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Heartwarming / Nobuhiko Takada

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  • Takada's retirement ceremony in November 2002 was a sole giant Heartwarming Moment. After being defeated by his former student Kiyoshi Tamura in what was Takada's last fight, Tamura (who had been in bad terms with Takada since leaving UWF International) broke crying overcome with emotion and gave a speech thanking Takada for being his mentor and having given pro wrestling fans so much over the years. At the end of the event, all of Nobuhiko's colleagues and friends came to the ring to celebrate his last stand: Antonio Inoki, Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoji Anjo, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kenichi Yamamoto, Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Hidehiko Yoshida, and also PRIDE mainstays like Fedor Emelianenko, Minotauro Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva and Gary Goodridge. All of them thanked Takada for his effort and support, and finally, Inoki closed the event with his classic "Ichi! Ni! San! Daaa!"
    • In another awesome moment, Tamura and Yamamoto, who were bitter enemies until that point and had badmouthed each other for years, shook hands in the celebration and left together like lifelong friends. There were no dry eyes in the Tokyo Dome that night.

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