27 replies to this topic

[KnuxieChan]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I originally posted this at another UM board, and I thought I would post it here for the people who haven't been able to read ur get the UM volume 5 manga. ^^ No spoilers in this topic, so don't worry.

Hope you guys like it!

I was reading Volume 5 of the UM manga and saw the note Yudetamago made. It's quite interested.

"On January 31st of 1999, Giant Baba passed away to eternal sleep. Since elementary school, I loved his large-scale un-Japanese pro wrestling matches. That's why, in "Kinnikuman", many Chojin wrestlers based of Baba's foreign wrestling rivals made appearances. Terryman was passed on Terry Funk, Robin Mask was Bill Robinson, Buffaloman was Bruiser Brody, and so on.. I also drew Suguru, who appears in "Ultimate Muscle" to look similar to Baba. To Baba in heaven, "Thank you for all the dreams.."

[Note: Giant Baba was a legendary Japanese wrestler and the founder of All-Japan Pro Wrestling. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he hosted a wrestling program on the Nippon Television Network and appeared on countless TV shows and commercials. He is credited with reinvigorating Japanese wrestling and bringing flamboyant American-style showmanship to the Japanese rung]"

Giant Baba - He was 6'10" and 330lbs! O.O
Terry Funk I'm glad Terryman's cuter O_O;
Bruiser Brody - XD.. He's Mexican.. heheheh..

(Ignore the chicks on the side)

[Zombie]

That's interesting. I didn't know Robin Mask was influenced by Billy Robinson or that UM Suguru was supposed to look like Giant Baba. Is there a list anywhere of who everyone was supposed to be/was influenced by?

[Knuxman]

well, I know kenkaman/neptuneman was based off of Hulk Hogan.

[Stinger Wolf]

Yes, not only Hogan for Neptune Man, but also Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody....The late 70's and early 80's, the popular foreign pro wrestlers that wrestled in Japan had a pretty big influence on the characters of Kinnikuman. Not only with the Funks, Hansen, Brody, Hogan, Robinson, there were also Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah the Butcher, the Shiek, Verne Gagne, Chavo Guerrero, etc...They may not have been a huge character in the Kinnikuman story but still an influence. And Hogan was huge in Japan long before the Rocky 3 and his second time around in the WWF and got lazy. So don't believe sh**head McMahon Jr. being the one who made Hogan.

[Kendaman]

I knew this already from a volume where it had the characters standing next to the wrestlers they had been based on, but I didn't know their names or anything about them, thanks MARS

[Zombie]

Hey Stinger Wolf, could you perhaps make a list of which Kinnikuman characters were influenced by which real wrestler? For example, which characters specifically were influenced by Dory Funk Jr., Stan Hansen (wasn't quite sure if were you saying Hansen was a part of Neptune Man or if he was another character altogether?), Verne Gange, and Chavo Guerrero? Also, was any character based on Andre the Giant?

Edited by Zombie, 25 March 2005 - 02:18 PM.

[Stinger Wolf]

Just Terry, not Dory. I was thinking of the who was popular back then. Didn't mean to group both of them together. As for Hansen, he's grouped with Neptune Man. I'll Compile a list over the weekend.

[Zombie]

Just Terry, not Dory. I was thinking of the who was popular back then. Didn't mean to group both of them together. As for Hansen, he's grouped with Neptune Man. I'll Compile a list over the weekend.

Cool, I look forward to it.

[Slowhand]

All I know is that Terryman aged better than Terry Funk

[Knuxman]

All I know is that Terryman aged better than Terry Funk

well, age didn't have too much to do with the funker's aged look. I'd be willing to bet that getting his face torn most of the way off over the years might have had a little to do with it, lol.

[Slowhand]

All I know is that Terryman aged better than Terry Funk 

well, age didn't have too much to do with the funker's aged look. I'd be willing to bet that getting his face torn most of the way off over the years might have had a little to do with it, lol.

You think?! I was making a joke.

P.S. Terryman's gone through a bunch of crap too lol.

[Mr.Monster]

When I read about older wrestling and in this case Bruiser Brody, it depresses me. I used to watch Brody in the National Wrestling/Georgia Championship region when I was very young (a little older than 5 probably) with my Dad and brother. We (my brother and I especially) loved wrestling at that time, at least until the NWA became WCW. We now watch all the classic stuff on DVD but never turn on the WWE b/c it just sucks, IMO, compared to the classics. I'm starting to sound like my parents about things....

[KnuxieChan]

Sadly, I don't know any other wrestlers they based the Kinnikuman characters off of. My dad said Mars sort of reminded him of Kaine(sp?) when he had a mask. (Most of the KinNisei characters were sent in by fans)

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my post though ^^

[Knuxman]

I'll throw out what I know.

Beauty Lotus = Dusty Rhodes
something Steamboard = Ricky Steamboat
Kenkaman/neptuneman = Hulkster
Terryman = Terry Funk
super von elrich (MUSCLE 233) = a mix of several Von Erichs
Dynamite Piper = Roddy Piper
dMp = loosely nWo based

that's all I can think of.
Good topic, chibi mars!

[MissMothra]

Hehee, brace yourselves. I got comments...

Okay, Terryman is a LOT beter looking than Terry Funk, even when he's an old fart, he still kicks arse.

Buffaloman, I hate to admitt, is better looking than the Mexican dude. Now, this is my opinion, but he wouldn't look so bad with a sweet mullet. XD j/k If I offended you.

Giant Baba and King Muscle... hmm... *branstorms, brain farts* No comment. XD Although, King Muscle in the past, wasn't exactly the bad-looker, but when he's an old fart, he looks like my old band director, mr. Armstrong. XD! Not bad to be casting if there was a live-action movie. XD!

This information wasn't all that stunning, but Neptuneman looked SO familiar and Hulk Hogan's name was on the tip of my tongue. Thanks for jogging my memory.

Edited by Beefcake_Pyro, 27 March 2005 - 10:16 AM.

[Mr.Monster]

Bruiser Brody wasn't Mexican, he was from New Mexico....

[Stinger Wolf]

Yeah! The NWA and Georgia territory, right on!
Okay, It's a bit late, but here's the list of characters that were influenced from actual pro wrestlers....Just to let everyone know, that most of these characters were from the early storyline in the original Kinnikuman series. And that some only appeared for maybe 1 or 2 pages, if that. There will be some that were influenced by either name, looks, style or all the above(did that make sense?) I'm not listing the obvious because you guys(and gal) already know them...

Abdullah - Abdullah the Buther
Skyman - Mil Mascaras
God Von Erich - Fritz Von Erich
Shiek - The Shiek(Sabu's uncle, if you know Sabu)
Beauty Rhodes - Dusty Rhodes
Mouko Seijin - Tiger Jeet Singh
Apollo the Giant - Andre the Giant
Chavo Kerori - Chavo Guerrero Sr.
Gagne Mask - Verne Gagne
Hulk Dougan - Hulk Hogan (Dougan appeared long before Kenkaman/Neptune Man made an appearance)
Bob Winkle - Nick Bockwinkle
Jessie Maybia - Peter Maiavia
Jeanne Stimboard - Ricky Steamboat
Dynamite Piper - Roddy Piper

Did I miss any???

Have a goodnight.

[Zombie]

Cool, thanks for that list. Most of them seem really obvious looking at the names, but I've never read the manga. The Dynamite Piper character, is he at all influenced by the Dynamite Kid as well or is it just a coincidence that he has dynamite in his name?

[Stinger Wolf]

No problem.
Hard to say if Dynamite Piper was partially influenced by Kid. The reason I say this is becasue I can't recall Dynamite Kid wrestling in Japan back in 1980. Only from 1982-1985. Also Dynamite Piper wore checkered patterned trunks in the manga book. Roddy Piper at one time wore plaid patterned trunks in like the early 80's.

[Zombie]

Ah, it sounds like the character was solely based on Piper then. Dynamite Kid was wrestling in Japan around that time, but I am not sure if he was very popular. He did have some title matches against Tatsumi Fujinami in 1980, so I assume he was at least somewhat respected. Is there any reason that it appears only gaijin wrestlers were used as the basis for characters? I assume that Kinnikuman fights most of these guys, so was it just a matter of not wanting one Japanese hero, Kinnikuman, to fight with other Japanese heroes?

[Stinger Wolf]

I believe you're correct on the Kinnikuman vs a Japanese wrestler theory. For the longest time, it was always the big foreign heel going up against the Japanese star, whether it be Baba or Inoki. However, there was a little match between Baba and Inoki in one of the early Kinnikuman manga.
Yeah, I couldn't recall about Dynamite Kid at that time. Thanks for the info that he was wrestling there in 1980.

[doc_moore_j]

Sort of off subject, but do you guys know who that retired Wrestler is who slaps the shizznit out of you for good luck? Last time I was in Japan I was watching a show about this dude. People would wait in line and for good luck would let this guy reel back and whack you one in the face real hard. I watched some tiny Japanese girls start balling and fall to the ground and shizznit. This guy was not holding anything back. I could not decide whether it was terrible, or terribly funny since after all they wanted him to do it.

[Stinger Wolf]

Heh, heh, heh...Isn't that crazy? Antonio Inoki is the guy. I personally don't care for him

[Zombie]

Sort of off subject, but do you guys know who that retired Wrestler is who slaps the shizznit out of you for good luck?  Last time I was in Japan I was watching a show about this dude.  People would wait in line and for good luck would let this guy reel back and whack you one in the face real hard.  I watched some tiny Japanese girls start balling and fall to the ground and shizznit.  This guy was not holding anything back.  I could not decide whether it was terrible, or terribly funny since after all they wanted him to do it.

hahaha, that's hilarious. What's the history behind the slapping=good luck? Does he laugh after slapping them or does he just maintain a calm composure or what?

Edited by Zombie, 28 March 2005 - 02:00 PM.

[Zombie]

Haha, well, I guess I found the answer to my question by doing a search and coming across a hilarious thread, "Who's crazier? Dana White or Antonio Inoki?"

Inoki likes to slap people. It's one of his tradmearks - the Toukon Slap. He does it to pro wrestlers,fighters,even fans. It's to transfer his fighting spirit or some such nonsense. Watching him do it to Coleman was effing hilarious. It's just something he does. He's just bonkers.

http://forum.kakutou...hread.php?t=507

Other Inoki gems mentioned in that thread:

Without going into serious details (as that would take FAR too long) here's a few highlights:

In the mid 1970s Inoki bought an American pro wrestling company (the NWF) so hecouldpreend he was a 'world' Champion. It failed. He ws so obsessed with this he revived the NWF belt on more than one occasion over the next 30 years or so.

During the 1980s Inoki ran for Mayor of Tokyo. He was doing very badly and lo and behold was forced to dropout of the race after being 'stabbed' at a campaign rally, thereby avoiding a humiliating defeat. It sounds pretty outrageous that someone would fake something like that but the idea was floated in the excellent film 'Bob Roberts' and may well have hapened in the last Taiwanese presidential election too. At the time even the biggest hospitals used to go along with pro wrestling storylines and actually admit patients who had ben 'injured' by their rivals. Not saying this story is true but if anyone could have done it Inoki could.

Also during the 1980s, Inoki embezzled money from New Japan Pro Wrestling. When discovered he put the blame on his business manager Hisashi Shinma. Shinma then went on to form the UWF, a company that was instrumental in the growthof shoot style pro wrestling and later MMA in Japan.

Inoki served a term as a Senator in Japan's upper house of parliament. And had one of the worst attendance records in history.

In 1995 he put on the World Wrestling PeaceFestival in Pyongyang, North Korea. This was the most well attended pro wrestling event ever as it was free and Inoki of course beat Ric Flair in the man event on the first night. This escapade involved Inoki working with Kim Jong Il, the most disgusting dictator since Stalin.

As part of the first Inoki Jungle Fight show he dived into the Amazon River and got bitten on the toe by a pirahna fish.

At Inoki Bom Ba Ye 2003 he parachuted into the stadium. He also came out of retirement and did an un-advertised 'fight' with New Japan legend Tatsumi Fujinami. If Inoki had announced this beforehand it would have got MAJOR media play and might have saved that event from disaster.

In his official retirement match from pro wrestling, he beat Don Frye. When Frye was a BIG pro wrestling star. How mad is that?

He once slapped Mark Coleman round the face at a Bom BaYe show.

A couple of years ago (2002 I think) one of the biggest things on that year's Bom Ba Ye show was Inoki 'leg wrestling' people. And he expected people to watch this. On New Years Eve when everyone in Japan was watchng the Kohaku show.

Inoki routinely books New Japan pro wrestlers in fights for Pride and K-1,and they routinely lose. This has been a MAJOR factor in the collapse of the Japanese pro wrestling industry as pro wrestling fans (who make up a big proportion of the MMA fanbase too) constantly see their heroes twatted by real fighters. And who does Inoki blame for the collapse of the prow restling business? The wrestlers.

In short, Inoki is, and always has been, as mad as a nail.

Most aren't so much funny as just stupid, but it gives more insight into this crazy fellow.

Edited by Zombie, 28 March 2005 - 02:14 PM.