NJPW: 10 Greatest Wrestlers of All Time
By Tim Sherry
credit: wwe.com
2. Antonio Inoki
Look, on one hand it’s pretty easy to get booked pretty strongly when you’re doing your own booking, but on the other hand, there weren’t too many guys in Antonio Inoki’s class when he first found NJPW in 1972. Already a 12- year pro who studied under Rikidozan, Inoki was an established star in two promotions that he had been in previously. So for him to book himself as the top draw made sense because he was the biggest wrestling star in the country. And strong booking may be an understatement as Inoki would proceed to be in the top 3 in wins in NJPW for the next 16 years, getting the top spot 8 times. Altogether, he wrestled in 2,586 matches for his company and won 2,139 of them (cagematch.net). That’s right. A near 83% winning percentage.
The rest of his credentials are nothing if not spectacular. Although he only won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship once, he was the inaugural one and held that belt for 325 days. And since the G1 Climax didn’t come around until 1991, he never got a shot at winning it. However, the World League, the MSG League, and the International Wrestling Grand Prix were its predecessors and Inoki won a combined 10 of those. So yeah, he has that covered too.
In later years, Inoki dialed down his involvement in the wrestling business and eventually retired from in-ring action to pursue what has become a very successful career in politics. Over time people have accused Inoki of holding down young stars but when you consider that he trained the likes of other members of this list in Fujinami, Muto, Hashimoto, and Chono, his mark on the sport and NJPW is undeniable. Not only did he begin what is now the preeminent wrestling company in the world, he carried it through it’s infancy and is a major reason NJPW is what it is today.