CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
Torch Today
APR. 29 IN HISTORY: Flair vs. Inoki seen by 150,000 in N. Korea

Apr 29, 2014 - 1:44:11 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


FlairRic_Wide_GG_6.png



This Day In Wrestling History - April 29

Date: April 29, 1995 (19 years ago)

Feature: WCW and New Japan co-promoted a record-setting North Korea show headlined by Ric Flair vs. Antonio Inoki...

Torch Back-Issue: PWTorch Newsletter #333.

Not a VIP member? Find out how to access over 1,000 PWTorch Newsletter back-issues right now by CLICKING HERE - PWTorch.com/GoVIP.

TORCH #333: COVER STORY
HEADLINE: Over 150,000 see Inoki vs. Flair in N. Korea
SUBHEADLINE: Documented all-time attendance record shattered twice, Inoki beats Flair in top match
By Wade Keller, Torch editor


In what has been reported as a "strange attempt to win world respect," North Korea held a two day "Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace in North Korea" at Mayday Stadium featuring pro wrestling as the feature attraction both nights. Both nights drew crowds in the 150,000-160,000 range which shatters all documented pro wrestling attendance records. The controversial Antonio Inoki, head of New Japan Pro Wrestling, led the promoting effort in what turned out to be the biggest weekend in the history of pro wrestling worldwide.

The 51-year-old Inoki headlined the Apr. 29 card and defeated the 46-year-old Ric Flair in the main event at 14:52. The match opened with Flair armlock whipping Inoki. Flair then took Inoki to the mat with a flying headscissors. Flair then armlocked Inoki, who eventually broke free. Both men faced off again and showed off some amateur style mat wrestling. "Inoki, Inoki" chants filled the stadium. (Inoki was the protege of Japan's biggest all-time wrestling star, Rikidozan, who was born in North Korea.) Flair gave Inoki the brainbuster suplex and threw him down for a near fall.

Flair then began to ready Inoki for the figure-four leglock, dropping down on Inoki's leg and landing a kneedrop. Flair then chopped Inoki and locked on his figure-four leglock. Inoki eventually escaped the leglock by pulling off Flair's leg. Flair went for the figure-four again, but Inoki small-packaged him for a two count.

They rose and began exchanging punches. Inoki whipped Flair into the corner and Flair flipped over the top rope to the floor. Flair ran back into the ring and tried a flying kneedrop, but Inoki caught his knee and threw Flair to the mat. Inoki dropkicked Flair and went for the pin. Flair kicked out.

They punched each other more. Flair went on offense and backdropped Inoki and scored another near fall. Flair bodyslammed Inoki and went for a flying head scissors, but Inoki reversed it and went into a rolling reverse kneedrop. Inoki climbed to the top rope and went for the kneedrop and then hit the enzuigiri for the pinfall.

Scenes of the main event and other bouts aired on CNN Headlines News. Wire service stories ran worldwide which included estimates of the second day attendance for Flair-Inoki at 190,000, although other sources have indicated 160,000 would be a fairer estimate.

The Apr. 29 card more than doubles the previous worldwide attendance record of 78,000 ($1.6 million) for Wrestlemania III at the SilverDome in Pontiac, Mich. for Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. With the Festival tickets priced between $25 and $210, the gate obliterates the $1.6 million gate for Wrestlemania III as the Festival gate did surpass $5 million and may have surpassed $10 million depending on how many of each price range ($25, $155, and $210) were sold. An average North Korean earns an equivalent of $50 a month, so $210 tickets are the equivalent of thousands of dollars for an average U.S. wage earner.

Muhammed Ali was present which gave the event an aura of importance and prestige given his worldwide reputation. Also part of the Festival was an exhibition featuring tens of thousands of children honoring the Kim II Sung dynasty by performing a synchronized mass dance, acrobatics, and martial arts on the soccer field. In a segment on national defense, children held up colored cards depicting fighter planes and ballistic missiles and the slogan in huge letters, "Make the people the rifles and bombs for Gen. Kim Jong II... Pyongyang is the center of the international socialist movement. The DPRK is the rampart and the banner of socialism that will make the whole world independent and free from domination and subjugation. Socialism is a science that cannot be defeated."

A wire story that ran in the Japan Times the next day quoted a North Korean travel guide. "There are so many distorted (notions) about our country," he said. "We hope that through this visit you will be able to see the real truth of our country and clear up so many misunderstandings."

The international wire service reports talked about the wrestling bouts as "choreographed" and "theatrical."

The politics of North Korea led to strange dilemmas for some fans as neither Japan nor the U.S. are looked upon as allies so, with the exception of Inoki (because of his Rikidozan connection), many of the Japanese wrestlers got mixed reactions when facing U.S. wrestlers.

The full results of Apr. 29 are as follows: Akira Hokuto pinned Bull Nakano to earn a title shot at Manami Toyota, Black Cat beat El Samurai, Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) pinned Too Cold Scorpio, Masa Chono & Scott Norton beat Takayuki Iizuka & Akira Nogami, Hawk Warrior beat Tadao Yasuda, and Rick & Scott Steiner beat Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase.

Apr. 28 full-results: Yuji Nagata beat Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto beat Mariko Yoshida & Manami Toyota, Hiroshi Hase pinned Wild Pegasus, Hiro Saito & Masa Chono beat El Samurai & Tadao Yasuda, Scorpio beat Shinichio Otani when the referee stopped the bout due to Otani's broken nose, Kensuke Sasaki pinned Masa Saito, and Shinya Hashimoto fought Scott Norton to a time-limit draw. The North Korean fans were said to be amazed at the size of Hashimoto and Norton. Hashimoto and Norton shook hands afterward.

New Japan barely has a chance to catch its breath before running its second biggest event of the year in Japan on May 3 at the Fukuoka Dome with an 80,000 capacity. Keiji Muto is expected to capture the IWGP Hvt. Title from Shinya Hashimoto in one of the top matches on the card. However, because Weekly Pro in Japan reported that WCW released a statement saying Muta would be "defending the IWGP Title" against Paul Orndorff at Slamboree, that finish could be changed by booker Riki Choshu.

Also on the card: Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hawk Warrior & Scott Norton (replacing the originally scheduled Animal), Junji Hirata vs. Hiro Saito, El Samurai & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Norio Honaga & Akira Nogami, Manabu Nakanishi vs. Yuji Nagata, Antonio Inoki & Koji Kitao vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu, Terry Funk (former All Japan legend, current IWA star, first-ever appearance on New Japan card) & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masa Chono & Hiromichi Fuyuki, Sabu vs. Koji Kanemoto for the Jr. Hvt. Title, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kensuke Sasaki, and Ric Flair vs. Hiroshi Hase in Flair's best (and perhaps last) opportunity at contending for "Match of the Year (Japan)" honors this year.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]


We suggest these recent related articles...
WRESTLING PODCAST LOG: Patrick from Tough Enough on Ross & Booker's shows, Austin talks hot topics, Jericho/Mr. Belding, Flair/Madden, Taz, Cabana, more
WRESTLING PODCAST LOG: Heyman talks to Chael Sonnen & Austin, Flair & Steamboat, Cornette to Jim Ross & Roddy Piper, Cabana, Jericho, Taz, more
WRESTLING PODCAST LOG: Jericho talks to Ventura, Cabana to Hawkins, Austin/Barnett, Ross/Danny Davis, Booker/Vickie, Piper/Valentine, Flair, Taz, more
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY