The Top Ten Moves of Rikidozan

[DeadIslandTrailers]

those chops look sick

[mikey777799]

Was he murdered? Please fill me in.

[SuperDUDERIKI]

@mikey777799 Yes,he was murdered by a yakuza assassin,with an urine-soaked knife,who (a rumor) was hired by Masahiko Kimura.

[SuperDUDERIKI]

@mikey777799 Oh and its a smart thing to read the freaking description once in a while.

[DangerousKidNOAH]

good god! His Headlock looks deadly! THATS how a Headlock should look like!

[Kokushi666]

Aha the father of PURO! good to see some real respect for him, he dies much before his time thanks to the damn yakuza but thankfully he created something that REAL wrestling fans could appreciate for years to come!

[daredevilpre]

Is Rikidozan vs Bruno on here some place? I know they wrestled in Japan and Bruno was the heel (one of the few times) and I think he put Rikidozan over.

[tansu2]

@daredevilpre

Bruno came to Japan at the first time after Rikidozan's death. So he has never fought against Rikidozan in Japan.

[aglewi41]

where the hell do you find these matches?

[realrockyboy00]

shouldn't overhead chop be #1 since that's his finisher?

[JukoDDT]

Damn assination. The world was robbed of what could've been epic match ups. We coldv'e seen Rikidozan vs. Flair, Rikidozan vs. Sanmartino or even Rikidozan vs. Hogan. I'm sure any of those would've broken that 67.0 rating.

[Takerfanatic93]

The Godfather of Puro.

[polarbear138]

Awesome vid. Keep these legend vids coming! Rikidozen is a legend for sure. I agree with the earlier posts that if possible, you should try making some old school lucha libre vids. I'd like to see vids on Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, El Santo, Blue Demon and Perro Aguayo. You're the person for the job lol. Being a total mark for old school wrestling in general your vids are the best.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

My Lucha footage past and present is pretty much exhausted right now.

[aglewi41]

keep the old school guys coming man

[Blessiffer]

WOW. Windpipe Chop = DEATH. Rikidozan was the man.

[jonnagilda]

Was that Antonio Rocca he applied the body scissors on?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Thesz

[00AwesomeOne00]

Oh my... SD, you're the man. And I mean it.

[2fresh37]

i love these old school vids. I could watch this wrestling all day. better than anything from the "glorified" attitude era

[danielfennessey]

Dude... This is THE most old school wrestling vid I've seen on youtube... You're knowledge of wrestling is astounding... My mate wants to know where did you find these clips?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Most of them came off a Best of Rikidozan DVD.

[danielfennessey]

I see. Thanks man. After seeing these three vids... would you ever consider doing a top ten dedicated to old school wrestling?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

For more wrestlers, certainly.

[danielfennessey]

okay cool. Cheers again mate. Rightous three vids

[MadManMaloney]

The Windpipe Chope kinda reminds me of the Samoan Spike, just more painful.

[insanesuperstar]

And not ridiculous.

[hehehe88]

In your opinion Suicidal and from a visual aspect, who chops the hardest, Rikidozan or someone else?

[Vici0usRum0rs]

Great introduction!! Truly epic

[kestlerlikespie]

Wow, mighty long description I'll say. 5*

[MrFuckyourselfanddie]

Hey SD,i wanted to ask you are you planning on doing some top tens of legendary lucha libre wrestlers like Blue Demon,Santo,Abismo Negro.........?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

My Lucha footage is pretty well exhausted at this point.

[ObeseLuchadore]

step it up sui

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Nothing I can do about it right now, unfortunately.

[ToyotaKudoFan]

R.I.P Rikidozan. He'll always remain a legend.

[iALECZENG]

dang where'd u get those clips the time capsol in japan's museum?

[ToyotaKudoFan]

They probably weren't easy to aquire, I'm guessing. Am I right?

[jhniscol]

the Founding Father of japanese wrestling. i never thought clips were or have been available

[ChikaraThemes]

Sorry to sound like a dumbass, but did Rikio really chop there throat or like hit them just below?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Right in the throat.

[ChikaraThemes]

Fuck taking that

[hehehe88]

back in the day, and still today in japan, wrestling was all about stiff shooting, or the art of actually hitting you, hard.

Kobashi, I'm almost positive, could kill a normal man.

[deveryday1]

@hehehe88 did you ever see that vid of him chopping that did in like a ramen shop? dude literally collapsed from the pain

[brandnamebluv]

Damn....that windpipe chop was was nasty. Dude that he was fighting might as well be a woman cause ain't no way in hell that you "Adam's apple" after taking that shit!!!!!!!

[WK2K]

Truly the father of proresu! Wheras American pro wrestling can claim several founders, nearly every current promotion in Japan can trace their roots to Rikidozan and the JWA.

[mrjimmyg]

I know the masked was the Destroyer, but was the other guy Lou Thez?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Thesz was the opponent in the majority of these clips. Pat O'Connor was also featured a couple of times.

[Kwerner88]

Misawa=hero Rikidozan=GOD

[egg64]

Hoping to be able to make a virtual tribute to this guy.

[synthfiend]

Dragon this is extremely cool! I know Rikidozan's story but haven't really searched out a lot of footage on him . The fact that you did and made a compilation is awesome. Kudos!

[TheSuicidalDragon]

This is how wrestling was back in the day. It wasn't so much about showmanship at is was pure athleticism and more realistic moves. Being much simpler than today's wrestling doesn't make it bad by any stretch.

[barrychuckle55555555]

i love it when you lay down the facts

[Superplex1001]

That's just it, this guy HAS NO Pure Athleticisim.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

The guy had plenty of athleticism.

[StarspawnOfCthulhu]

funny how ˝real wrestling ability˝ apparently nowadays means jumping off high places on nicely waiting opponents and flashy flippy unrealistic moves...

[TheBrianJ]

I can totally understand why you'd think he has no wrestling ability...compared to wrestlers nowadays, you probably think Rikidozan was quite boring, especially with such a simple moveset.

But you gotta realize that wrestling evolves as time has gone on. moves that were once considered finishers (like that headlock he was doing) are now simple transition moves. Even something like the DDT, originally, a deadly finisher, is commonplace.

At the time, however, Rikidozan was the goddamn MAN.

[Superplex1001]

So you're saying that if he came to the WWE now instead of then he would use alot more interesting moves?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Hard to say, but what Brian said is true. Wrestling evolves over time, and moves don't stay as effective as they were when they are first invented(for the most part). However, to say someone who uses simplistic moves(in this day and age) isn't a good wrestler is downright asinine. The fanciest move that Lou Thesz used was a Powerbomb, but I don't think you'll find many people calling him a bad wrestler.

[Superplex1001]

Still, people now work alot harder to become Wrestlers, My point really is that He's trained for Years and that's all he can come up with?

I can do more than that and I haven't taken ANY training.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Dude, that's how wrestling was back then. It's not exactly an accurate comparison to say you could do better than him when it's damn near fifty years since he's been dead, and wrestling has evolved lightyears beyond Rikidozan's time.

[Superplex1001]

Fair's Fair, IMO Though, He sucks. Not that I don't respect him or see how you could like him, I just don't personally like him.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

As you said, fair's fair, good sir.

[vendetta941]

Simply put...

Rikidozan's Windpipe Chop is the 1950's equivalent of say Naruki Doi's Musclar Bomb (I use Doi as an example cause he is the man)

If you were in the 1950's you'd think the chops Riki did was like a SSP off of a 50 foot ladder.

[KingAndy1992]

Your knowledge of wrestling is clearly very limited. Comparing someone who wrestled in the 1950's, before most of today's wrestling moves had even been invented, to modern wrestlers is profoundly stupid. Rikidozan was a legit athlete. He didn't use "more interesting moves" because THEY HADN'T BEEN INVENTED YET.

[Superplex1001]

I'm sorry but do I HAVE to like him?

I clearly stated that I didn't like but still I respected him and I could still see how you would like him.

Silly me, forgetting I had an opinion.

[KingAndy1992]

No, you don't have to like him. You should, but you don't have to.

[brocklock09]

I highly doubt anyone worked harder than Rikidozan to be a pro wrestler. Nowadays it's about taking bumps, back then it was about being in shape. I'm talking thousands of hindu squats, situps, pushups, and all sorts of other crap. Being able to protect yourself because 99% of those guys could kick the average mans ass, knowing how to fall on concrete right before there was a technique for it, all of that was necessary. And even then there was tons more we may never know.

[deveryday1]

@Superplex1001 yeah, people do work harder today... if you consider going to a wrestling school for 3mths to a year before getting on some indy card harder than spending a lifetime training in greco-roman or freestyle wrestling and then having to actually compete in amateur bouts to prove your worth in the ring.

not knocking modern cats, because the things they put their bodies through are astounding, but i could join a wrestling school tomorrow and be on a card in 6 mths. just saying

[deveryday1]

@Superplex1001 besides thesz and rikidozan both were hookers, which meant that if you fucked with them or fucked up in the ring, they would just embarrass you with good, old fashioned shoot wrestling. name 3 guys not named kurt angle who could do that today.

[jonnyboy5000]

@deveryday1 Finlay, Dave Taylor, and Most Japanese wrestlers to be honest I can really keep going dude any wrestler can shoot bro, for fuck sakes even New Jack does it.

[deveryday1]

@jonnyboy5000 new jack can't out wrestle anybody legitimately. remember, i said they would shoot wrestle the other guy, not shoot on them.

also, don't forget regal, who made goldberg look like a mangina in wcw. and to your point, only a handful of japanese pros could make a guy look weak with their pure wrestling in a legit match. remember, my point isn't whether or not a guy can punch a guy hard, or put some stink on a headlock ala great sasuke

[Yeah1993WF]

Rikidozan wasn't known for his in-ring ability, unlike most wrestlers of his time. He was known for making puroresu famous.

No one ever said he was good in the ring.

[jestermonkey1345]

holy shit windpipe chop was sick

go does that and kenta kobi

[ThisIsProWrestling]

Most influential wrestler of all time.

[TigerDriver1991]

one time i rang up an old white guy when i worked at home depot in vallejo, ca, that had japanese checks and found he lived in japan. i asked, on a whim, if he was a fan of puroresu. he said "well, i helped start it." then he told me he managed the destroyer, and was friends with rikidozan. i can't tell you how unreal that was.

[egg64]

....by absolute chance.  I salute you, good sir.

[Mistertbones]

RIP Rikidozan! Great old school wrestling. That is a real overhand chop, not Khali's pussy chop!

[VickAuc]

stone cold vs rikidozan = dream match

nah just kidding, that would be weird...man, wrestling's come a loooong way

[vendetta941]

Well actually it wouldn't be too weird. Alot of Stone Cold's moves are pretty old school. Thesz Presses, Chops, Stomps, Punches, Original Suplexes, And his finisher is just a jawbreaker.

Stone Cold is one of the few who would wrestle great in any age from Riki's time till now.

[L337EE]

wow. first vid a that I've seen with black & white film. this guy is awesome, even up until now, I think he can go against guys like Bigshow, Khali, Batista...and Kobashi........

[QvsQ]

What was that mat made of? It is not bouncy like nowadays

[UnstableProtagonist]

Now THAT is old school pro wrestling for you: the days when a headlock was really a headlock and an overhand chop will legitimate knock a man off his boots.

[uppercutter450]

Agreed, none of that Grat Khali BS.

[TheBalancedMan]

Great vid Dragon. Can't wait to see who else you highlight in your upcoming old-old-school tributes.

[TheCookieStar]

Damn, i need to see some his matches! awesome video! :D

[zayfren]

Ouch, that windpipe chop looks painful

[MrWolf316]

Man, seeing this, I think that in modern Wrestling most of the art of selling is practically gone. That Hammerlock, Headlock and Throat Chop Looked absolutly brutal, Nowadays Most wrestlers just kind of bend for them as rest holds.

[AutisticPersona]

The Founder of Puroresu! Now that's OLD school

[SeanOfHonor]

A knife soaked in urine killed this guy? WOW

What a horrible way to die.

[AutisticPersona]

Yeah the guy who did that to him was a major dickhead

[SyxxPunk]

Apparently, it was the yakuza, but don't quote me on that.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

That's arguably the most popular theory. It may have had something to do with Rikidozan's match with Masahiko Kimura.

[SyxxPunk]

Was it that they wanted Rikidozan to throw the match, or something like that?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

The original ending of the match was a draw, but something sparked Rikidozan, as he kicked Kimura's ass(as well as his head and face) legit.

[vendetta941]

Well, if that was the reason, he died with the knowledge that he kicked the ass of a man who kicked a Gracie's ass.

[Thomazbr]

the Overhand Chop Selling is awesome

[gig0n5]

Now that old school. But what were the mats made of back then?

[brocklock09]

They were boxing mats so...concrete I think.

[egg64]

Nice piece of history here SD, I also heard he was actually Korean as opposed to Japanese.

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Indeed he was. He adopted the name Mitsuhiro Momota when he first came over to Japan, and assumed that name for most of his life.

[brandensimmons1987]

great video RIP

[seb2112]

OLD SCHOOL!

[tnadrg1982]

the true legend of puroseu

[HeavyWeightGunner]

black and white thats a first for me XD!