QUOTE
Head-butting wrestler Kintaro Oki dies at 77
SEOUL -- Kintaro Oki, a popular South Korean-born wrestler who performed in Japan and gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for his famous head butts, died at a hospital in Seoul on Thursday. He was 77.
Oki, whose real name was Kim Il, came to Japan in 1959, influenced by the great wrestler Rikidozan. In his early days he gained popularity along with wrestlers including Shohei "Giant" Baba and Antonio Inoki.
After Rikidozan was stabbed to death in 1963, Oki returned to South Korea and worked to develop professional wrestling there. He then returned to Japan again, and gained attention in 1972 for his head-butt match against the successful wrestler Bobo Brazil.
In the early 1980s, his physical condition deteriorated, and he stopped wrestling. He officially retired in a ceremony at Tokyo Dome in 1995. In February this year he visited the Tokyo grave of Rikidozan for the first time in 13 years.
South Korean media sources said that since 1994, Oki had been suffering from the aftereffects of head butts, diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic heart failure. His condition worsened rapidly at the beginning of this month while he was in hospital, and he fell unconscious in the predawn hours of Wednesday before dying at about noon on Thursday. (Mainichi)
SEOUL -- Kintaro Oki, a popular South Korean-born wrestler who performed in Japan and gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for his famous head butts, died at a hospital in Seoul on Thursday. He was 77.
Oki, whose real name was Kim Il, came to Japan in 1959, influenced by the great wrestler Rikidozan. In his early days he gained popularity along with wrestlers including Shohei "Giant" Baba and Antonio Inoki.
After Rikidozan was stabbed to death in 1963, Oki returned to South Korea and worked to develop professional wrestling there. He then returned to Japan again, and gained attention in 1972 for his head-butt match against the successful wrestler Bobo Brazil.
In the early 1980s, his physical condition deteriorated, and he stopped wrestling. He officially retired in a ceremony at Tokyo Dome in 1995. In February this year he visited the Tokyo grave of Rikidozan for the first time in 13 years.
South Korean media sources said that since 1994, Oki had been suffering from the aftereffects of head butts, diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic heart failure. His condition worsened rapidly at the beginning of this month while he was in hospital, and he fell unconscious in the predawn hours of Wednesday before dying at about noon on Thursday. (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/new...0sp018000c.html
japanese version:
http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/today/archiv...060076000c.html
