is a shōnen

Shonen

The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written by Ikki Kajiwara

Ikki Kajiwara

was a Japanese author, manga writer, and film producer, also known under the pseudonym . His real name is . The pseudonym was used since he was writing for a rival magazine at the time. Having multiple names would not allow overlaps by the two magazines...

 and drawn by Kunichika Harada. The manga was serialized in Shōnen Sunday

Shonen Sunday

, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...

 from 1980 volume 23 through 1983 volume 26.

Plot

The manga is billed as a series of biographical stories, though elements were added for dramatic effect. The wrestlers profiled in the series were popular in Japan at the time of the manga's serialization.

Characters

Dory Funk, Jr.

Dory Funk, Jr.

Dory Ernest Funk Jr. known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional...

 and Terry Funk

Terry Funk

Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1980 vols. 23-29.

Stan Hansen

Stan Hansen

John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1980 vols. 30-35.

Abdullah the Butcher

Abdullah the Butcher

Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1980 vols. 36-47.

André the Giant

André the Giant

André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1980 vol. 48-1981 vol 1.

Mil Máscaras

Mil Máscaras

Aaron Rodríguez , best known as Mil Máscaras , is a semi-retired Mexican professional wrestler and actor, who has starred in several films with fellow luchadores...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1981 vols. 2/3-17.

Tiger Jeet Singh

Tiger Jeet Singh

Jagjit Singh Hans is a semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth . Singh wrestled in Japan for 22 years...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1981 vols. 18-24.

Shohei Baba

Shohei Baba

was a professional wrestler and co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was also known as Giant Baba. Baba, along with Antonio Inoki, became one of the most famous Japanese wrestlers of his era, with a popularity in Japan comparable to Hulk Hogan's in the United States of America...

 and Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki

is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1981 vols. 25-42.

Karl Istaz

Karl Istaz

Karl Istaz was a professional wrestler and trainer born in Antwerp, Belgium, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch. The German suplex is named after Gotch....

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1981 vols. 43-47.

Ric Flair

Ric Flair

Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1981 vols. 48-1982 3/4.

Tiger Mask

Tiger Mask

is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine from 1968 to 1969 and was later published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1970 to 1971...

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1982 vols. 5-31.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan

Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1982 vols. 32-49.

Bruiser Brody

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1982 vols. 50-1983 17.

Great Kabuki

Profiled in Shōnen Sunday 1983 vols. 18-26.