Kim Sin-Nak (金信洛) Mitsuhiro Momota (百田光浩)
Statistics
Ring Names	Rikidozan (力道山)
Height	5'10" (178 cm.)
Weight	240 lbs. (111 kg.)
Born	November 14, 1924
	South Hamgyong, Korea
Died	December 15, 1963 (aged 39)
	Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Resides
Billed	Ōmura, Nagasaki, Japan
Trained by	Bobby Bruns Harold Sakata (Tosh Togo) Oki Shikina
Debut	October 28, 1951
Retired	December 15, 1963 (death)

Rikidōzan (November 14, 1924 - December 15, 1963) was a professional wrestler, known as the "Father of Puroresu" and one of the most influential men in wrestling history. He was credited with bringing the sport of professional wrestling to Japan at a time when the Japanese needed a local hero to look up to.

Championships and accomplishments

• Japan Wrestling Association

• JWA Japanese Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• JWA All Asia Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Toyonobori
• JWA All Japan Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Toyonobori
• NWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• National Wrestling Alliance

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) – with Koukichi Endoh
• NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Bobby Bruns (1), Azumafuji (1) and Koukichi Endoh (1)
• NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) – with Dennis Clary

• North American Wrestling Alliance / World Wrestling Association

• NAWA / WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Popular culture

In 2004, A South Korean film, Rikidozan was made about the life of the wrestler, with Sol Kyung-gu playing the titular role.

Rikidōzan himself appeared in 29 films,^[1] including:

• お月様には悪いけど Otsukisama ni wa warui kedo (1954) as himself
• やがて青空 Yagate aozora (1955) as himself
• 力道山物語　怒濤の男 Rikidōzan monogatari dotō no otoko (1955) as himself

Notes

1. ↑ http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0372750.htm accessed 7 February 2008

Further reading

• I am a Korean - Biography of Rikidozan, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, 200 pages.
• Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan - Discuses Rikidozan's impact on Japanese pop-culture and the Yakuza underworld during the American occupation of Japan, and also includes a small photo collection of Riki, and his killer, Katsuji Murata. Vintage Books. 400 pages.

External links

• Puroresu.com: Rikidozan
• Ring Chronicle Hall of Fame: Rikidozan