Showing posts with label antonio inoki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antonio inoki. Show all posts

Monday, April 11, 2016

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher
NWA International Tag Team Champions
All Japan Pro Wrestling
August 11th 1969
defeated Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki 


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Monday, October 13, 2014

Match of the Night (Lesnar vs Angle)

Inoki Genome Federation Title Match
Tokyo, Japan
June 29th 2007

Brock Lesnar was not the recognized IWGP champion at this time, he had refused to turn over the belt to IWGP after being striped of the title in June of 2006.  He soon signed  with Antonio Inoki's Genome Federation and was their first "world champion" using the IWGP belt as their title belt.  
This the title match for that belt and Angle's TNA title at the first card held by the Genome Federation.



Kurt Angle
TNA Heavyweight Champion
vs
Brock Lesnar
IGF Champion



Friday, December 27, 2013

Today in Wrestling History - Big Van Vader Debuts in Japan

December 27th 1987
Big Van Vader debuts in New Japan 


One of the most memorable debuts in the history of wrestling takes place at New Japan's "Inoki Toukon Live III" event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito defeated Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura in one of the feature matches of the evening. Following the bout, Antonio Inoki defeated Choshu in an anti-climactic main event, winning via disqualification in six minutes. Big Van Vader then entered Sumo Hall and obliterated Inoki, knocking him out and pinning the Japanese legend with a powerslam in a match that didn't even last three minutes. The crowd rioted, resulting in New Japan being banned from running events at Sumo Hall for over a year. Vader immediately skyrocketed to the top of New Japan, as it had been years since Inoki had lost a match via clean pinfall.

The man behind the Vader mask, Leon White, had previously wrestled as "Baby Bull" Leon White in the AWA, and as Bull Power in Germany. He was actually scheduled to debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling, but New Japan worked out a deal with their promotional rival to sign him away for the Big Van Vader gimmick. Interesting to note, the first two choices New Japan had for the Vader gimmick were Sid Vicious and The Ultimate Warrior. Vader's debut in Sumo Hall is one of the most memorable, and controversial, events in New Japan history. 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Superbrawl 1993 and 1994 - Legends Reunion


From the 1993/94/95 WCW PPV the "inductions" of wrestling legends into the "WCW Hall of Fame".  I dont know if they even have these plaques up anywhere anymore, if they ever did.  Its a shame because they were doing it right by getting "ALL" of the legends induction as soon as possible and giving them the respect they so deserved.

You cant really argue with any of the inductees of any of classes.  I was kind of surprised how nervous and sloppily Gordon Solie handled the first year...maybe he wasn't used to being live on tv in front of that size of crowd or maybe WCW just threw him out there and just wanted it fast and over.
1995 clip starts at about 3:50. This ended after 1995 when Gordon Solie resigned from WCW in protest over the induction of Angelo Poffo. Gordon felt he was unqualified for the Hall of Fame and was only inducted as a favor to one WCW top draws Randy Savage, since Angelo was his father.




Thursday, October 4, 2012

Today in Wrestling History October 4th

1960 - Hard Boiled Haggerty & Len Montana defeated Murder Inc. (Tiny Mills & Stan Kowalski) to win the AWA World Tag Team Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This ended Murder Inc.'s second run with the belt.

 1972 - Antonio Inoki defeats Karl Gotch for the New Japan Real World Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. This would be one of two title changes (Gotch wins the belt back later in the month) for the belt, which pretty much existed solely for the purpose of the Gotch-Inoki matches.

 1975 - Tosh Togo defeats Jose Miguel Perez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, to wint he WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Title, and ending Perez' third reign with the title.

 1979 - Tatsumi Fujinami ends Ryuma Go's two-day reign as WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion by defeating him in Tokyo, Japan and regaining the title. Fujinami's second reign with the gold would end when he vacates the title and moves into the heavyweight division.

 1981 - The NWA held a tournament to determine a new United States Champion. The previous champion, Wahoo McDaniel, was forced to vacate the title after being injured by Abdullah The Butcher.
The tournament was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here are the results:
 First Round: - Pat Patterson defeated Mike David.
 - Ricky Steamboat defeated Nikolai Volkoff.
 - Leroy Brown defeated Super Destroyer.
 - Ivan Koloff defeated Ron Bass.
 - Sgt. Slaughter defeated Johnny Weaver.
- Jay Youngblood defeated Steve Muslin.
 - Jacques Goulet defeated Dusty Rhodes.
 - Ole Anderson defeated Ron Ritchie. Quarterfinals:
 - Ricky Steamboat defeated Pat Patterson.
 - Leroy Brown defeated Ivan Koloff.
 - Sgt. Slaughter defeated Jay Youngblood.
 - Jacques Goulet vs. Ole Anderson went to a double countout.
Semifinals:
 - Ricky Steamboat defeated Leroy Brown.
 - Sgt. Slaughter received a bye.
Finals:
 - Sgt. Slaughter defeated Ricky Steamboat.

 1992 - El Canek defeats Dos Caras to retain the UWA World Heavyweight Title in the main event of a show in Mexico City that draws over 28,000 fans.

 

 1993 - Marcus Alexander Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio defeat The Nasty Boys to win the WCW World Tag Team Title in Columbus, Georgia. 

 1993 - A battle royal was held on Monday Night Raw to fill the vacant WWF Intercontinental Title (champion Shawn Michaels temporarily split with WWF over a contract dispute) with the rules being that the final two participants would meet in a singles match the following week for the title. Razor Ramon and Rick Martel were the co-winners, and would meet the following week, with Ramon winning the belt.

 

Friday, December 2, 2011

Today in Wrestling History December 4th

1969 - Dory Funk Jr. defended his NWA World Heavyweight Title in a 60 minute draw against Antonio Inoki.
This was the first title defense by a World Champion in Japan since 1957.





1974 - Giant Baba wins his first NWA World Heavyweight Title by defeating then champion Jack Brisco in Kagoshima, Japan. Baba would lose the title back to Brisco a week later.





Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Today in Wrestling History

1929 - Gus Sonnenberg defeats Ed "Strangler" Lewis to win the World Heavyweight Title in Boston, Massachusetts, ending Lewis' fifth reign. The National Wrestling Association would later withdraw its recognition of Sonnenberg in favor of Dick Shikat, based on Sonnenberg not facing "real contenders".

1986 - Arn Anderson defeats Wahoo McDaniel in a tournament final to win the vacant NWA World Television Title in Greensboro, North Carolina. The title was stripped from Dusty Rhodes on October 19 due to Rhodes having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole and Arn Anderson on September 29.

1988 - In Dallas, Texas, The Freebirds (Terry Gordy, King Parsons and Buddy Roberts) defeat Chris Adams, Matt Borne (subbing for Kevin Von Erich) and Steve Simpson to win the World Class Six-Man Tag Team Title.

1992 - At New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Starrcade 1992 in Tokyo Dome", Riki Chōshū defeats Tatsumi Fujinami to retain his Greatest 18 Title and win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. This ended Fujinami's fourth reign and began Chōshū's third.

1993 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome", IWGP World Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta defeats Masahiro Chono to win Chono's NWA World Title. Also, Jushin Liger defeats Ultimo Dragon for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, beginning Liger's sixth reign.

1994 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Battlefield", The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior (Road Warrior Hawk) and Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki)) defeat The Jurassic Powers (Hercules Hernandez and Scott Norton) to win the IWGP World Tag Team Title, beginning their second reign.

1995 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Battle 7", Antonio Inoki defeats Sting in the finals of the Final Countdown BVD Tournament.



1996 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 1996", Nobuhiko Takada defeats Keiji Muto to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, ending Muto's second reign. Also, Jushin Liger defeats Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. This began Liger's seventh reign and ended Kanemoto's second.

1997 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 1997", Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura defeat Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the IWGP World Tag Team Title. This began Fujinami and Kimura's fourth reign and ended Chono and Tenzan's second. Also, Jushin Liger defeats Ultimo Dragon for the eight J-Crown titles.

1998 - Riki Chōshū wrestled what was then to be his final five career matches, consecutively, at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Final Power Hall in Tokyo Dome". The series of matches was called the "Riki Road Final Message 5". Chōshū pinned Kazuyuki Fujita and Yutaka Yoshie after lariats, made Tatsuhito Takaiwa submit to the Sasori-Gatame (Chōshū's own finishing move), and was defeated by Takashi Iizuka by submission with an ankle lock. In his final match, Chōshū pinned Jushin Liger after a lariat.

1999 - The Monday Night War continued, and featured two very infamous moments, both occurring on WCW Monday Nitro. WWF RAW is WAR's show, taped December 28 in Worcester, Massachusetts at the Centrum, won the night with a 5.7 rating. That rating was contributed to by Tony Schiavone's comment that Mankind would win the WWF World Title on RAW and "put a lot of butts in the seats", during Nitro.
Nitro was live from WCW's homebase, Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia Dome, and featured "The Fingerpoke of Doom", when Hollywood Hulk Hogan simply poked WCW World Champion Kevin Nash in the chest as the two faced off, causing him to fall to the mat. Hogan pinned Nash, won his fifth WCW World Title, and the nWo was reformed. The crowd at the Georgia Dome was stunned at the "main event" as it had been set up as Hogan and Nash having a grudge match. Nitro came in second with a 5.0 rating.

1999 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 1999", Keiji Muto defeats Scott Norton to win his third IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Also, Kendo Kashin and Dr. Wagner, Jr. defeat Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title.

2000 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 2000", Kensuke Sasaki pinned Genichiro Tenryu for his second IWGP World Heavyweight Title.

2001 - New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 2001", featured a six-man tournament for the vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Title, which was vacated on October 9 when then-champion Kensuke Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada and Masahiro Chono received first-round byes in the tournament. 62,001 fans attended the event. The results:
- In a tournament quarterfinal match, Kensuke Sasaki defeated Satoshi Kojima by submission with a Boston crab.
- In a tournament quarterfinal match, IWGP World Tag Team Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned Yuji Nagata after a moonsault.
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Koji Kanemoto and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka defeated Shinya Makabe and Tatsuhito Takaiwa, when Kanemoto made Makabe submit with an ankle lock.
- Takashi Iizuka defeated Kendo Kashin with a sleeper hold.
- In a tournament semifinal match, Kensuke Sasaki defeated Masahiro Chono by submission with the Strangle Hold γ.
- In a tournament semifinal match, Toshiaki Kawada pinned IWGP World Tag Team Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan after a powerbomb.
- Keiji Muto and Shinjiro Otani defeated Jushin Liger and Manabu Nakanishi, when Otani made Liger submit with a cobra twist.
- Riki Chōshū and Shinya Hashimoto fought to a no contest.
- Kensuke Sasaki pinned Toshiaki Kawada after a Northern Lights bomb to win the tournament and the vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Title, beginning his third reign.

2003 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 2003", Yoshihiro Takayama defeats Tsuyoshi Kosaka to win the NWF Heavyweight Title, revived after 22 years of inactivity. Also, the Young Generation Cup four-man tournament took place, with Ryushi Yanagisawa defeating Yutaka Yoshie in the finals.

2004 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Wrestling World 2004", IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defeats NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama in Tokyo, Japan to unify the titles. The NWF title dates back to 1970 and Pedro Martinez's National Wrestling Federation, which was initially an NWA office, and was mainly defended in the Buffalo, New York, Cleveland, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario areas, until then-champion Johnny Powers took it with him on a tour of Japan. Powers lost the NWF title to Antonio Inoki in 1973, and the title remained a New Japan-promoted title until it was retired in 1981. In 2003, the title was revived by NJPW, but was again retired when Nakamura defeated Takayama. Also at the show, Jushin Liger defeats Takashi Sugiura for the Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Title.

2005 - At New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, "Toukon Festival: Wrestling World 2005", Tiger Mask defeated HEAT (Minoru Tanaka) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, beginning Tiger Mask's second reign and ending Tanaka's third. Also, Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP U-30 Title, and Ron Waterman won an eight-man MMA-style (worked) tournament, defeating Yuji Nagata in the final match.

2010 - Bret Hart returned to WWE, more than a decade after the infamous 1997 Montreal Screwjob, during an edition of Raw in Ohio. Hart appeared on Raw and buried the hatchet with Shawn Michaels. This was followed by an angle with Vince McMahon where McMahon kicked Hart in the groin, starting the build towards their Wrestlemania 26 match, which Hart would win.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Match of the Day

From 1980 Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff vs Antonio Inoki and Riki Chosyu.