Norton: At that point in time of my life, I wasn’t reading USA Today for world news I was reading USA Today to see how the Vikings did. Are we gonna be safe? Are we gonna be okay?’ But the Japanese company, we’d worked for them a while. Rick Steiner (wrestler): It was like ‘North Korea, holy cow. You’re booked.’ I looked at them and I went, ‘Okay. Masa Saito and Hattori walk up to me and say, ‘Scott, end of this month we go to North Korea. I’m in the locker room drinking a protein shake. Scott Norton (wrestler): I was wrestling in Japan. Quite frankly, if he would have understood and did know anymore than he did, he wouldn’t have gone. Ric was not excited about going to North Korea because there was so much he didn’t understand or know. Antonio was an icon and a big part of wrestling history, especially as it pertains to Japan. He knew that would be a classic kind of matchup for him. He certainly loved the idea of wrestling Antonio Inoki. He likes to do something new and different. I called Carroll Campbell, who was the governor of South Carolina, and he didn’t like it either.īischoff: Ric is the type of guy-he likes the adventure. I called Jesse Helms and he told me not to go. Ric Flair (wrestler): I was pretty involved in politics back then. So I asked Hulk, and I might as well have asked him to row a boat to Pluto.
When Bill Clinton was president, they invited Roger Clinton to come.īischoff: They had a long history that dated back into the '80s, so it would have been a great thing for Inoki in many respects. Mike Chinoy (CNN correspondent): Part of the thing about the North Koreans is that their sense of what resonates and picking their foreign interlocutors is often somewhat. I thought, Wow, what a phenomenal opportunity. Then he asked me about bringing some of the wrestlers that worked for me and Turner Broadcasting over as a part of this big show and asked if I would be there as a guest. Then he said it was in Pyongyang, North Korea. I said, ‘Where is it?’ I assumed it was in Tokyo. I thought, well, the little that I know about Muhammad and the kind of things he was interested in-it sounds unique. Sometime in early '95, Antonio called and asked me for help in trying to get Muhammad Ali to come over to this event that he described as a world peace event. Michael Hegstrand, have since died.)Įric Bischoff (WCW president): Working for Turner Broadcasting, I had been able to make a personal acquaintance with Muhammad Ali back in '93 or '94. (Two of the North American wrestlers on the tour, Benoit and Hawk, a.k.a. For its 20th anniversary, SI spoke about the experience with many of the Westerners on the trip, as well as former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy and the Asia Society’s Orville Schell, both of whom reported on the event.
HAPPY FARMER WRESTLER PRO
The result of their meeting was one of the oddest tours in pro wrestling history, with culture clashes, unscripted fisticuffs and tense interactions with the ever-present state officers that left some fearing for their lives.ĭespite the attendance records shattered by the two Pyongyang shows, the historic event has been reduced to a curious footnote in mainstream American wrestling culture. Unfamiliar as they were to each another, pro wrestling and North Korea make for something of a fitting pair: in many cases the only thing more fascinating than either’s outward theatrics are the stories from behind its curtains. Meanwhile, Inoki and Ali shared a history through a controversial 1976 boxer-versus-wrestler match in Tokyo, thus an enticing recipe for an attempt at bodyslam diplomacy. Inoki’s wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, on the other hand, had a working relationship with U.S.-based WCW, with which it would occasionally collaborate on supershows. Through their connection, Inoki enjoyed ample goodwill in a country that otherwise considers Japan an enemy. His mentor, Rikidozan, often described as the godfather of Japanese pro wrestling, was born in North Korea, where he was still revered as a national hero. Reeling from scandals that would help doom his re-election bid later that year, Inoki, as he often did, saw an opportunity to make diplomatic inroads where many would not. The trip was largely Inoki’s doing in the first place. Senate-while heading his own political party. The shows’ headline bout was between Flair and Antonio Inoki, a Japanese star of such wattage that he had parlayed his popularity into a seat in Japan’s House of Councillors-an equivalent of the U.S.
Those in the traveling party would be familiar to many wrestling fans: the legendary Ric Flair Rick and Scott Steiner Road Warrior Hawk Scott Norton Too Cold Scorpio Sonny Onoo Eric Bischoff, president of Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling Chris Benoit, a Canadian and a slew of Japanese stars.