Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki: How Puroresu's Biggest Rivalry Started
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki were the two biggest names in Japanese wrestling, the founders and heads of AJPW and NJPW respectively, and they despised each other. This video covers how the rivalry started, from being trained by Rikidozan, teaming up as the B-I Cannon, and collapsing with
the old JWA in a hail of disputes and coup attempts. Enjoy!
Please read KinchStalker's absolutely outstanding "Broken Crown" series of articles, they were very inspiring: frommilotomisawa.wordpress.co...
Igapro is another great site for Puro history, with lots from the Showa era. It is Japanese-only unfortunately so you'll need a translator!: igapro24.com
0:00 Intro
1:50 A Brief Look at Rikidozan
8:38 Baba and Inoki Break Into the Business
15:13 The Passing of Rikidozan; Baba & Inoki make Big Decisions
25:39 The Formation of the B-I Cannon
32:32 Cracks Start to Form: Inoki makes a Giant Challenge
41:30 Crisis in JWA: Inoki Attempts a Coup
46:04 Baba Goes His Own Way: Beginning of NJPW and AJPW, End of JWA
56:06 One Last Time: The 1979 B-I Cannon Reunion
Follow Kim Justice's Wrestling Road on Patreon for more documentaries: / kimblejustice
My Twitter: / kimxxxjustice
My Other Channel: / kimblejustice 
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There's the trope in media of "Red Oni, Blue Oni", where one guy is a hotheaded boisterous type and one is the calm and collected type and their stories are so closely intertwined.
Baba and Inoki fit that perfectly.
I didn't even know that. Got myself a TIL moment.
@@SuperNitroZ64poo
Misawa vs Kobashi, another one. Misawa with his coolness, barely ever taunting or showing off to the audience, and Kobashi with his legendary Fighting Spirit.
Kim you are without a doubt the BEST wrestling documentarian I’ve seen on here. You’re thorough and so professional, this could easily be shown on any service.
Also! Jumping on the Patreon (for at least a few months) least I can do :)
I'd also recommend Joseph Monticello. They're the two best IMO.
@@WilliamJohnson-ml7ij Walking the Kings Road is great stuff amongst other killer vids Monticello has . But you know whats up !
Hell yeah ! I was gonna comment almost the same thing but you said it !
It was shown on a service. RUclips lol
Great Antonio:slaps belly
Inoki: How many times are we going to have to teach you this lesson old man?
Inoki was discovered in Brazil by Rikidozan. He wrestled Andre the Giant in 1974 in Maracanãzinho gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, 1974. He still have family here. He founded Jungle Fight, still a top MMA promotion in Brazil, and brought names like Shinsuke Nakamura and Katsuyori Shibata.
Jungle Fight has crazy fights I remember when Eric Silva came from there and maybe Pedro Munoz or someone similar nice information for the MMA fans brother cheers
I also seen Inoki gave Machida a few shots at his Bom Ba Ye haha
Kim, you have done what Dave Meltzer could never pull off, and that’s help me to understand the appeal of Japanese Pro Wrestling, and actually enjoy it in return. Bravo!
Thanks to all your hard work, I’ve been able to watch and appreciate all kinds of older matches on various other channels. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can say that, as well.
Keep informing us casuals to the best of your ability!
Yes, he has been so helpful in letting me experience the magic of Japanese wrestling.
My favorite wrestler who wrestled in Japan is Big Van Vader, I’d already watched some of NJPW matches such as his debut, but I never knew he was an absolute beast in AJPW too, and his video definitely helped me.
He’s also introduced me to other wrestlers I hadn’t know of before, such as Great Sasuke, Jun Akiyama, Nobuhiko Takada, etc.
NJPW, NOAH, AEW or WWE should straight up put you on staff and have you make these for them. This is an incredible documentary, as is everything you do!
An excellent viewing/listen!
Also, 39:51 marks another famous event in pro wrestling history that occurred on May 19th joining the ranks of Robocop in WCW, The MSG Curtain Call, the birth of Andre The Giant and of course, WWE's See No Evil/Fake Kane storyline.
Giant Baba spoke softly but carried a big stick and knew how to use it at the right moment, while Antonio Inoki had the scrappy, younger brother system. Both outgrew the promotion they rose from, but as rivals. I’d love to see this story in a film or TV series.
Inoki tried to do it, but unfortunately the script he was shopping around basically made him look like a brilliant visionary hero and everyone who read it thought it was ridiculous. New Japan probably still own it in their archive somewhere.
I guess The Great Antonio didn't learn his lesson the first time around.
Some suckers never learn.
How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?!
Beating up The Great Antonio is the official rite of passage for Rikidozan's students. Baba just missed the memo.
Some Mothersuckas are always trying to trying to ice skate uphill
Inoki one of the biggest frauds ever
I have written this before on a previous video, I find it comical how loved Baba was for the most part, especially by the United States wrestlers and how Inoki was universally loathed. I mean Tanahashi who rarely disses anyone, didn't have many kind things to say about Inoki when he was alive, when he died, Tanahashi basically said no comment, which speaks volumes. I have often thought Baba and Inoki were two sides of Vincent K McMahon, Baba was the money making side and Inoki had the polarizing notorious earned reputation.
Very much so. Anytime I hear wrestlers (particularly gaijin) who wrestled for both companies, Baba had a ton more respect then Inoki. Maybe because All Japan used more gaijin, but nevertheless. Baba was one of the few promoters everyone seemed to respect.
Tanahashi was there when Inoki ran NJPW almost into the ground. He was the one who drag the company into the new boom period again before Okada took the reign. No surprise if Tanahashi and some wrestlers who were presents at that time would not speak well when it came to Inoki.
@@Rando1975Off the top of my head, I believe Hogan is the only United States wrestler that speaks well of Inoki, probably because Inoki paid Hogan a fortune, lol.
Umm........Inoki made more money than Baba. He's the McMahon while Baba was the Crockett one.
Baba had always stuck out as an affable and respectful promoter. Also, he was very trustworthy. The only shady thing Baba did was lobbying the Japanese police to let Doctor Death enter Japan after he was caught of having drugs in his posession.
I personally would love to see a video like this about Misawa and Kawada down the road. We always get bits and snippets of it in other videos, but it’s never the topic of focus.
Maybe an idea for next June as that will mark the 15th anniversary of Misawa’s unfortunate passing.
This comment is crazy 5 months down the line
The puro atmosphere on RUclips is blessed by your presence
Man my biggest takeaway from this is that when it came to Inoki and Baba, Inoki had a chip on his shoulder the size of a skyscraper, dude just couldn't accept the fact he was number 2.
Inoki was definitely an Ace in his own right and was probably a better wrestler than Baba. Unfortunately Inoki was an egomaniac and not as big a draw in the West as Baba (even though both were pushed by the McMahons).
Inoki did of course reach some colossal highs in the end -- he definitely outdraws Baba when NJ and AJ hit their heydays. Baba had absolute consistency though -- as dependably successful as it gets, even it's not anything that's going to reach the biggest Inoki levels. They're the two biggest names in Puro for different reasons.
@@thewrestlingroad The Tortoise (Baba) and the Hare (Inoki).
@@thewrestlingroad Oh by no means am i discrediting Inoki's success, the guy was successful in the end.
but those instances where Inoki made those public challenges without Letting Baba know in advance as well as those other comments he made about Baba, paints the picture of a man who wanted to prove something and he wouldn't take no for an answer.
@@BrolyChan It's just shrewd, if very mercenary, self-promotion on Inoki's part. If Baba accepts, then he gets to main event a show that's gonna draw huge attention and a massive gate, thus elevating his star. If Baba refuses or ignores it (as happened) then he gets to claim it's because Baba's scared of him, thus enhancing his own character or that of his company. Basically, a win-win situation from Inoki's perspective.
Rip to the legendary giant baba, rikidozan, and Antonio inoki... legends!
Great documentary many thanks, very informative. Saw an interview with Bruno Sammartino a while ago. He stated he wrestled Inoki just before Inoki and Karl Gotch left Baba's promotion to form their own. During that contest Inoki tried to shoot on Bruno but Sammartino realised what Inoki was doing and was too strong for Inoki. Sammartino stated that both Inoki and Gotch wanted to make Bruno look bad which would reflect negatively on Baba's promotion. Inoki/Gotch never succeeded and Sammartino deemed both men untrustworthy where as Baba was a man of honour.
Your work gets better and better you are a gift to the wrestling community
Inoki was the better wrestler, Baba seemed to be the more generous promoter and nicer person.
I have to tell you I always look forward to these videos. I got really into Puroresu about 3 or 4 years ago, and nowadays it's kind of hard to get to know many of these stories, so I appreciate these videos massively!
Baba and Inoki were just polar opposites in terms of personality, the fame that Baba had in Japan, he could have cared less about, whereas that is what Inoki desired. Which is why most likely, Baba is remembered more fondly than Inoki.
I’m so glad this exists a video about the best two legends ever. Njpw forever bby.
Very interesting content that is not widely known or retold by other channels. Your channel definitely has a niche and has fast become one of my favourite wrestling channels along with the TNA focused MarkyD123 and WWW for classic reviews. I find Wrestling Bios to be good on the non review content, but his match recaps are SO boring as he recaps every punch and slap rather than just the highlights. I'll be recommending this channel to people as it deserves to be up there with those channels! ❤
55:43 - Giant Baba is a real gift to videos like these; if you're ever in need of B Roll, you can always cut to archive footage of him doing something mysterious in an old advert!
His expressions really helped, a sincere look of "what the hell is going on".
I don’t know what surprised me more:
-Learning that JWA did a brand split 35 years before the WWE did
-The fact that Great Antonio didn’t learn his lesson?
Amazing work once again! Thank you!
I absolutely love these videos on puro history. Fantastic job Kim.
They could make an entire manga about this story. I'd read the hell out of that.
This is fantastic, just fantastic. Thank you and kudos!!!
I absolutely LOVE your videos! This one was amazing!!
I've been meaning to watch this video for a while, and it was well worth the wait. Thanks Kim!
What a great documentary with footage and research! Bravo!
Best wrestling docs anywhere! Keep up the good work Kim!
Phenomenal work, Kim. The joy of discovery these videos bring is immeasurable. Can’t wait for the next one.
Wow. This doc was outstanding. Very, very well done!
Fantastic work. I read the broken crown essays you referenced over a year ago so I was already familiar with a lot of these stories, but the pics and clips you use just add another dimension. Respect.
hey man, another great video. please keep it up, I'd love to see more!
Really enjoyed watching that, thank you.
Man, amazing stuff. Documentary footage is great. Really professional result.
QUALITY WORK
Dude. Thank you. I love your videos. Your stuff is seriously incredible and I’m really glad you do them. I learn so much.
The greatest in ring era was late 80's and 90's All Japan.
Where the REAL Four Pillars of Heaven worked.
Baba was a rarity, a booker with integrity who treated his workers well. Even the foreign ones.
You cant touch 80s and 90s AJPW.....NJPW then or now cant touch that era......
Fantastic video, as usual, I love hearing your wrestling related stuff, especially as someone who isn't knowledgeable about the super early days of puro but at least knows of Baba and Inoki. The old footage and the history really helps things along.
Amazing documentary on the careers of Inoki Bombaye and Baba the Giant! I’ve learned so much from this and much appreciated your work; thanks for bringing this info to us.
This was a fantastic documentary! I really enjoyed this! Thank you very much for providing the foundational elements that contribute to Puroresu 💯❤️✊🏾
Thank you for all the cool content, you are very gifted
This is an absolutely fantastic video. Fascinating watch and and incredibly informative and very inviting to an American who is just learning about puroresu.
I’m so happy your videos popped up in my algorithm. The one hour right by two past I can watch another hour.
What an absolutely FASCINATING story. Fantastic job. First time on this channel and it won't be the last.
That was excellent, i remember one of my friends trying to explain the whole thing to me a while back. and. well..............I'm thankful for this channel
Anothet steller wrestling documentary as always Kim. You deserve so much more exposure and views!
I have been a wrestling fan for a long time but I never really go into older Puroresu until recently. Your videos have been an absolute inspiration on that front! Amazing quality. Thank you for all the effort you are putting into these. It really shows.
thanx kim been watching your channels a long time one of my fav youtubers always informative always entertaining
Damn, this video is quality! It's such a fascinating story, and I had no idea that Rikidozan had... issues to put it lightly. Great work!
It's funny how often wrestling gets accused by non-fans of "not being real" and "obviously staged", but could you imagine if the interpersonal drama and off-the-mat violence unambiguously made it's way onto the mat? It'd be ritual carnage!
Some details about the JWA implosion I'd never heard before, detailed and entertaining as always.
Fantastic work and a Demoscene soundtrack, no wonder your channel is one of my favorites! Seriously great job, might be my favorite video of yours overall, and I am a fan of retro games and retro wrestling alike
Your videos wrestling videos are always top notch, keep up the good work!
Thank you for these fantastic videos, I hope you avoid the dreaded puro copyright strikes that put some of my favourite wrestling channels down for the three count.
I’ve been watching at least one of your videos everyday for the past 2 weeks lol
Love your channel! Keep up the great work! You should do a full video on Rikidozan
Man,love this times videos,amazing job Kim.
Dude your videos are always amazing, thorough, and very informative. I’m essentially learning Japanese pro Wrestling history through you. Keep up the great work! (And can we get one on the UWF/UWFI)
Kim, you do great work in video games, and now from I've recently discovered wrestling.
Rikidozan may have beat the crap out of The Great Antonio, but Inoki did it IN COLOUR.
Learned a lot from this, thanks 🤟
amazing doc!
Fml I love these videos the professional documentary quality of them it's so impressive
Great doc.
Fingers crossed on Miracle Power Combination video
Huss Huss Huss!
"[Baba] couldn't trust Inoki as far as he could throw him"
Considering Baba's a pro wrestler who could probably literally throw Inoki makes this all the more hilarious.
I will never forget the first time I heard that saying. It was when the British Bulldog said it in reference to JR asking him if there are trust issues between him and his tag team partner Owen Hart. And when JR took this for confirmation of there being a problem, Bulldog flexed his biceps and basically said: "You see these arms? I can throw Owen Hart pretty far with those"
Great job
I'd love to see a Tsuruta Vs. Tenryu video.
This sooooo good !!!!!!!!
Baba and Inoki, the bantering pillars of Puroresu
I adore this content I enjoy other peoples work plenty but there's something about your deep dives presentation & the fact we're the same age and there seems to be so few of us in the real world that soaked up all this culture & retained it.
good video
Fuck yeah new video thank you!!
This was amazingly done. I'm not going to say the name of the other guy out here doing docs and consistently getting facts wrong, but he should take notes. You out do yourself every video.
Kim always dropping a banger thanks so much 😊 🇺🇲🇯🇵
What's shocking is the abuse both Inoki and Baba went through at the hands of their 'mentors'. Let's just say that Great Togo getting a good kicking later on added a spring to my step.
The fact it disgusted the other wrestlers in the case of Togo beating Baba backstage says a lot considering how I imagine the western wrestlers of the day were also probably fond of a bit of hazing and beating the shit out of newcomers. So for it to disgust them is a real sign.
A cool (to me at least) note. The picture shown at 14:32 must have been taken around Pittsburgh, PA. The man holding the mic to Baba's right is Bill Cardille. He was a long time TV personality who, among other things, hosted the local "Studio Wrestling" program for many years.
An added note: Bill Cardille’s daughter Lori played the lead role in George Romero’s classic film “Day of The Dead”. Just one of those dumb facts you learn as a fan of both pro wrestling and zombie films I guess 😂
Look forward to the Dozan doc.
Damn, the Baba/Inoki split plays out like a Mafia movie.
I remember Japanese anime in the 80’s/90’s always including corporate espionage as a storyline… I now see that it was a common thing in Japan
Thank For The Rivalry Video Video 📖🙊🤯💞💝🥰💕😍💐🌟🥇🏆
Riki Dozan legit knocking out Kimura is more impressive than it sounds. Kimura was a very famous judoka
Simply not true. Both men were universally respected as promoters by those who had a relationship with them. I find it offensive to find others who really didn't deal with Inoki (or others) belittling him today. There are also those who say things to elevate themselves decades later. As for being a superb athlete and grappler, it was Inoki who commanded respect all over the globe. Some schmuck who did ok in the U.S. but only had a few stints with AJPW goes on to say Inoki weighted 180 lbs. It's the nobodies for the most part that are saying crap. As far as the later generation Japanese wrestlers, they have their opinions, but wrestling was demystified in Japan with the advent of UFC and MMA genres from early 1990s. It was a challenging times in a nation where pro wrestlers enjoyed a social status quite different from America or anywhere else.
True Pioneers of Japanese Pro Wrestling.
50:45 damn that champion is so small on baba hand
Rikidozan looks like he was very very stiff. I hope that would not be allowed today with what we know about CTE. The blows in the non shoot matches look extreme too.
I've seen this videos since you had a separate channel and had to replace footage with FirePro stuff (or I might be confusing you with other puro channel, I'm sorry if that's the case). You mentioned Keiji Muto making the move to All Japan after NJPW and starting the ProWres Love era, is there any chance we could get a video on that? Or perhaps post-Misawa NOAH.
Fuck yeah! Another video!! I love this shit
Baba >> Inoki
ALWAYS!
Inoki is bigger though. In money making and draw people.
I think there is a serious argument for Baba being the best booker of all time, he did amazing work in JWA and AJPW plus both companies absolutely crumbled down as soon as he left 🤷🏻♂️
Shoutouts to Kim's judicious use of Shadow of the Beast 2's music
Baba's arms use to be pretty cut & is body was toned in the 50's & by some pictures early 60's I guess as time went on the injury hampered him from lifting anything & his arms & body just kept getting skinner & skinner.
Could you make a video related to something about NJPW during the 90s? That era seems to get a lot less attention by wrestling fans than AJPW during the 90s. From what I understand, it's because the matches tended to be shorter? So it didn't entice people past the language barrier, even though they seemingly did very well business wise.
I would love to see a drama about their lives
I've had stomach issues before and I've read up on peritonitis incase it ever happened. You can be dead in a matter of hours. It's that serious...
I fucking love this.
38:40
Holy shit! Look at Abdullah the Butcher fly!
😮
I've never seen him do anything other than walk and brawl (and stab of course)