Antonio Inoki, Japanese pro-wrestler turned politician, died on Saturday. He was 79. 

“New Japan Pro-Wrestling is deeply saddened at the passing of our founder, Antonio Inoki. His achievements, both in professional wrestling and the global community are without parallel and will never be forgotten,” the company, founded by Inoki, said on Twitter. 

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“A huge star has fallen. An era has come to an end,” tweeted Atsushi Onita,  a wrestler who once served as lawmaker. Onita called Inoki “the great father of pro-wrestling” and added, “Thank you Inoki-san. I express my condolences from the bottom of my heart.”

Inoki shot to fame in 1976 when he faced Muhammad Ali in a mixed martial arts match at Tokyo’s Budokan hall, an exhibition match that Japanese fans remember as “the fight of the century.”

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Cause of death:

Public broadcaster NHK said Inoki died of heart failure. He was battling a rare disease called amyloidosis. 

Real name:

Inoki’s real birth name was Kanji. He converted to Shia Islam in 1990 during a pilgrimage to Karbala, the Shiite holy city in Iraq. However, he was known by his ring name Antonio Inoki. 

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Family: 

Inoki was the sixth son and the second-youngest of the seven boys and four girls. His businessman father, Sajiro Inoki, died when he was five years old. 

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The 79-year-old married actor Mitsuko Baisho in 1971. They had a daughter named Hiroko. The two split in 1987. The wrestler’s fourth wife Tazuko Tada, died on August 27, 2019.

Net worth:

Antonio Inoki’s net worth is about $2 million as of 2022, michigansportszone.com reported.