Film About NJPW Founder Announced

Just before the start of the main card of New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17, a film about NJPW's late founder Antonio Inoki was announced. WWE Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami took to the ring to make the announcement after competing in the six-man Antonio Inoki Memorial match on the event's pre-show.

Inoki passed away a few months ago on October 1, 2022. The legendary Japanese wrestler had a prolific career, and founding NJPW is only a drop in the ocean of his legacy. Although no details of the film are currently known, there's no shortage of material to go on from Inoki's incredible life.

From fighting Muhammed Ali to wrestling Ric Flair in North Korea, details of Inoki's biography can truly sound made up at times. Any way it can be cut, a film about Inoki will have a tall order in conveying his legacy and truly incredible number of accolades and accomplishments.

The late Japanese icon altered the landscape of wrestling both in and out of Japan for decades to come in 1972 when he left the Japan Wrestling Alliance to found NJPW. From AJ Styles and Kenny Omega to Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar, many of today's top wrestling stars have some history with NJPW.

Recognition of him is apparent just as well stateside. Inoki was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2010 class. Furthermore, Inoki won the WWF Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund in 1979, albeit WWE has never officially recognized Inoki in the title's lineage.