Thoughts on his late wife and remembrance of Antonio Inoki… “What Mr. Pro Wrestling” Tenryu Genichiro said on his sickbed.

Wife of Genichiro Tenryu, who made him “Mr. Pro Wrestling

Tenryu Gen’ichiro’s Wife” (Wani Books), published in September 2022, is a life story written by Makiyo Shimada, who passed away in June of the same year.

As the title of the book says, Makiyo was the wife of professional wrestler Genichiro Tenryu for many years, and was the driving force behind Tenryu’s rise to “Mr. Pro-Wrestling. The book is written from the perspective of Mrs. Makishiro, who supported Tenryu from his first encounter with Genichiro to his rise to the top as a professional wrestler and his retirement.

This book is not only for Tenryu fans, but also provides the backstory of an important event in the history of professional wrestling.

Unfortunately, Makiyo ran out of energy before she could finish the final chapter, and passed away without ever seeing the book completed, but her only daughter, Monna Shimada, took over the final chapter and completed the book, making it a mother-daughter co-authored book. We asked Mr. Genichiro Tenryu himself to talk about the book, which was written from the perspectives of his wife and daughter and their families, as well as his thoughts on his late wife.

Wife’s determination to make Tenryu the best professional wrestler in Japan

I knew that my wife had been interviewed for the book before her death, but when I saw the book in front of me, my outstretched hand slumped and I couldn’t read it for about two months. I couldn’t read the book for about two months.

It wasn’t so much that I was sentimental, but more that I was afraid to read what Makiyo had written, exposing her life to me, and I was afraid to touch her true feelings. Because Makiyo had been so straightforward with me, I was even more perplexed about figuring out how she felt about me,” said Tenryu.

When he finally read the book, some time after its publication, the first thing he recalled was the time when he had just gotten married.

Immediately after we got married, Makishiro said to me, ‘I will make Genichiro Tenryu the best wrestler in Japan. At the time, I was not a good wrestler with no flashy moves. I can never thank her enough for publicly declaring that she would make such a wrestler the best in Japan, and for taking action to achieve that goal.

For example, when we took the Shinkansen as a family, I would ride in the green car alone, and Makiyo would follow me in the regular car with her daughter Monna in her arms. In this way, she always stood up for me.

Pro wrestler Tenryu Genichiro is well known for his legendary drinking spree that involved fans and reporters alike, but he attributes this legend to the efforts of his wife, Makiyo.

She was always helping me out with money so that I could dress well when we went out drinking,” he said.

At the time, I thought I was doing well enough with my own fight money, but later I found out that Makiyo was making ends meet by disposing of her own jewelry and working part-time at her family’s store. When I learned this, I was shocked (laugh).

But Makiyo didn’t show that in the slightest, and she was happy to send me off with money to go out drinking.

In addition to Makiyo’s helpfulness, the book also describes Tenryu’s role as a “tough negotiator” who never backed down from his New Japan Pro-Wrestling counterparts. His negotiating partner was Mr. Katsuji Nagashima, a fierce negotiator who, as Antonio Inoki’s personal sword in his pocket, had devised a series of tricks that caused a stir in the world of pro wrestling.

When I was in the ring with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Mr. Nagashima was in charge of negotiations. I was very proud to see her resolute attitude as Gen’ichiro Tenryu’s wife against New Japan, which was crowded with other “sasen-yama-sen” (a thousand men from all over the world), including Choshu Chikara (a Japanese wrestler).

(Laughs.) In later years, Mr. Nagashima told me, “When it came to negotiating salaries, his wife, who was in charge of accounting, would come out. He was a tough negotiator.