The 50 Greatest Wrestlers Of The Last 50 Years: Who Is #20?

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#20 Riki Choshu

One of the most groundbreaking performers in Japan, Riki Choshu also proved to be one of the most brilliant minds in wrestling history, successfully booking himself and other performers to some of the greatest success and biggest gates in wrestling history. A gifted amateur wrestler, Choshu’s influence on puroresu may actually usurp his accomplishments in the ring. Similar to Japanese wrestling legend Rikidozan, Choshu was actually not Japanese at all—he was born in Seoul but grew up in Japan. A standout amateur wrestler at Shensu University, Choshu represented South Korea in freestyle wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, but did not place. After graduating from college in 1973 he enrolled in the New Japan training dojo and quickly became one of the standout trainees in the program. He made his in-ring debut in August of 1974 and while he remained on the undercard, he won a majority of his matches, something that is rarely done by a young Japanese wrestler. He was even paired up with company founder Antonio Inoki and the pair scored numerous victories over rival tag teams. In the late 1970s Choshu would head to North America for some seasoning and would make a couple appearances in Madison Square Garden for the World Wrestling Federation. However it was in Mexico where Choshu first became a real top name. Working for the Universal Wrestling Association, Choshu became arguably the biggest heel in Mexico during the late-70s and early-80s. At the time the UWA was having tremendous success booking their company champion, El Canek, against various foreign talent. Choshu first faced El Canek in 1979 in a match for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship and was defeated in front of a sold-out crowd of 28,000 in Mexico City.

While he was never quite able to topple El Canek; Choshu became a top challenger for the title and helped El Canek become one of the biggest draws in Mexican history. The battles between El Canek and Choshu were renowned for their physical, hard-hitting style, something that was not that frequent in lucha libre, which naturally focuses on high-flying maneuvers and genuinely working “light”. There was nothing light with El Canek and Choshu and their stiff battles set a new tone of physicality that would flourish in the UWA and later in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.Choshu left Mexico in 1982 and returned to Japan full-time. After proving himself to be a full-fledged star in UWA, Choshu was ready for prime time in NJPW and was thrust into the forefront of one of the most important wrestling feuds in history. In 1983, NJPW created a tournament to crown their first ever true world champion and their world championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Choshu was not chosen to compete in the tournament and frustrated by the lack of opportunity that the veterans of NJPW were giving him, he turned on NJPW veteran Tatsumi Fujinami and formed his own villainous stable, Ishingun, which translates to “Revolution Army.” The group begin to heat-up and feud with the top names in NJPW like Fujinami, Akira Maeda and Antonio Inoki. The renegade young stars, who included Animal Haguchi, Killer Khan, Kuniaki Kobayashi and Yoshiaki Yatsu formed an iron bond and took on all comers in NJPW.

The significance of Ishingun cannot be overstated, they are widely recognized of the first true heel faction in any wrestling promotion, and set the bar for future heel stables such as The Four Horsemen and the nWo, who would go onto become some of the biggest moneymaking ideas in wrestling history. In addition, Choshu was one of the first true native wrestlers to be a top-level heel in Japan. The major promotions in Japan had mostly patterned their booking philosophy after Rikidozan and the Japanese Pro-Wrestling Alliance, which meant bringing in foreign challengers, usually American or Canadian heavyweights, to take on the native hero. Choshu and his Ishingun stable proved that Japanese fans would be willing to boo a Japanese wrestler, as long as they were given a sufficient reason to do so. Business boomed for NJPW, as their shows carried a 90 percent sellout rate and their television ratings, airing in prime time on Japanese television, aired in the 20-25 range. However, NJPW was rocked when Inoki was caught up in an embezzlement scandal. During this tumultuous time, All-Japan Pro Wrestling executive Giant …

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