WRESTLING legend Kendo Nagasaki was the ring villain fans loved to hate.
The hulking silent samurai unnerved opponents from behind his sinister striped mask, with chilling tales of losing half an index finger during a brutal martial arts ceremony.
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Wrestling legend Kendo Nagasaki was the ring villain fans loved to hate in the 1970s – and now he’s returning to battle at the age of 83.Credit: Paul Tonge
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Kendo with his manager George Gillette in 1986Credit: LWT
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The man behind Kendo’s mask is Peter Thornley, who turns 83 later this monthCredit: Paul Tonge
And the 6ft 2in monster triggered such anger that Nagasaki was once stabbed in the back with a fountain pen by a spectator, while another packed a house brick in her handbag before walloping him over the head with it.
Now, Nagasaki — real name Peter Thornley, who turns 83 later this month — is planning a return to the ring.
He hopes to break two Guinness World Records — for the oldest professional wrestler and longest wrestling career.
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The occasion will also mark the 60th anniversary of his first appearance in British professional wrestling.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun from his sprawling, 50-room mansion in Stoke-on-Trent, Peter says he has never felt better.
“I’m as fit as a butcher’s dog. I still train every day, eat well and look after myself,” he said.
“I’m not worried. Nobody can hurt me. I’m a dinosaur with teeth.”
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Peter cuts an imposing figure, even in his eighties.
He’s tall with big, broad shoulders and a full head of thick, black hair.
When he offers to show me some wrestling holds, I politely decline.
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I feared he might launch into his special move, the “kamikaze crash”, which saw him give rivals a fireman’s lift, before running and using the momentum to smash and roll the opponent to the ground.
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Terrified audiences
Born Brian Stevens in 1941, Peter was adopted soon after his birth by the Thornley family, who gave him his new name.
As a teenager he excelled in sport, becoming a junior boxing champ who also took up judo, studying under prominent sensei Kenshiro Abbe.
He grew up in Crewe, Cheshire, and after leaving school became an apprentice coach maker but got into wrestling in 1964 after a gruesome injury meant he missed the chance to compete in judo at that year’s Olympic Games.
He had lost the end of his left index finger after contracting septicemia when someone bit him during a street fight.
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It was a transformative moment in Peter’s life.
Not long after, Kendo Nagasaki was born and his missing digit only added to his mysterious back story.
So when Kendo walked into a wrestling ring, people said, ‘Wow, what’s that?’
Peter says the idea for the mask came from his mentor, masked wrestler Count Bartelli, aka Geoff Condliffe.
He recalls: “I wanted to arrive in a sensational way. I thought, ‘I want to be something different’.
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“I didn’t just want to be a masked man, it had to be more.
“I’d learned how to do judo and kendo to quite a high level, so it made sense.
“I’d got the outfit, the samurai sword and all the things. I thought, I can put all that together.
“So when Kendo walked into a wrestling ring, people said, ‘Wow, what’s that?’.
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“The show starts when I get in the ring. It starts the moment they see me. Sensational.”
Nagasaki became an overnight hit, a nasty villain who terrified audiences on ITV’s World Of Sport.
Along with the image, Peter carved a daunting backstory of a samurai warrior who wields mystical healing powers and hypnosis skills.
The fearsome wrestler used his size and strength, coupled with a black belt in judo, to batter opponents into submission.
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And during an incredible 60-year career he fought other wrestling greats such as Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks and Andre the Giant, beating them all.
The audience became entranced by Nagasaki’s samurai history, with many guessing why he wore the mask.
“Rumours sort of built up that I’d been burnt in a fire or had a serious road accident,” recalls Peter. “People said I had one ear or was badly scarred.
“Some even thought I was royalty or some celebrity who wanted to lead a double life. Of course, we didn’t deny any of it!”
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Peter’s big break came in a mass wrestling match with Count Bartelli in 1966.
He said: “Up to then, I’d been sort of scratching around at the bottom, wrestling non-entities.
“Suddenly, I’m sprung into the limelight and I beat this masked man who’s been masked for 20 years. Ba-boom! I’ve arrived.”
Peter also recalls how he was the first wrestler to ever beat legend Andre the Giant.
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“I beat him three times and that was before Hulk Hogan beat him in America,” he said. “He was a bit green. He came here to learn the business.
“And he was a genuine monster, you know, 6ft 11 or bigger.”
Life as a wrestling villain had its pitfalls, however. Peter was attacked by fans several times and once even had to run for his life.
“Back in those days the punters believed wrestling was real. It’s not like today where everyone knows it’s a show,” he says.
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“When you kicked someone, you kicked them. And so that annoyed the fans. And I remember during a match in Glasgow the crowd got really wound up and rioted.
“I found myself surrounded. I had to do a runner for my life. If I’d gone down, fallen, they’d have trampled me to death.”
Peter was also stabbed with a fountain pen while coming out of Liverpool Stadium in the early Seventies. “The tip broke off in my back,” he recalls. “I had to go to hospital to have it removed.
“Another time a lady with a brick in her handbag smacked me in the side of the face.
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“On another occasion a guy on crutches cracked me in the side of the face and put five or six stitches in my cheek.”
Peter added: “I quickly realised that even old ladies with handbags can be dangerous.”
But not all his encounters with wrestling fans were bad.
One mother was so convinced of Nagasaki’s mystical healing powers she asked his manager if the wrestler would heal her 12-year-old son’s stomach cramps through the “laying on of hands” after a match.
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He duly obliged.
After a long and storied career, Peter’s most famous moment came at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in 1977.
The villain finally had his mask removed at a special ceremony watched on TV by 14million people.
Fire-red eyes
“I had come to an apex in my career,” he recalls. “I’d had quite a bad injury. I’d been kicked in the head and fractured my skull and got meningitis.
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“I was having dizzy spells, so I decided I was going to go out on a big high and unmask for my fans.”
When Peter’s then-manager, “Gorgeous” George Gillette, removed his mask during a bizarre ritualistic ceremony, it revealed a westerner with fire-red eyes, with an occult star tattoo on the top of his shaved head, and a jet-black ponytail protruding from the back.
He said: “The real me terrified children even more than the mask.”
Peter wrestled on and off throughout the Eighties and early Nineties, with sporadic wrestling matches as recently as 2008.
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But he revealed the years after the height of his wrestling fame were tough.
The star became involved in the drugs scene and hung out with gangsters.
He also opened a car dealership and ran a music studio.
At one point, Peter’s home in London was raided by drugs cops and the flamboyant showman was the subject of a sensational headline in 2017 accusing him of supplying cocaine to Princess Margaret in the Eighties — claims he strongly denies.
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These days, Peter is a businessman and property owner living at Moor Court Hall, a grand, 17-acre country estate in Stoke-on-Trent.
The £1.5million mansion has immaculate zen Buddhism-themed grounds and is maintained by a staff of six.
Peter used the estate to run a care business, offering programmes for children with learning disabilities.
The real me terrified children even more than the mask.
The devout Buddhist also ran zen retreats at the property.
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Now he spends his time maintaining a large vegetable patch and greenhouse and tinkering with his impressive collection of classic cars, including an Aston Martin Virage and a Jaguar XK150.
The colourful wrestler, who was married to wife Yvette until she died in 1990, revealed he was bisexual in his 2018 autobiography, Kendo Nagasaki And The Man Behind the Mask.
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The hulking silent samurai unnerved opponents from behind his sinister striped mask, with chilling tales of losing half an index finger during a brutal martial arts ceremonyCredit: Pacemaker
He said he knew about his sexuality as early as 17 and revealed he has been with a male partner since his wife died aged 80.
On 28 September, Lennon Miller’s second goal for Motherwell against St Mirren was reviewed for a possible handball but stood and Collum said the VAR officials were “unable to fine the evidence to be categorical” about a foul.
Later in the same game, Well’s Dan Casey handled the ball on the goal-line to deny Killian Phillips a goal and was shown a straight red. Mark O’Hara had the resulting penalty saved.
“In our opinion, this is the correct call,” said Collum. “It’s a very good piece of teamwork between the assistant referee and the referee. There’s nothing there for the VAR to think that the referee has made an error there in terms of showing a red card.”
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The following day, there was a similar incident at Ibrox where Rangers defender John Souttar was penalised for handball in the box following a VAR review. Mykola Kuharevich’s spot-kick for Hibernian was saved and the hosts maintained their 1-0 lead until full-time.
“It’s the correct decision for us,” Collum said of the Souttar incident.
“We would not support a red card, this is not an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
“This is certainly a punishable handball. There’s every opportunity that the goalkeeper can save this shot. The fact that no card was shown could be debated.
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“If the referee had deemed John Souttar’s actions here as deliberate, he probably would’ve received a yellow card. Because the referee and the VAR team don’t deem this as a deliberate handball, there’s no need for a yellow card.”
The position of goalkeeper Jack Butland’s feet in relation to the goal line were also discussed and Collum was “content” there was no need for a re-take.
Collum also re-iterated that there had been an error in the last Scottish Premiership fixture before the split, Rangers’ 2-0 win over St Johnstone on 6 October.
It was announced earlier this week by the SFA’s key match incident review panel that St Johnstone defender Aaron Essel should have been penalised for a shirt pull on Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers.
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“This is a wrong decision,” added Collum. “We expect a penalty kick here and we expect the referee to be brought to the monitor to review the decision.”
JAKE PAUL has launched a new business venture ahead of his controversial clash with Mike Tyson.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is gearing up to face the former undisputed heavyweight champion in a shock Texas tussle next month.
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Jake Paul is set to throw down with boxing legend Mike Tyson next monthCredit: Rex
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The Problem Child has inked a lucrative deal with American restaurant chain Dog Haus ahead of the fightCredit: INSTAGRAM@JAKEPAUL
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Paul, 27, is over the moon with the partnershipCredit: INSTAGRAM@JAKEPAUL
But the 27-year-old hasn’t turned off his entrepreneurial brain during fight camp, inking a partnership with beloved American restaurant Dog Haus to help with their “overall strategic vision of the brand.”
During his recent trip to Dog Haus’s Arlington store, Paul said: “I’m all in.
“I’ve been a fan of Dog Haus for years, and I’m fired up to push the limits and help take this amazing brand to a whole new level.
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“I’m jumping in their corner and excited to introduce their food and experience to everyone across the country!”
READ MORE ON PAUL VS TYSON
Dog Haus CEO Michael Montagano is delighted to have The Problem Child on board.
He said: ‘“When a once-in-a-generation talent reaches out and says he wants to work with you, you take notice!”
“Our relationship with Jake really has very little to do with his celebrity.
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“It’s about his dynamic personality, relentless drive and the fact that he has revolutionized the way we communicate, all of which align perfectly with our brand’s ethos.
“We’re excited to partner with Jake and Nakisa [Bidarian], proven game-changers and promotional geniuses, in taking Dog Haus to an unprecedented level.”
What’s happened’ say fans as they fear Jake Paul is ‘going to get slept’ by Mike Tyson after seeing training footage
Paul has faced intense criticism for fighting Tyson due to the 31-YEAR age difference between them.
Many believe Tyson, 58, only has a short window in the eight-round affair to pull off a shock upset.
But Paul has warned the fan favourite about being overly aggressive in the early goings of the Dallas dust-up.
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He told The Daily Mail: “I mean, it’s just being alert and knowing what to do in that situation.
“I could definitely see him trying to [go for an early KO], but he’ll find out very quickly that I also have a ton of power.
“So doing that with a guy like me isn’t always the smartest thing to do, because I’ll catch one of his shots then counter.”
Three-time Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty tells BBC Breakfast that it would be “100% yes” to the Los Angeles Games in 2028 if the 50m breaststroke is added as an event.
Francis Coquelin could be heading to Leeds UnitedCredit: Getty
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The 33-year-old spent 10 years on the books at ArsenalCredit: PA:Press Association
However, Sun Sport understands that Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds are weighing-up whether to offer the two-time FA Cup and 2021 Europa League winner a short-term deal at Elland Road.
Boss Daniel Farke has lost midfield duo Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev to long-term knee injuries and wants back-up for Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell.
Coquelin is open to a move to Leeds but he faces competition for a contract from a number of other free agents.
Ex-West Ham United man Cheikhou Kouyate has been training with Leeds during the international break.
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The 34-year-old has been without a club since leaving Nottingham Forest in the summer.
But the delay in snapping up the experienced Senegal man suggests that Farke is still looking elsewhere.
And we understand that has led to him inviting Coquelin to work with his squad at Thorp Arch along with other potential free agents.
Farke remained tight-lipped when pressed for an update, although he did confirm he was looking at several potential signings.
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Former West Ham and Nottingham Forest midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has been training with LeedsCredit: Getty
Speaking at the pre-match press conference before Friday’s clash with Sheffield United, he said: “I never confirm any names and won’t speak about players who aren’t under contract.
“It would not be professional. I just speak about our players. I can speak in general about the situation.
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Arteta is open to allowing Arsenal academy players to take part in first team training
“It’s a pretty special and unique situation, we had a small group anyway before the injuries to Ethan and Ilia.
“We’ve decided to have a deeper look into the free agent market. We had some guests in the last days here at Thorp Arch to have a deeper look on it.”
On the ideal player he hopes to snap up, Farke added: “He would come in to be a back-up solution, to bring his experience and teach and educate our young players. He should come in with the attitude to improve them.
“If a young player is struggling with the pressure with playing for a club like Leeds United, to not crack, we need a player who has experience and this mentality. This is what we’re searching for.
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“It’s not easy but we have a few ideas and I’m carefully optimistic that we’ll have the chance to bring a good solution in the coming days or coming two weeks.”
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Daniel Farke has spoken out about his injury woesCredit: Alamy
Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) challenges featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the Oct. 26 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (ESPN+ pay-per-view). Just this week, Holloway was mocked by Topuria for losing to McGregor by unanimous decision in 2013.
“He got beat by Conor McGregor. When you get beat by Conor McGregor, shut the f*ck up,” Topuria said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “F*ck, bro, forget about it. When Conor McGregor beats you, forget about it.”
After losing to McGregor, Holloway would go on a 13-fight winning streak, including back-to-back finishes of Jose Aldo in title fights. McGregor, who recently has been trading barbs with Topuria, heaped praise on Holloway’s success.
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“It’s not a bad shout hahaha but Holloway came back and earned it majorly. Two time FW champion. Attempted double champ. Is current BMF champ. Nah, he the real deal. Always was, always is. Holloway is an always was, always is. 1000% He became way better after losing to me. He actually became an all-time great after losing to me. This is a stellar fight folks! He took moves as well with him. He became ambidextrous after fighting me. He can fight in both stances now as good as each other. He will be very hard to catch for the little man. Don’t walk into a crushing blow bro. He is strong too. And very experienced! 100%! BIG FIGHT FEEL FOR ME HERE, FOLKS! Oh yes Let’s go! #yawelcome#ufcabudhabi.”
Ilia Topuria traded more words with “fake fighter” Conor McGregor ahead of his #UFC308 title defense vs. Max Holloway. pic.twitter.com/HssJgKyMEu
“Little puppy paws he has. Check the little puppy paws on him. He is Spanish is he? Has he a fight nickname, this guy? I now christen him ‘The Puppy.’”
“Georgia does not have bullfighting. His prior nickname is terminated. He is now “The Puppy” Which is a good name, everybody likes puppies .”
Topuria fired back, dubbing McGregor a fake fighter.
“100% Max has improved after fighting you. He must have realized that if he wanted to make a living from this, he couldn’t be so bad as to lose to someone like you. Nowadays, he beats you easily. Dustin knocked you out in the rematches, Nate beat you two times, Khabib humiliated you, and Floyd gave you a master class in boxing at 50 years old. Take a seat kid. you’re a fake fighter.”
100% Max has improved after fighting you. He must have realized that if he wanted to make a living from this, he couldn’t be so bad as to lose to someone like you. Nowadays, he beats you easily. Dustin knocked you out in the rematches, Nate beat you two times, Khabib humiliated… https://t.co/OpKVqL4gqM
.”
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