Into the Indies 09.06.11: Inoki Off the Deep End
Posted by Ryan Byers on 09.06.2011
I2I departs form its normal format and provides a bit of an op-ed piece. The subject? Why I'm completely fed up with one of Japanese wrestling's biggest stars.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that is sharin' Sharon's outlook on the topic of disease.
This week, I've decided to depart from my normal format in order to address a topic that has really been bothering me lately. Rather than reviewing a show or giving you a history lesson on a Japanese independent promotion, I come here today to state that, in my opinion . . .
Antonio Inoki is Batshit Insane
Okay, so Antonio Inoki is one of the biggest wrestling stars in Japanese history, he's a bit of a cultural icon in the country, and he even managed to be elected to their version of Congress after getting a cameo in one of the original Bad News Bears movies. The man has always been a little eccentric, but, over the past couple of months, he has reached a level where I begin to wonder why anybody puts up with his B.S., regardless of how much power or influence he has in the professional wrestling industry.
First of all, Inoki has announced that his promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation, will be holding a show in North Korea in 2012 to help mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of former ruler Kim Il-sung. For those of you who don't see a problem with that, perhaps I should make it clear exactly who Kim Il-sung is. He's the father of Kim Jong-il, the current dictator of Korea, and he essentially created the barbarous, totalitarian regime that his little boy inherited. He initiated the Korean War, he created an economic structure under which millions of his citizens starved, and he sent anybody who had the gall to oppose him to a work camp. This the guy whose birthday party will in part be marked in part by a professional wrestling show promoted by Antonio Inoki.
Of course, this isn't the first time that Inoki has gotten into bed with the North Korean government. When he was the head of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Inoki was instrumental in arranging for a 1995 card that drew over 300,000 fans to the Pyongyang Stadium over two days, setting a legitimate record for the most-attended pro wrestling show held anywhere in the world at any point in history. I had heard that statistic on-and-off for quite a while now, and I never thought that much of it until a year or two ago, when I was listening to an interview with Scott Norton conducted by WrestlingObserver.com. Norton was part of the NJPW roster at the time of the North Korea show and observed first-hand the atmosphere surrounding the show. He described his colleagues being accompanied by guards everywhere with virtually no freedom to move about and Korean citizens being taken to watch the show at gunpoint. (Which would, of course, account for the historically large crowd.) According to Norton's version of events, the overwhelming crowd reaction to the wrestling show was confusion, as virtually nobody in attendance had any familiarity with the genre and didn't know what they were watching.
In other words, the whole purpose of the show was to serve as a massive ego-stroke, both for the North Korean government and for Antonio Inoki, and some less than scrupulous means were used in order to assemble the record-breaking audience. I would imagine that we'll get more of the same here. Even if we don't, I still have a little problem with the fact that this whole production is part of the ongoing celebration of the life of a tyrannical despot.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! Inoki pulled another idiotic stunt recently which left me sick to my stomach. Even those of you who do not follow puroresu very closely probably heard at one point over the past couple of months that, on August 27, 2011, New Japan Pro Wrestling (now Inoki-free), All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling NOAH assembled their rosters for an unprecedented mega-show called "All Together," the purpose of which was to fill the Budokan with as many fans as possible in order to raise money that would be donated to the victims of the major earthquakes that rocked Japan back in March of this year. By virtually all reports, it was a great event for a great cause.
However, Antonio Inoki had a problem with the All Together show. The nature of the problem was never really made clear, but many have speculated that it stems from the fact that he and his IGF promotion were not invited to participate. Rather than taking whatever his issue was and dealing with it in a mature, rational manner, Inoki decided that he was going to do what he does best and go completely off the deep end. You see, Inoki decided that he was going to book his own, rival show on the SAME DAY at the SAME TIME as All together, and he was going to do it in Sumo Hall, the next largest venue in Tokyo that regularly showcases pro wrestling. Would this also be a charity show? No, of course not. It would be a for-profit event with all of the proceeds going into Antonio Inoki's pockets.
Believe it or not, things get worse from there. Inoki didn't just promote his anti-All Together show through traditional means. He decided that it would be a good idea to go out of his way to outright deride the All Together card. On one of Inoki Genome Federation shows which lead up to All Together, Antonio Inoki himself hit the ring before calling out . . . well, I'll just let the pictures tell the story . . .
Yes, Inoki called out a masked man who was wearing a giant print-out of a newspaper article about All Together, prominently displaying IWGP Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, Triple Crown Champion Suwama, and GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki, who were teaming together in the six man tag main event of the card. Inoki belittled and attacked the living, breathing poster, leaving it lying in a heap.
The good news is that, despite Antonio Inoki's best efforts, All Together still sold out and, by all accounts, was still a ridiculously enjoyable show that accomplished all of its charitable goals. That's one of the big reasons why I didn't really give Inoki's antics much attention here when they were first unraveling. However, this, combined with the fact that he has once again gotten in bed with the North Korean government is just too much for me to handle. This man is beyond wacky, funny insane. He's now at what I would call "immoral insane," where he's so far off the deep end that he either doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. And, though he's allegedly engaged in shady business dealings for years now, these days he's being so blatant about it that I can't simply sit back and give him the benefit of the doubt or buy in to any argument that there is plausible deniability.
Simply put, I'm well beyond the point where I can have any respect for Antonio Inoki, his promotion, and many of the people who associate with him. From this point forward, I am officially giving Inoki and the IGF the old TNA treatment. They're dead to me.
Hopefully, I'm not the only one.
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Looking forward to the next installment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411's Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!
Inoki has been involved with the Yakuza for decades, so he's never been clean. But the North Korean connection is sickening. And getting so butthurt about his COMPLETELY irrelevant fed not getting invited to participate, that he would try to take away business from a charity event for people in his own fucking country is just as awful. I knew he was nuts back when he was putting NJPW wrestlers into MMA fights back in the early 00's, but I had no idea he would become like this. NJPW was right to get themselves away from him. I can't imagine how much he'd be hurting them if he was still running the company, especially with how poorly wrestling is doing in Japan right now.
Posted By: Guest#3253 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 01:29 AM
Gonna watch IGF now. Thanks for promoting it.
Posted By: Guest#3210 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 03:42 AM
Ok, Inoki is kind of a douchebag for the anti-all together show, but the North Korea stuff is ok. He's legitimately trying to get pro wrestling big in that country to create a market there (even if the market is largely state funded and forced). Money is money, and North Korean money is as good as any other money. Don't blame Inoki for doing it. If North Korea offered some small indy a bunch of money to hold a wrestling show in their country, they'd be stupid to refuse.
Posted By: Guest#7880 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 05:08 AM
Ugh...fuck Inoki. He's been off the deep end for years, but you're right Byers, this is too much. Counter-promoting against a charity show? That's low.
And the North Korea thing is just bizarre.
Posted By: KNessJM (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 06:12 AM
I may not see eye to eye with a lot of your views Mr. Byers but on this we are in total agreement. Inoki has lost his gosh darn mind....
Scheduling against then deriding an event that would help get funds for disaster relief? That's sick...
What the Holy Hell Man?
Posted By: Daryll B. (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 06:43 AM
I wouldn't want to run a show in North Korea, not just because the Kims are inhuman scum, but because there really wouldn't be anyway to guarantee the workers' safety. Anything they do or say might get them killed, or kidnapped.
Posted By: Guest#1450 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 12:12 PM
IGF was also a charity event. At least nikkan called it that way. For whatever it matters.
Posted By: verdu (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 01:45 PM
Psychiatric assessments from Ryan Byers.
Posted By: Guest#6886 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 06:51 PM
Could you cite your sources about Inoki's finances from the Sumo Hall event? I'm interested in seeing your evidence about your statements.
Do you know about Inoki's initiative for Peace via sport? And if so, how do you feel about it?
Posted By: Matto-san (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 09:16 PM
This was a story I read about Inoki. He bought an island off the coast of Cuba from Fidel Castro. Inoki was promised that their was buried treasure on it. Inoki renamed it Inoki Friendship Island and invited his friends to dig for treasure. Don't think he or anyone else ever found shit.
Posted By: Guest 5685 (Guest) on September 06, 2011 at 11:28 PM
Running against ALL TOGETHER is fine, he leeched off a show that was sure to sell out. The beating up the newspaper thing was weak though. I love that Kendo Kashin came out to the ALL TOGETHER theme though, but that's in a "I can't believe it" kind of way. I don't see a problem with the North Korean show though.
Posted By: Guest#0262 (Guest) on September 07, 2011 at 08:31 PM
Inoki is a legend. No him, no njpw.
Karl gotch and inoki style is no longer exist in njpw. Showmanship is in now for njpw.
Posted By: bob (Guest) on September 07, 2011 at 08:53 PM
this is the same guy who "wrestled" ali, so why is anyone shocked at anything he says or does. write a real fucking article
Posted By: pjl32 (Guest) on September 10, 2011 at 03:22 AM
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