Fighting illness, bereavement of his beloved wife, and life in a wheelchair… Ten years after his retirement, Mr. Pro Wrestling, Genichiro Tenryu, is now in a wheelchair.
Ten years of unrest…
Genichiro Tenryu, aka “Mr. Pro Wrestling,” retired on November 15, 2003, at the age of 65, after more than 50 years of fighting, having entered the world of sumo at 13 and becoming a professional wrestler at 26, It has been 10 years. But even though he has retired, the past ten years have not been a tranquil one for Tenryu.
He has been in and out of the hospital repeatedly, has lost his beloved wife, has battled illness, and has lived in a wheelchair. Despite these difficulties, he has been actively involved in the Tenryu Project, his own professional wrestling organization, and in various events, including a November 4, 2013 event at Korakuen Hall, the sacred place of professional wrestling, and a November 15 event in front of Ryogoku Kokugikan, the venue of his retirement.
I think he will be thinking about his “life after life” from now on.
Tenryu-san looks back on the 10 years since his retirement and talks about his “life after life.
When I was active, I pushed my family to accept me as Tenryu Gen’ichiro, who only knew sumo and wrestling. Until then, I had been going against the flow of life.
I don’t know how to put it, but there are also Tenryu Gen’ichiro who have a calm status.
If I had gone out somewhere and had someone with whom I could have a heated argument, I would probably be in battle mode, but I don’t have that right now. I just have to convince myself and call it a day. That’s how I live every day, so I think I’m going to start thinking about life after life.
For Tenryu, who has been involved in “fighting” on a daily basis since he was 13 years old, life after retirement is the complete opposite of what it used to be.
Although he was freed from the pressure of thinking about opponents and matches every day, he often felt that his life was not stimulating enough. Nevertheless, soon after his retirement, he had many opportunities to appear on TV programs, which provided him with new stimulation, partly because of the name value he had gained during his active career and partly because his “croaky voice and slurred speech” attracted attention.
I started working as a TV personality right after I retired, and was allowed to appear on TV and in commercials. I co-starred with Shiyoh Hirano in a commercial, and I was in the end-of-year program of “Downtown’s Gaki no Tsukashiya Aahenden! (Nippon Television Network Corporation) at the end of the year.
For the first two years after his retirement, he earned several tens of millions of yen a year as a TV personality, and I thought, ‘He’s going to keep going like this in his 60s and 70s,’ but in the third year, he just stopped (laughs).
The “Tenryu Project” is back on track with the COVID-19 crisis.
The COVID-19 crisis came in the fifth year after the post-retirement talent bubble had settled down. It had a serious impact on various industries, but the same was true for the professional wrestling industry to which he had devoted himself.
He launched his own organization, the “Tenryu Project,” to give junior wrestlers, who were unable to compete and in need of food, a place to be as active as possible. Tenryu Project” was originally established in preparation for Mr. Tenryu’s retirement, and had been holding events in which he participated, but it ended its role when he retired.
The COVID-19 crisis has restarted the project, and even today, it continues to transcend the boundaries between groups, bringing together wrestlers from various organizations as well as freelance wrestlers to perform. Tenryu-san is not only a promoter, but also serves as a commentator, watching over the fighters at the event.
Without someone like me to keep a close eye on things, wrestlers tend to accidentally do things that disappoint them,” he said. When I was with All Japan Pro Wrestling, I saw Giant Baba many times frown when he saw wrestlers not doing what he expected them to do, and he smoked his cigar as if it would turn to ash in an instant (laughs).
He says this in front of his juniors, but
The matches seem to embody the wrestling style of Mr. Tenryu, who was called the “Tenryu Revolution” for his style of going all out and violently crashing into opponents no matter how small the venue, and they are also the matches that Mr. Tenryu demands of his wrestlers. The restart of the “Tenryu Project” became a major post-retirement activity for Mr. Tenryu himself. But behind the scenes, there was another major life-changing event for Mr. Tenryu.
Just around the same time I restarted the Tenryu Project, my wife, Makishiro, was diagnosed with cancer and began her battle with the disease. I thought it would be my turn to support her when I retired. ……
The full story of how he said goodbye to Makiyo and his close friends who had supported him, how his battle with cancer had left him in a critical condition at one point, and his enthusiasm for the festival event to be held on November 15, 2013, exactly 10 years after his retirement, can be read in the paid version [FRIDAY Subscription]. You can read the full article in the paid version [FRIDAY Subscription].
Tenryu Gen’ichiro was born on February 2, 1950, in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, and was introduced to the Nisshonoseki stable at the age of 13. He joined the Nishimaegashira stable at the age of 13, and his highest rank in sumo was nishimaegashira. In 1990, he moved to SWS, and in 1992, he started his own organization, WAR. He later became a freelance wrestler. He is known as “Mr. Pro Wrestling” for his famous fights with Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu, Nobuhiko Takada, The Great Muta, and others. He retired from active wrestling in 2003 after a match against Okada Kazuchika at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Tenryu Gen’ichiro Retirement 10th Anniversary Kosho – Revolutionary Flight @Korakuen Hall
Date: Nov. 4, ’25 17:30 OPEN / 18:30 GONG
Venue：Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Ticket prices (advance tickets): Premium seats (with benefits) 30,000 yen, special ringside seats 15,000 yen, reserved seats 8,000 yen, reserved seats for elementary, junior high and high school students 3,500 yen (available only at Tenryu Project Shop)
Tenryu Genichiro Triple Year Festival in Ryogoku
Date: November 15, 2013
Venue: Special venue on Ryogoku Station Hirokoji in front of JR Ryogoku Station, Tokyo
Time slots: Part 1: 11:00 – 14:30 (tentative), Part 2: 15:00 – 18:30 (tentative)
*Contents and performances will differ for each part. If you wish to attend both parts, please purchase tickets for each.
Ticket prices (advance tickets): Premium viewing area tickets (each part): 6,000 yen, free area admission tickets (each part): 2,000 yen
For more information on the event, please visit the official ” Tenryu Project” website.
Interview and text by： Diceke Takahashi PHOTO： Sugizo
