"He was very legendary not only in Japan" - WWE veteran Dutch Mantell pays tribute to the late Antonio Inoki after he passes away at 79 (Exclusive)
Dutch Mantell paid tribute to the late Antonio Inoki, who passed away at the age of 79, earlier this week.
Antonio Inoki is the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling and is regarded as one of the pioneers of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Speaking on the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk, Mantell recalled his brief meeting with Inoki back in the day and said he was a nice man.
The former on-screen WWE manager stated that Inoki was a legendary figure not just in Japan but in the entire wrestling business all over the world.
"I never worked for his company. I always worked for like [Giant] Baba and another shoot company, whatever it was, they like to kill me. But I met him one time, very nice guy, very nice man. I don't know if he could speak English or not, I'd have said 'Hello' and he said 'Hello', we were in a position where we could just say hello to each other. But he was very legendary not only in Japan in the wrestling business but in wrestling all over the world." said Mantell. (2:46 to 3:18)
Watch the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk:
Dutch Mantell recalled Antonio Inoki putting together a historic event in North Korea
On the same episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk, Dutch Mantell recalled Antonio Inoki putting together a historic wrestling event in North Korea.
Decades ago, Inoki wrestled Ric Flair in North Korea, and the reported attendance for the two-night show was 165,000 and 190,000, respectively.
One of the most important figures in the history of our business, and a man who embodied the term “fighting spirit.” The legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki will live on forever.
Mantell also briefly spoke about Inoki's historic collision against legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
"Because he was the one that promoted North Korea wrestling matches with, I think they said a hundred and sixty thousand people there, I couldn't imagine that. He also had a match against Muhammad Ali, legendary match and he was a politician," added Dutch Mantell. (3:18 to 3:40)
Antonio was a polarizing figure outside of professional wrestling. He was also crowned as a WWE Champion and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
If any quotes are used from this article, please embed the YouTube video and give credit to Sportskeeda Wrestling.