5. Rikidozan and Masahiko Kimura’s shoot fest
One of the earliest instances of shoot wrestling occurred in the 1950s during a match between Japanese legend Rikidozan and Judoka stalwart Masahiko Kimura.
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Kimura was considered the greatest Judoka in the world after defeating Gracie Ju Jitsu founder Helio Gracie at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil by breaking his arm twice with his trademark Kimura lock. Rikidozan wanted to add to his legacy in pro-wrestling by beating Kimura and invited him to a wrestling match.
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The match was supposed to end in a double count-out, but Rikidozan started shooting Kimura with stiff shots to the neck. Kimura was knocked out and Rikidozan was declared the victor.
Rikidozan was murdered by a member of Japanese Yakuza in 1963 after stabbing him with a urine infected knife. The attacker is said to have carried out the attack in retaliation for what happened in the match with Kimura, even though Kimura was cleared of any wrong-doing.
