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[[caption-width-right:300: '''FIGHT!''' '''FIGHT!''' '''FIGHT!''' '''FIGHT!''' '''FIGHT!''']]
->''"When your fist connects with my chin, take care that your fist is not damaged."''
-->-- '''Antonio Inoki''', answering to a joke made by UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli

'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPJUTcycDf0 "INOKI BOMBAYE!"\\\
"INOKI BOMBAYE!"\\\
"INOKI BOMBAYE!"]]'''

Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born Kanji Inoki, February 20, 1943 - October 1, 2022) was a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts promoter, considered the most iconic figure in puroresu and the first MMA pioneer. Inoki debuted for Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}'s Japan Wrestling Association and became a big star along Wrestling/GiantBaba, until he was fired when planning a takeover. He then founded Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, which went to be the biggest wrestling promotion thanks to his charisma and star power. Trained by Wrestling/KarlGotch in the ways of the catch wrestling, Inoki created the Strong-Style, the martial arts-oriented realistic wrestling style which distinguished his company for years, and staged a series of "Different Style Fights" against martial artists to prove its superiority. While most of them were worked, Inoki fought a real one against UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli which ended with Ali's legs destroyed.[[labelnote:note]]There have been conflicting reports as to whether this bout was meant to be a worked fight or a shoot. Ali was under the impression that it was the former, with Inoki assuming it was the latter. Last minute clarifications turned it into an actual contest, but since one was a boxer and the other a wrestler, the rules were unclear. The most common story was that Inoki would be prohibited from any shooting style takedowns or tackles and could not kick from a standing position, though he could with one knee or arm on the mat (though some sources say that there were no such restrictions, while none other than Wrestling/BretHart, who worked for Inoki's New Japan promotion at the time, stated that Ali's camp had threatened Inoki if he tried to legit hurt Ali in the ring). Whatever the reason, when the fight started Inoki settled on the BoringButPractical strategy of turtling, crab-walking across the ring and sending kicks at Ali's shins and knees while giving Ali nothing to punch at. If Ali had gone on the ground against Inoki, a master wrestler, he would have just been handing Inoki the victory as he has zero experience with wrestling outside playground fights. This went on for 15 rounds of non-action, but Inoki's kicks left Ali's legs with severe swelling and blood clots, which combined with the emergency surgeries required to treat them would affect his mobility for the rest of his life.[[/labelnote]]

After the MMA boom in TheNineties, Inoki became even more interested in real fighting and turned NJPW into his personal test field, which made the company suffer and ultimately got Inoki booted out of it. He went on to form Inoki Genome Federation, where he kept his philosophy of mixing MMA and professional wrestling. Inoki remained as the top MMA promoter in Japan and one of its greatest legends. After a long series of health issues from his larger-than-life past had left Inoki wheelchair-bound for the final years of his life, he passed away on the 1st of October 2022.
----
!! "Moeru Tropes":
* TheAce
** He embodied the qualities who were passed to his three main trainees: Wrestling/SatoruSayama's inventiveness, Wrestling/AkiraMaeda's drive and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada's sense of style.
** He was the top wrestler of Tokyo Pro Wrestling but went back to the JWA when internal politics destroyed the promotion.
* AGodAmI: The Makai Club members worshipped Inoki like a god in storyline, and according to rumors, several members of his entourage do it in real life. Unsurprisingly, Inoki's experiment to join puroresu and MMA in his own way was called "Inoki-ism", just like a religion, and he called the wrestling style of Inoki Genome Federation that as well.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: To Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling's Wrestling/GiantBaba, although Inoki's more ruthless attitude (both wrestling-wise and business-wise) led to almost EvilCounterpart levels.
* AlwaysSecondBest:
** As good as Inoki could be in shoots, it's said that he got the shorter end of a rough match against Roland Bock in Germany in 1978. Supposedly Bock decided it was a good time to bully the Japanese guy, so he manhandled him with stiff suplexes and headbutts for a good portion of the match. Inoki didn't try to fight back, as he had been seriously advised by Wrestling/KarlGotch that Bock was too dangerous for him and that he had to play along with the beatdown in order to avoid getting Bock ''really'' angry.
** Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara, who appropriately worked as Inoki's bodyguard and sparring partner, has been consistently describes as his superior on the tatami. Inoki might have been the better striker of the two, however.
* TheApprentice: To Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} and Wrestling/KarlGotch. He also started his wrestling training under Sonny Myers.
* ArchEnemy: Johnny Powers and Tiger Jeet Singh, among others.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Was the kind of wrestler who was strong and knew it, but Japanese crowds loved it thanks to his poise and aura.
* AsHimself: In ''The Bad News Bears Go to Japan'', as well as the bizarre, NJPW-financed ''Pro Wrestling Star Azteckaiser'' and even the second run ''[[Manga/TigerMask Tiger Mask]]''.
* AuthorAppeal: Inoki openly favored wrestlers with legit backgrounds, or more clearly, mere workers who agree in doing MMA for him, which has led to questionable (or downright wrong) booking decisions, and has often damaged their pro wrestling careers.
** Tadao Yasuda, a former sumo wrestler of inconsistent popularity, won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship because he choked out K-1 figure Jérôme Le Banner at an Inoki MMA show. And just because bigger name Wrestling/YujiNagata, who fought at the same event, lost his bout (before Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipóvic, nothing less).
** Wrestling/KazuyukiFujita was a NJPW low-carder when Inoki sent him to PRIDE, but after destroying Hans Nijman in the first round, he became the Inoki Dojo poster boy and received all kinds of privileges. His staggering performances in PRIDE gave him three reigns as the NJPW heavyweight champion and dominant booking.
** Unlike them, Wrestling/YoshihiroTakayama's efforts in MMA were not as successful, but his fighting spirit was enough f0r Inoki to introduce a "real fighting" title to reward him with, the NWF Heavyweight Championship.
** An interesting example is Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura, probably the only star who survived the Inoki-ism and stayed with New Japan after Antonio's departure. He had the fighting ability to back up his wrestling charisma, but injuries from his MMA fights endangered him for a long time.
** The biggest one is Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa, who was initially brought by Inoki to replace Wrestling/KenShamrock and ended becoming a phenom himself. Even before he proved his dominance in MMA, Ogawa was booked to crush established star Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto for good and caused the split between Inoki and Shinya. The funny part is that Ogawa left Inoki and joined Hashimoto in his new company.
** In return, Inoki signed many MMA fighters to work matches and forced the native roster to adopt MMA-style finishers and matches to fit with the general sense of real fighting.
* AuthorAvatar: New Japan, Inoki Sports USA, Inoki Genome Federation, ISM, should Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Pro's Inoki Dojo do a show...
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Although he is not usually counted among the greatest shooters of Japanese pro wrestling, especially compared to more talented and involved colleagues, Inoki was still one of the main students of Wrestling/KarlGotch and reportedly became a quite impressive grappler under him and other trainers. Even when Inoki got older, according to [[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Dave Meltzer]], he once rolled with former UFC Heavyweight champion Wrestling/DanSevern and caught him in a submission after another, and a rumor has him teaching a thing or two to NCAA champion Wrestling/BrockLesnar too, back when Lesnar was new to MMA and wasn't knowledgeable about the game.
* BadassFamily: His older brother Hiroyasu Inoki was a 9th dan black belt, as high a reward as can possibly be received without founding the martial art in question, in Shotokan UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} who lived and taught in Brazil until his death in 2017.
* BadassTeacher: Went to personally trained Wrestling/KazuyukiFujita and Lyoto Machida, among others.
* BadBoss:
** The 2004 Toukon Festival featured Inoki as this both in and out of kayfabe, as after Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura was defeated by Wrestling/KazuyukiFujita by a brutal head kick, Inoki came to the ring to punch him in the face. In kayfabe, Inoki was furious because Nakamura hadn't shown enough fighting spirit on the loss. In real life, Inoki was furious because Nakamura had frustrated a lucrative contract due to his personal enmity with Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa.
** When 2011 IGF match between Wrestling/LukeGallows and Wrestling/SylvesterTerkay turned into a stinker, Inoki himself ran out, yelled profanity at them ''in English'', told Wrestling/MasahiroChono at ringside to end the match, then continued to yell at them while throwing chairs into the ring. This was Gallows's promotional debut.
* BatmanGambit: After New Japan stripped Wrestling/BrockLesnar of the IWGP Heavyweight Title for under performing and being uncooperative, Inoki said they had made a mistake and created a second IWGP Heavyweight Title in his Genome Federation so Lesnar could still be recognized as champion. Then Lesnar dropped the belt to Wrestling/KurtAngle, whom after only two defenses, sent the title to New Japan for good.
* BigEntrance: At Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, Inoki parachuted his way to the ring. No, really.
* BullyingADragon:
** The Great Antonio, a strongman and wrestler who was supposedly insane, stopped cooperating with Inoki during [[https://youtu.be/9lXAGZtMxU8 their match]], openly {{No Sell}}ing him and mocking him, then started potatoing him in the back of the head. Inoki, not exactly amused, took him down and stomped on his head until he was knocked out.
** Conversely, according to Wrestling/BrunoSammartino, a young Inoki once tried to shoot on him, and he had to power out of his hold and throw him off the ring. The story has no other sources and many people have disputed it as being fantastic, sometimes citing Sammartino's loyalty to Giant Baba, Inoki's main rival, as proof of it being propaganda.
* CanonDiscontinuity: His [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWWF World Heavyweight Championship]] reign after defeating Wrestling/BobBacklund.
* CaptainErsatz: As to be expected, the founder of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling has had his share of them in ''Videogame/FireProWrestling.'' Before that, Fighter Hayabusa in Videogame/ProWrestling.
* TheChessmaster
** Was known for being a cunning, even ruthless promotor who often relies in underhand business tactics. It's believed he concocted the disastrous 1.4 Incident, ordering Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa to shoot on Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto to increase his MMA popularity.
** In recent times, he apparently enjoyed giving an almost Bond villain image - he even owned a private island in Cuba handed to him by UsefulNotes/FidelCastro himself (the story behind it is pretty incredible).
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Inoki plucked Tiger Jeet Singh from relative obscurity outside the Toronto area and made him an international star.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: With UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli.
* DisappearedDad: His father died when he was 5 years old.
* TheDreaded[=/=]LivingLegend: One of the biggest martial arts legends in the world, ''period''. His charisma is the stuff of legends and has made or broken entire careers.
** He's responsible for "The joke that almost ended UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli's career", which did not earn him any popularity points outside of Japan but was not going to see many people trying to get retaliation for it either.
** A month before UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, Inoki organized a sports "peace festival" in Iraq to convince UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein to free 41 Japanese hostages in what he would later describe as a "one-man diplomatic mission". ''He succeeded in bringing each and every one of those 41 home safe''.
* {{Face}}: Like a national hero to Japan.
* FinishingMove: Enzuigiri, Manji-Gatame (octopus hold), Cobra Twist (abdominal stretch) and Masho no Sleeper (rear naked choke). He innovated the first one.
* ForeignWrestlingHeel: In the WWWF.
* FreakinessShame: Surprising as it might be, Inoki was actually embarrassed by his huge chin as a child, and when he got the full age he went to a plastic surgeon to have it reduced. However, the surgeon convinced him to leave it unchanged and instead encouraged him to use it as his persona trademark in wrestling.
* TheGreatestStyle: His legendary series of "Ishu Kakutōgi Sen" fights were all about proving that Professional Wrestling was stronger than every other martial art, at least in kayfabe. These matches pitted him against martial artists of different styles: Dutch judoka [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Ruska Wim Ruska]][[note]]Ruska would become a mainstay in NJPW and fought three times against Inoki. In the same year that Inoki fought against Ruska and Ali, Wim had an infamous shoot match against against celebrated Vale Tudo fighter [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Gomes Ivan Gomes]] - Gomes officially won, but Ruska was [[VictoriousLoser widely aknowledged to be the real victor]] both in Japan and Brazil[[/note]], boxer UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli (in an infamous real match), pro wrestler Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, Pakistani wrestler [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akram_Pahalwan Akram Pahalwan]] [[note]]who tried to shoot Inoki [[HoistByHisOwnPetard to poor results]][[/note]], American martial artist Everet "The Monsterman" Eddy, boxer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Wepner Chuck Wepner]] [[note]][[FollowTheLeader not coincidentally]], fought a year after ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' came out. It seems that Inoki's original intention was to fight against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foreman George Foreman]], but negotiations fell through[[/note]], Monsterman {{Expy}} Johnny "The Lumberjack" Lee, boxer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mildenberger Karl Mildenberger]], "Professional Karateka" Mr. X [[note]]a tie-in to Creator/IkkiKajiwara's ''Shikakui Jungle'' ''manga'', which was covering Inoki's fights, among other martial arts events[[/note]], American bodybuilder Mike "Left Hook" Dayton, Akhram's nephew Jhara Pahalwan [[note]]despite [[InternalRetcon officially ending in a draw]], Jhara allegedly dominated the match and got a technical victory - this would explain [[MissingEpisode why the match wasn't seen in Japanese television]][[/note]], Canadian pro wrestler/karateka Kim Klokeid, and Kyokushin karateka [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Williams_(karateka) Willie "Bear Killer" Williams]] [[note]]famous for being the foreign ScaryBlackMan student of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin Kyokushin]] Karate founder Mas Oyama, both in real life and in the pseudo-biopic ''manga'' ''Karate Baka Ichidai'' -- the match, while worked, was the conclusion of a feud between Kyokushin Karate and Antonio Inoki promoted by ''manga'' writer Creator/IkkiKajiwara in his ''Shikakui Jungle'' series. While some high-ranking Kyokushin members supported the match, Williams was temporarily expelled from the organization for his interest in participating[[/note]].
** After his climatic match against Willie Williams in 1980, Inoki would do these matches with less regularity, notably against sumo ōzeki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konishiki_Yasokichi Konishiki]]'s kayfabe brother Anoaro Atisanoe, boxer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Spinks Leon Spinks]], judoka [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shota_Chochishvili Shota Chochishvili]] [[note]]Inoki's only official loss in these matches, although as would be expected Inoki won a month later[[/note]], kickboxer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Gordeau Gerard Gordeau]] and pro wrestler Wrestling/{{Sting}}, with rematches against Wim Ruska and Willie Williams. While Inoki's retirement match against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Frye Don Frye]] wasn't officially a style vs style match, Frye was well-known for his UFC stint before being a regular NJPW member.
* {{Homage}}: His artistic name, Antonio, is a nod to Wrestling/AntoninoRocca, but there is a theory that it was given to him to emphasize his early gimmick as a Japanese-Brazilian.
* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: His "Island Death Match" with Masa Saito went for an hour and twenty five minutes.
* IKnowKarate: And SumoWrestling, and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling too. Aside, he is the co-founder of the Kansui-Ryu UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} school along with Yukio Mizutani.
* InvincibleHero: Booked himself as this, and the Japanese audience generally seemed to love it, at least during NJPW's peak in the '70s-early '80s. Inoki's few losses after NJPW's foundation tended to be a way to build rivalries against [[ForeignWrestlingHeel Foreign Wrestling Heels]] like Tiger Jeet Singh, Wrestling/BobBacklund during his WWF champion tenure, Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, Wrestling/StanHansen or Wrestling/HulkHogan. In a notoriously infamous event, Inoki's SquashMatch loss against a debuting [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] (in a feud against, of all people, [[Creator/TakeshiKitano Beat Takeshi]]) sparked a riot in the Osaka-jō Hall that banned NJPW from performing there during two years[[note]]The fact that the event's card was planned to be reshuffled, unbeknownst to the audience, didn't help matters: the event was booked as a climatic match between Inoki and Wrestling/RikiChoshu, with a debuting Vader as part of a tag team match with Masa Saito against Wrestling/TatsumiFujinami and Kengo Kimura. Choshu and Vader were switched thanks to Kitano's posse at the start of the event, which drew the ire of the crowd. While Inoki and Choshu later improvised a short match to appease the public, Vader's unexpected victory was the icing on the cake[[/note]].
* LanternJawOfJustice: Inoki's prominent jawbone is well known, reaching memetic levels in Japan.
* {{Leitmotif}}: "Pacific Zone" in Wrestling/{{WCW}}.
* LonerTurnedFriend: He was apparently less social in his early career, and even Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara once thought he was autistic. It is said that he had a change in attitude after going to a self-development seminar.
* LoopholeAbuse: Inoki vacated the WWF Title after he felt his defense against former champion Wrestling/BobBacklund was ruined by Tiger Jet Singh. The WWF "interpreted" this as Inoki disregarding his entire title reign and never gave him another shot at the belt.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: His famous "Fighting Spirit Slap" is the best example. During one visit to a school, Inoki was punched twice by an insolent student, so he slapped the boy across the face, knocking him down. The student then rose, bowed deeply, and thanked Inoki for the slap. Nowadays various celebrities and even common people in Japan ask Inoki to slap them to infuse them with his badassery.
* OddFriendship: It's said he was friends with Carlson Gracie. Truth or not, it is confirmed that he was also pals with Carlson's student Wallid Ismail, which is odd enough by itself.
* OneSteveLimit: Octagon has a hold known as the Octopus too. Octagon's is also called La Escalera, or even "The Mexican Stretch", to differentiate it from Inoki's.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In the dojo. He was great when going for real, only not as great as people like Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara and Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, who were ultimately the ones to gain the reputation of being incredible shooters.
* PowerStable
** Founded an officially unnamed faction (often nicknamed "Inoki Army", "Anti-New Japan" or "Inoki Dojo") composed of shooters and MMA fighters to stir New Japan, which later led to the Makai Club.
** Inoki's group also had his hand in MMA, and it gave birth to Lyoto Machida and the Jungle Fight promotion.
* PrimalStance: One of Inoki's main characteristics was his weirdly lanky, hunchbacked body language.
* RedBaron: "Moeru Toukon" ("Burning Fighting Spirit").
* ScarfOfAsskicking: One of his trademarks was a red scarf worn over his attire.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: After starting his own promotion, Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling. He even created Inoki Genome Federation just to keep doing it.
** He did it again with ISM.
* TheStarscream: After {{Wrestling/Rikidozan}}'s death, Inoki was eventually fired by Japan Wrestling Association for his attempts to take it over.
* StartMyOwn: Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, Jungle Fight, (with Wallid Ismail,) Inoki Genome Federation, and ISM.
* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: In 1985, he bodyslammed Wrestling/KingKongBundy. He also slammed Wrestling/AndreTheGiant numerous times in the 70s and 80s.
* TagTeam: B-I Cannon with Giant Baba, another disciple of {{Wrestling/Rikidozan}}, in the JWA.
* TakeAThirdOption: He took up UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and changed his name to Muhammad Hussain Inoki while remaining a Buddhist. (Yeah, they both can be compatibilized, sort of - see UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} for more info.)
* UrExample: Founded the Strong Style of pro wrestling and Kansui-ryu, his own brand of UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Inoki and Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara had been opponents just as much as tag team partners.
* WarriorPoet: Wrote poetry during his free time.
* WorkedShoot: Loved them, when not regular shoots. His "Ishu Kakutōgi Sen" or "Different Style Fights" were proof of it - he started to bring martial artists and combat sports champions to work matches against them. Olympic gold medalists in USefulNotes/{{Judo}} like Shota Chochoshivili and Willem Ruska and UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} champions like Willie Williams and Gerard Gordeau were his habitual opponents, and UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli was meant to be another.
* WorthyOpponent: Despite not doing either man any favors in the long term, Inoki and Ali were on such good terms after their infamous match that not only did Ali allow Inoki to use his theme song from his biopic, Ali was also Inoki's guest at the ''Collision in Korea'' PPV where NJWP and WCW stars went to Korea... ''UsefulNotes/NorthKorea''. And like the outrageous excursion to Iraq, it was reportedly a roaring success.