The Mighty Zulu (Ron Pope)

[Lobo Laben]

Can anybody shed any light on the story of Inoki hiring The Mighty Zulu- Ron Pope ?
Ive read that Inoki brought him over on his physique alone and that he was so bad in his first match that members of the locker room entered the ring and shot on him

It sounds a bit ludicrous that a man like Inoki would bring a wrestler over based on physiques alone - also that the other wrestlers would be so affended by his performance, that they felt the need to go out and beat the tar out of him for real.

Does anybody know anything about this and if it indeed really happened ???
Thanks-Lobo

[bannabop]

*Points to Hisa*

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

You must be talking about the guy who came to NJ in early 80s as "Hercules Ron Hawk". There was a big hype before the tour he was on, but I only got to see his first match in which he squashed Osamu Kido on the weekly TV live program (that's what I remember and can't recall other guys doing run-ins for that match). Later, I found out that Kido, on a non-televised match, defeated Ron under 5min with a submission hold. That was Ron's last match, and we never heard from him again. The guys like Kido and Yoshiaki Fujiwara were the policemen of NJ while they were also jobbers.

There were guys NJ brought in just for the physique, but some of them actually got better while wrestling for NJ. I believe Hansen, Hogan, and Vader would fit in this category (and I believe those who have seen many of Hogan's Japanese matches wouldn't say that he was a terrible worker anyway). I guess NJ was hoping Ron would improve.

[naterob2003]

Your story is interesting Hisa but lobo's would be much more entertaining...

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Did more research on him and confirmed it was the same guy. I had the name wrong, though. He came to Japan as "Hercules Lonehawk" in 83. In fact, he was booked for a NJ tour back in 75 as Mighty Zulu, but he was arrested for some assault (fighting Frankie Laine?), and his visit was cancelled. So, his first Japanese tour in 83 was what some fans have waited for 8 years that turned out to be a big letdown. Even today, long time fans remember him as the biggest disappointment in the history of gaijin wrestlers, and that's why I remembered him.

[Lobo Laben]

great stuff everyone
thanks for clearing that up for me

[Luds]

Wow.

Biggest dissapointment in gajin wrestling!
That's pretty big!

[Pheonix_Chi25]

*Points to Hisa*

LOL, you would bannabop. J/K.

But that is awful compared to the other awful gajins that have stepped into a New Japan ring (Giant Singh and Giant Silva).

[Luds]

Right.

Hisa, was he really that bad? Singh was just pathetic... Was Zulu so much worse than Singh?

[Black_Flag_Of_Ulster]

people were waiting 8 years for him. so of course he'd be a bigger disappointment than singh even if he was as fab as test

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

We shouldn't compare 2000s and early 80s. Today, people are not expecting much from puroresu anymore. As I mentioned in another thread, nothing was thrown in to the ring after the recent Fujita-Kensuke match, which would have caused a riot had it taken place in the early 80s.

Besides, those giants can be somewhat of attractions as long as they are not given the main eventer status.