Current News In The Mat World
(Issue 11, 1972)
Bringing out The Sheik is impressive! Giant Baba, who has been showing his skills in All Japan, suddenly pulled off a big match in Honolulu, Hawaii, surprising everyone involved with Japan Pro.
It was on September 20th. The venue was the Honolulu International Center, and the opponent was none other than "The Arabian Monster, The Sheik." Of all people, the choice of The Sheik, who had just been invited by Japan Pro Wrestling at the beginning of September to fight two consecutive title matches with Sakaguchi, was widely acclaimed as a typical Baba revenge. If that were all there would be nothing to say, but at that time Baba was answering an international telephone interview with a certain newspaper company and he said, "Did I have plans to work with Sheikh? No, it was a sudden decision. I really wanted to work with him, so I called him from Detroit."
That caused a big stir.
At first glance, this response seems like a very obvious one, but upon careful consideration, this statement has great significance as generally speaking, The Sheik is a big name among big names, and the most difficult to come by. Japan Pro had chased him for three years, and he rejected them once, but they finally succeeded in inviting him. Baba casually saying, "I invited Sheik to Hawaii," means that Baba's skills are terrifying. I don't know if it was a phone call or a telegram, but it's a fact that he has the power to attract a big name like Sheik. Of course, there are rumors at ringside (and some of it is out of jealousy) that "this match was decided beforehand", but Baba is not the type to make careless remarks, and he is probably saying this because he is that confident. What's more, Baba also said, "Maybe I'll have a rematch with Sheik in Tokyo..." either way, Baba's comments are likely to have big implications for the future.
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