NJPW founder and WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki passes away

According to a report from Yahoo Japan, Antonio Inoki passed away at the age of 79. He had been struggling with several health issues in recent years.

Inoki is the founder of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and is regarded as one of the most popular stars in Japanese professional wrestling history.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010 by another pro wrestling legend, Stan Hansen.

Inoki began his professional wrestling career in the 1960s under the Japanese Wrestling Association banner. He quickly rose to stardom in the industry. In 1976, he fought legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

Inoki is also known for his matches against Ric Flair in North Korea. The two pro wrestling icons closed out Day 2 of a record-breaking North Korea show that drew an audience of 150,000 and 190,000 across two days. According to reports, this is the highest attendance in pro wrestling history.

The Japanese wrestling legend is also a 12-time world champion and the inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He also won the WWF Heavyweight Championship once, but his run remains unrecognized by WWE.

Wrestling fans paid their tribute to Antonio Inoki on social media

In reaction to Antonio Inoki's passing away, wrestling fans took to Twitter to pour homage to the legend.

Numerous Twitter handles paid respect to Inoki, who passed away on the 60th anniversary of his pro wrestling debut.

As mentioned earlier, Inoki founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1972. His first match as an NJPW wrestler was against Karl Gotch. He remained the owner of the promotion till 2005, when he sold his shares to Yuke's video game company.

Meanwhile, his reign as the WWF Heavyweight Champion began after he defeated Bob Backlund in Tokushima, Japan, to win the title in 1979. Backlund eventually won the rematch on December 6.

However, the rematch was ruled a no contest by Hisashi Shinma due to interference from Tiger Jeet Singh. Inoki later vacated the title. As mentioned earlier, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Sportskeeda community sends its heartfelt condolences to Antonio Inoki's friends and family at this sorrowful time.

About the author

Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.

In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.

In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. He is also being followed by John Cena on X (formerly Twitter).

Apart from his love for professional wrestling, Soumik also watches Football and has been a lifelong follower of Liverpool FC and Mohun Bagan. He has also been following the Indian Super League and remains the only content creator to have traveled across India to watch 7 ISL Matches in 7 Days, a video which currently sits at 26K views on his YouTube channel. His channel currently amasses over 120K views.

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