10 Parallels Between Vince McMahon And Antonio Inoki
1. They've Both Been Roundly Praised...For Their PAST Work When one looks at how Vince McMahon and Antonio Inoki are viewed by contemporary wrestling fans, one thing thats painfully clear is that the praise that they do receive is not for their current or most recent work, but for what theyve accomplished in the past. Vince McMahons biggest success by far was the creation of the Mr. McMahon character and resulting feud with Steve Austin, which came about due to the fallout of the Montreal Screwjob. That character - and that storyline in particular - were arguably the greatest in WWE history. So successful was his work with this character that WWE have attempted to re-create this magic on many occasions, typically failing to do so. Lately, Vince has been criticized for being out of touch, stubborn, and incredibly indecisive, much to the detriment of his own promotion. As for Inoki, it was his early focus on cruiserweights that demonstrated how good of a booker he was. The decision to book wrestlers like Tiger Mask, Dynamite Kid, Jushin Thunder Liger and other lighter wrestlers led NJPW to become arguably the top wrestling promotion in Japan for many years. His own main event status was also key to this. But recently, Inoki has been more known for making terrible business decisions and booking that pales in comparison to his best stuff. His emphasis on 'Inokism' and shootfighting crippled NJPW so badly that trust in his decisions soon faltered, which eventually led to him selling NJPW and pretty much leaving the wrestling business for good, bar the odd show here or there (which, of course, featured plenty of shoot fighters).