He returned to Japan after meeting and being recruited by Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance founder Rikidozan, who was touring Brazil.

A press conference was held for Inoki’s entry into the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance.
It doubled as a press conference for Shohei Baba’s (Giant Baba) entry.

His ring name became Antonio Inoki.

He left to hone his wrestling skills in the US. He travelled to Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, and other cities and eventually won the World Tag Team Championship.

Returning home triumphantly from the United States, he announced at Haneda Airport that he would join the new Tokyo Pro Wrestling promotion.

Tokyo Pro Wrestling’s first event took place in Kuramae Kokugikan.
As the ace of the group, Inoki fought Johnny Valentine.
The bout could be only won by knockout or one of them giving up, which was rare at that time, and there was no 3-count rule.
This bout was the first time the sport media used the term "deathmatch."
Winning by countout, Inoki’s fight captivated the audience, and overnight, his name reverberated throughout the world of Japanese professional sports.

After its final event at Tokyo Gymnasium, Tokyo Pro Wrestling stopped hosting its own events.

Inoki and other Tokyo Pro Wrestling wrestlers participated in the opening series for International Wrestling Enterprise.

Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance announced Inoki’s return.

He returned to the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance ring for the first time in 38 months at Tottori Municipal Gymnasium.

He formed a tag team with Giant Baba at Gifu Municipal Center. BI Cannon was born.

BI Cannon won the NWA International Tag Team Championship at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium.

He won the 11th World Big League final, held at Tokyo Gymnasium, with his “manji-gatame” finishing move (a type of octopus hold or grapevine stretch) and rose to the top of pro wrestling in Japan.

Aiming for an ideal organization, he announced the founding of New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Keio Plaza Hotel.
He became its president.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling's launch event matches were held at Ota-ku Gymnasium.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s office opened in Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling left Haneda Airport for Brazil.
It departed for a 10-day pro-wrestling tour and was accompanied by many businesspeople.

The fight of the century took place between Inoki and Muhammad Ali at Nippon Budokan, garnering worldwide attention.
Ending in a draw, the showdown would later be regarded as the origin of mixed martial arts.

The Dream All-Star Match, involving New Japan Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and International Wrestling Enterprise, took place.
BI Cannon returned for the first time in 8 years.

He advocated for an International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) with the aim of unifying the many competing championship titles.

He faced Hulk Hogan in the first IWGP final.
Taking an Axe Bomber from Hulk Hogan, he suffered a horrible defeat by KO.

The legendary “Ganryujima Duel" with Masa Saito. He won the match, which lasted 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 14 seconds.

Founding the Sports and Peace Party, he ran for a Japanese House of Councilors seat in the proportional representation block and was elected.
He became the first wrestler to become a Diet member.

At a Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan press conference, he announced a partnership between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the Soviet Union Sports Committee.
He realized Japan-Soviet exchanges in the martial arts world 6 months before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s made its first appearance at Tokyo Dome.

He resigned as president of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and became its chairman.

He opened the Sports and Peace Party headquarters in Kita Aoyama, Minato-ku, and officially announced his candidacy for the Japanese House of Councilors election.

Receiving 993,989 votes, he was elected in the proportional representation block for the first time in the 1989 Japanese House of Councilors election.

He was attacked several times with a knife by a thug at an event in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, suffering injuries that took 2 weeks to heal completely.

Out of respect for the Democratic Socialist Party, with which his party had formed a parliamentary alliance, he stood to ask a question in the Diet for the first time while his head was still bandaged and he was still using a wheelchair.

Challenged by Masahiro Chono and Shin-ya Hashimoto, he teamed up with Seiji Sakaguchi to defeat them.
He used “Ichi, Ni, San DAAAAHHHH!!!” (One, two, three DAAAAHHHH!!!), which would later become synonymous with him, for the first time.

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, 41 Japanese people in Kuwait were taken to Iraq as de facto hostages and forbidden from leaving the country.

He departed for Iraq on a chartered Turkish Airlines airplane together with family members of the hostage.

He hosted a peace festival in Iraq, which would trigger the release of the Japanese hostages during the Gulf War.

The decision was made to release the Japanese hostages.

He hosted a pro wrestling event in North Korea called the “Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace.”
The event was attended by 380,000 spectators over the course of two days.

His farewell match took place at Tokyo Dome, attracting 70,000 spectators, the highest attendance in the Dome's history.
Fighting former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Don Frye, he defeated him with a Ground Cobra Twist (Grapevine).
He recited the poem “Michi” (Road) during his farewell ceremony.

He produced the “Inoki Matsuri” (Inoki Festival), the prototype for New Year's Eve martial arts events.

Dynamite! (PRIDE Shockwave) was held as a martial arts event at Japan National Stadium for the first time, with Inoki working as a producer.

Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) launched.

He became the first Japanese person inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Fame.

He was appointed to the Order of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Friendship 1st Class by North Korea.

He visited the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster areas.
He also visited evacuation centers to provide encouragement to victims of the disaster.

He hosted an earthquake recovery event at Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.
He invited 5,000 people from the disaster areas to attend (bus transportation, lodging, and meals were included).

He hosted a pro wrestling peace festival near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan (Peshawar).

He was awarded the Cuban Friendship Medal.

He announced his candidacy for the Japanese House of Councilors election as a member of the Japan Restoration Party.

With 356,606 votes, the most votes in the party for the proportional representation block, he was elected in the 2013 Japanese House of Councilors election and returned to national politics.

He organized a six-person delegation consisting of 6 members of the Diet, including himself, to visit North Korea.
They held talks with Kang Sok-ju, secretary of the Worker’s Party of Korea and an advisor to the Japan Korea Friendship Association, and Pak Kun-gwang, deputy head of the Party’s International Department and president of the Japan Korea Friendship Association, about efforts to resolve the abductions issue and about exchanges between their peoples.

He joined the Party for Future Generations after the Japan Restoration Party split.
He became director of the national sports bureau of the party and chairperson of the House of Councilors Policy Research Committee.

He left the Party for Future Generations.

He joined the Assembly to Energize Japan at its founding and became its top advisor.

He met Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai in the UK.

He was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the Olympic Games by the Cambodian Olympic Committee.

He was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, a nationally designated intractable disease.
He continuously provided information about his battle against the disease via YouTube.

He appeared live on 24-Hour Television while battling against the disease.
This was his last TV appearance.

He died at the age of 79.