Rikidōzan

(born Kim Sin-rak; ; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known as Rikidōzan (力道山), was a Korean-born Japanese wrestler who competed in sumo and professional wrestling. He was known as The Father of Puroresu, and one of the most influential persons in professional wrestling history. Initially, he had moved from his native country Korea to Japan to become a rikishi (sumo wrestler). He was credited with bringing the sport of professional wrestling to Japan at a time when the Japanese needed a local hero to emulate and was lauded as a national hero. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, becoming the first Korean inductee and the third puroresu star to be inducted after Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami. He was killed in a street fight with a member of the Sumiyoshi-ikka in 1963. Rikidōzan was born Kim Sin-rak in Kankyō-nan, Chōsen (now South Hamgyong, North Korea), on November 14, 1924. He was the youngest son of Kim Soktee, the owner of a Korean farm with a Confucian tradition, and his wife Chon Gi. When his father fell ill, Sin-rak tended to him, while his mother and older brothers tended to the farm. Kim participated in ssireum in his youth, and after placing third in a local competition spoke to Minosuke Momota. The father-in-law of a Japanese man from Omura who had moved to North Korea to become a policeman, Momota was interested in sumo and supported the Nishonoseki stable. He had recruited several Korean boys for the stable, and persuaded him to join as well. However, his family refused to let him go to Japan, due to his responsibility to care for his father. However, after Kim Sok-tee's death in 1939, Sin-rak left for Japan the following year over his mother's objections. Joining the Nishonoseki stable, Kim debuted in June 1940. At first, his Korean origins were indicated on sumo ranking sheets, and he received harassment and racial discrimination for this. However, he was adopted by Momota and took the name Mitsuhiro Momota, and a story was fabricated that he had been born in Omura, Nagasaki.