Rikidōzan

Rikidōzan

Mitsuhiro Momota (born Kim Sin-rak; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known by the ring name Rikidōzan (力道山), was a Korean-Japanese professional wrestler and sumo wrestler (rikishi). He was known as the father of professional wrestling in Japan, nicknamed The Father of Puroresu (日本プロレス界の父), and is considered one of the most influential persons in professional wrestling history. Born in Korea under Japanese occupation, in what is now North Korea, Rikidōzan initially practiced ssireum (Korean folk wrestling) before moving to Nagasaki in order to become a professional sumo wrestler. As a member of the Nishonoseki stable, he was given the shikona Rikidōzan Mitsuhiro (力道山 光浩). Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 19 in 2024). Rikidōzan is the 27th most popular wrestler (down from 14th in 2024). (up from 1,186th in 2019)