Antonio Inoki is one of the top Japanese Wrestlers ever to step through the ropes.  An icon of
legendary proportions in Asia.  He was a multiple-time World Champion and member of the
Japanese Senate.  Inoki held the NWF World Heavyweight Title four times during the 1970’s
and ‘80’s and was the second man to hold the IWGP Championship.  He built New Japan into
the organization it is today.  Inoki was discovered by Rikidozan, a legend in Japan, in Brazil
and brought back to his native country in April 1960.

Inoki made his professional wrestling debut on September 30, 1960, a date no fan can hide
from.  Shohei Baba also made his debut on that fateful night.  Inoki, Baba and Toyonobori
were looked upon as the top three young prospects in Asia by many aficionados.  They were
a trio of skills and many believed they were going to lead pro-wrestling into a new era.  They
were absolutely right.  Inoki first competed in JWA, a Japanese member of the National
Wrestling Alliance.  He suffered the loss of his teacher when Rikidozan was stabbed on
December 8, 1963 in Tokyo.  He died a week later.

Inoki and Toyonobori began Tokyo Pro-Wrestling on April 23, 1966.  Less then a year later,
Inoki returned to JWA and Tokyo Pro folded immediately.  On December 7, 1971, Terry and
Dory Funk Jr. beat Baba and Inoki to capture the JWA NWA International Tag Team Title.  
Within the following week, Inoki was expelled from the Japanese Wrestling Alliance on
December 13th.  He began his own promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, which held it’s first
card on March 6, 1972.  Tatsumi Fujinami, Seiji Sakaguchi and Kengo Kimura were in NJPW
within it’s first year.  In April 1973, JWA folded.  In December, Inoki defeated Johnny Powers
to capture the National Wrestling Federation World Title in Tokyo.

Seiji Sakaguchi held Inoki to a time-limit draw in their first ever match on April 26, 1974.  He
vacated the title after a match against Tiger Jeet Singh in early 1975.  He lost to Singh in the
rematch and the belt went to his opponent.  Inoki regained the NWF World Belt on June 26th
in Tokyo.

In one of wrestling’s most recognized matches in the history of the sport, gaining an
unprecedented amount of universal recognition, Inoki met former World Boxing Champion
Muhammad Ali on June 26, 1976 in Tokyo.  The match was a special boxer vs. wrestler
contest, between two of the top athletes in each profession.  The match was a slow, but
enduring, draw in 15 rounds.  Upon returning to the United States, Ali was hospitalized with
an injury he received in the bout.

In a joint NJPW, AJPW, and IWE Card on August 26, 1979 in Tokyo, Inoki and Baba reunited
for the first time in eight years to beat Abdullah the Butcher and Tiger Jeet Singh.  In one of
the lesser known events in history, Inoki defeated Bob Backlund on November 30th to
capture the WWF Heavyweight Championship.  He was a duel champion with the NWF World
and WWF Heavyweight Titles.  Inoki lost the belt in December back to Backlund.  In 1980, he
was billed as the WWF World Martial Arts Champion.  He lost the NWF Title to Stan Hansen
in February 1980 in Tokyo, but regained the belt in April.  Inoki beat Larry Sharpe before
36,000 at Shea Stadium on August 9, 1980 in New York.

Inoki vacated the NWF Title to enter the IWGP Tournament.  He advanced to the finals
against Hulk Hogan in Tokyo at Sumo Hall.  A great percentage of wrestling fans were
shocked to hear that Inoki lost to Hogan by countout, failing to capture the first New Japan
IWGP Heavyweight Championship on June 2, 1983.  Inoki had been knocked out outside the
ring, and was unable to revive before the referee was forced to count to twenty.  The match
was over and there was nothing anyone could do about it.  Hogan was the initial IWGP
Champion.

On June 14th of 1984, Inoki beat Hogan, then the WWF World Champion, by countout to
claim the IWGP Title in Tokyo.  He beat Andre the Giant in June 1985 to retain and then on
June 19, 1986, Inoki successfully defended his championship against Dick Murdock.  In
Tokyo on October 9, 1986, Inoki met former boxing heavyweight champion Leon Spinks in a
wrestler vs. boxer match.  11,520 fans witnessed the event live.  Inoki pinned Spinks the
eighth round.  He had begun the bout with boxing gloves on, but took them off in the fifth.  In
June 1987, Antonio Inoki retained the IWGP Title against Mr. Saito.

Later in ’87, the rules in New Japan altered.  The IWGP Crown would become a “normal”
championship and defended on more then an annual basis.  He broke his foot in the spring
of 1988 and vacated the title.  During a match against Russian judo and martial arts expert
Shota Chochoshivili in Tokyo on April 24, 1989, Inoki suffered a broken arm.  He lost in the
fifth round before 53,800 fans at the Tokyo Dome.  Inoki made a triumphant return on May
25th in Osaka before more then 12,000 fans.  He used an arm-lock to make Chochoshivili
submit, regaining the Martial Arts Title at 1:07 in the second round.

On February 10, 1990, Inoki teamed with Seiji Sakaguchi to beat Masa Chono and Shinya
Hashimoto in Tokyo at the Dome.  Lou Thesz served as the third man, counting Inoki’s pin
over Chono in the final.  The 30th anniversary of Inoki’s wrestling debut was celebrated on
September 30, 1990 by New Japan in Yokohama, Japan.  Inoki teamed with Tiger Jeet Singh
in the main event to defeat Animal Hamaguchi and Big Van Vader.  Inoki pinned Hamaguchi
to win the match.  All-Japan also celebrated Shohei Baba’s debut on the same night in
Tokyo.  Inoki beat Hiroshi Hase on January 4, 1992 at the Tokyo Dome at the annual New
Japan Card there.  60,000 was the estimated attendance.

On March 1st, Inoki and Osamu Kido lost to Riki Choshu and Kengo Kimura in Yokohama, at
the Arena.  The event celebrated the 20th anniversary of New Japan Pro Wrestling.  He
teamed with Tatsumi Fujinami on May 3, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan at the Wrestling Dontaku
Show against Riki Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu.  The huge Fukuoka Dome Crowd watched
Fujinami pin Choshu in 26:25 to win the match.  Inoki defeated Keiji Mutoh on May 1, 1994 on
the annual Fukuoka Dome Card.  The “Final Countdown” as it was called on the Clash of the
Champions XXVIII on August 24, 1994, was Inoki’s billing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  He did not
disappoint, defeating World TV Champion “Lord” Steven Regal in a non-title contest with use
of his sleeper.  He was billed to Americans as a “Japanese Senate Member.” Inoki overcame
an early onslaught from Regal.

Inoki beat Sting on January 4, 1995 with over 62,000 fans in attendance at the Tokyo Dome
to capture the BVD Martial Arts Tournament Prize.  He had overcome Gerard Gordeau earlier
in the night.  New Japan’s participation in the North Korean “Pyongyang Sports Festival” drew
an estimated 320,000 fans in two nights between April 28-29, 1995.  Inoki wrestled former
NWA World Champ Ric Flair for the first time in the main event of the second night before the
larger crowd, 170,000…the largest gathering in wrestling history.  He won the battle by pinfall
after nearly 15-minutes of action.  The two nights destroyed previous numbers and set new
international standards.

World Championship Wrestling inducted Inoki into it’s Hall of Fame on May 21, 1995 in St.
Petersburg, Florida.  On January 4, 1996, Inoki defeated Big Van Vader before a packed
house at the Tokyo Dome, by submission.  The end came on April 4, 1998 in front of 70,000
fans at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.  Since 1960, thirty-eight years, Inoki had been awing fans
around the world.  On this date, Antonio defeated Don Frye by submission to win his final
bout.  He used his “Ground Cobra Twist.” In attendance, among the thousands, was
Muhammad Ali.  Ali and Inoki battled in ’76 in one of the wrestler’s biggest matches.  The
ground-breaking event was noted on the Friday, April 3, 1998 edition of USA Today.  It stated
that Ali returned to Japan, Thursday, to watch Inoki’s last match.

Inoki’s final match drew an estimated $7,000,000 at the gate.  Bob Backlund, Eric Bischoff
and Riki Choshu were also present.  Inoki lost his friend and promotional rival, Shohei Baba
on January 31, 1999 to cancer.  In 2000, wrestlers from All-Japan defected to form a new
promotion.

Wrestling in Japan had been turned upside down.  Inoki had served as a member of the NWA
until withdrawing in 2001.  He continues to get the best out of his wrestlers and offer the fans
of Japan the top products.  Inoki continuously draws huge numbers to the Tokyo Dome every
January.  He is expected to keep doing so.


Research by Tim Hornbaker
Antonio Inoki Wrestling History
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