Pro Wrestler Who Inspired “Foul King” Movie Retires

“Lonely Wolf” Baek Jong-ho, the inspiration behind the movie “Foul King,” is retiring as a professional wrestler.

The World Wrestling Association (WWA) in Korea announced on October 27 that that a WWA match in commemoration of the retirement of Baek Jong-ho will take place at Jangchung Stadium on November 4. The game will be between Oriental Heavy Champion Kim Do-yoo and Baek Jong-ho. The “King of Butting,” Kim Il, will be present to congratulate Baek’s retirement.

The movie “Foul King” comically portrays a timid and incompetent bank clerk who goes through remarkable changes after entering the world of professional wrestling. Baek currently works for Woori Bank.

Soon after he joined Hanil Bank over 30 years ago, Baek heard that Kim Il had raised a 200 million won fund to build a gymnasium. His first aim was to make Kim his client and have Kim deposit the fund in Hanil Bank. However, he was amazed by the world of wrestling and starting from 1973, Baek learned wrestling under Kim Il and led two different careers simultaneously: one as a bank clerk, and the other as a professional wrestler. His lifetime record is 55 wins and 56 losses. He was nicknamed “Lonely Wolf” because he could only practice by himself as he worked as a full time bank clerk during the day.

Four months ago, Baek started training to get himself back in shape, exercising at dawn and in the evenings after having quit sports for about two years. “I learned new tactical skills from Lee Wang-pyo recently, and I will show them to the world on the day of my match,” Baek said. “I wish that I could raise my winning percentage up to 50 percent and retire honorably. Hopefully, I can add one more win,” Baek added.