History YMMV / AntonioInoki

* AwesomeEgo: Booked himself to win his retirement match, which is the ''supreme'' gesture of arrogance in Japanese pro wrestling culture, as wrestlers in the process of retiring are expected to lose the match against either an old friend/foe or a rising star. Of course, Inoki being the one who did it, Japanese crowds mostly forgave him (though it didn't help to ingratiate him with other promoters and wrestlers).

* AcceptableTargets: Back in the 2000s, Inoki used to speak badly of, or even downright insult Wrestling/MasahiroChono (for disagreeing with him in how to manage NJPW), Wrestling/KeijiMutoh (for exiting NJPW for AJPW fearing that the MMA boom would destroy him) and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada (for losing to Rickson Gracie and working for a rival corporation). He ended up reconciling with all, but his earlier speeches about them are written down in history.

* HarsherInHindsight: On October 21, 2017 , he held his own "funeral" at the INOKI ISM 2. He died for real nearly 5 years later.

* AwesomeEgo: Booked himself to win his retirement match, which is the ''supreme'' gesture of arrogance in Japanese pro wrestling culture, as wrestlers in the process of retiring are expected to lose the match against either an old friend/foe or a rising star. Of course, being Inoki the one who did it, Japanese crowds mostly forgave him (though it didn't help to congratiate him with other promoters and wrestlers).
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, very much a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Depending how you look him, he is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest Japanese Pro Wrestling company from zero and helped to create the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or an unscrupulous despot who treats people like toys; a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy; and even worse, either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god and actually supports the North Korean government. The fastest answer is that he is all of them, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him such a fascinating and legendary figure.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: You have it difficult to find a single current New Japan wrestler who lived through the Inoki-ism era and does not consider Inoki a dangerous madman, but even so, most of the wrestlers in the company consider him a legend of the business.

** His chin is basically his biggest trademark, to the point of inspiring Joey's infamous "Creepy Chin" expression in ''Anime/YuGiOh''. Interestingly, he originally wanted to have plastic surgery on it, and only refrained from doing it because the doctor foretold him that it would become memetic.
** Also his performance against Muhammad Ali became memetic. His crawling type of kick delivered were baptized "Ali Kick", and even now, Japanese MMA pundits call "Inoki Ali Jotai" ("Inoki-Ali Situation") the ol' buttscoot which the Gracie family and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada were so fond of.

* CrazyAwesome: You have it difficult to find a single current New Japan wrestler who lived through the Inoki-ism era and does not consider Inoki a dangerous madman, but even so, most of the wrestlers in the company consider him a legend of the business.

** His chin is basically his biggest trademark. Interestingly, he originally wanted to have plastic surgery on it, and only refrained from doing it because the doctor foretold him that it would become memetic.

** "Ichi, ni, san, DAAAAAA!"

* AcceptableTargets: Back in the 2000s, Inoki used to speak badly of, or even downright insult Masahiro Chono (for disagreeing with him in how to hand NJPW), Wrestling/KeijiMutoh (for exiting NJPW for AJPW) and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada (for losing to Rickson Gracie). He ended up reconciling with all, but his speeches about them are written down in history.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, very much a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Depending how you look him, he is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest Japanese Pro Wrestling company from zero and helped to create the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or an unscrupulous despot who treats people like toys. And he is either a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy. Or even worse, he is either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god, and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer is that he is both, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.
* CrazyAwesome: You have it difficult to find a single current New Japan wrestler who lived through the Inoki-ism era and does not consider Inoki a dangerous madman, but even so, most of the wrestlers of the company consider him a legend in the business.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Was the personification of this trope in NJPW, to the extent he was criticized by Masahiro Chono and other figures for booking not what the crowd wanted to see in the ring, but what ''he'' wanted to see in the ring.

* AcceptableTargets: Back in the 2000s, Inoki used to find acceptable to speak badly of even downright insult Masahiro Chono (for disagreeing with him in how to hand NJPW), Wrestling/KeijiMutoh (for exiting NJPW for AJPW) and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada (for losing to Rickson Gracie). He ended up reconciling with all, but his speeches about them are written down in history.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, very much a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Depending how you look him, he is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest Japanese Pro Wrestling company from zero and helped to create the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or an unscrupulous despot who treats people like toys. And he is either a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy. Or even worse, he is either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god (scarily close to NotHyperbole) and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer is that he is both, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, very much a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Depending how you look him, he is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest puroresu company from zero and helped to create the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or an unscrupulous despot who treats people like toys and has obsessive delusions about being himself a mixed martial artist. And he is either a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy. Or even worse, he is either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god (scarily close to NotHyperbole) and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer is that he is both, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Was the personification of this trope in NJPW, to the extent he was critized by Masahiro Chono and other figures for booking not what the crowd wanted to see on the ring, but what ''he'' wanted to see on the ring.

** Also his performance against Muhammad Ali became memetic. His crawling type of kick delivered were baptised "Ali Kick", and even now, Japanese MMA pundits call "Inoki Ali Jotai" ("Inoki-Ali Situation") the ol' buttscoot which the Gracie family and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada were so fond of.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and Wrestling/RicFlair. Before the match, Korean and Japanese officials accompanied Inoki to the grave site of Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} to pay him tribute.

** His chin is basically his biggest trademark. Interestingly, hhe originally wanted to have plastic surgery on it, and only refrained from doing it because the doctor foretold him that it would become memetic.

* CanonSue: Inoki booked himself to win his retirement match. If it doesn't sounds as big deal for you, doing that in Japanese pro wrestling culture is the ''supreme'' gesture of arrogance. Of course, being Inoki the one who did it, Japanese crowds mostly forgave him, but it didn't help to congratiate him with other promotors.

* AcceptableTargets: Back in the 2000s, Inoki used to find acceptable to speak badly of even downright call insult Masahiro Chono (for disagreeing with him in how to hand NJPW), Wrestling/KeijiMutoh (for exiting NJPW for AJPW) and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada (for losing to Rickson Gracie). He ended up reconciling with most of them, but his speeches about them are written down in history.

** His chin.
** Also his performance against Muhammad Ali became memetic. His crawling type of kick delivered were baptised "Ali Kick", and even now, Japanese MMA pundits call "Inoki Ali Jotai" ("Inoki-Ali Situation") the ol' buttscoot which the Gracie family and Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada were so fond of.

* BaseBreaker: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, very much a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Depending how you look him, he is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest puroresu company from zero and helped to create the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or an unscrupulous despot who treats people like toys and has obsessive delusions about being himself a mixed martial artist. And he is either a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy. Or even worse, he is either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god (scarily close to NotHyperbole) and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer is that he is both, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and Wrestling/RicFlair. Before the match, Korean and Japanese officials accompanied Inoki to the grave site of Rikidozan to pay him tribute.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and Wrestling/RicFlair.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Was the personification of this trope in NJPW, to the extent he was critized by Masahiro Chono and other figures for booking not what the crowd wanted to see on the ring, but what ''he'' wanted to see on the ring.

* BaseBreaker: Inoki is one of the biggest pro wrestling examples ever, to the extent to be a Japanese Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. On the one hand, he is a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest puroresu company and created the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, as well a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, and most famously a man who managed to convince Saddam Hussein to set free his Japanese prisoners. On the other hand, however, he is also a delusional despot who treats his workers like toys and whose childish whims destroyed people's careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy, even someone who has delusions about himself to the extent of believing to be a god (scarily close to NotHyperbole) and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer to this all things is that he is both shades, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.
* CrazyAwesome: You have it difficult to find a single current New Japan wrestler who lived through the Inoki-ism era and does not consider Inoki a dangerous madman, but even so, most of the wrestlers of the company consider him a legend in the business.

* BaseBreaker: Inoki presents himself as one of the biggest examples ever, actually equaling Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. He is either a legend of wrestling who founded the biggest puroresu company and created the base for modern UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, or just a unscrupulous despot who treats his workers like toys and has delusions about being himself a mixed martial artist. And he is either a genius businessman who has managed to keep an inexplicably everlasting power position in the Japanese media even today, or a failure chairman whose childish whims destroyed careers and almost led a company to the bankruptcy. Or even worse, he is either a a Japanese national hero able to personally negotiate with Saddam Hussein to free fellow countrymen, or a man who really believes himself to be a god and has no qualms about supporting Kim Jong-un. The fastest answer to this all things is that he is both shades, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him one of the biggest draws ever.
* CrazyAwesome: You have it difficult to find a single current New Japan wrestler who has survived the Inoki-ism era and does not consider him a madman, but even so, most of the wrestlers of the company actually call him a legend in the business.

* BaseBreaker: Inoki presents himself as one of the biggest examples ever. Is he a legend of wrestling and a Japanese national hero who really created the base for UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts? Or is he a completely unscrupulous despot who treats his workers like toys and has delusions about being a mixed martial artist? The fastest answer is that he is both, and it could be argued that this controversy is precisely what makes him a big draw for Japanese media even today.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and RicFlair.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between NewJapanProWrestling and WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and RicFlair.

* AwesomeMoments: Inoki headlined a joint show between NewJapanProWrestling and WorldChampionshipWrestling that drew 190,000 people to see the first and only match between Inoki and RicFlair.