In fact, the fight got so out of control, members of both camps had to break it up and another puro legend, Riki Choshu, had to step in and make peace. After about seven minutes, the match is thrown out and ruled a no contest. I mean, if this were UFC, John McCarthy would have probably stepped in and stopped this thing already. So, perhaps on instructions from his mentor Inoki, Naoya shot in on Shinya ( as in the guy legitimately started beating on him) and began delivering some of the hardest shots anyone's ever seen in a wrestling ring. This was a highly anticipated bout on New Japan's version of Wrestlemania. Now Ogaya's got a year of experience under him, and Hashimoto is still making crazy money for New Japan. To put this in perspective (using who was popular at the time), this would be the rough equivalent of Kurt Angle making his pro wrestling debut and beating Stone Cold Steve Austin right after Austin's star-making performance at Wrestlemania.įast forward to 1/4/99. Back in April 1997, Ogaya in his pro wrestling debut defeated then IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hashimoto, and immediately, the two were billed as rivals. There's already bad blood between the two. While most of America slept, Inoki protégé Naoya Ogawa, a silver medalist in the 1992 Summer Olympics in judo (and a fifth place finisher in the '96 Games) took on one of the "Three Musketeers" of New Japan, Shinya Hashimoto (the other two were Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta the trio all debuted in 1984 and all went on to become three of the biggest stars in puro wrestling). It was, for all intents and purposes, the day the momentum forever shifted in the Monday Night Wars.Ī few thousand miles away, a paradigm shift had occurred. Familiar date, yeah? Most longtime wrestling fans know full well what went down on that day(Mankind's WWF title win broadcast, almost immediately thereafter by the Fingerpoke of Doom). This is the story of Inoki-ism, a philosophy that nearly killed New Japan Pro Wrestling, and how Western sensibilities saved it. In a six-year span, a man once seen as revolutionary in the world of wrestling nearly drove his company to the ground. Then he got a little too full of himself. Of course, when you book your own company, you too can be your own biggest star see every wrestling promotion EVER. ![]() ![]() His charisma and skill made him not just one of the biggest stars in puroresu, but THE biggest. ![]() Antonio Inoki was the man that founded New Japan Pro Wrestling after he failed in a hostile takeover attempt of his original employer, the Japan Wrestling Association. This guy, boys and girls, is Kanji Inoki, known these days as Muhammad Hussain Inoki after converting to Islam some time ago (1990, but not revealed until three years ago), but is best known as Antonio Inoki. They'll have one person more than any other to thank. The two men that are good enough and lucky enough to make the final will fight for bragging rights for life, a really awesome trophy, ten million yen (around $80,000 US), and the right to main event Wrestle Kingdom 10 in what will be a pretty packed house in Tokyo. Next to their annual Tokyo Dome show held every January 4 (known for the last decade as Wrestle Kingdom), the G1 Climax Final is the most important day of the year for puroresu fans. This Sunday, New Japan Pro Wrestling holds one of its biggest days on their annual calendar: the G1 Climax Final.
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