10 Most Unforgettable Exhibition Matches In Wrestling History
2. Rikidozan Vs. Masahiko Kimura
Former sumo and pro wrestling sensation Rikidozan revolutionised the business in Japan in the 1950s as both star and promoter for the fledgling Japan Pro Wrestling Association, building on the work others had done before to take the whole industry to a new level. Imagine if Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon had been the same person, and you’ve got some idea of the impact this one man had on the business.
Masahiko Kimura was a famous judo master of the time: you may remember him from such holds as the reverse keylock that’s been nicknamed after him, which Brock Lesnar keeps kayfabe breaking arms with. Kimura was also getting into the burgeoning puroresu business, and would regularly tag with Rikidozan in early 1954.
The scene was quickly set for a feud between the two stars, one which would lead to the establishment of the first Japanese heavyweight champion. It would begin with this exhibition-based worked pro wrestling bout between the ex-sumo and the formidable judoka, supposedly to crown the champion, which would go to a hotly-contested time limit draw instead. That would leave the audience desperate to see a champion crowned - and that feud would mean serious money.
Of course, that didn’t happen. Rikidozan would end up going into business for himself, suddenly unleashing a barrage of legitimate punches and kicks to an unprepared, stunned Kimura that had the man out on his feet. The brand new heavyweight title was awarded to Rikidozan. There would be no rematch, no big money feud.
Over the years, plenty of theories have gone around about what went wrong in this match. Kimura himself seemed to believe that Rikidozan simply got greedy… but, from all reports, he was supposed to be going over to win the title at the end of the feud anyway.
The most common explanation, one that seems borne out by the video footage, is that Kimura landed a worked push kick too near Rikidozan’s groin, causing the bigger man to lose his rag, thinking he was being shot on by the martial artist.
However, there’s also speculation that Kimura may have been trashtalking Rikidozan, firing off racist jibes about the real life Korean’s foreign heritage. Wilder accusations have flown around that Kimura had given interviews to the press in which he, a relative outsider, had exposed the pro wrestling business as worked, and that this was a receipt.
Whatever happened, the long, long belated aftermath is arguably even more infamous a tale. Nine years later, Rikidozan was stabbed in a nightclub by a yakuza gangster. Although the wound wasn’t thought serious, Rikidozan would die of peritonitis a week later, as the blade had reportedly been soaked in urine… and rumours persist to this day that the attack - the murder - was a receipt for the way Kimura had been treated a decade earlier...