Antonio Inoki Wiki, Bio, Age, Death, Ali, Wrestling, Wife, Religion, Hall of Fame

Antonio Inoki Wiki, Bio, Age, Death, Ali, Wrestling, Wife, Religion Hall of Fame: Muhammad Hussain Inoki better known as Antonio Inoki was a Japanese politician, professional wrestler, martial artist, and promoter of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling. He was born on February 20, 1943, in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He got his name Antonio Inoki as an honour of his fellow professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. Inoki was a 12-time world champion in professional wrestling, and the first Asian Heavyweight Champion of the WWF and the IWGP.

Unfortunately, the Legendary wrestler died at the age of 79 on the 1st of October 2022 due to a heart attack. He was battling a rare disease called amyloidosis. Antonio died in Kanagawa, Japan. His death was reported by New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co which Antonio founded in 1972. Even though Inoki was battling the illness, he was cheerful and positive in his last days. Many people are in grief over the demise of the great Antonio Inoki, he was an inspiration to many and a larger-than-life figure in Japan.

Antonio Inoki Early Life, Childhood and Family

Antonio Inoki was born into an influential and wealthy family. His father Sajiro Inoki was a businessman and an influential politician. Sajiro Inoki died when Inoki was just 5 years old. Of the seven boys and four girls, he was the second-youngest and the sixth son. Inoki studied at Higashidai Elementary. Inoki learned karate from his older brother while he was in the sixth grade. He joined the basketball squad at Terao Junior High School when he was in the seventh grade as he was very tall(180 cm: Antonio Inoki height). Later, he gave up and became a shot putter for a track and field team and even won the track and field tournament at Yokohama Junior High School.

When Inoki was 14 years old he shifted to Brazil with his family. His grandfather passed away on a journey to Brazil. When Inoki reached Brazil, he was very active in playing sports and even won regional championships in Brazil for the shot put discus throw, and javelin throw, and then he went on to win the shot put and discus in the All Brazilian Championships.

Antonio Inoki Professional Career

Wrestling Career 1960 to 71

At the age of 17, Inoki met Rikidzan and followed him back to Japan to compete in the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA). He trained under renowned martial artist Karl Gotch at the JWA dojo. Inoki worked in Baba’s shadow who was his classmate until he left for an excursion to the United States in 1964.

Inoki came back to Japan for Tokyo Pro Wrestling in 1966 after a long wrestling tour in the United States. Inoki was their biggest star while he was there. Unfortunately, the company dissolved due to internal politics.

Inoki returned to JWA in late 1967 and was made Baba’s partner. The two won the tag team ranks as “B-I Cannon”, winning four times the NWA International Tag Team Championship.

1972–2005: Founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling

After getting fired from JWA in 1971, Antonio Inoki decide to found his own Wrestling firm and founded  New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 1972, where he fought his first match with Karl Gotch. Inoki took a brutal Greco-Roman backdrop within the first two seconds of his 1975 match against Lou Thesz.

Over the years Antonio Inoki fought many matches with other Wrestling legends like Pakistani Akram Pahalwan, The Great Antonio,  Zubair Jhara Pahalwan,  Ric Flair, Tiger Jeet Singh and many more. One of his most well and known and famous matches was with legendary boxer Muhammad Ali held at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo, Japan, on June 26, 1976. The majority of the fight saw Inoki on his back kicking Ali’s legs 107 times uninhibited by the referee due to a particular rule negotiated shortly before the fight, which allowed him to do so without being disqualified. In the end, Antonio Inoki vs Muhammad Ali’s match resulted in a draw with a score of 3-3. 

Inoki retired from professional wrestling in 1998 with the staging of the “Final Countdown” series. This special series featured Inoki’s mixed martial arts matches, as well as rematches of some of his most famous wrestling matches. Inoki was part of the Final Countdown Tour and defeated WCW World Television Champion Steven Silver in a non-title match at “Clash of the Champions XXVIII”. Inoki defeated Don Frye on April 4, 1998, in his final professional wrestling match.

Inoki created a new promotion in 2007 called Inoki Genome Federation. On February 1, 2010, World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) announced that Inoki would be inducted as part of the WWE Hall of Fame. Inoki has presented a Hall of Fame certificate from WWE’s Ed Wells. He stated that Inoki would be attending the Wrestlemania XXVI weekend festivities during which Stan Hansen was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Inoki founded ISM in 2017. ISM hosted its first event on June 24, 2017. On March 23, 2018, Inoki left IGF.

Antonio Inoki Political Career (1989 to 2019)

Like his father, Inoki entered politics in 1989. He was elected to the House of Councillors, as a representative of the Sports and Peace Party during the 1989 Japanese House of Councillors elections.

Inoki, imitating Muhammad Ali in 1990  and travelled to Iraq as “an unofficial one-man diplomatic mission” and successfully negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages before the outbreak of the Gulf War.

After a series of scandals in 1994, Inoki was unable to win re-election at the 1995 Japanese House of Councillors election. Inoki delivers a speech in North Korea in 2014. Inoki declared that he would run again for a seat in the Japanese Diet under his Japan Restoration Party ticket. Inoki was elected to the election to be a member of the Upper House.

Inoki was suspended for 30 days from the Diet after he made an unauthorized visit to North Korea. After another visit to North Korea, he was said to be considering running for governor in Tokyo in 2014.

Inoki reiterated his belief that Japan should be more cooperative with North Korea in September 2017. This was after North Korea launched ballistic missiles above Hokkaido. Inoki made another controversial trip to Japan in September 2017. He stated that Japan should make more effort to have a cooperative dialogue with North Korea, following the launch of ballistic missiles over Hokkaido.

Finally, he announced his retirement in 2019 from politics.

Antonio Inoki Wife and Personal Life

He married actress Mitsuko Baisho in 1971. They had a daughter, Hiroko. In 1987 they got divorced and got married to Tazuko Tada. Tazuko Tada died in 2019

Inoki converted from Shia Islam during a 1990 pilgrimage to Karbala. This is the Shiite holy place in Iraq. He was in Iraq negotiating for the release of several Japanese hostages. This was revealed in 2012, along with a declaration that he had changed his name to Muhammad Hussain Inoki. Inoki reportedly described himself as both a Muslim convert and a Buddhist.

Antonio Inoki Networth, House

Inoki’s net worth is estimated to be $2 million. According to reports Inoki enjoyed a very luxurious lifestyle and live in a big mansion in Japan. He earned the majority of his income from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He also earned money by promoting MMA.

 

Here is the full bio of Antonio Inoki, his family, age, father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, children, school, education, hometown, profession, Antonio Inoki vs Ali, Antonio Inoki cause of death, nationality, body measurements, age, Antonio Inoki Muhammad Ali, WWE, WWF, MMA, Politics, baki, matches, Ric flair, fight, height, weight, eye colour, hair colour, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, cast, birthday, birthplace, hobbies, address,  zodiac sign, date of birth, religion, and net worth.

Antonio Inoki Information Table

Name	Muhammad Hussain Inoki
Nickname	Antonio Inoki
Gender	Male
Profession	professional wrestler, martial artist, politician
Height (approx.)	in centimetres– 190 cm in meters- 1.90 m in feet inches- 6’3″
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms– 102 kg in pounds- 225 Ibs
Figure Measurements (approx.)	Not Known
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Date of Birth	20 Feb 1943
Age (as in 2022)	79 Years Old
Birth Place	Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Aquaris
Nationality	Japan
Hometown	Yokohama
School	Higashidai Elementary
College/University	Not Known
Educational Qualification	Graduate
Religion	Shia Islam
Ethnicity	Japanese
Caste	Not Known
Address	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Hobbies/Interests	Wrestling, Philanthropy
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Boyfriends/Girlfriends	Tazuko Tada
Sexuality	Straight
Parents	Father: Sajiro Inoki Mother: Not known
Siblings	Brother: Not Known Sister: Not Known
Husband/Wife/Spouse	Tazuko Tada
Children	Hiroko Inoki
Net Worth	$2 Million USD

Social Media Accounts:

Twitter

Some Lesser Known Facts Antonio Inoki

• He organized a wrestling match in Pyongyang in 2014
• Inoki named his method of fighting “strong style.”

• Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki ended in a draw, 3–3. Ali left without a press conference and suffered damage to his legs as a result of Inoki’s repeated kicks.

• Inoki had the starring role in the film Acacia directed by Jinsei Tsuji.

   

• Inoki made a special appearance in the Doraemon episode “The Pitch-Black Pop Stars” from 2005 where he was wrestling with Gian.

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