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Prime Video has formally ordered The Greatest limited series, from executive producer Michael B. Jordan (The Creed franchise) and executive producer/showrunner Ben Watkins (Cross). Considered the first authorized scripted series about the life of Muhammad Ali done with access to his estate, The Greatest will star Jaalen Best (All American: Homecoming) as the boxing legend.

The series will feature the defining moments in Ali’s life and career — both in and out of the ring — that have been well documented as well as moments that took place outside the spotlight. The world remembers an icon, but The Greatest is about a man, a husband, a father, a brother, and a son.

It is produced by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, which has an overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios, Watkins’ Blue Monday Productions, Authentic Studios, Roc Nation, Polygram Entertainment, a Universal Music Group partner, and Grace: A Storytelling Company,...

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson comes from a family that is deeply entrenched in the history of pro wrestling. His grandfather, Peter Maivia, was a Samoan wrestler of great renown, while his father Rocky Johnson was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion. However, that is not all when it comes to Johnson’s heroic wrestling lineage, as his grandmother, the wife of Peter Maivia had a pretty storied career of her own!

Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam

Lia Maivia was one of the first female promoters in wrestling, famously in charge of promoting one of wrestling’s biggest events in Hawaii, titled ‘A Hot Summer Night‘, which brought in about 20,000 spectators on August 3, 1985. The event saw some of the biggest names in wrestling come down to Hawaii, among them Bruiser Brody, Antonio Inoki, Andre the Giant, and of course, Ric Flair, who was defending his World Heavyweight Championship title.

Ric Flair...

Muhammad Ali will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024, Variety has learned exclusively.

Ali will be inducted during the Hall of Fame ceremony taking place on April 5 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He will be inducted by his widow, Lonnie Ali. The ceremony will be livestreamed on Peacock beginning at 10 p.m. Et/9 p.m. Ct.

Ali dabbled in professional wrestling at different times in his career. He famously fought an exhibition match against Japanese pro wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in Tokyo in 1976. In the leadup to that matchup, he appeared at a Wwwf (now WWE) show, where he entered the ring and challenged Gorilla Monsoon. Ali would go on to appear as a special guest referee for the main event of WrestleMania I in 1985, which saw Hulk Hogan and Mr. T face off against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Ali also appeared...

Antonio Inoki, whose most famous moment on the world stage was an unorthodox exhibition match against boxing champion Muhammad Ali that aimed to settle which sport could beat the other, died Friday in Japan. He was 79 and no cause of death was released.

Inoki was considered a combat sports trailblazer, but also was a successful entrepreneur and politician in his native Japan, where he was one of the country’s most famous people.

In wrestling-mad Japan, Inoki was considered its most important star, selling out countless arenas and stadiums from the 1970s and on. He was also the first Japanese wrestler to win the WWF championship and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

But all that was a prelude to the Ali exhibition on June 26, 1976, when Inoki took on the champion in a bout that was a precursor to today’s mixed martial arts matches.

In addition...

Gene Lebell, who had an acting and stunt career that stretched from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet to 24 and who the WWE called today “a towering figure in the world of martial arts,” has died. He was 89.

Lebell reportedly had more than 1,000 TV and movie credits, mostly as a stuntman, but also as a heavy, often a fight referee and sometimes a colorful background character. Dubbed “The Godfather of Grappling,” he faced off onscreen against Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Lee. He refereed Muhammad Ali’s infamous fight against Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki. Holding a 10th degree red belt in Judo and a 9th degree black belt in Ju-jitsu, helped train everyone from Lee to Norris to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Ronda Rousey.

“Gene was the guy who taught Bruce Lee about grappling,” according to comedian, podcaster and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.

The duo...

Watch the trailer for season-premiere episode about Brian Pillman here

TheWrap is tagging itself in to debut the trailer for the two-hour “Dark Side of the Ring” Season 3 premiere episode, which centers on the life and death of Brian Pillman — but that’s not all. We can also exclusively reveal the people and storylines chronicled in the back half of the season, when the WWF Steroid Trials and The Plane Ride From Hell get the Vice TV treatment, among other pro-wrestling subjects.

But first up is Pillman, who clawed his way to infamy by playing an unpredictable and outrageous character dubbed “The Loose Cannon.” His unwavering commitment to a 24/7 performance put Pillman on a path to self-destruction that left his family in financial and emotional ruin.

Watch the trailer for Pillman’s episode via the video above.

The second half of the season, which kicks off in late summer, will also include the Steroid Trials,...

Gavin Jasper Nov 2, 2018

Whether real or fake, sometimes WWE's world champ has to give up their belt. From Antonio Inoki to Roman Reigns, here are 33 examples.

Making the championship vacant is something that pops up every now and then in all promotions for a variety of reasons. Like with the current situation with Roman Reigns, real life disaster can get in the way of pre-planned storytelling and it can’t be helped. Other times it comes from politics. Then there’s many instances where vacating a title is nothing more than a planned plot device. Maybe you want to dethrone a wrestler without them truly losing. Maybe you want to build up a rematch without having the title actually change hands. Or maybe you just want to add more interest by making a scenario where multiple wrestlers have an opportunity to be crowned the undisputed champion.

Here’s a...

japantimes.co.jp

Antonio Inoki is perhaps the most famous Japanese professional wrestler of all time. Inoki started his career in 1960, when he was only 17. He would later found New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972 — arguably the most successful Japanese promotion there is. Furthermore, Inoki famously battled boxing legend Muhammad Ali in a lackluster contest in 1976 — a battle that would be a spiritual precursor to the sport of mixed martial arts.

On August 4th, 1995, Inoki — along with his New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion and a handful of World Championship Wrestling stars — held a historic event in Pyongyang, North Korea. The infamously sheltered and closed-off country played home to a historic two day wrestling spectacle that was later broadcast on American pay-per-view, courtesy of WCW.

Now, nearly two decades later, Inoki has returned to Pyongyang to deliver an equally historic sporting event. North Korea’s relations with Japan are notoriously poor, and...

It's the kinda thing that blew up in Dennis Rodman's face -- but WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas is throwing his name in the ring for a new wrestling gig ... in North Korea. The event -- announced Monday -- will be held August in Pyongyang, and although the lineup hasn't been revealed ... Atlas says he'd proudly lace up his boots for a match ... even though he's 70 Years Old!Tony, aka Mr. USA, sees it as his patriotic duty,...

Once per generation there comes a point wherein United States-based professional wrestling fans become aware of talents based in Japan whose in-ring gifts create a physical charisma that allows them the ability to succeed in America. With World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) apparently quite close to signing well-respected Pro Wrestling Noah star Kenta, this generation’s most dynamic Japanese superstar is about to finally reach American shores.

In the 1970s, it was The Great Kabuki, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba who filled the role of Pacific Rim names of note, Japanese grapplers following in the tradition of the legendary Rikidozan who first brought the American spectacle of pro wrestling to the Land of the Rising Sun. The 80s and early 90s featured a plethora of talents like Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki having brief runs in Us-based promotions, though no Japanese (let’s extend that to all non-Americans) wrestler was more iconic than the Great Muta.

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The wrestling world was enormously shocked this week with news of the sudden death of Jim “Ultimate Warrior” Hellwig.

It’s amazing to consider that his career in the WWF could have taken such a different path had he gone to Japan as a headliner. Eerily, his speech at the 2014 Hall of Fame and subsequent Monday Night Raw contain numerous dark premonitions about his life. His impressive win record over top opponents is unlikely to be matched again. Most surprisingly, his lawsuits have uncovered a secret 1997 WWF deal that almost brought Warrior into the Attitude-era mix.

Here are the four incredible secrets and facts about The Ultimate Warrior’s career.

4. Ultimate Warrior’s Nearly Had A Completely Different Career In Japan

WWE.com

The Ultimate Warrior only had two matches in Japan. However, he nearly had an entire career.

In 1987, New Japan Pro Wrestling wanted to create a fresh foreign star.

WWE.com

The 2014 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony is this Saturday, and another group of inductees, headlined by the Ultimate Warrior, will join the ranks of wrestling’s greatest men and women. But there are still numerous deserving wrestlers who have not yet been inducted.

Here is a list of 15 of those wrestlers, tag teams, or factions that deserve to be in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Keep in mind that this list has been compiled according to WWE’s criteria for what constitutes a deserving addition to an “elite” group that includes Koko B. Ware but not Frank Gotch. There are going to be a lot of names not included that many will feel are more deserving of inclusion, and they should check out the list of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Famers or the Wrestling Observer Hall of Famers.

Here is the extensive criteria for those who will not make this list.

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On the heels of WrestleMania 30, WWE will be taking it to the extreme at their sixth annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Given the PG aspirations of WWE in recent years, however, the action won’t nearly be as “extreme” as when the term was coined in the more violent, hard-hitting 1990s.

WWE considers gratuitous chairshots and bloodletting too extreme for TV nowadays, but such excesses were a necessary evil when they first rose to notoriety, insists a man who personified the era.

“Extreme rules, hardcore wrestling — whatever they want to call it — was born out of a necessity to survive,” said the hardcore legend Terry Funk, who revolutionized the business. “In Ecw, hardcore wrestling wasn’t done just for the fun of it. It was done for a purpose, for a reason. And for me, it was done to exist and produce a revenue for my family.

What’s in a name? In the wrestling business, a name means a lot. A good name could make a performer stand out from his or her peers while a bad name could kill your career faster than you can say Mantaur or Beaver Cleavage. It’s important to have a name that sounds like a star or at least doesn’t sound awful.

Recently in WWE, they have decided to change the names of two current midcard stars. One of them is actually going to be in the main event of Elimination Chamber. The two people are Antonio Cesaro, who is now going by just Cesaro and Big E Langston, who is just Big E now. The changes happened on Tuesday.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer it was a Vince McMahon decision. The report notes that somebody within WWE thought “Antonio” sounded like the name of...

Monday night Raw 18th March, 2002. A three way match is being contested for the now defunct Hardcore Championship. The ring is a mess, garbage cans, road signs, kendo sticks, bodies are littered amongst the ring but that is before the real devastation is truly about to begin. From out of the crowd appears this monster, the size of a heavyweight and with the agility of a cruiserweight he performs his repertoire of devastating moves, laying waste to the three participants. Stood in the ring amongst the carnage ex Ecw boss Paul Heyman raises the beasts hand. The The Next Big Thing has arrived.

The next big thing had most certainly arrived, although Lesnars career was a short one it was a highly accomplished and rewarding. He captured the WWE Championship no less than three times, became the youngest competitor ever to hold the title (at the time) won the King of the Ring...

Japanese distribution company BittersEnd has uploaded the theatrical trailer for Jinsei Tsuji‘s Acacia, which premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 18, 2009.

Legendary professional wrestler Antonio Inoki stars as, appropriately enough, an ex-professional wrestler named Daimajin. Now an old man—albeit a really tough old man—he works as a guard at a small apartment complex and lives with the regret that he never gave his son the love and affection that he should have. One day, he meets a young boy named Takuro (Ryoga Hayashi) who seems to be a troublemaker for everyone but him. The two strike up a friendship, learning from each other and eventually gaining the courage to face the problems they have with their respective families.

“Acacia” will be publicly released in Japan on June 12, 2010.

Source: YouTube...

Antonio Inoki, Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, is the latest superstar to join the WWE Hall of Class of 2010. World Wrestling Entertainment made the proclamation on February 1, though the official announcement was made last Tuesday during a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, making Inoki the first ever Japanese to receive the induction. WWE's Ed Wells presented a Hall of Fame certificate to Inoko, who was then recognized on this week's WWE Monday Night Raw.