Melee 130-kan Carnera's Lightning Attack

Weekly Pro

15th September 1955

FIRST DAY

The long-awaited first match took place at 6:25 pm on July 15th at Kuramae Kokugikan*. The crowd was estimated at about 10,000 (according to the newspapers), but if you include those watching on TV, the number must have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Colorful bouquets were presented before each match, and flowers bloomed out of season in the ring, creating a spectacle unique to professional wrestling. 

Kokichi Endo vs Bud Curtis

Result: Draw

(45 minutes, three matches)

Round 1: Loss to Endo - Pin - 20 minutes 51 seconds

Round 2: Victory for Endo: Pin - 9 minutes 33 seconds

If Endo is 235 pounds, Curtis is also the same. Endo has been showing remarkable improvements in technique and speed recently, so it was expected that he would put up a good fight against Curtis, who is said to be one of the best wrestlers in the United States.

In the first round, Curtis moved quickly and attacked with Boston crabs and reverse arm grabs, then took advantage of Endo's weakness to apply a headlock and pin him down for a point. But in the second round, Endo used the ropes to slam into Curtis, knocking him down with a karate chop, and without slowing down on the offensive, he threw Curtis down, and using a neck lock, throws, dodges and a series of splashes, he quickly scored a point and brought the match to an even draw. But in the third round, both wrestlers looked quite tired, their movements and techniques became a little sluggish, and they were unable to show off their skills. As a result, there was no exciting moment for the crowd, and the match ended in a simple draw.

Ortega* vs Surugaumi*

Result: Submission

10 minutes 30 seconds

Ortega's appearance when he stepped into the ring that day, drew the attention of the entire crowd. He was a giant of 6'4" and 38kg. He stood there wearing a six tatami* paucho gown (paucho) and a sombrero on his head. His appearance was more bizarre than bizarre, and made Surugaumi's body, over 6' tall and clad in only a gown, look small and feeble. Ortega showed his famous bad boy side, landing illegal punches that the referee couldn't see, and when Surugaumi tried to pin him down, he put his right hand under him and grabbed and threw him. Even when Surugaumi tried to use the ropes to slam him, Ortega didn't flinch, and instead used it to his advantage, taking advantage of his large body without any hesitation. So Surugaumi decided to attack with punches, but the "Mexican Elephant", while taken aback, returned them with gusto, hurting Suruguami. Ortega then jumped up three feet from his grasp and landed on top of Surugaumi, locking him down.

 

The match showed Ortega's one-sided strength to the fullest, and the arena was in uproar as some of the more timid spectators screamed, fearing that Ortega's attacks would destroy Surugaumi. Ortega then became more confident and spurred on, jumping up and hurting Surugaumi, demonstrating his cruel "villain" side.   

Rikidozan & Azumafuji vs Carnera* & Kruskamp*

3 Round Tag Match

Win:Azumafuji

Foul: 20 minutes 21 seconds

Loss: Kruskamp

Loss: Rikidozan

Pinfall 29 seconds

Win: Carnera

Win: Rikidozan

Pinfall 8 minutes 58 seconds 

Loss: Kruskamp

With Azumafuji*'s first appearance, the participation of former world heavyweight boxing champion Carnera, also known as the "Moving Alps," and a tag match with Rikidozan and Kruskamp. The full house was finally in a frenzy. This was no surprise, as this was the first time such a lineup had been seen in Japan. 

Azumafuji came into the ring to replace Rikidozan at about the fifteenth minute, but his relaxed attitude was completely imposing, and even when Kruskamp grabbed his legs, he remained motionless as if rooted to the ground. The crowd was delighted by his impressive performance, which included a forearm, a kotenage, and a right-handed slam. Kruskamp was not going to stay quiet after this. He cornered Azumafuji and, despite the referee's warnings, repeatedly threw illegal punches, resulting in a disqualification. In the flesh, Carnera has good bone structure, and a muscular body of great size. He replaced Kruskamp and fought Rikidozan around the eighth minute of the first round, his bodyscissors wrapping around Rikidozan's torso, shaking him and squeezing him, and giving Rikidozan a hard time. However, at about the twelve minute mark, Rikidozan got up and landed his signaure chop on Carnera's chin, and the giant fell on to his knees on the mat, and grabbed the ropes before finally recovering. As if that wasn't enough, Carnera came charging out as soon as the second gong sounded, taking advantage of the carelessness of Rikidozan, who was still slapping hands with Azumafuji, and landed two straight right punches to the base of his neck from behind. As Rikidozan fell, Carnera then delivered a series of neck throws, finishing him off in just 29 seconds. This was a moment where Carnera's true abilities were fully displayed.

The match heated up in the third round thanks to the efforts of Rikidozan and Carnera, but Rikidozan was able to close in on Carnera with karate chops, and when Carnera seemed to be getting bored and substituted Kruskamp, ??Rikidozan also hit Kruskamp with a series of karate chops to weaken him before being substituted by Azumafuji. When it finally came down to Rikidozan and Kruskamp, ??Kruskamp became groggy after Rikidozan's karate and knee strikes, and was thrown out of the ring. When Kruskamp got up and back in, Rikidozan easily pinned him down with a body pin to take the first bout.  

SECOND DAY

The second day of the Japan-US pro wrestling match was held at Kuramae Kokugikan, with a crowd of 12,000, and it was as hot as a steam bath. The match started at 6pm, and the addition of US TV champion Orton*, who had flown in to Tokyo that day, added to the excitement. Furthermore, while the first day ended "quietly", on this day Azumafuji's face was covered in blood after Ortega's foul, and an angry Rikidozan flew into the ring to challenge Ortega, throwing the ring into a frenzy of excitement.

Toyonobori* vs Curtis

30 minute single bout

Result: Foul (20 minutes, 49 seconds) 

Toyonobori's power was superior to Curtis', but Curtis, who, as his name "Bud" suggests, had a snarky look on his face and was constantly committing fouls, making the crowd yell, "That's dirty". In contrast, had a very innocent look on his face, and even though he was at a loss as to what to do with Curtis's fouls, he continued to throw him down and attack his neck, which drew thunderous applause from the entire audience.

After being thrown around by Toyonobori, Curtis fought back with such force that the referee immediately disqualified him.   

Carnera vs Kokichi Endo 

Pinfall - 7 minutes 13 seconds

(30 minute single bout)

One newspaper wrote, "A Renault hit by a large bus," which was a good description. Endo, bursting with youth, was powerless against the "Moving Alps." No matter how many times they collided, Endo was knocked away, but nevertheless, he continued to attack Carnera relentlessly. At first when he tried to do something, Carnera grabbed Endo's legs, pulled him up and put him in a Boston Crab hold, which he managed to escape by turning around into a bridge. Endo then tried a flying kick, but Carnera didn't even flinch. After that, Carnera used his log like arms to attack Endo with a Full Nelson, and then he applied a torso hold, which Endo barely managed to escape, and then hit him with a Tomoe-nage*. Finally, when Endo used the recoil of the ropes to go for a body slam, Carnera unleashed a straight right, and hit Endo in the face. Endo fell from the blow, but Carnera quickly went for the pin.

Azumafuji vs Ortega

Won by penalty - 9 minutes, 17 seconds

(Three rounds, 45 minutes)

Ortega, who at first glance seemed to be very sure of himself, often landed straight right punches on Azumafuji's crotch, and Azumafuji responded with slaps, showing off his heavyweight boxing skills. However, Ortega, who was faster than Azumafuji, was able to advance the match to his advantage, but he got too cocky and started pulling Azumafuji's hair, poking his face with his fingers, and making frequent fouls, so Azumafuji, as expected, could no longer bear it and ferociously grappled him and attacked with saba-ori* and other moves. This left Azumafuji's face covered in fresh blood, creating a gruesome scene, but Ortega, frenzied by the sight of the blood, chased Azumafuji as he retreated to the ropes, continuing to land punches at the wound and, despite the referee's attempts to stop him, carrying out violent illegal attacks. Rikidozan, who was watching from the runway, was furious at this. As soon as he took off his gown, he lept into the ring, and landed a karate chop on Ortega. While Azumafuji was anxious to see what would happen, the crowd rose to their feet and applauded, roaring "Yeeee, Yay!". Ortega was surprised by this attack and fled the ring in a groggy state, resulting in a double disqualification. What's strange is that this match was supposed to be a best-of-three, and while Azumafuji's first win by disqualification is fine, I wonder what would have happened after that. If Azumafuji had withdrawn due to injury, it would have been a no-contest, or an easy loss for Azumafuji, but there are often such uncertainties in pro wrestling.

Rikidozan & Surugaumi vs Orton & Kruskamp

2-1

(Best of 3 tag match)  

Rikidozan pins Orton (19 minutes, 37 seconds)

Orton pins Surugaumi (10 minutes, 18 seconds)

Rikidozan pins Kruskamp (2 minutes, 35 seconds)

Rikidozan was very angry. Since it was the latter half of the match, he was excited from the start, and as soon as he jumped in, he threw Orton, and when he was taken aback by that, he performed a hammer throw, and the Champion of the Midwestern United States was left in the dust. But Orton was a skilled wrestler, gradually turning around the disadvantage he had at the start of the match, fighting back with his signature armlock, giving Rikidozan a rough time before handing the match over to Kruskamp. Kruskamp pulled Rikidozan into his corner, and together with Orton, they continued to launch illegal attacks when the referee wasn't looking. At this point, Rikidozan became angry, and he knocked Kruskamp down with a flurry of karate punches, knocked Orton, who was on the apron, down to the ground, and when he climbed back up, Surugaumi jumped into the ring and a melee brawl broke out. In the midst of this, Rikidozan grabbed Kruskamp and pinned him, scoring a point. With one point down, the American wrestlers went on the attack, with Orton landing a punch aimed at Surugaumi's stomach. Rikidozan got involved, but in the end they focused their attacks on the weakened Surugaumi, lifting him high into the air before dropping him and getting the pin, bringing the score to 1 - 1. In the finals, Rikidozan went wild with body slams and karate chops, and ended up by crushing Kruskamp by slamming the two American's heads together, and then pinning him in an instant. With this ending, the audience was so satisfied that they showered cushions on him*, making the second day feel like a one-man show by Rikidozan.   

THIRD DAY

Despite the heat, the third day of the Japan-US professional wrestling event at Kuramae Kokugikan attracted a crowd of about 13,000, even more than the first and second days. The show started at 6:30pm. The duel between Rikidozan and Carnera was the highlight of the day, and was much anticipated, but it ended rather abruptly, and the match between Endo and Azumafuji vs Orton and Curtis ended on a bad note, resulting in a widespread annoyance. 

Surugaumi vs Kruskamp

(Single bout, 30 minutes)

Result: Foul (20 minutes, 25 seconds)

Kruskamp, an old man with a bald head like a sea monster, vigorously attacked Surugaumi, but suffered from a chokehold in return. At such times, he was quite skilled at trying to escape by rhythmically kicking his legs, and when he did finally escape, he countered with an arm grab and responded to a knifehand strike with a punch, making for a very lively match. However, when Surugaumi grabbed Kruskamp's head and slammed him against the ropes, and attacked him with a hammer throw as he stumbled, Kruskamp became so angry that he wrapped Surugaumi's neck between the ropes and shook them. Even though the referee, Turk*, tried to stop him, he continued to shake him and was eventually disqualified.

 

Ortega vs Toyonobori

(30 minutes bout)

Result: Ortega via pinfall (7 minutes, 55 seconds)

There was delight when Toyonobori used his strength to repeatedly twist and knock Ortega down, it was a great success. Furthermore, when Ortega sneaked past the referee and threw a punch at his face, as if to show him a perfect example of a foul, Toyonobori threw the big Ortega wildly using the technique and strength he had honed in his sumo training. It was a spectacular display. However, Toyonobori is still no match for Ortega in terms of technique, and as Ortega's attacks gradually gained power, his own decreased and he was was thrown to the mat, before he falls to Ortega's body slam and airplane spin.    

Rikidozan vs Carnera

2-0

(Three rounds)

RESULT: Rikidozan win via foul, 6 minute 38 seconds 

RESULT: Rikidozan win via pinfall, 1 minute 30 seconds 

Rikidozan seemed a little overwhelmed by the size of the "Moving Alps", so he was tormented by Carnera's head and arm chokes, making the Japanese fans nervous. Rikidozan finally found an opportunity to strike back, and beat Carnera hard with his signature karate chops. Carnera responded by throwing straight punches, and even as Rikidozan cornered him and tried to escape from the ring, he continued to hit him with his knuckles, so the referee declared Rikidozan the winner by disqualification.   

From the start of the second match, Carnera also went for a strong straight attack, to which Rikidozan responded with a barrage of karate chops, resulting in an intense exchange of blows that had the entire crowd on edge. Then Rikidozan made good use of the ropes to go for a counter attack, which caused Carnera to lose momentum and fall onto his back, hitting the back of his head on the tin mat*. As a result, Rikidozan easily went for the pin, and the match ended in an abrupt one minute and thirty seconds. 

Orton & Curtis vs Kokichi Endo & Azumafuji

Tag match 61 minutes 

Curtis pins Endo (15 minutes, 29 seconds)

Azumafuji pins Curtis (9 minutes, 8 seconds)

Orton pins Endo (3 minutes, 10 seconds) 

Azumafuji was using iodine on the head injury that Ortega had given him the day before, and he was in pretty good spirits. 

In the first round, Endo was dragged into the corner of the American team, and was beaten up by Curtis and Orton in turn, until he was completely groggy. Then Curtis pinned him. In their corner, the two of them would evade the referee's gaze, and attack with illegal punches, and when they were caught, they would skillfully switch and attack. It was the same old tactic, but it was a clever one.

 In the second round, they brought Azumafuji into the corner in the same way, and they brazenly took turns landing illegal punches on him. In response to this illegal attack, Azumafuji was fired up to land a slap on Curtis, leaving him groggy, before applying a rock drop and a pinfall.     

Things got complicated in the third round. When Endo attacked Orton with a nelson, Curtis, who was outside the ropes, pulled Endo's leg bringing him down, Orton then pinned him. While the referee was raising Orton's hand, Turk was attacked by Endo. Azumafuji also came out and started kicking Turk around too, and the crowd started yelling "What's the referee doing?" and "Didn't you see the foul!?". Eventually the police came out and surrounded the ring. Just before that, Curtis had been messing around with Endo, who was fighting Orton, and committing a foul, so Endo knocked him out of the ring with a karate chop. So it was only natural that the referee didn't see Curtis when he reached up from below the ring and pulled his leg. While Turk was protesting he didn't see anything, Orton and Curtis quickly ran off up the runway as if they didn't want to linger, so it was Endo, Azumafuji and the crowd who couldn't calm down, with everyone focused on Turk. When Turk tried to leave, the situation became chaotic, with the crowd barring his way. Then the police started chasing them off, and Turk was stuck and unable to leave. So, Turk and the Commissioner? had no choice but to hold a meeting, and announce "The referee has now declared the winner to be Curtis and Orton, but if Azumafuji and Endo make a written request, I will look into it thoroughly as the commissioner. Your requests will not be in vain, so please remain quiet".  

The situation seems to have settled with this announcement, but it left a bad taste in the mouth, but in reality it's hard to imagine such a strange ending. Since fouls are allowed up to the five-count, I don't think it's right to criticize them so seriously, but I don't approve of them using such tactics to try to steal a win. It was the most unpleasant finale of the three-day Tokyo show.              

Notes

Kuramae Kokugikan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuramae_Kokugikan 

Kokichi Endo: Born March 1926 (the article does not give a date of death for him, but it is unlikely he is still alive). He is the founder of Japanese professional wrestling together with Rikidozan, but Rikidozan is the only one remembered these days. Unlike the majority of the others, he was not a sumo, but a judoka. After the collapse of Japan Pro, he worked for New Japan, being the first wrestler to become a commentator.

Bud Curtis: American wrestler, died in 2006.

Ortega: Bull Ortega 

Surugaumi: Surugaumi Mitsuo. He retired from sumo in 1945, but entered wrestling after being approached by Rikidozan in the early 1950s. He left wrestling in 1956, after disagreements with Rikidozan, the same year as Azumafuji. He died at the ripe old age of ninety in November 2010. 

Six tatami: Room measurement, this would roughly be 286cm x 382cm. 

Primo Carnera: Italian boxer and wrestler

Kruskamp: Harold William "Hardy" Kruskamp

Azumafuji: Sumo wrestler. Crossed over to pro wrestling in 1955 and after one week was a tag team champion with Rikidozan, however, the two of them never faced each other for a title match, and after being used by Rikidozan as a bit player he retired from pro wrestling in 1958 (interestingly, Rikidozan was in Brazil at the time). He never returned to wrestling or sumo, although he did work as a sumo commentator at times. Sadly (and like most sumo) he died at the young age of 51 in 1973 of colon cancer.

Kotenage: Sumo move, the wrestler grabs one of his opponent 's hands from above and throws the opponent by resting his weight on the folded arms.

Orton: Bob Orton, the grandfather of Randy Orton

Toyonobori: Michiharu Toyonobori, a former sumo wrestler, he had wanted to join the Imperial Japanese Navy, but being born in 1931 meant that by 1947 when he was old enough, the war was over an Japan's army was disbanded. He joined Japan Pro, but fell into the murky world of gambling. Appointed a director after Rikidozan's death, and after spending a period of time as the ace, he left the running of the company (which he had no interest in) to others. He was finally fired, and given the 20 million yen he had gambled away as a severance pay, which means he didn't receive it, it was just used as it. Out of revenge, he persuaded Antonio Inoki not to return to Japan Pro, where he would be second to Baba, but to join his Tokyo Pro Wrestling, but the company collapsed within three months due to a lack of television coverage, weak marketing, and of course, his compulsive gambling with all the proceeds at the Bicycle track, which he basically snatched. His gambling debts grew, he was fired from International Pro Wrestling too, and while Rikidozan might have protected his gambling problem in the 1950s, this was now the 1970s and his creditors were after him, and he had to take jobs in manual labor just to escape them. After leaving wrestling in 1974 (seemingly following a reconciliation with Inoki) he vanished and no one knew what had become of him, saying that he was either a Yakuza bodyguard or was homeless. The sad truth was that he had developed diabetes, and was being cared for by monks at a temple. He died in 1988 of myocardial infarction at the age of 67. The funeral was private, and the general public did not know of his death until a couple of months later.

Kokichi Endo: Born March 1926 (the article does not give a date of death for him, but it is unlikely he is still alive). He is the founder of Japanese professional wrestling together with Rikidozan, but Rikidozan is the only one remembered these days. Unlike the majority of the others, he was not a sumo, but a judoka. After the collapse of Japan Pro, he worked for New Japan, being the first wrestler to become a commentator. 

Tomoe-nage: Kind of a judo throw

Saba-ori: Literally "Mackeral Folding". The name comes from the days before refrigeration and the fastest way to preserve a mackerel was by breaking its neck and draining its blood, the move, which I can best summarise as a lower back twist in wrestling, makes the opponent have a pose like a mackrel with its neck broken.

Throwing cushions: Crowds do this in Sumo following a particularly good bout.

Referee Turk: Yousef Türkiye (May 23rd 1931 - October 18th 2013). Turkish man born in Toyohara, Sakhalin Island. Raised in Japan, he spoke Japanese fluently. He had initially debuted as a pro wrestler in Japan pro in 1954. Referees in those days were both referees and wrestlers (Rikidozan did the same). However, in 1968 he was caught up in an assault case when he (along with another wrestler/sumo) assaulted The Great Togo who was planning to poach Kintaro Oki for IPW, He got out of trouble by making it look as if he had been assaulted, and while he was suspended indefinitely behind the scenes, he was rewarded for his actions. During the conflict between Baba and Inoki, he sided with Inoki. Although Inoki left JPW, he stayed on but was fired when he was found to have secretly offered Seiji Sakaguchi 10 million yen to lure Inoki to a new promotion. In 1972 he took part in New Japan's launch by working as a referee, but after a year he became estranged from Inoki. In 1978 he attempted to create a promotion called Big Japan (not related to The Great Kojika's promotion), but the plan fell through. He returned to New Japan as a referee in 1981, but got into blackmail charges in 1983, when he and Abdullah the Butcher were arrested on suspicion of blackmailing the ghostwriter of Butcher's book, "How To Make Pro Wrestling 10 Times More Enjoyable". Despite this he remained close to Inoki, and in later years worked for Real Japan. He died of heart related issues in 2013.     

Tin mat: There were no foam crash mats on the outside of the ring, sometimes corrugated iron was even used. Young boys used to use this, making Rikidozan warn them not to imitate the wrestlers.