On December 8, 1963, the Japanese professional wrestler Rikidōzan, real name Mitsuhiro Momota, was stabbed in a Tokyo nightclub after an altercation with a Yakuza member. Considered the "godfather of puroresu", Rikidōzan was a national hero in post-World War II Japan and considered one of the most famous people in the whole country. One week after being stabbed, he died from peritonitis on December 15, 1963. He was 39 years old.