WWE Hall of Fame Inductee announced

ANTONIO INOKI ANNOUNCED FOR THE HALL OF FAME
Antonio Inoki has been announced as the first one to be inducted into the
2010 WWE Hall of Fame. The announcement came on the Japanese version of
WWE.COM. The sixty six year old founder of the New Japan Pro Wrestling
promotion won the WWF title in November 1979 in a match against Bob Backlund
in Japan however his title reign is not recognized in the WWE history books
as the match was later declared a no-contest after interference from Tiger
Jeet Singh. The title was declared vacant after Inoki refused it and
Backlund went on to win it again two weeks later against a different
opponent.
Inoki had several memorable appearances in the wrestling world
with the biggest one most likely being wrestling Ric Flair in North Korea.
That event, co-promoted by WCW, saw the Japanese and North Korean
governments hold a two day wrestling event for peace which drew 150,000 and
190,000 fans respectively.
Inoki also had a mixed martial arts fight against
boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Tokyo which ended up in a 3-3 draw after
several rule changes before the worked match.