10 Historic Wrestling Moments You've Probably Never Seen

You’ve seen Mayweather vs. Big Show. You’ve heard about Tyson and Austin. But the original crossover fight—the one that invented the genre—was Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki, and it was an unwatchable masterpiece that changed combat sports forever.

In 1976, at the height of Ali’s global fame, the boxing legend agreed to face Japanese wrestling icon Antonio Inoki in a “special rules” match in Tokyo. On paper, it was a dream: boxing vs. wrestling, East vs. West, the People’s Champ vs. the Shooter. In reality? It was 15 rounds of bizarre, frustrating chaos. Inoki spent most of the match on his back, kicking at Ali’s legs to avoid disqualification under the heavily restricted rule set. Ali, unsure how to respond, landed only six punches.

It ended in a draw—and a chorus of boos.

But the impact was seismic. Ali suffered lasting damage to his legs, while the match inspired early discussions of what would eventually become mixed martial arts. UFC doesn’t happen without Ali vs. Inoki.

So why haven’t you seen it? Because it’s incredibly hard to watch. It was broadcast via closed-circuit TV but has rarely been officially rebroadcast. WWE owns footage, but has only shown tiny clips in documentaries. The most important “boring” match of all time? Probably.