THE TRAGEDY IN STUTTGART

Antonio Inoki vs. Roland Bock (1978)

As you know (don't you know ?) Japan is the country in the Far East, but wrestling fans of Japan know the name of a city in Germany, Stuttgart. I hear that Stuttgart is a very beautiful city and many Japanese visit there for a sight-seeing. But its name is very hateful for us, because there was a tragedy in 1978. (Of course, it's a joke of wrestling fans. Don't think it serious.)

Antonio Inoki drew with the superstar of the boxing world, Muhammad Ali, and Inoki suddenly became a famous wrestler all over the world in 1977. Roland Bock, a wrestler and a promoter in West Germany, planned a circuit featuring Inoki, and he invited Inoki to Europe in 1978. Though Inoki's schedule was very tight, he showed good fights. But he burned out his energy, and at last he lost to Roland Bock in Stuttgart. When this match was on the air in Japan, we were shocked at Bock's cruel attacks.

To tell the truth, we have hardly seen Bock's fights. But even now, wrestling fans of Japan are thinking that Bock was stronger than Horst Hoffman on account of 'the tragedy in Stuttgart'. They say that Karl Gotch who was called the dangerous man said to Inoki "Don't fight with Bock, he is very dangerous !!" I often watch the video of this match, and I am always surprised at Bock's wonderful body and his terrible Suplex. Inoki was thrown by him many times like a doll. But it was a ten-rounds match and Bock won on a decision. If it had been a Japanese-style match, Inoki would have fought at his own pace perseveringly.

Roland Bock came to Japan in 1981 and 1982, and he defeated young wrestlers easily, but at that time he was already a semi-retired wrestler. It's very regrettable that I could not see a good fight with Inoki again. I heard he retired soon afterward because of a sickness and he went to a jail as a tax dodger.