Very sad breaking news to report…Antonio Inoki (real name Kanji Inoki), wrestling Hall of Famer and the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling, has died according to Yahoo! Sports Japan. He was 79. Inoki reportedly died at his home. The cause of death is not yet known.
Besides being a Hall Of Fame wrestler and the founder/longtime owner of New Japan, he also became the first pro wrestler to serve in the Japanese Diet (the nation’s parliament/legislative body).
There has been no statement or confirmation from New Japan yet, I would expect something in the next couple hours.
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: New Japan has posted an obituary on their Japanese website. It lists the cause of death as transthyretin amyloidosis, which may also be known as ATTR-CM. It’s a fairly uncommon condition among Japanese that starts with the liver producing faulty TTR proteins that build up in the heart, and can eventually lead to heart failure. His last appearances in the promotion were video messages at Tokyo Dome on January 4 and at the 50th Anniversary Event on March 6.
Below is a link to New Japan’s post:
https://www.njpw.co.jp/381541
UPDATE 2: New Japan has now posted the obituary in English on their English website (njpw1972.com).
All-Japan Pro Wrestling has posted about Inoki’s death on their website and announced they will hold a memorial ceremony before their event tomorrow (10/2).
Many wrestlers and executives around the world are posting tributes to Inoki on Twitter, including WWE CEO Paul “Triple H” Levesque, AEW owner/CEO Tony Khan, Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) among others.
UPDATE 3: Unfortunately Inoki’s death spoiled big plans for New Japan’s 10/10 event. On 10/4 the promotion revealed that, on 9/1, Inoki was offered and accepted the title of Honorary Lifetime Chairman of New Japan Pro Wrestling. The announcement was going to be made on 10/10, at which time the information would have been made public (10/10 is also a national holiday in Japan, National Sports Day). Unfortunately that will not happen now. However, according to the statement on New Japan’s English website, “in accordance with Mr. Inoki’s wishes, all of us at New Japan Pro Wrestling will continue to move forward and lead the professional wrestling world to the utmost of our abilities”. This statement has also been posted on New Japan’s official Japanese website.
On a separate note, if you are a SiriusXM subscriber and your subscription includes Channel 156, “Fight Nation”, go back and listen to the replay of the 10/3/22 episode of “Busted Open” as hosts Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray & Mark Henry spent the entire show remembering Inoki including guest appearances by former WCW manager Sonny Ono, former wrestler-turned-historian B. Brian Blair and Eric Bischoff, all shared great memories of Inoki. The replay will be available for the next 2 weeks on the SiriusXM app and website.
UPDATE 4: On 10/5/22, New Japan announced the 10/10 event will open with a Ceremonial 10 Bell Salute for Inoki. I would expect this to be included on the live and on demand broadcasts on New Japan World.
