Kami-sama is Going to Be Kami-dead

[Tradewynd]

Suppose, for a moment, that you are senior citizen well past his professional wrestling prime and far past any prime you may have had as a shooter if MMA existed when you were in your prime. You made your name by kicking Muhammad Ali's legs and paying shooters and foreigners to lay down for you. You became so great in kayfabe that people refer to you as Kami-sama, largely because you pushed yourself more than Triple H ever could. In your old age you acquire a taste for Mixed Martial Arts, and push it at the expense of the professional wrestling business that made you a legend, a political leader for a time and quite wealthy.

To prove to yourself that you are still manly, to prove all of those evil people on the internet wrong(i.e. Akira Hokuto, ZACH, myself, etc.) you work out with the best sumo has to offer and the worst MMA fighter in history. You then proceed to run your mouth and challenge the winner of said Akebono/Royce Gracie fight to step into the squared circle with you, in a shoot. There is no way that Royce is scared of, or could lose to, Antonio Inoki, master hooker in his own mind only. This $64,000 question here is, how in the bloody hell is Inoki going to come out of that fight alive? And more importantly, when will it be available on DVD?

[Luds]

It would be a work.

[Tradewynd]

You mean, Inoki doesn't have enough fighting spirit to take on somebody 10 years past his prime? And would stoop so low as to make it a work, just like he did his whole career? Say it isn't so.

I'd love for it to be set up as a work, and then have Royce double cross Inoki just like Inoki double crossed Bob Backlund. Not only does Inoki deserve it and have it coming to him, but that would make it fight of the year inandof itself.

[BadNews]

Trade, was that my Chanukkah present? If so, thanks. I'll giggle away all day at the thought of Inoki crying like a little girl and begging to be let off the hook.

BTW, Akebono vs Royce Gracie? Who holds crap like that? And who pays to see that?

[Tradewynd]

K-1 holds crap like that, probably from taking Inoki's advice. If you live in Japan the theory is that you are supposed to buy very expensive tickets to see it on New Year's Eve live, or if you're going to be cheap about it you're supposed to watch it on free TV instead of watching PRIDE's New Year's Eve show or one of the other cool New Year's Eve shows that air in Japan. Most of which are actually really good.

If even it was a work, could you imagine what Inoki vs. Gracie would draw? It would have to sellout the Tokyo Dome legitimately, as well as do huge numbers on TV and/or PPV.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

What's the source of this info? From what I read on Japanese sites, it seems nothing but an extra comment from Tanigawa to hype the match. I may be wrong, but I just can't take this seriously.

[Tradewynd]

Ojousama does not wish to be publicly identified. Since I do not want to cause a rift in our "relationship", nor wear concrete shoes to Tokyo Bay, I see no reason to push the issue.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

I always heard it's a concrete block, not simply the concrete shoes.

Anyway, that's would be extremely sad if Inoki believes his comeback is the solution for better gate.

[Tradewynd]

Blocks? You've been watching too many movies. Real life cool heels, like those seen on Taiho Shicyauzo, have Bob Sapp do their dirty work for them. You'd have to go all the way to Nebula M78 to see someone who still uses blocks these days. Custom fit concrete shoes have the same sinking action you've come to expect from blocks and help save the environment by limiting the amount of concrete that gets dumped into the bay.

[Luds]

Although if Inoki did come back, I'm sure plenty of people would pay to see it... Even at his age!

[DANGEROUS DAN]

People pay to see fossilized legends in the States to perform. Why not overseas? GIven the density of the Inoki myth, I am for certain it would draw initially.Once the hype has died although, it will tank

[Tradewynd]

There has to be at least one huge gate in an Inoki comeback. For a guy that's older than Terry Funk, he still looks pretty good. I don't see him beating Royce Gracie in any kind of shoot though. But that's not what's important, the money is what's important. And New Japan has not been doing too well with ticket sales at big dome shows. I don't usually condone works and shoots on the same card, but this would do wonders for moving tickets at NJ's next Tokyo Dome show. Inoki could even have a few "warm up" fights against sumos to prepare for Royce. The Japanese love their sumos, and recent history shows that sumos sure can't fight in anything other than sumo. Not only does it draw, being Inoki vs. sumo, it brings Inoki's mysticism into the 21st century, and will give the general public the idea that Inoki just might win against Royce. That my friends, will sell tickets. After Royce kills him in the ring, well, he won't be able to draw anymore because he'll be dead. But this kills two birds with one stone. If the rest of the show is good, you can hook fans who only came to see the Inoki fight into following the product. Furthermore, INOKI-ISM will die with Inoki. The marquee says wrestling, and getting rid of Inoki is the first step toward getting the marquee and the product on the same page.

[DANGEROUS DAN]

Preach It Tradewynd!

[Pheonix_Chi25]

There has to be at least one huge gate in an Inoki comeback. For a guy that's older than Terry Funk, he still looks pretty good. I don't see him beating Royce Gracie in any kind of shoot though. But that's not what's important, the money is what's important. And New Japan has not been doing too well with ticket sales at big dome shows. I don't usually condone works and shoots on the same card, but this would do wonders for moving tickets at NJ's next Tokyo Dome show. Inoki could even have a few "warm up" fights against sumos to prepare for Royce. The Japanese love their sumos, and recent history shows that sumos sure can't fight in anything other than sumo. Not only does it draw, being Inoki vs. sumo, it brings Inoki's mysticism into the 21st century, and will give the general public the idea that Inoki just might win against Royce. That my friends, will sell tickets. After Royce kills him in the ring, well, he won't be able to draw anymore because he'll be dead. But this kills two birds with one stone. If the rest of the show is good, you can hook fans who only came to see the Inoki fight into following the product. Furthermore, INOKI-ISM will die with Inoki. The marquee says wrestling, and getting rid of Inoki is the first step toward getting the marquee and the product on the same page.

FTR, Trade, how old is Inoki?

[Tradewynd]

If we can assume that my trusty PWI Almanac isn't working me he's 61 with a birthdate of 2/20/43.