By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas
Antonio Inoki is rather prolific.
Before his official retirement, Antonio Inoki was an IMMENSELY popular Japanese wrestler. So popular, in fact, that he has faced almost EVERYONE in the wrestling business from his generation!
From Hulk Hogan to Ric Flair, to Vader and even Muhammad Ali, Inoki has been quite successful, pretty much fitting the 'hero' mold that Hulk Hogan did here in the US. He is so well known in Japan it's absolutely amazing. In fact, when I was teaching English in Japan, my students did this skit where "Inoki" (a student in Inoki facade, replete with the trademark oversized chin) would slap some inspiration into the attendees.
Here, in no particular order, I'd like to present the most interesting opponents (from an American perspective) that Antonio Inoki has ever had.
Vader
Vader is a monster. Needless to say, we've been over this in my Favorite Kobashi Matches article. So, I find it interesting that not only did Vader face Inoki in his first match as "Big Van Vader" (instead of "Baby Bull" as he had in the AWA), but he also faced him later after he had been well established in both the US and Japan.
Ric Flair
This match is rightfully infamous. This match is cited as being part of the highest attended wrestling card EVER. Of course, they were forced to attend by the Kim Jong Il. Still, it's an awesome match in it's own right, and Inoki predated Dennis Rodman as North Korea's favorite foreign celebrity.
Or at least the Kim family's. Moving on.
Hulk Hogan
Hogan's series with Inoki is famous as establishing Hogan's "Axe Bomber" as a super-legit finisher, as they played up the power of the move big time, having it knock Inoki completely unconscious. The very same move would be called by J.R. as a "rudimentary clothesline" in the early 2000s on WWE programming.
Of course, seeing Hulk Hogan wrestle in Japan is an experience in and of itself. It's like night and day compared to his work in the US.
Andre the Giant
Celebrities used to say that they were "Big in Japan." Needless to say, Andre was big everywhere he went, and he had no choice about it. His popularity followed him all the way to Japan where he faced Inoki here.
Muhammad Ali
Ah yes. Everyone has heard of this infamous match. Well, here are two versions of it.
The history of it is actually quite amazing. You can read here for the complete details, but basically Inoki was limited in what he could do during the match by Ali's handlers. This ended up backfiring pretty badly for the Ali camp, as Ali's leg was badly injured during the fight.
Bob Backlund
In my opinion, Inoki's series with then-WWF champion Bob Backlund is perhaps his most interesting match. Inoki actually ends up WINNING the WWF title via machinations that seemed to be beyond Backlund's control. WWE has gone back and forth on whether or not they'd recognize it as an official title switch, with it's current status being unknown.
0 comments:
Post a Comment