Inoki Antonio is a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promoter, politician and retired professional wrestler and martial artist.

Inoki was born in Yokohama, Japan on February 20, 1943. Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010. His ring name is a homage to wrestler Antonino Rocca. He also wrestled under the ring names Little Tokyo, Tokyo Tom, among others. He converted to Islam in 1990 and took the name Muhammad Hussain Inoki, something he publicly revealed in 2012.

Inoki began his professional wrestling career in 1960, working for the Japanese Wrestling Association and became a wrestling promoter in 1972 when he founded New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) that he remained the owner of until 2005. He later founded the Inoki Genome Federation. As a professional wrestler, he became one of the most respected sports celebrities of Japan, bolstered by his mixed martial arts match against boxer Muhammad Ali in 1976 and he headlined two shows in North Korea in 1995 with Ric Flair that drew 150,000 and 190,000 spectators, that is the highest attendances in professional wrestling.

In 1989, while still an active wrestler, Inoki entered Japanese politics as he was elected to the Japanese House of Councillors and as part of his first term with the House of Councillors successfully negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages before the outbreak of the Gulf War. His first tenure in the House of Councillors ended in 1995, but he was reelected in 2013. Edit Biography