10 Wrestlers Who HATED Losing

6. Antonio Inoki

To shed light on the extent to which Antonio Inoki was reversed as both a Godfather and megastar of the Japanese wrestling industry, simply receiving a slap from the man was considered a lucky omen, an honour; legend had it that Inoki once slapped a little boy who went on to experience significant success in his career.

As the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Inoki naturally allowed himself much leeway, and with some justification: he was so incredibly charismatic and beloved that he had further established the industry as an entrenched part of the culture following the dissolution of the founding JWA, a coup he spearheaded. A pioneer of industry, Inoki felt that he was something more than fundamental to it. Until December 1985, nearing the twilight of his career, Inoki hadn't lost cleanly to a fellow native talent. Ever.

Tatsumi Fujinami was the performer selected for the honour: an astute choice at the perfect, albeit belated time, since scandal had engulfed Inoki and damaged his popularity. Fujinami put Inoki away with his awesome, innovated Dragon suplex in a significant tag team match. The choice of finish was both definitive and a statement. A performer had defeated Inoki, and so had a new style, a new generation.

Think of Inoki like a more over-powered version of SuperCena, only he was more than capable of cinching in a submission hold.