Cactus

I'm not really into ratings and all that jazz but I'm curious to see if I can get some insight on this. How does Antonio Inoki compare to Hogan strictly from a success perspective? Hogan is without a doubt the biggest drawing wrestler of all-time, but I have reason to believe Inoki's a not-too distant second. Rock, Austin and Andre have much more name value in places like the US and the UK than Inoki, but over in Asia, Inoki easily over-shadows them. He is a pioneer of MMA, drew 190,000 fans to a show he was main eventing, owns several islands, faced Muhammad Ali in his prime etc. The list goes on...

Would it be accurate to say that Inoki is the most successful/best drawing pro-wrestler of all-time bar Hogan?

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CACTUS'S 2013 MOTYCS

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Be a hipster and support Japanese wrestling. Cactus finally found the effort to post 3 new NJPW reviews. (Updated 15/03)

Vyed

He is up there with Hogan/Austin/Rock as the top game changers in pro-wrestling history.

Found this from Meltzer's Newsletter -

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Couch

Aren't Rikidozan and Giant Baba considered the Hulk Hogan of Japan?

777

It's unfortunate that things don't align culturally. Inoki was never embraced by the North American wrestling audience like Hogan was in Japan/Asia. I'm also not big on the numbers, but I find it hard to imagine placing Inoki over Hogan. It should also be noted that the sheer population of the Asian market lends itself to Inoki's huge drawing numbers.

So, while the numbers may lend an argument to the Inoki camp, I think Hogan has more of a global presence.

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I love professional-wrestling.

Green

Why does this prevent him from being a huge draw? It doesn't matter whether Inoki appealed to the American market, he never needed to.

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"I'm the best ever. I'm the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless champion there's ever been. My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart! I want to eat his children! Praise be to Allah!"

777

Did I say he wasn't a huge draw? I'm pretty sure I did not. He absolutely was.

My point, once again, Inoki may have the actual numbers (I don't know the amounts but I do know they were great) but didn't have the global recognition.

What that means? I don't know, nothing really. Both were fantastic draws.

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I love professional-wrestling.

Mike Zybyszko

Once again Meltzer's bias showing. Inoki was only huge in Japan because he controlled a top promotion. Inoki was no draw at all here in the states whereas Hogan was even more over than Inoki in Japan. Inoki would be roughly equal to Verne Gagne, and nowhere near the realm of Hogan/Austin/Rock. What a joke to even make that claim.

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"If anyone asks you if you've paid your dues, you tell 'em the check is in the mail."

Not removing until:

[ ] Hulk Hogan vs Hawk Hogan

Green

Err, how about no? Hogan has never been that big in Japan. He was just another Gaijin there.

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"I'm the best ever. I'm the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless champion there's ever been. My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart! I want to eat his children! Praise be to Allah!"

Kotre

No. Because then you'd have to say he's better than Rikidozan, who holds the record for most watched thing on Japanese television ever.

As for Inoki vs Hogan, the answer, as with most wrestlers whose drawing ability is compared to Hogan is poorly. Hogan was what allowed Wrestlemania to be what it was and give WWE the charismatic presence it needed to put all but one relevant federations out of business, and then turn around and almost put WWE out of business. No matter your metric, Hogan wins.

rizzotherat

Way to miss what he saying here. He wasnt talking about about worldwide.