wrestling as a sport. It is that desire for professional wrestling that saw Inoki wanting to bring the sport to new parts of the world. In 1995, Inoki came to an agreement with the Korean government to hold the North Korea Wrestling Peace Festival.

The event was an enormous success the likes of which will likely never be seen again. The 2-day event drew 150,000 fans on the first day and 190,000 fans the second for a main event between Ric Flair and Antonio Inoki. Large crowds became synonymous with Inoki as NJPW was the most successful promotion in the world during the mid-1990s.

Though it is not recognized by any record book, Antonio Inoki defeated a WWF World Champion and did indeed win the title. On November 30th, 1979 Inoki pinned WWWF champion Bob Backlund in front of a stunned crowd in Tokushima, Japan.

The two had a re-match a week later where Backlund pinned Inoki but that match was later ruled a no-contest due to interference by Tiger Jeet Singh. However, Inoki refused the WWWF Title for reasons that are unclear. Refusing to be the champion, WWWF management refused to acknowledge that the change ever happened. Backlund is still recognized as having been champion from 1978-1983.

Antonio Inoki retired from in-ring competition in 1998 to focus on promoting professional wrestling and MMA. Inoki, always wanting to prove that professional wrestling was a legitimate sport, defeated UFC fighter Don Frye in his last match.

I believe I could very safely assume that Antonio Inoki never envisioned he would ever influence the sports of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts the way he did. It seems almost by accident that Inoki became such a pioneer as all he wanted to do was help professional wrestling gain notoriety as a legitimate sport.

His dream not only inspired a style of working that is emulated to this day, but a sport that has captured North America by storm. To call Inoki a legend would in a way gloss over his career and many accomplishments. Inoki was a revolutionary, a pioneer, a man who changed the course of history in professional wrestling.

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