In pro wrestling, many performers train in “legitimate” disciplines like martial arts, amateur wrestling, or other athletics outside of the squared circle, but often incorporate some element of their extracurricular expertise in the ring, whether it’s moves or a full-on gimmick. The least dependable of these is arguably karate, which is popular enough in the West that the “karate gimmick” can be easily applied to anyone, be it ironically (Ethan Page) or unironically (Ricky Steamboat).
But rather than take a look at all the wrestlers given a karate gimmick, let’s take a look at wrestlers who actually studied karate, whether or not they use them as part of their character.
10 Antonio Inoki
One of the of the most significant karate practitioners in wrestling history is Antonio Inoki, the founder of New Japan Pro-Wrestling who once famously fought Muhammad Ali in a bout that helped give rise to mixed martial arts.
Inoki’s practice of martial arts goes all the way back to his childhood, when he learned karate from his older brother, and would go on to co-found his own style of karate called Kansui-Ryu. This interest in legitimate fighting skills would manifest in wrestling as NJPW’s signature “Strong Style”, which focuses on strikes as well as submission moves.
9 Ernest “The Cat” Miller
As legend has it, Ernest Miller was Eric Bischoff’s son Garett’s karate instructor before “Eazy E” brought him into the world of wrestling as part of the Glacier “Blood Runs Cold” storyline.
But Miller was more than a karate instructor -- he’s actually a three-time world champion in the martial art. While some fans have criticized Miller’s in-ring abilities, his charisma more than made up for it, and while he never won a single title in pro wrestling, he did fight to become WCW Commissioner a few times.
8 Octagon
An icon of lucha libre, Octagon’s most famous work took place in the AAA and CMLL promotions in Mexico, and his evil counterpart Pentagon would give rise to the beloved Pentagon Jr. (a.k.a. Penta El Zero M). But before committing to wrestling, Octagon was a devout practitioner of karate, and possessed a black belt in the Shotokan style.
When he signed with AAA, head booker Antonio Peña actually came up with the Octagon persona, playing not only off of the performer’s own karate background but also the Chuck Norris film of the same name.
7 Masaaki Mochizuki
The veteran Masaaki Mochizuki made his wrestling debut in 1994, before which he specialized in karate, which can be seen in his moveset. Over the years, Mochizuki has become a heavily decorated champion in promotions like Pro Wrestling NOAH, Wrestling Association R, Full Impact Pro, Osaka Pro.
But over the course of his career, he has spent the most time in Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling, where Mochizuki is a three-time Open the Dream Game Champion and six-time Open the Triangle Gate Champion.
6 Bas Rutten
Bas Rutten is best known for his accomplishments in MMA, having captured championships in UFC as well as Pancrase. Less known are his ventures in pro wrestling as he performed for Japanese promotions like BattleARTS and New Japan, where he once challenged Yuji Nagata for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, as well as scored victories over Manabu Nakanishi and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
But Rutten has also trained in two different disciplines of karate, having achieved 5th degree black belt in Kyokushin and 2nd degree black belt in Shintai.
5 Akira Maeda
A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and one-time UWF Heavyweight Champion, the legendary Akira Maeda was not only a pioneer of shoot-style wrestling, but also an extremely charismatic heel who could get fans on his side despite his alignment.
Maeda was extremely into karate in his youth, and studied Kyokushin Budokai style, in which he has an 8th degree black belt. Eventually, Maeda would start his own promotion, Fighting Network RINGS, which began as shoot-style pro wrestling before pivoting to MMA.
4 Glacier
For many wrestling fans, Glacier was just a failed WCW experiment to cash in on Mortal Kombat who largely disappeared after 2001 -- though the concept may have been ahead of its time. But what many fans might not know is that the gimmick wasn’t just a gimmick.
Before embarking on a pro wrestling career in 1987, the man behind the gimmick, Ray Lloyd, actually was an accomplished karateka, having taken part in World Karate Association tournaments and winning the South-eastern Super Heavyweight Championship. According to the man himself, Lloyd was never knocked out OR knocked down in competition, and went undefeated save for one disqualification.
3 Shinya Hashimoto
Despite being one of the most ridiculously over stars of 1990s Japanese wrestling, Shinya Hashimoto is actually a lesser-known name to Western fans of NJPW. He managed to hold the NWA World Title, All Japan’s Triple Crown Heavyweight Title, and the IWGP Heavyweight belt.
His background in judo and karate, which he studied as a teenager, prepared him for much of the training he experienced in the NJPW dojo, and he incorporated martial arts moves into his in-ring repertoire. Throughout the 1990s, Hashimoto even took part in special martial arts style fights during his time in NJPW.
2 Eric Bischoff
Concepts like Glacier’s whole deal and the hiring of Ernest Miller make a whole lot of sense once fans find out that the man behind WCW at the time, Eric Bischoff, was also a huge martial arts enthusiast.
Before his WCW days, “Eazy E” actually trained in karate, touring the world and fighting in several tournaments over the years. When talking publicly about his fighting days, he mostly talks about how easy it was to meet women as a karate practitioner.
1 Rob Van Dam
One of the many things that’s great about Rob Van Dam is that he wasn’t just named after Jean-Claude Van Damme because they look alike. RVD actually has studied a number of martial arts, including karate and aikido from Japan, taekwondo from South Korea, kajukenbo from Hawaii, and kickboxing.
As Van Dam fans know, Mr. Monday Night incorporates a lot of martial arts strikes into his moveset, in addition to his high-flying. The fact that he spent years learning these moves made them seem more convincing in the ring.