(NOAH) Rikidozan

"Rikidozan" is a biographical film about the Korean sumo wrestler, who bought Puroresu to Japan. No matter what genre of puro you like whether it be Kings Road, Strong Style, Deathmatch etc - Rikidozan is the father, without him, there would be no Puro.

The film was made in 2004, and Mitsuo Momota (Rikizodan's son) worked on the film as in an advisory role, so naturally as he worked for the company at the time, there were some Noah wrestlers in it (as well as others such as Keiji Mutoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Shinya Hashimoto and Rick Steiner).

Plot
The film details the life of Rikidozan, from a bullied Korean wrestler, training to be a sumo, to his rise as a pro-wrestler, how he bought puro to Japan, his superstardom, the affects on him and everyone around him, and his death after being stabbed by a urine soaked blade in a nightclub.
It also details his tragically sad relationship with his wife, a young musician who he meets one day in an air raid shelter, who ends up just as tragically as he does and is probably the only person in his life to love him for who, not what, he is; his children are never mentioned (although his grandson, Chikhara Momota, does appear in the film).

Noah involvement
Kōkichi Endō: Jun Akiyama
(Wrestler and executive board member for Japan Pro-Wrestling Association, died 1981)

Toyonobori: Muhammad Yone
(Sumo wrestler turned pro-wrestler, died 1998)

Wrestler: Makoto Hashi

Wrestler: Go Shiozaki

The clip above is taken from the most prominent scene with three Noah wrestlers in it. From left: Jun Akiyama, Mohammed Yone (looking alarmingly like Takashi Sugiura) and Makoto Hashi. 

Jun Akiyama vs Mohammed Yone in a demonstration match held for the visiting Emperor of Japan and the Crown Prince (Makoto Hashi can be seen to the left). Rikidozan was not impressed with their performance, and got in the ring and beat the hell out of Toyonobori (Yone). This made the young Crown Prince cry and the Emperor angry as it was so brutal (I bet KENTA is glad that when Kobashi smacked him on the head for messing up during a demonstration, it was only Samurai TV in attendance).

Try as I might, I cannot find footage of Go Shiozaki anywhere in the film, although he listed as being in it. Sadly there are no clips of Noah wrestlers in anything on the extras disc, save one of Mohammed Yone in a parade, and a small one of Jun Akiyama standing watching footage on a monitor.