There is no better example of the coercive power that the wrestling industry has than in the career of Antonio Inoki. As I mentioned in the previous entry, he was trained by the equally, if not more iconic, Rikidozan before participating in the Japanese Wrestling Association. His matches were consistently well received by audiences all across Japan. Inoki became so popular that he was elected into the Japanese House of Counselors twice!
The most notable part of his political career was when he managed to negotiate with Saddam Hussein for the release of forty-one Japanese hostages in the early nineties. 
He successfully freed the hostages with his impressive social skills, an important skill to have when climbing up in the wrestling industry. He completed the negotiations whilst hosting a wrestling event in Baghdad, Iraq called スポーツと平和の祭典 which translates to “The Festival of Sports and Peace”. Inoki also had a momentous wrestler vs boxer match against Mohammed Ali that led to the invention and popularization of Mixed Martial Arts. This match is what helped establish their connection come time for Collision in Korea. 
Kota Ibushi receiving a “Fighting Spirit Slap”
Super fans of Inoki are known for asking the wrestler to slap them. This unique request began after a video was released of Inoki striking down a fan who’d attempted to punch him. After the fan received the million dollar smack he found his footing and bowed to Inoki, thanking him for the “gift”. The sanctified slap is known to the fans as the “Fighting Spirit Slap”. Antonio Inoki triumphantly retired on April 4th, 1998 in a match against Don Frye in front of a crowd of over seventy thousand people. He also retired from politics in 2013 and now resides in New York.
Jumping back a little to the time after Antonio finished honing his craft in the JWA, he quickly founded New Japan Pro Wrestling, the most prestigious Asian wrestling promotion in the world. Dozens of notable wrestlers have passed through New Japan including Hulk Hogan, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask, etc. Antonio’s legacy lives on through the growth of the company and the many people he trained including Shinsuke Nakamura, Brian Adams, Rocky Romero, Minoru Suzuki, The Great Muta, and Riki Choshu.
The company is approaching its fiftieth year of operations and is showing no signs of slowing down. They’ve shown great efforts to continue forwarding the brand’s reputation especially during the pandemic. They managed to host one hundred forty live events during 2020 despite interference from the pandemic and held their “Resurgence” pay-per-view at the Los Angeles Coliseum in August. In my next blog entry I plan to discuss my favorite wrestlers from the New Japan roster: Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi and Shingo Takagi. Together these men are known as Los Ingobernables de Japon.
I think it’s so interesting how Inoki was both a wrestling guy and a politician! And he was very successful in both, simultaneously which is not always expected. I’ve also heard of the slap thing but never knew it was him! I never knew that MMA developed with that match between him and Mohammed Ali, and would have never known. Keep up the good work!
Wow I found it particularly interesting when you mentioned the whole slapping thing… that fans of Inoki will actually ask him to slap them. I find the story of the emergence of the “Fighting Spirit Slap” to be particularly funny. I also love the image you used to accompany the description. Overall, great work… I always look forward to your weekly blog posts!
Every blog post I honestly am more and more in awe of just how complex, rich of history, and fascinating this sport is!
And how cool that he had a successful career in both wrestling and politics? Great post, every one I feel like I am closer and closer to actually turning on the TV and watching a match!