JNN 28 Dec 2012 ISLAMABAD:   Prominent Japanese Wrestler and also the Previous champion of the United States’ professional wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Antonio Inoki has converted to Islam. 

According to our correspondent , the retired champion, who is on a visit to Pakistan, has recently converted to Islam and has changed his name to Muhammad Hussein.

Antonio Inoki, a former Japanese professional wrestler, arrived in Pakistan on late on Friday to participate in an international wrestling competition .

Talking to reporters at the Benazir International airport in Islamabad upon his arrival, Inoki said that he was visiting Pakistan as part of the 60-year celebrations of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Japan.

Our Correspondent  added that during the brief press talk, the Japanese wrestler revealed that he had accepted Islam and that his Muslim name was “Muhamamd Hussain”.

Inoki, who has previously visited Pakistan to take on late wrestler Akram, reminisced that the Japanese wrestler had managed to break the Pakistani challenger’s arm. Inoki said that he would visit the graves of late wrestlers Gama and Akram and pay his respects.

The Japanese wrestler has also brought a two-tonne wrestling ring with him and will be training some young wrestlers in the Month of December.

Before the press conference ended though, the veteran wrestler wound back his right arm and then gave air a powerful right-hook as he shouted “Pakistan zindabad”.

He came more to the Hall of fame , when he challenged the Boxing King of that Era , The World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion The Great Muhammad ali accepted the challenge by the Japanese Wrestler to fight in Japan , when Japan and US has strange relations , as due to the US economic Policies and  when Tricky Dicky took the US dollar off the gold standard, causing massive appreciation of the yen and ruining the Japanese export market. The US had only relinquished administrative control of Okinawa to Japan in 1972 , as that was the time when Antonio Inoki was famous World Wide , But the fight was disaster between the two ,as one was a Wrestler and the other a Boxer , and there was no real fight between the skills of the two.

Inoki was born on February 20, 1943, in the Japanese city of Yokohama and is the founder of the New Japan Pro Wrestling.

He became a champion in the United States in 2010. On February 1, 2010, WWE announced that Inoki would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010, making him the first ever Japanese person to receive the induction.