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Some individuals in this world ascend to such heights that they become larger than life. Antonio Inoki (born Kanji Inoki) was certainly one of them. Inoki was a true legend, not only in professional wrestling, but simply as a human being. Inoki had a dazzling nearly 40-year wrestling career, and is one of the most popular and recognizable Japanese athletes of all time. He notably fought world champion boxer Muhammad Ali in 1976 to a draw, which served as a predecessor to modern mixed martial arts. Additionally, he headlined two shows with Ric Flair in South Korea in 1995, drawing 165,000 and 190,000 fans, respectively -- the two largest attendance figures in professional wrestling history. Oh, not to mention, he founded New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, where he remained the owner until 2005.
In 1989, while still wrestling, Inoki was elected to the Japanese House of Councilors. During his first term -- which lasted until 1995 -- Inoki successfully negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages before the Cold War. He was re-elected in 2013 and served through 2019, at which point Inoki retired from politics. Inoki sadly passed away recently on October 1, 2022, and stories of his legend were coming out of the woodwork. None were more epic (and dangerous) than a wrestler named The Great Antonio pissing off Inoki during a match...
The Great Antonio Was A Legend In His Own Right
The Great Antonio was a Croatian-Canadian giant who began his career in strongman competitions in Montreal. He made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1952 by pulling a 433-ton train nearly 20 meters. Legend has it that the Great Antonio could eat 25 chickens in one sitting, he owned the world's biggest rocking chair at the time, and during training, he claimed that he rain into trees head-on after sprinting 60 meters.
He was also 6-foot-4, and weighed approximately 450 pounds, so he sure was a mountain of a man. Naturally, The Great Antonio participated in numerous battle royals, and was frequently booked as a top heel in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary. He toured Japan in the early 1960s -- complete with pulling buses to help sell tickets -- but it was nothing like what he would experience when he stepped in the ring with Antonio Inoki on December 8, 1977, in Toyko, Japan.
The Match With Antonio Inoki Began With Some Weak Headlocks And No-Selling By The Great Antonio
The bell rang, and there was a staredown between Inoki and the large, out of shape Great Antonio. Following the staredown, Great Antonio put Inoki in a series of some incredibly weak headlocks. The announcers did their best to make them sound devastating, claiming that punching his gut was like "punching a big piece of raw rubber wall," and "Great Antonio seems to be headlocking Inoki without effort, but it is much stronger than you would think."
Three minutes in, Inoki hit Great Antonio with a seemingly big dropkick, but Great Antonio decided to no-sell it, completely brushing him off. Great Antonio then goaded Inoki into striking his raw rubber wall gut, which also had no effect on the monster. Inoki then went off the ropes to shoulder tackle Great Antonio, and he bounced off the big man. Inoki was now getting visibly upset. Just shy of five minutes in, Great Antonio began clubbing Inoki's back and neck, and Inoki now had enough.
Antonio Inoki Retaliated Against The Great Antonio And It Wasn't Pretty
Inoki snapped, and went right at Great Antonio, brutally striking him in the face. Great Antonio tried to shield himself, but Inoki executed a perfect single-leg takedown, and began unloading hard kicks to Great Antonio. The announcers, again, did their best to make it seem normal:
"Inoki is kicking Great Antonio’s face — it seems like big damage to The Great Antonio. He just hit Great Antonio’s chin, and the left kick just hit bones around the stomach. Great Antonio’s mouth is ripped and bleeding! Inoki’s stomping broke Antonio’s ear! Great Antonio cannot wake up! He has no energy left. Inoki’s upper kick to Antonio’s chin seemed like the critical hit — his face is now covered with his blood." And just like that, the match was over. Inoki had legitimately knocked him out. It was also the final wrestling match of the Great Antonio's career. The lesson: don't mess with a legitimate tough guy like Antonio Inoki, especially in his area of expertise.
Following his wrestling career, the Great Antonio appeared in a handful of films and popular television shows like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan. He would carry a yellow garbage bag with allegedly every newspaper clipping and story written about him over time. The Great Antonio passed away in 2003 due to a heart attack, and it took nine men to move him after his passing.