Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki, born Kanji Inoki on 20 February 1943 and died on 1 October 2022, was a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer, martial artist, politician and promoter best known as the founder and 33-year owner of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. After spending his adolescence in Brazil he began wrestling in the 1960s for the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance under Rikidozan, and took the ring name Antonio Inoki in 1963 as an homage to the Italian wrestler Antonino Rocca. He is credited with developing strong style and shoot style wrestling, and his 1976 fight against the boxer Muhammad Ali is seen as a forerunner of modern mixed martial arts. In 1995 he headlined two shows with Ric Flair in North Korea that drew 165,000 and 190,000 spectators, the largest crowds in wrestling history. He retired in 1998, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010 and was a twelve-time world champion.