10 Things you didn't know about WWE history

#8 Vince McMahon promoted an NJPW match

Muhammed Ali has no answer for Antonio Inoki's low Muay Thai style kicks in their exhibition bout.

One of the oldest arguments about sports entertainment is whether or not a wrestler could defeat a pro boxer. In recent years this has expanded to include Mixed Martial Arts as well.

In order to take advantage of both the surging popularity of Antonio Inoki, and the cult of personality that was Muhammed Ali, the NJPW promotion managed to contract an exhibition bout between the two men.

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This was before PPV was prevalent as it is today, and Inoki turned to Vince McMahon Jr. to help promote the fight on closed circuit television in the United States.

McMahon often treated NJPW as an ally more than a rival--though that has probably changed--and their business relationship helped both promotions. By the way, in case you were wondering, "The Greatest" Ali got his butt kicked by Inoki. Badly.

About the author

Christopher Scott Wagoner is a writer from Austin, Texas in the United States. He is also a proud descendent of the Choctaw and Lakota people.
Chris has an English and Creative Writing degree, and is a published author with Simon and Schuster. He's ghost-written over eight million words in more than 500 books.
A long time wrestling fan, Chris is also a professional journalist who covers sports-entertainment. He's been writing for Sportskeeda since 2018.

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Edited by Alan John