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Worst in the World: Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)

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(Special thanks to Otter Empire for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)
Cooperation: the single most important thing in professional wrestling. You can have impeccable mat wrestling, flawless psychology, death-defying high spots, or realistic brawling abilities, but if you and your opponent aren't on the same page, your match is going to be a disaster. We've seen plenty of times where wrestlers have decided not to cooperate with their opponent, such as when Bruiser Brody stopped working in the middle of a match with Lex Luger in 1987 or when Shawn Michaels infamously channeled his inner octopus in a washing machine for his match with Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam 2005. However, there are also plenty of examples of someone deciding to go into business for themselves while in the ring with the absolute wrong person or people. There's of course the infamous match where a jobber in the NWA decided to no-sell the Skyscrapers offense, earning him a brutal beatdown from Sid Vicious & Dan Spivey. Hell, New Jack once brutalized Gypsy Joe, a 69-year old wrestler, mid-match because he continuously no-sold his offense (which I won't be linking to because it's particularly unpleasant to watch and there are very clear racial slurs being thrown at New Jack.) There's a long list of professional wrestlers you shouldn't fuck with, and Antonio Inoki is absolutely one of them.
I've talked a bit on this blog about Inoki's love of shootfighting and MMA and how it seriously hurt New Japan for years. That being said, given his interest in the subject and his legit training in catch wrestling under Karl Gotch, it's safe to assume that Inoki is someone who could legitimately fight if needed. Inoki was so competent in his ability to shoot fight that it's been widely rumored that his intentions with his famous fight against Muhammad Ali were to initially agree to a worked exhibition, then shoot on the greatest boxer who has ever lived. With that in my mind, it's not surprising that Inoki has had a few matches in his career that turned into shoots. The most infamous one comes from a New Japan Pro-Wrestling Sumo Hall show in 1977 (making it the oldest match I've ever covered in the Worst in the World) against the Great Antonio.
The Great Antonio was not a wrestler. Born Anton Baričević in Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Croatia), the Great Antonio first gained notoriety as a strongman after arriving in Canada on a refugee ship in the 1940s. Antonio would also dabble in professional wrestling during that time, and was apparently in line to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship from Stampede Wrestling before fans nearly rioted at that idea. To think that a barely trained strongman almost won the same title that Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and Davey Boy Smith also won. Wild. Antonio would find his way to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, primarily winning handicap squash matches. The two Antonios had actually faced off nine days prior once before this infamous match without incident. However, this match went completely off the rails, and you'll see why. Let's get into this.
Before the match actually starts, you get a good visual of the two competitors and just how different they look.
Inoki looks like a million bucks in traditional black trunks and boots, exactly what you'd want a pro wrestler to look like, while the Great Antonio is an unkempt, out of shape shlub in mustard yellow pants. Bill Burr has a pretty spot-on analysis of this, saying Inoki looks like a movie star while the Great Antonio looks like a troll. Inoki starts the match with an immediate dodge roll for no reason whatsoever. Cool. Inoki goes for a wrist lock on the Great Antonio, but he gets thrown away. The Great Antonio stalks Inoki around the ring before locking in a headlock, which the referee forces him to break. Inoki responds with a waistlock, but the Great Antonio breaks it by throwing his hips back. And this is where the match starts to fall apart.
Inoki throws a dropkick. The Great Antonio doesn't budge and starts repeatedly slapping his stomach. Inoki strikes him again. The same result. Inoki tries to grapple the Great Antonio, but he shrugs it off and locks in a headlock. Inoki pushes out of the headlock, sending the Great Antonio into the ropes. Inoki follows up with a shoulder tackle, which once again, the Great Antonio doesn't sell for one bit. The two trade blows before the Great Antonio delivers some stiff shots to the back of Inoki's head, causing Inoki to go absolutely ballistic. Inoki strikes the Great Antonio in the face hard multiple times, which he follows up by forcefully taking him down to the mat before kicking him right in the face. Inoki kicks & stomps away at the Great Antonio's face before his manager (I have no idea who) runs in. The referee mercifully ends the match, giving Inoki the win by knockout as the Great Antonio is a bloody mess. Unsurprisingly, this is the last match the Great Antonio had according to both profightdb.com and cagematch.net.

The Verdict

I mean...it sucks, obviously. How could a match where one person is completely against working with his opponent be anything other than bad? However, the fact that the person who was being uncooperative got some instant karma redeems it a bit. It's hard to feel any sympathy for the Great Antonio here. Not only did he not want to cooperate with not just the biggest star in the company, but the literal founder of the company, but he went and stiffed him. I get the sense that Great Antonio wasn't exactly well trained, but it's still inexcusable to take liberties in the ring like that. The match is kind of a spectacle that you need to see to believe, but for all the wrong reasons. It's definitely a bad match, though.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
  5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  24. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  25. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  26. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  27. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  28. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  29. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  30. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  31. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  32. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  33. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  34. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  35. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  36. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  37. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  38. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
  39. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  40. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  41. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
  42. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  44. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  45. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  46. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  47. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
  48. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  49. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  50. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  51. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  52. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  53. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  54. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
  55. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  56. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
  57. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  58. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  59. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  60. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  61. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  62. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  63. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  64. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  65. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
  66. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  67. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  68. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  69. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  70. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  71. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  72. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  73. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  74. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  75. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  76. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  77. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  78. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  79. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  80. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  81. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  82. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  83. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  84. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  85. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  86. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  87. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  88. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  89.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  90. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  91. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  92. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  93. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  94. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  95. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  96. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  97. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  98. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  99. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  100. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  101. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  102. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  103. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  104. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  105. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  106. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  107. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  108. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  109. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  110. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  111. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  112. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  113. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  114. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  115. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
  116. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  117. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  118. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  119. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  120. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  121. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  122. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  123. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  124. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  125. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
  126. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  127. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  128. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
  129. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  130. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  131. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  132. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  133. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  134. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  135. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  136. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  137. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  138. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  139. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  140. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  141. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  142. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  143. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  144. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  145. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  146. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  147. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  148. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  149. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'm going from one company that doesn't have many bad matches to another, as I look at what many consider the worst match AEW has ever booked. Until next time.
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Comments

  1. FrostMay 9, 2021 at 2:58 AM

    I found a -1 match listed on ProFightDB, this one from NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 8. What confuses me the most is the guys involved: Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie. I've never seen the match, but I assume it is on the NJPW streaming services. Looking at PFDB, Old Man Meltzer was not kind to the third generation members of the Gracie dynasty in any of their matches.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleMay 9, 2021 at 9:09 PM

      I know exactly what match you're talking about. I've thought about covering it just because New Japan matches that are that poorly rated are pretty rare, but I've not just never really gotten around to it. I'll definitely have to take a look at it now, though.

      Delete

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