the ventura viking
Meet Tony Halme.
This weekend, Finnish voters gave the Centre Party a narrow 55 to 53 seat Parliamentary plurality over the ruling Social Democrats. Among the numerous other parties holding seats in the Finnish Parliament is the True Finns party, described variously as either "populist" or "fringe". True Finns tripled their representation, adding two representatives to their existing single member. One of those three is Tony Halme, a former professional wrestler, boxer, and shootfighter.
Halme first gained notoriety in United States professional wrestling as the Finnish nationalist "Ludwig Borga" (a fictional name that is more Austrian than Finnish). Halme worked for the WWF in 1993 and 1994, before being fired after numerous disputes with management. After a few more years wrestling for promotions around the world, Halme turned to professional boxing and quickly became a notoriously dirty fighter. A match against washed-up former American middleweight champion Iran Barkley in 1999 earned Halme a split decision victory for the "WBF Americas Heavyweight Title" despite his use of several low blows and head butts during the fight. Impartial observers argue that Barkley was the clear winner, however, Halme had the advantage of an all-Finnish set of judges.
The True Finns platform, an odd mix of socialism and social conservative paternalism, will not likely get much consideration in Parliament, as they are the smallest of the half-dozen or so parties represented. However, I wouldn't want to have to be the one to turn down Mr. Halme.
America's famed wrestler/politician Jesse Ventura left office in 2003. A few years earlier, former WWF champion Bob Backlund ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress from the state of Connecticut. However, the true trendsetting nation in this arena is Japan. There, wrestling legend Antonio Inoki was elected to the Diet in 1989. Brazilian-born Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling, and fought in an infamous "boxer vs. wrestler" match against Muhammad Ali in 1976. That spectacle ended in a draw, as Inoki spent much of the match on his back, attempting to kick Ali's legs out from under him without causing any serious injury - a requirement of the contract. Ali, who couldn't land any punches on a man not standing straight up, spent most of the match swinging at air and mugging for the audience. Ten years later, Inoki reprised the wrestler/boxer matchup against Leon Spinks.
Inoki's major accomplishments in office include trips to Iraq before the first Persian Gulf war to free hostages there and organizing several goodwill professional wrestling shows. He brought Soviet wrestlers to a show in Japan, and staged a major goodwill show in North Korea. Inoki retired from the ring in 1998.
Following Inoki's lead are Hiroshi Hase and Atsushi Onita. Hase, elected to the Diet in 1995, split most of his wrestling career in the 1980s and 90s between Canada and Japan. While in Canada, he was one half of a tag team known as "The Viet-Cong Express." Onita, the third professional wrestler in Japanese government, was elected to the Diet in 2001. His promotion, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, popularized the "death match" - where flaming rings, explosives, barbed wire, and thumbtacks are legitimate weapons of combat.
21.03.2003 © ljr