Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Wim Ruska
Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a Dutch judoka and professional wrestler. He is the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972.
He later worked as a professional wrestler in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, both as a singles wrestler and as a tag team partner of Allen Coage.
Ruska was born in Amsterdam on August 24, 1940.
He started learning judo at the Dutch Navy, later traveling to Japan for further training. In the 1960s and 1970s, under the training of Jon Bluming, he won seven European titles, five in the +93 kg category (1966–67, 1969, 1971–72) and two in the open category (1969 and 1972). He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971) and two Olympic titles. His success at the 1972 Summer Olympics was overshadowed by the Munich massacre that took place days before.
He retired after the 1972 Olympics and later took part in professional wrestling.
Ruska competed between 1976 and 1980 for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling Federation promotions. He had over 150 pro wrestling matches, in some of which he was the tag team partner of fellow judoka Allen Coage.
In 1976, during a tour through Brazil, Ruska was slated to fight a special, high-level bout against Ivan Gomes, a famous vale tudo fighter and former NJPW wrestler himself, on August 7 at the Maracanã Stadium. Previous negotiations about the match's results and length were troublesome, and as a result, there was tension between the parts.
During the bout, refereed by Mr. Takahashi, Gomes attacked Ruska, attacking him with real strikes and illegal closed-fisted punches, which Ruska answered by landing a similar right punch, and the match became a shoot right after. The slightly heavier Brazilian dragged Ruska to the ground with a guillotine choke, but Ruska escaped and mounted him. After becoming entangled with the ring ropes, a bloody Gomes captured Ruska's back and tried a rear naked choke, to which Ruska grabbed the ropes to break action as per the match's rules. However, the Brazilian refused to release Ruska, so the referee, upon observing most of Gomes' body was outside the ropes, called for countout on him in order to end the match at 9:03. There was controversy about whether the choke and the rope escape were effective or not.
Hub AI
Wim Ruska AI simulator
(@Wim Ruska_simulator)
Wim Ruska
Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a Dutch judoka and professional wrestler. He is the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972.
He later worked as a professional wrestler in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, both as a singles wrestler and as a tag team partner of Allen Coage.
Ruska was born in Amsterdam on August 24, 1940.
He started learning judo at the Dutch Navy, later traveling to Japan for further training. In the 1960s and 1970s, under the training of Jon Bluming, he won seven European titles, five in the +93 kg category (1966–67, 1969, 1971–72) and two in the open category (1969 and 1972). He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971) and two Olympic titles. His success at the 1972 Summer Olympics was overshadowed by the Munich massacre that took place days before.
He retired after the 1972 Olympics and later took part in professional wrestling.
Ruska competed between 1976 and 1980 for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling Federation promotions. He had over 150 pro wrestling matches, in some of which he was the tag team partner of fellow judoka Allen Coage.
In 1976, during a tour through Brazil, Ruska was slated to fight a special, high-level bout against Ivan Gomes, a famous vale tudo fighter and former NJPW wrestler himself, on August 7 at the Maracanã Stadium. Previous negotiations about the match's results and length were troublesome, and as a result, there was tension between the parts.
During the bout, refereed by Mr. Takahashi, Gomes attacked Ruska, attacking him with real strikes and illegal closed-fisted punches, which Ruska answered by landing a similar right punch, and the match became a shoot right after. The slightly heavier Brazilian dragged Ruska to the ground with a guillotine choke, but Ruska escaped and mounted him. After becoming entangled with the ring ropes, a bloody Gomes captured Ruska's back and tried a rear naked choke, to which Ruska grabbed the ropes to break action as per the match's rules. However, the Brazilian refused to release Ruska, so the referee, upon observing most of Gomes' body was outside the ropes, called for countout on him in order to end the match at 9:03. There was controversy about whether the choke and the rope escape were effective or not.