PURO Podcast #15: Puroresu Academy Returns! (1963 – Part 2, Rikidozan Killed!)

by admin20 hours ago

After a lengthy absence, the Puroresu Academy Podcast is finally back as “The Professor of Puroresu” Dan Ginnetty and Ray Russell resume the journey through the history of Japanese professional wrestling. We spend some time at the beginning of the program re-familiarizing the listeners with the Top 8 players in Japan as of 1963. Rikidozan remains the unquestioned king of the JWA, but Giant Baba is rapidly emerging, Antonio Inoki is still fighting his way up the native ranks, and trusted veterans Toyonobori, Michiaki Yoshimura, Kokichi Endo and Yoshinosato each occupy vital roles within the promotion. We pick up with the second half of the Summer Battle tour as Japan’s top stars collide with Sonny Myers, Don Jardine and Mr. Zero. From there, we follow the JWA through its long fall campaign and the return of The Destroyer for Rikidozan’s final series of matches. Behind the booming business and packed arenas, however, Rikidozan’s declining health and complicated ties to the Japanese underworld cast a growing shadow over the promotion. We then examine the disputed circumstances surrounding his stabbing at the New Latin Quarter, the medical decisions that followed and the many rumors that have clouded the truth for more than six decades. It is the dramatic conclusion to Rikidozan’s remarkable life, and the beginning of an uncertain new era for professional wrestling in Japan..

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