Wim Ruska

Wim Ruska
Wim Ruska in 1968
Personal information
Full name Willem Ruska
Nickname(s) Tarzan of the Tatami
Born (1940-08-29)29 August 1940
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Died 14 February 2015(2015-02-14) (aged 74)
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 94 kg (207 lb)
Sport
Sport Judo
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
Olympic Games
1972 Munich +93 kg
1972 Munich Open
World Championships
1967 Salt Lake City +93 kg
1971 Ludwigshafen +93 kg
1969 Mexico City Open

Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a judoka from the Netherlands. He is the only athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972.[1]

Judo career

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,[2] 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).[3] He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971) and two Olympic titles.[4] His success at the 1972 Summer Olympics was overshadowed by the Munich massacre that took place days before.[5]

He retired after the 1972 Olympics[1] and later took part in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Ruska competed between 1976 and 1980 for the New Japan Pro Wrestling and World 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.[6]

In August 1976, Ruska fought vale tudo legend Ivan Gomes during a NJPW tour in Brazil.[7] It is said he initially challenged the Gracie family,[8] likely in response to a previous challenge they had made to Anton Geesink in 1965,[9] but Gomes accepted to fight him instead.[8] At 110kg, Gomes was significantly heavier than the 95kg Ruska.[8] The bout was fought at least partially under pro wrestling rules, with NJPW worker Teruo Takahashi as the referee and the rule that every fighter would have to release any hold if his opponent grabbed the ropes.[10][9]

Details about the fight are sparse. Marcial Serrano wrote Gomes threw illegal strikes during the bout,[11] though Keisuke Shibusawa claimed Ruska held his own and might have injured Gomes at some point.[10] Anyway, at some other point Gomes captured Ruska's back and tried a rear naked choke, but they became tangled on the ring ropes; a photograph of the position exists in Shibusawa's book.[12] A turmoil then happened, and referee Takahashi decreed victory for the Dutchman.[7]

The circumstances of this decision are unknown: Ivan's brother Jose claimed Ruska fell unconscious at the submission leaving unclear if he had grabbed the ropes or not, leading Takahashi to disqualify Gomes,[9] while Shibusawa said the referee noted Gomes's body was positioned half out of the ropes, so he counted him out.[10] In any case Brazilian crowds were infuriated and caused a turmoil. Local newspapers declared Gomes the winner of the match,[11] and it was rumored Takahashi was expelled from Brazil due to what was perceived as a bad call.[10]

Ruska was a close friend to sambo world champion Chris Dolman, also a Bluming understudy. They had a falling out after Dolman joined Akira Maeda's Fighting Network Rings while Ruska was part of Antonio Inoki's New Japan Pro Wrestling, but they mended it in September 1997, when Inoki visited Holland along with Naoya Ogawa. They stayed in contact until Ruska's death in 2015.[13]

Later life

In 2001 Ruska suffered a major stroke which left him physically disabled.[1]

In 2013 he was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the International Judo Federation.[14]

Ruska was admitted to a nursing home in 2014. Ruska died on 14 February 2015 at the age of 74 and was survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ruska. Triomf en tragiek van een judokampioen Archived 14 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine.. thomasrap.nl
  2. ↑ Donn F. Draeger, Jon Bluming, Letters to the Editor, Black Belt magazine, December 1966
  3. ↑ Obtained results (dutch). Wimruska.nl. Retrieved on 16 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Wim Ruska. sports-reference.com
  5. ↑ "Wim Ruska op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Willem Ruska « Wrestler-Datenbank « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".
  7. 1 2 "ANTONIO INOKI HOME PAGE 70s'kakutougi history".
  8. 1 2 3 Phil Baroni, Shinya Aoki make pro wrestling debuts in Tokyo
  9. 1 2 3 Ivan Gomes, BJJ Heroes
  10. 1 2 3 4 Keisuke Shibusawa, Gracie Jiu Jitsu no Itsusashu, 1995, Nihon Sports
  11. 1 2 Marcial Serrano (June 15, 2016). O Livro Proibido do Jiu-Jítsu Vol. 6. Clube de Autores. ISBN 978-85-914075-8-3.
  12. ↑ "★「マット界スキャンダル『機密文書』」にルスカvsゴメスの記事が - 格闘技徒然草".
  13. ↑ "ウィリアム・ルスカとクリス・ドールマンの物語～日本マット界に多大な影響、大親友としての別離と氷解 - プロレス/格闘技 カクトウログ".
  14. ↑ "Judolegende Wim Ruska overleden" (in Dutch). de Telegraaf. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  15. ↑ "JUDO NEWS: THE GREAT DUTCH JUDO CHAMPION WILLEM "WIM" RUSKA HAS PASSED AWAY".
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