NJPW reveals an Antonio Inoki-related announcement that they planned on making.
At the age of 79, wrestler, promoter and New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki passed away. The tributes came raining in as Inoki’s passing began to make the rounds this past Friday (Saturday in Japan).
Today, New Japan pushed out an Antonio Inoki-related announcement and shared that they planned on announcing Inoki as their Honorary Chairman for life. In the post, it is noted that Inoki was approached privately about the matter and formally received the title on September 1st.
This announcement was going to be made public on October 10th at the ‘Declaration of Power’ show at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling wishes once again to express profound grief at the passing of founder Antonio Inoki, and our deepest sympathies to fans, family and friends.
As part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations, and to celebrate Antonio Inoki’s role as a founder, wrestler and beyond, NJPW had planned to name Mr. Inoki the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. After Antonio Inoki graciously accepted the invitation, he was officially named Honorary Lifetime Chairman on September 1 2022.
This information was due to be made public on October 10 at Declaration of Power in Ryogoku Sumo Hall. It is to our deep sadness that this announcement cannot take place as previously planned. However, in accordance with Mr. Inoki’s wishes, all of us at New Japan Pro-Wrestling will continue to move forward and lead the professional wrestling world to the utmost of our abilities.
【お知らせ】
アントニオ猪木さんに関する新日本プロレスからのお知らせhttps://t.co/1qFILDwEgc#njpw pic.twitter.com/a410fmSaAH
— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) October 4, 2022
Inoki’s career was profiled here on POST Wrestling via the POST Puroresu show which can be heard at this link.
