10 Parallels Between Vince McMahon And Antonio Inoki

10. They Were Both Prominent On-Screen Figures In Their Respective Promotions

Both Vince and Inoki were crucial to their respective promotions' success, and regularly featured in top feuds. When Vince McMahon became the Mr. McMahon character, fan interest in the WWE product exploded in a way that hadn€™t been seen before. Tthe evil corporate boss became the target of fans€™ ire for both scripted wrongdoings and real ones as well. They loved to see him get his comeuppance, and watching him get demolished and/or humiliated in the ring provided fans with some wonderful moments. It was masterful storytelling. Inoki, on the other hand, is what Vince could€™ve been if he was actually a trained wrestler. As previously stated, Inoki was trained by the legendary Rikidozan, and he had a wealth of in-ring experience by the time he founded NJPW in 1972. From then on in Inoki was the centerpiece of NJPW€™s booking. He booked himself as an unstoppable force, and based his style on a realistic €˜strong style€™ of wrestling. Over the years, Inoki cultivated a reputation as a dangerous, unforgiving man who could take on any challenger from any discipline, transforming him into a hero in his native land. If Inoki hadn€™t done so much work to improve NJPW€™s global reputation, the promotion might not have had so much success in the 1990s through inter-promotional talent exchanges. And if Vince never embraced his evil boss character in the way that he did, there€™s a good chance that WWE would€™ve lost the Monday Night Wars to the incredible popular WCW.