First member of the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame....
From PWInsider:
The first member of WWE's 2010 WWE Hall of Fame class will be Antonio Inoki. The company announced it on their Japanese website this morning. You can click here to read a translated version of the announcement.
WWE also announced that Stan Hansen will handle the induction.
It should be interesting to see how WWE handles the often-ignored Inoki WWF title win over Bob Backlund in November 1979 in Japan. Backlund regained the belt on 12/6, but it was later announced that due to outside interference by Tiger Jeet Singh, the belt was vacant. Backlund then defeated Bobby Duncum Sr. in a bout at Madison Square Garden to regain the title. The American audience was never told that Backlund had lost the belt in Japan, nor were they told that the Duncum bout was to fill the vacancy. WWF did not publicly acknowledge the title win until many years later when it was listed in the Title Histories of the WWE championship, although they later dropped that acknowledgement.
Inoki, most famous to American fans for a mixed bout against Muhammad Ali, was the heart and soul of New Japan Pro Wrestling for most of it's existence. He parlayed his wrestling popularity into political success as well, much like Jesse Ventura, but on a much grander scale. |
